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I never knew his name, only that he was homeless and that once upon a time he had been a lawyer. I used to think of him as Al, after Al Capone. They had nothing alike, but the first time I saw him I thought to myself "Damn, that guy reminds me of Al Capone".

I was riding the bus, the city bus; and when I looked out the window I saw the man. His clothes weren't very shabby, and he looked like he hadn't shaved in a few days; but overall he looked decent. What clinched my interest was the sign he was holding:
"Homeless.
Need help.
God Bless."

I got home and cried into my pillow for about an hour after I saw him.

The next day he was there, same look, same clothes, same sign.
I cried again when I was behind my locked door.

The next day he was standing in the middle of the intersection on the median. Instead of crying, when I got home I changed my shirt and made my way out to that intersection on my bike.

We talked for about thirty minutes, I had persuaded him to move to the sidewalk out of the road. He was a nice enough guy; maybe ten years older than I was. He told me he was a law school graduate, he told me he had been a lawyer rolling in the money.

I asked him what had happened.

"Make money and die."

The next day he was there, I visited again, he told me that he liked to read Nietzshe. We talked about philosophy.

The third day I visited him I realized that he never smelled bad, he told me that once a month he would scrounge up his money and buy a bar of soap, and that he would go down to the shoreline and wash up once every other day.

The fourth day I brought him books and a ten dollar bill; he treated me to lunch at the local fast food joint.

Three weeks passed, I saw him every day, we talked for hours at a time, we got drunk together on the side of the road; and he would tell me about his life before he left everything.

He said was working a case when he just decided to give up on everything.
He left his wife, his kid, his job, his life; he just left it all and used his last hundred dollars to buy a bus ticket across the country.

He said he loved it like this, he felt alive.
I never saw him alive again.

The next day somebody threw themselves in front of the bus.
I never knew his name, but when I saw his face I thought to myself "Damn, that guy reminds me of Al Capone".

Al Capone was possibly the most famous gangster to ever live. I'm talking mafia ganster, not this ghetto crap.

He murdered countless people, but then he was arrested for tax fraud. He died in prison from siphilous.

I haven't been able to get online in like, ******** I have been lacking stories recently.

Oh, Zahmen! I love your stories! *Idols you and starts to stalk you* whee

I saw a guy with a sign that said that today, he was in a wheelchair...I felt so guilty...Not being able to help him...When I stared at his eyes I felt like crying and then I looked away. AS soon as I did he put his sign down. And I saw that his eyes were red and filled with pain...*sigh*