Chapter Ten: Adventures in Moving

Adam is assigned a partner at Fast Company. His name is Shaun Caldwell. Shaun is older and has more personality than most of the other workers at Fast Company. Adam really likes Shaun and learns all the tricks of the trade from him. He learns all about shrink-wrapping the furniture so that it does not get scratched or broken. Because Shaun is so aggressive, he and Adam go to the more affluent side of Charleston almost every day. There, the clients give better tips and have more furniture. Adam begins to feel comfortable with Shaun and tells him more about his real life than he has told others. He does not tell everything though. On day, Adam tells Shaun not to litter and to but his seat belt on. He does so in a demanding way, and Shaun obeys him. They learn to respect each other. He also acquires $80 per month in food stamps, which will really help him save money for other things, like for an apartment. He realizes that he must change and grow in order to be successful. He has to become a product of his environment in order to survive. He currently has no one in Charleston who really supports and encourages him. He has friends, but their relationships with him are not all that personal. For the first time in his life, he is truly on his own. After one his moves that lasts all day, he has to sleep outside under the stars because he has no way to get back to the shelter. As he looks up at the sky, he realizes that many people do this every night, not because they can't get to a shelter and not because they are doing an experimental project. They actually have no place to go. Shaun, his moving partner, begins to annoy Adam, Adam has to pay for money Fast Company lost, and Marco, his best friend in the shelter, left him and will never see Adam again. This week is the hardest for Adam, but he knows he must be tough and get through it so that he can be successful at the end of the year. He has to be persistent and determined not to let small obstacles hold him back from obtaining his full potential. He constantly looks toward the light at the end of the tunnel and keeps walking.