American homeless people, surviving in the city

Of the three, LeBron James was the fastest.

He was completely absorbed, not glancing at the food twice. He quickly took his paper bag from the pretty blonde female server and then jogged away from the food cart with a brisk pace that seemed out of place for his age.

Standing in front of the food truck, being watched by so many people on the street, Lin Qi felt somewhat uneasy.

So he quickly took his share of food, thanked him, and then followed in Old James's footsteps, quickly moving away from the relief food truck area.

Raul stared blankly at the female food server's face for several seconds until a security guard maintaining order coughed lightly, which brought him back to his senses. He then hurriedly fled with the food.

The three of them jogged away from the noisy queue in front of the food truck and returned to Third Avenue, the place Old James knew best.

After waving away the teenagers who were selling enhancers in public, the group found a relatively clean corner and sat down by the roadside.

Lynch opened the paper bag and found a Mexican taco with roasted pork, a small can of generic soda, and a slightly soft orange inside.

"It looks pretty good?"

This was the first time he had received relief meals, and the feeling of receiving something for nothing made the food seem much more welcoming.

"It's just so-so," Raul said noncommittally.

He tore open the paper bag, laid it flat on his lap, then placed his food on his lap and began to comment on each item:

"This taco is obviously leftovers from yesterday; it's cold, but it doesn't smell spoiled yet, so it's barely edible. As for this orange, look here, it's already covered in mold!"

"This drink... well, it's a brand I've never seen before, but it's just sugary and flavored soda anyway, I'll just drink it."

Although he kept criticizing, Raul's mouth was not idle. While talking, he stuffed large mouthfuls of tacos into his mouth and swallowed his entire portion of food in no time.

Lynch couldn't eat as heartily as him. Feeling thirsty after walking for a while, he first pulled the tab on the generic soda can and took a sip.

The next second, he couldn't help but spit out the soda he was drinking:

"...Why is it so sweet!"

However, just as the two were either enjoying or trying their best to eat their relief meals,

Old James, who was the first to take the relief food bag, simply placed his portion of food beside him, sat down with a frown, and remained silent.

"Hey, old man, why aren't you eating?" Raul, who had already stuffed the tacos into his stomach, patted the food crumbs off his hands, picked up the hairy orange, and looked at old James with curiosity.

Old James didn't answer immediately. He silently tore open the paper bag, took out a cold taco, and took a bite. Like an old ox chewing grass, he unconsciously repeated the chewing motion while lost in thought.

"Old James, what's wrong? What are you thinking about?" Lynch also noticed his unusual behavior.

Old James hesitated for a long time before slowly speaking:

"Don't bother me, let me think about it."

After pondering for a few more minutes, old James finally spoke slowly:

"I don't know if I've told you before, but I've been living on this street for 20 years."

"Twenty years?!" Raul exclaimed in surprise. "Old man, I admit I underestimated you. I didn't expect you to be such a street-smart longevity king!"

"Don't interrupt." Old James waved his hand impatiently. "I'm not showing off my seniority. I only ended up on the streets because I had nowhere else to turn. It's just that I don't use any enhancement drugs, I pay my dues to the gang on time, I know how to read people, and I'm also in good physical condition and have had some good luck, which is why I've been able to survive until now."

"However, in the 20 years I've been wandering this street, I've indeed seen too many... stories."

"What I saw today, did it remind you of something from the past?" Lin Qi seemed to understand something.

Old James nodded:

"Actually, that's not that far off."

"About seven or eight years ago, a half-mad woman came to this street."

"That woman was homeless and penniless, with a baby less than a year old. She was completely mentally unstable, had difficulty communicating with people, and was not even capable of scavenging or begging. During that time, I and other people on the street felt sorry for her and her child, so we helped them get relief meals and applied for subsidies for them."

"But soon, less than half a month later, the accident happened. One morning, we heard a heart-wrenching scream."

"That crazy woman's child has gone missing."

"We helped search the neighborhood, but found nothing. The police also took the case, but probably because the victim was a mentally unstable person who couldn't even speak clearly, they didn't investigate the case seriously. They did a quick search but didn't find any clues."

"Two weeks later, the woman, overwhelmed with grief, wandered into the road late at night and was run over by a passing truck."

"...What a tragedy," Lin Qi couldn't help but sigh.

"Yes," old James nodded, "That's why, even after so many years, I still have a vague recollection of this."

"What's even more absurd is that the police announced they had solved the case the day after the woman died."

"They issued a notice announcing that they had identified the suspect who stole the mentally ill woman's child, and posted several wanted posters on the roadside, showing the suspect's appearance."

"After so many years, it's impossible for me to still clearly remember what those suspects looked like."

"But what I was just recalling was the clothing of those suspects."

Old James's tone turned serious:

"At the time, the suspects on the wanted posters I saw didn't have anything particularly noteworthy about their appearance. However, their clothing was quite distinctive."

"In my memory, they all wore a cotton short robe with a cross collar, and it seemed that there was a ribbon embroidered with patterns hanging on the shoulder of the robe."

"That kind of clothing is very rare, and the whole incident was so absurd that I still remember it to this day..."

"So what? What does this have to do with the beautiful woman in the food truck?" Raul was still a little confused.

On the contrary, Lynch, upon hearing Old James mention the special clothing, immediately realized something, and his expression tensed up.

"Could it be...?"

"Yes."

Old James nodded:

"There were several people in the line for the food truck who were dressed exactly like the suspects from back then."

"What?!"

The half orange that Raul was holding fell to the ground.

Old James's tone was somewhat helpless:

"Actually, I didn't think about it at all at the time. I just felt an instinctive sense of tension when I looked at those clothes."

"So, I didn't even dare to look closely at that beautiful woman; I just wanted to grab the food and leave."

"Back then, the case was ultimately left unsolved. Although the police confirmed the suspects' identities, they seemed unable to bring them to justice. Those arrest warrants were simply pasted on the wall next to Third Avenue, gradually weathering away with the wind and sun, until one day they finally fell off completely and disappeared."

"This also means that those human traffickers are still at large to this day."

Finally, he ended the recollection with a sigh:

"I hope I'm just overthinking it."