A
nna Hatfield speaks matter-of-factly, missing the emotion that belies her dire straits.
Entering your fourth day of homelessness tends to dull the nerves like that.
She’s cried twice.
“I cried last night in the dark,” she said Tuesday. “I didn’t like being out here alone. And I cried when we had to leave the motel.”
Hatfield has been displaced since Saturday with her companion, Gary Pinckney, with the change of ownership of the former Crossroads Motel.
Higher rent at Crossroads — now called Regency Inn by the new owners — prompted the pair to move out.
“The new owners wanted the money before payday, but we didn’t have it,” Hatfield said, “so they threw us out. I thought they were going to be nice and let us stay, but they didn’t.”
As of this morning, their search for a new home has been fruitless.
With no place to stay, the couple and Sophie, the little dog they adopted shortly before leaving the motel, are living in a tent along South State Street, a stone’s throw from Elm Creek bridge.
There’s not much reason for hope.
Their food supply has run out. A sack filled with old soda cans and snack wrappers sits outside their tent.
The batteries for their cell phones long since have died.
“We have dog food for Sophie,” she said. “But we haven’t eaten since (Monday.)”
An unusual cold, wet spell adds to the misery.
With the tent their only cover from the outside elements, water seeps inside occasionally.
“Our legs will get wet, and that makes it uncomfortable,” Hatfield said. “I haven’t showered since Saturday. Gary hasn’t since the day before. We know we reek.”
