I have arranged an interview with a man who was previously homeless that I have had a personal interaction with for several years now. He was for some time chronically homeless and would be someone I could always find downtown or under the bridge in Fort Pierce. When we first met, he had dreadlocked hair, called himself Tony Dreads, and was always around Friday Fest or some downtown restaurant. He was entertaining, always had an interesting story and was known by many of the downtown patrons. He was a little less frightening than some of the other people you'd meet on the street and was actually generally liked by most people that gave him any chance.
Around the time my friends and I took an interest in helping the homeless, we came across Tony again, only now he introduced himself as Pineapple. His names corresponded with his current hairstyle, as his now afroed hair gave his head the appearance of said fruit. (His dreadlocks were later discovered in a bag in my friend's car.) Pineapple now worked detailing cars for a used car dealer and in exchange was allowed to live in a boat on a trailer on the man's lot. We would get him blankets, socks and McDonald's, and would always listen to the stories he had to tell us of being in college, a famous musician and a number of other experiences. After a while he lived under South Bridge, and helped us distribute blankets, food, socks, clothes and even orchestrate a homeless bible study in a park near the bridge. Pineapple was our homeless connection, as he was well known and liked by all those who shared his circumstance. We continued this for a while until our lives became busy, and Pineapple disappeared.
There was much speculation as to what had become of him, some said he was arrested for vagrancy, others reported he had found a place to live. One of my friends said the last time he had seen him, they had dropped him off at a rehabilitation clinic and there was even a rumor that he had been killed. His addictions to various substances left none of this exempt from being a possibility and we continued on.
Then, not a month ago, while I was on assignment for my photojournalism course, I came across Pineapple, now simply Tony, working at the Fort Pierce Farmers Market. I looked at him for a moment, not sure if he was who I thought he was and he did the same. After an awkward moment he shouted "Awwwww I knew it was you!" I won't ruin his whole story, as I feel he'll probably know the details a little better than me, but Tony is no longer homeless and like before, has a story to go with it.
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