Some Are Less Equal

Something snaked over the young mans face and woke him.
Propping himself on one elbow, he saw, It was only a rat. He had felt its tail.
It was after sunrise. For a while, he watched the front of light move down the dirty
wall opposite his doorway. Then he sat up.
On that side, in the next doorway, the woman sat feeding her baby.
It was fussy. Didnt it like her milk?
Go to her, the voice said. Sing softly to her and the child. Give her the coin left
from yesterday. Then have sex with her.
He did not always do what the voice said, but he smiled. The look was pleasant, and
she returned it weakly. Then a rat ran her way.
Holding the baby, she shot up and shrank into a corner, her face showing horror.
He went and handed her the coin.
Thanks, she said, and he walked on, no talk, no singing.
At the tap, he drank, then tried to wash his face. The thin flow did not remove much
dirt, but helped him wake up.
Though it was too early for begging, he started on his usual route.
Before long, he saw a cook carrying something for the morning meal.
Seize it, the voice said. You need it. They dont.
She went into a house, and he could not follow the advice.
At the river, he bathed in the dirty water. Strangely, he felt clean when he sat on the
bank for a while, drying. An approaching gull worried him into moving.
Walking on, he met more people in the streets now, hurrying to work. He did not
understand that, but he saw that very few put coins in his hands.
After a while, though, he had nearly enough. He wheedled a small poor meal out of
a street vendor, then sat against a wall to eat. He tried to taste every morsel.
In midmorning, he turned a corner in the business district and nearly bumped into a
well-dressed man who had got out of a long dark car.
The voice said, Knock him down. Take his money and run.
It was as if the man had expected him. Passing, he said kindly,
Here. It was his biggest coin yet.
At the next vendor, he bought better food. It was too good to eat slowly. Soon it was
gone, and he sat regretting his haste.
At noon, at an open area farther on, a loudspeaker attached to a car was blaring a
mans a speech to a small crowd. The mans eyes showed he was lying. Dont trust
that fellow, the beggar wanted to tell the listeners.
As the man spoke, he often pointed at the picture of a huge fierce looking bird. He
said mainly, Vote - vote - vote.

Not for you, the beggar thought, though he didnt quite understand the word. He
was upset. The bird scared him. The audience put coins in his hands, but after a
while he was glad to leave the
Clam our behind.
Ambling on through the afternoon, he heard a crowd cheering. He grew excited and
followed their noise to the small stadium where city teams played football. He was a
fan of the downtowners. - Or was it the up towners?
He had once found a knot-hole in the fence at the shady end of the stadium, and a
man stood there, watching the game.
Push him away, said the voice. That is your spot.
The man looked around. Come and see, he grinned with bad teeth. Our
riversides beating the shit out of hillside.
The knot-hole was in line with an aisle between two seating sections. Though one
goal was just past the seats, the play was at the far end, the players colorful but
very small. He couldnt even see the ball.
Soon bored, he turned to the man, who was now chewing something. Thanks, he
echoed from somewhere.
Have a bite, the man offered.
After a while, back on his route, he came to a display of produce.
He admired the fruit. His favorite kind was there, and he imagined tasting it.
The voice said,Take some. Fruit goes bad all the time, and they throw it away. Take
it!
His hand was reaching out when a different voice rumbled, Aahem! and he looked
behind him.
The biggest policeman he had ever seen was glaring down at him.
Move along, young fellow, the officer said. He gestured with a huge hand.
Yes-sir, said the beggar. He moved faster than he had all day.
A cafe near the college served mostly students. Few could give, but two young men
who were earnestly talking put coins in his hands. They looked at him with
sympathy.
At the park by the big hospital, he saw the woman from the doorway near his. She
was sitting on a bench, looking very sad.
Streaks down her face showed she had been crying.
He sat at the end of her bench. He was not good at talking, and the voice was no
help. All that came to him was, Where is your baby?
She sobbed, I did not have enough milk! and cried again.
He did not ask if it was in the river. He had seen dead babies carried off by it.
Troubled, he felt dimly that he should comfort her. But how?
Pigeons approached, pecking at things on the walk. His eyes showed alarm. He drew
up his feet, hugging his legs to keep them on the bench.

The two said nothing more. They just sat. She was not a good talker either. Nurses
going by with patients in wheel chairs did not catch their interest.
After a time, one nurse looked at them intently as she and her white-haired male
patient came along a path toward the bench.
Make ugly faces at her, said the voice.
She smiled, and the face he was forming turned into his own smile.
The nurse spoke to her elderly patient. He agreed to something, and in a moment
they were at the bench.
Do you remember? the nurse asked. You both were patients in a hospital where I
was once a nurse. We fed you and gave you medicine for your conditions. It was
pleasant there. Sometimes you felt happy.
The young man smiled again. Feeling there had once been a better time, the young
woman sharing the bench asked, Can we go there now?
The old man laughed harshly. His eyes blazed, and he swore, The damn
government closed your hospital! I argued and voted against it, but the heartless
bastards threw you all out on the street. They gave you a paper so you could get
free medicine, knowing you would either lose it or forget it.
I think I remember, the woman on the bench smiled faintly.
When we left there, someone cried and hugged me.
Yes, the young man said, feeling vaguely excited. He almost recalled something
too.
Can you come with us? the nurse asked. The doctor from there is now at this
hospital. He can help you again.
Yes, said the two on the bench.
The nurse invited, Young man, come and push the wheel chair.
Her patient suggested, Perhaps we can find them little jobs to bring in money
and a room. He thought they were together.