gotta give it to him- the man lives like a king

tm- will you tell me about when you lived inside the highway?


mm- when i first i went there there was nobody living there. at first i was living under the freeway.


tm- which freeway?


mm- by caltrain. king street on ramp, 280 bridge. then i'm tweaking there one night, i've got my flashlight, i'm looking up under the thing. i see this round thing and it's got this brass lock. i take my bolt cutters, you gotta have bolt cutters when you’re homeless. clip! clipped the brass lock. when i opened it up, it wadnt nothing but pigeon doo doo allover it, every where. i went to the construction site, turned on that hose thing and climbed back in there and washed all that pigeon shit out. next day, bought me some bleach, went up there with bleach and took one of those hard brushes and bleached the whole thing down. i cleaned out everything in there. everything, it wadnt even a spiderweb up in there when i got finished! first thing i got was some parts of a couch and i put it in there. that's how i'm sleeping on the concrete. the bridge is concrete, the cars above, it's like the middle part is hollow! then when the semi trucks go over the bridge it sways! it feel real cool!real cool! and i was in there and i would always have me two milk crates that i would tie together and i would boost myself in. but i had one of the most wonderfullest times! most of the women i bring down there they say wow! your TV even works, how you do that? i said i took my line and i went over to muni (bus company) and took an extension cord and used they plug! one day they locked all the gates up. i would go over there with my tools- i had a pack like full of tools. burglary tools. i'd do the bolts to the gate, push the gate open, push it back and they never know i was in there!


tm- how long were you in there?


mm- i stayed in there for a year. and the shelter, i didn't like it because it smelled like feet. if you go to 525 bryant, the men's part of it, smell like feet 24/7 3-6-5 and i'm not lying to you! i would go in there, i would check in because everyday you gotta check in you know. and that's how you get your sro (single residence occupancy w/ housing subsidy), you have to live in a shelter. i swear to god that's how you get the sro. i lived in there a full year but i would check out every night. i would go in, if they had something good to eat, i'd eat. if they didn't, my locker was full of good food. i'd go and bust out a packet of hot dogs, cook it and share it with a couple people, i'd have me about 4 hot dog sandwiches. screamingly delicious! i always had canned soda all through my locker. then they started putting bunk beds in there and shit. they fuckin the shelter up now. i was on a single bed, fuck that shit. i don't wanna live with no other cat... i used to do everything in there (the highway). i would be watching tv. one time the highway patrol came in there. they looked. they said come here! they said hold your hands up! i held my hands up. they said jump down! i said i gotta get my milk crate to get down so i don't hurt myself, they say ok do it and do it now! i came down, he cuffed me up right? so after he cuffed me up he crawled up in there. he looked at what i had accumulated since i had been there right? he said you know what- i've gotta give it to him- the man lives like a king. he didn't find no dope or anything, no guns, no weapons, no dope, so he came and un-handcuffed me he said i'm gonna tell you to leave and i know you gonna come back because of the way you livin but for the time being, why don't you be gone for about 4 or 5 hours and we gonna be gone for about 4 or 5 hours and i was like yes sir!! i went back to the shelter for about 4 or 5 hours. i used to have so much fun. then when i moved in here, i went back to see who was living there, it was whole families living in there now.


tm- you paved the way!


mm- yes! and it's warm in there. you know how cold san francisco get? in the winter time when it's raining or whatever and it's cold, inside there it's nice and warm all year round. probably from the exhaust and the cars. i had a tv, a dvd player, a lamp, cuz i used to kick back and read my tom clancy books cuz i love tom clancy. tom clancy is the shit in the military stuff. i like him, even though the bad guys always lose i still like him. all american...


tm- sometimes the bad guys win


mm- not in tom clancys books they aint


tm- in real life


mm- in real life we always win- i would know.