Pale · Cast

The curious incident of the homeless woman has finally come to an end. Readers may well remember that I invited Julie, who sleeps rough, to stay in our sun room for a night. It isn't ideal but has a mattress and more safety than the cold concrete tunnel in which she used to sleep. Well Julie ended up staying every night for four months. She kept herself to herself on the whole and always refused invitations to come into the house. I made her teas and food sometimes and gave her some clothes and a box of edible goodies over Christmas. She would turn up at about 9pm, sleep or lie in bed till about 11am, smoke a lot, occasionally swig some vodka. My children found the entire experience something of an embarassment though seemed to enjoy recounting the tale to their friends. Anyway it all came to an end this week when my neighbours complained they had seen her using my garden as a toilet. I can see why they would not be happy about this. I contacted the Salvation Army, which runs a project for the homeless, and spoke to an old newspaper contact there about what could be done to find Julie somewhere better to live. She was optimistic something could be worked out for her. So I told Julie she couldn't use the sunroom anymore and passed on the details about the homeless project, who she needed to see, and when. Julie thanked me for our hospitality and apologised the upsetting my neighbours. Then she was gone. I was hoping she would have followed up the homeless project lead but last night when out running I found her curled up once more in the cold, dangerous tunnel. Right back to square one - where we started. I am not very happy about this. I did something and nothing.