Cleo robbed and stole from everyone he ran across, trying to survive on the streets of Oklahoma City. Voices in his head became worse. Hearing so many at once created constant static, but sometimes the alcohol quieted them. These voices terrified him. If he didn’t do what they asked, they would kill him. He picked up odd jobs from old widow women who needed repair work done on their farms. What little money he made he spent on alcohol. Every day he drank into a blackout, passing out in an alley somewhere behind a*****e. Seldom had he wondered about his family, but when he did, it was about his mother. He missed her, but he blocked them all out of his memory most of the time. Cleo picked up a job at a circus taking care of the animals, setting up tents, or whatever needed doing.
Cleo had n
