Somebody killed Miss Janice

I was listening to the radio this morning and on one of the news segments. They reported that Riverdale Police are looking for the person or persons who killed Miss Janice.

Miss Janice lived at the closed down Amoco on Georgia Highway 85 at the corner of Bethsaida Road. Once the business left, Miss Janice moved in. She relocated from under the tree at the Walmart across the street.

I met Miss Janice one afternooon before she moved. I was leaving the Walmart and she flagged me down. I stopped because I thought she was somebody's grandmother. She didn't really talk, just kept making these sounds. Since she was wandering out in traffic, I helped her back over to where her little campsite was. I gave her a few dollars and not knowing what else to do, I went on my way.

I can't remember when I first noticed that Miss Janice had moved her campsite to the Amoco. One morning the red light caught me at the Bethsaida Road corner and I looked over and there she was - sitting in her sleeping bag under the shelter by one of the gas pump islands just out of the rain.

Most mornings, I would zoom right by, but on red light mornings, I would always look for Miss Janice. Some mornings, I would see her gray hair poking up out of her sleeping bag or some mornings, she would be just sitting there watching the world go by.

And now, she's not there.