James Wayne’s Story

“Basically, nine years ago, I was in a bad relationship with a younger woman, and I ended up leaving her. And I was overwhelmed with child support, I was working two jobs and I couldn’t afford to take care of myself, so I left my felony probation and, um, decided that if they were gonna arrest me, that I was gonna get a vacation out of it. And, it took them three and a half years to arrest me, and then I finally served my time, which was, like, 10 months. And then, when I got out, basically the only life I knew was to travel. I traveled by freight trains, buses, and public transportation. I never hitchhiked. I flew signs and made money.

For the last nine years I took very good care of myself. And, um, I got an alcohol habit. And I have a dog that I take care of. I’ve traveled the United States from coast to coast several times over back and forth. And, from there, I found New York, and for the last five years, I’ve came back to New York every year, and I liked it so much that now I’m giving up my traveling life and settling down here now. And I’m seeking housing through an agency and I’m gonna have an apartment here.”

When asked about his dog, James elaborated:

“Well, I like having a dog because it draws more people to me. And I think that they see that I have a caring heart because I have the ability to care and take care of something outside of myself. And it helps me to associate with people, being in the dog parks, and establish friends and people that have helped me out with vet care. That’s probably about it on that. Plus I have him for protection in case somebody tries to harm me. And he’s a watchdog. So he looks over me. His name is Happy.

When I got out of prison for the child support, I was comin’ up to New York, and I went to a junkyard where I catch the train at. He was a little puppy, and he came up under the fence, and I grabbed him, and I took him on the train with me. And I’ve had him with me ever since. Since I’ve had him, I’ve neutered him, I’ve got him all his shots, he’s got all his rabies tags, he also has a chip in him, and there’s plenty of friend and agencies that’ll help me get anything done for him for free that I need.”

When asked if James is in touch with his family, he responded:

“Yeah, I have seven kids by four different women. I’m in touch with three of them, three of my boys. My other two boys were by another woman that I left to come out here and be homeless. I haven’t heard from them, I don’t know anything about them. Then I had a daughter after my marriage, because I wanted to get married again, thinking it would help me, but it didn’t. So, I got divorced. I had a daughter out of that relationship I don’t even know. And, my oldest daughter, she’s married, and she has children. I don’t have a very good relationship with her. But I stood closely to my three sons by my first wife.”

When asked if there was anything else James would like other people to know, he said:

“I feel like me leaving society and going and doing what I did helped me grow into a better person and see life for what it really was, and that it lead me closer to God. I have no regrets.”