JD Round Three and A Deaf Elephant

    

When I arrived in Trenton, New Jersey, I had to wait about 20 minutes for JD to and his now husband to show up to pick me up. Now coming off of the train and into Trenton's train station, I didn't get all the hype. I was told through pop culture that Trenton was a bad place to be. I though ehh... Overrated expectations to my relief.

    When JD arrived, I was greeted with open arms. What a great hug. What a great way to get reunited with old friends, again.

    They drove for about an hour and got into Philadelphia. Where they were staying was a hotel far outside of downtown Philly. But it was a nice place. When we got there, they gave me the tour of the room, which was a bit of a chaotic mess due to having all of their belongings with them in the hotel room. So I added my belongings to the heap and got high.

    After a few days and a different hotel later, things started to get unhinged between JD and myself. I don't remember why we started fighting, but we did. Not a physical altercation, but a verbal attacking match between the two of us, when lead to JD's husband leaving for a different hotel. I went for a walk. And JD went for a drive. We all figured we each needed space for a little bit. And that is exactly what we got.

    We ended up getting reunited at the hotel JD's husband was at. During the idle time away from everyone, I ended up making arrangements with a zoomer that I had became online friends with. I was going to ride a train from West Philly to somewhere just outside of Philly in New Jersey. 

    When I told JD of my plans he did something very kind in hopes of mending the rift between us. He offered to get me an Uber to that NJ Transit station. 

    Little did I know that this would be the last time I would be seeing JD and his husband.

    When I arrived in New Jersey at the station, there he was, waiting for me, Deaflpehant (this was the name he went by on Zoom. Something pretty unique about the underground Zoom meth community is that we have a thing with making our nickname on Zoom something catchy, often punny, like my name on Zoom being Tweak Twack Zack). Deaflpehant's name was funny and accurate for he was actually deaf in real life.

    He took me back to his place. He lived in his parents basement. We got high and we hooked up on Zoom. This was the first time I ever got on Zoom and actually did sexual acts with someone else. The Zoom community was based on drugs and sex after all.

    When we were done with that, we got even more high, and talked with each other. You see, I at least knew the alphabet in ASL. I learned in 9th grade so I could communicate back and forth with a friend of mine in study hall.

    This was when I told him that I was homeless and had nowhere to stay except for a friends hotel room. Deaflephant felt pity for me and said I could stay there with him. 

    During three weeks that I stayed with Deaflephant, he took care of me in so many ways. He kept me high, he fed me, let me wash my clothes, take showers, overall feel human again. This was when and why Deaflephant became my best friend. I could never repay him for all he did for me when I was in need. The compassion and hospitality that he gave me, I am forever grateful and indebted for.

    I also became a regular daily zoomer. I was already established, but now, I started getting asked to help with the rooms I were around. I made more friends. A lot of which were in Philly. 

    After three weeks, Deaflephant told me his mother was having a problem with me still being there. So, we decided to part ways at the time. He drove me to a friend's apartment that we just helped him move into. A fellow zoomer. That was where I basically made my home base in Philadelphia. I spent most of the time on the streets though.