I met Tjewe a couple of weeks ago, after seeing her around on South Sixth for the past several months. She was at the bus stop early one morning, crying and sick, after being up all night, presumably working but maybe not. She told me she was a heroin addict, and was at the time going through serious withdrawals. She needed help badly, but was hesitant to commit to any rehab program because she had this little dog that needed to be cared for. I wished I could have done something for her; given her a place to stay, clean her up, get her away from the drugs, that sort of thing. I bought her and her dog some food and drink, tried to encourage her to get some help, then left her there at the bus stop.

I hadn’t seen her since that morning, and wondered if she did in fact get into a program somewhere. To me, she was just too young and pretty to be messing up on the street like that. I was conflicted when I saw her and her dog again finally last night, there on South Sixth, at the same bus stop. I was glad to see her, after kind of missing her for so long, but at the same time I was disappointed that she did not clean up and get away from the street. She’s just too young and pretty for that kind of life. I wish there was something I could do for her.