18.
And he ended up with another series
of insults, among which I distinctly
grabbed a " to hell all the clowns
in uniform!" And while he was saying these last words he was already away,
ready to resume his personal research, God only knows of what or whom.
The dormitory of these bums is
outdoors, at the back of the underground stations: Charing Cross and Victoria
Station are the most popular. They are wrapped in cardboard or in a sort of sleepingbag in order to protect
themselves from the damp walls and the cold soil and from the icy wind that often
blows from the nearby Thames. The lucky ones, however, come back to sleep in
the suburbs, in some damp under-stairs flat or in some sordid little room, among
rats and waste of every kind.
Nevertheless, they preferred all this to public
dormitories, for the truth not very numerous but certainly more comfortable,
above all for the fact that such hospitality was subordinated to the acceptance
of a general program of recovery and social reintegration that they,
obstinately, refused to comply with.
There was also someone completely
asocial, who even rejected the company of the other tramps and in fact it was
always seen alone.
18. to be continued...
