Fred and Neil can often be found sitting on the benches at Redondo Beach’s Veterans Park sipping a bottle of vodka mixed with Gatorade. They start early and drink just to get through the day. Fred, a Mexican-American, wears black pants and a black sweater and carries a small backpack around with him. He used to sleep in a corner of the Elks Lounge behind a fence, but his spot was discovered by another homeless man, and now he moves from place-to-place. Neil, who didn’t want to be personally interviewed, wouldn’t say where he goes, but he hangs out with Fred often. Neil wears trousers and a sweater with a collared shirt – staying clean is important to both men. Fred was recently arrested at a park because of a past warrant and an open-container of vodka.
“I grew up just like any other kid,” said 43-year-old Fred (name withheld). “My mom was an alcoholic. I didn’t do that well in school. I left and started working in construction and was making really good money. Then the economy went down and BAM, you know.”
Fred’s troubles started when he started losing money because he wasn’t getting any construction jobs. His girlfriend at the time left him and took their daughter up north, where they still live. That was six years ago.
“You know, that was tough, that was a hard thing,” said Fred. “I grew up here in the South Bay. I ended up living in Carson and my mom wasn’t really good – she was always working at bars and stuff. My dad, I didn’t really know him at all. I didn’t even go to my dad’s funeral five years ago.
“He was a postman and wasn’t that nice. One time my mom found I was smoking weed and they kicked me out of the house and brought me to my father that I didn’t even know,” said Fred. “She dropped me off on his f’ing front door and says, ‘You’re out,’ and dropped me off. I was like, ‘Really? You’re dropping me off?’ She said her boyfriend wanted me out. So I was like, ‘You’re picking him over me?’ I was 18 years old. I went to my father’s doorstep and waited for her to leave, then I left. I went to my sister’s house and she happened to not be there. Then I went to my other sister and called her and she was like, ‘You can’t come over here,’ and I was literally on the f’ing streets. The reason I’m telling you that is that it affected me big time. I felt my mom picked her boyfriend over me. I would have worked through it. I would have been like, ‘We’re going to work through this and I’m going to keep you because you’re my child.’ Why would you do that to your kids?”
Fred didn’t remain homeless at that time. He worked construction successfully for 20 years.
“At the time construction was booming, and the money started pouring in,” said Fred. “I was like, damn, I’m making some cash. This is good. I was doing really well and I ended up hiring people. I had like 10 people working for me and it was going good, but then the economy just fell out.”
Construction was the only thing he knew how to do. He couldn’t find another job. “I mean if you put me on a computer, I can’t do it,” he said. “If you put a nail and hammer in my hand – I can do anything. I love building shit, but to this day I wish I knew more about computers and stuff like that because that’s where everything’s going.”
“Look at where everything’s going now. Nobody’s buying houses, everybody’s losing their homes… The world’s moving in a different direction, for better or for worse. That’s why I wanted Mitt Romney, because I think he’s a better businessman and he wants to start people working. People need to get back on their feet by working.”
Neil said that he thinks Fred is wrong.
“If you’re not putting people to work getting a decent livable wage, that’s a problem,” Neil explained. “If you’re not on a livable wage, you’re working to be poor or homeless. You can’t get the necessities to live, like rent, electricity or basic stuff.”
“Obama’s giving all that shit for free,” Fred countered. “That’s why everybody wants him in office. And if you do that, who’s paying for it? The people who are working — the taxpayers.”
Neil added: “What good is it if you go back to work — you want to buy a home — you want to make a livable wage you can survive on. We don’t have livable wages here. I mean, be honest, the average person is not rich. The person is working 9 to 5 everyday. It takes two or three people to make it happen, the husband has to work, the wife has to work, the kids have to work and even the dog. I’m talking about now — 20 years ago it was different. It’s real man. This thing is very, very, very real, and you come out here to see the homeless and you know.”
Neil and Frank conferred together about when to leave to catch the bus to get a meal. While deciding, Fred pulled a vodka bottle out of his backpack and filled the slightly pink Gatorade bottle halfway.
“It’s hard to get caught up once you fall behind,” said Fred. “The GR [food stamps] makes you jump through hoops, and half the time it’s not worth it. I can understand that a little bit too though. You can’t give everybody free stuff.”
“The average person wants to earn a decent wage,” said Neil, interrupting Fred. “This thing is huge; it’s bigger than me and you.” Neil thinks that every citizen of America shouldn’t be without shelter, food or clothing, “which we don’t have.”
“I’m homeless and I built homes,” said Fred. “I’m a hard worker, I framed a house. I feel proud about that shit because you know a lot of stuff I did out there nobody can do.”
Both Fred and Neil eat meals at different churches and missions, but some days they don’t eat at all.
“For me, straight up truth, the reason I don’t eat sometimes is because I drink so much alcohol,” Fred said. “The more I drink, the more I don’t eat. I can’t even believe I’m telling you that, but you want an honest report — there it is. For me I drink a lot and then I hit the wall. I’m like dead to the world.”
Both sleep wherever they can find a place. Sometimes they sleep on the beach; other times they sleep under a bridge or somewhere that protects them from the wind.
“I get a blanket and cover up and listen to the ocean and waves all night,” said Neil.
“I slept in an elevator last night,” added Fred.
“Of course it’s cold, it’s very cold. It’s lonely, it’s cold, it’s all the emotions a person will feel,” said Neil.
“When you find a cubby hole somewhere you’re in heaven because it’s warm,” said Fred. “But 90 percent of the time you’re freezing.”
Fred hasn’t seen his daughter in a long time, and he doesn’t want her to know what he’s going through now.
“You keep thinking you’re going to get another job, but shit just doesn’t happen,” said Fred.
“That’s all it takes is one break, man, and you’re back on your feet,” Neil noted. “People tend to think most homeless people are out here because they’re mental and really are affected by some real stuff. Some people are out here because a job was lost or some small things….Nobody wants to see a homeless person, but for me it’s bigger than that person. It affects society as a whole for it to happen. It’s capitalism at its best – therefore somebody has to be in our situation.”
Fred thinks it could have been different for him if his home life would have been better. “If you have a kid, be happy and take care of him.”
“What I want to say to people is if you have the means to help somebody, help them,” said Neil. “It’s simple and not hard. Don’t look at a person and judge them because you don’t know their situation. Anybody can go through this… It happened to me, but I’m grateful and thankful I’ve been able to explain it to people. I’m grateful because when I do bounce back I’ll be a totally different person.”
— Chelsea Sektnan
