Delusional, largely toothless and at times hilarious
I would love to take a road trip with these guys:
Mental patients survive on instincts
Troubled souls stick together on an extraordinary odyssey out of New Orleans
By Joseph B. Verrengia, Associated Press
HOUSTON — They're out there.
The shooters, the choppers, the looters, the lines, the foul water and the bodies. Especially the bodies.
"But we're in here," says Victor Fruge.
Others — hundreds of thousands of them — had also escaped from New Orleans. But few could match the extraordinary, even miraculous odyssey of Fruge and his comrades — 16 mentally ill men and recovering addicts, cast out of their group home, Abstract House, by the storm.
[...]
They are not inmates. While they might be delusional, largely toothless and at times hilarious, they are not really rebellious. Wearing scraps of donated clothing, the men range in age from 30 to 70. Several are quiet — Leonard, for one, didn't speak for 12 days after the storm.
For these men who are schizophrenic, bipolar, severely depressed, obsessive-compulsive and shell-shocked from war — often simultaneously — Hurricane Katrina and its agonizing aftermath have forced them to function as a family, perhaps for the first time in their lives.
"We look out for each other," says Raymond Jean Pierre, who everybody agrees is the oldest.
"We stick together," says Patrick Pitchford, whose tattoos crawl down both arms like psychedelic shirt sleeves. "If one person had to go to the bathroom, we all go'd to the bathroom."
"We haven't killed each other," says Ray Brown.
[...]
Abstract's director, Barrie Byrnes, explains she was following instructions from city officials. She describes Abstract House as "a big, dysfunctional family that is more fun than a barrel of monkeys."
[...]
When they finally were loaded on a bus, Richard rocked faster in his seat. James started getting paranoid. Bruce, who has lived at the Abstract for 20 years, was hearing voices.
Ray: "That's nothing. He also thinks he's a pregnant woman."
Mike: "And that he has wires coming out his mouth. I just reach over and make like I'm pluckin' them."
Mental patients survive on instincts
Troubled souls stick together on an extraordinary odyssey out of New Orleans
By Joseph B. Verrengia, Associated Press
HOUSTON — They're out there.
The shooters, the choppers, the looters, the lines, the foul water and the bodies. Especially the bodies.
"But we're in here," says Victor Fruge.
Others — hundreds of thousands of them — had also escaped from New Orleans. But few could match the extraordinary, even miraculous odyssey of Fruge and his comrades — 16 mentally ill men and recovering addicts, cast out of their group home, Abstract House, by the storm.
[...]
They are not inmates. While they might be delusional, largely toothless and at times hilarious, they are not really rebellious. Wearing scraps of donated clothing, the men range in age from 30 to 70. Several are quiet — Leonard, for one, didn't speak for 12 days after the storm.
For these men who are schizophrenic, bipolar, severely depressed, obsessive-compulsive and shell-shocked from war — often simultaneously — Hurricane Katrina and its agonizing aftermath have forced them to function as a family, perhaps for the first time in their lives.
"We look out for each other," says Raymond Jean Pierre, who everybody agrees is the oldest.
"We stick together," says Patrick Pitchford, whose tattoos crawl down both arms like psychedelic shirt sleeves. "If one person had to go to the bathroom, we all go'd to the bathroom."
"We haven't killed each other," says Ray Brown.
[...]
Abstract's director, Barrie Byrnes, explains she was following instructions from city officials. She describes Abstract House as "a big, dysfunctional family that is more fun than a barrel of monkeys."
[...]
When they finally were loaded on a bus, Richard rocked faster in his seat. James started getting paranoid. Bruce, who has lived at the Abstract for 20 years, was hearing voices.
Ray: "That's nothing. He also thinks he's a pregnant woman."
Mike: "And that he has wires coming out his mouth. I just reach over and make like I'm pluckin' them."
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