Bum Tales: Stories About Society's Colorful Characters

The other day, I was out to dinner with several of my friends at this nice little Thai restaurant near my apartment. We were all sitting inside, save for Brandon and Matt, who were outside smoking a cigarette. As we talked and joked, a Native American homeless man stumbled up to the boys and started talking. He held out his hand and Brandon gave it a firm handshake, but for some reason when Matt shook the man's hand, he refused to let go.

Everyone at the table had turned and looked towards them and waited to see what would happen. The man formed his hand into a fist and looked ready to throw a punch when, finally, he released Matt's hand. Brandon threw his cigarette butt down on the sidewalk and they both walked inside the restaurant and sat down. The man stood out there alone, and then walked away. They told us that the man kept asking Matt if he thought he were better than the man. We talked about how we didn't think the man would have tried anything, and how lucky he was that he didn't. Then, conversation went on like normal.

About fifteen minutes later, the man walked back up, opened the door to the restaurant, and walked in. Our conversation ceased as the man headed towards Matt. For a few seconds, no one was really sure what was going to happen. Luckily, he walked right on past and up to the girl at the counter.

"Is Bruce Lee here?" he asked in a drunken and muffled voice. "I am looking for Bruce Lee, is he here? Do you have free tea? I am Bruce, Bruce Lee. Do you have free tea for me? Free tea for Bruce Lee?" At that point, the girl had picked up the phone and we had all assumed she was calling the police. The man seemed to understand and turned around and headed towards the door.

"Ok, no free tea for Bruce Lee," he said as he left.