Stone Cold

The second narrator reflects on the word “shelter.” He notes, “It’s what they’re all seeking. The street people” (8). He decides Shelter is a good name for himself.

Link recounts that he was born on March 20, 1977, in Bradford, Yorkshire. His home was happy until his father left with a receptionist in 1991 when Link was 14. However, that’s not why he’s now unhoused: His mother’s boyfriend, Vince, is to blame. Vince is about 50 but tries to act young and likes drinking. Link notes, “I wouldn’t call that fat pillock Dad if he was the last guy on earth” (9). Vince changed Link’s mother, and that’s one reason Link hates him. She used to be a quiet woman who was satisfied with her daily routine; she was always there when he needed her, and she loved Link and his sister, Carole, who is four years older than him. When Vince first moved in, Carole made life easier for Link. One night, when their mother was working late, something happened between Carole and Vince, and Carole left the house, eventually moved in with her boyfriend.

After finishing school, Link couldn’t find a job, and Vince started pressuring him about living off his money. One night, Vince locked Link out of the house, and the next day, after a confrontation, Link decided to leave. Link’s mother is likely scared of Vince, because she didn’t stick up for Link. Link reflects on his situation: “And so here I am sitting in this doorway which is now my bedroom, hoping some kind punter will give me a bit of small change so I can eat” (10).

Shelter is getting accustomed to his new name, “breaking it in like a pair of new boots” (11). He’s repeating it in the mirror and writing it down. He knows recruiting can wait, since the street people aren’t going anywhere.

Link continues his story, noting that he doesn’t head to London immediately because of the number of unhoused people there. In Bradford, police frequently move him along, and he keeps running into people he knows: neighbors, schoolmates, teachers. He occasionally stays at his sister’s place, but her boyfriend eventually grows resentful. Soon, Link decides to move on. He describes the fear of moving into the unknown, among dangerous and sometimes unwell people, knowing that nobody cares: “You’re leaving a place you know and heading into the unknown with nothing to protect you. […] You’re going to find yourself living among hard, violent people, some of whom are deranged” (12).

Shelter has been out tonight, taking the tube to Charing Cross for an inspection. He has found hundreds of unhoused people. His life mission was always National Service—”to turn dirty, scruffy, pimply youths into soldiers. Into men” (14). Still, after 29 years in the Army, he was discharged on medical grounds. He believes this was part of a plot to fill the country with “dossers and junkies and drunks” (14). Now he’s determined to clean up the streets in his own way.

Link recalls applying for many jobs after school without success. At Christmas, he stays at Carole’s, and his mother and sister gift him a sleeping bag, which makes him feel worse: “It said they thought of me as a dosser—as someone who might always be a dosser” (16). On Boxing Day, his mom and Vince come over, and Vince mocks him during dinner: “I was a disgrace, he said, stuffing myself with my sister’s grub” (16). Feeling unsupported, Link borrows money for a one-way ticket to London and leaves.

Shelter reflects on a successful day. He has been meticulously planning and has acquired a cat. He hates cats but reflects that something is reassuring about a home with a cat in it: “A man who keeps a cat can’t possibly mean anybody harm, can he?” (18). He named the cat Sappho, which suggests a degree of scholarship in the cat’s owner. Now he’s ready to begin recruiting.

When Link first arrives in London, he makes several mistakes. The biggest one is arriving in midwinter. Had he known what he knows now, he would have stayed home a bit longer. He has £150 when he gets off the train at King’s Cross—what’s left of his savings plus £20 Carole slipped him without her boyfriend, Chris, noticing.

Link’s plan is simple: Find a room, and then look for work: “It felt like a new beginning. This was London, wasn’t it? The centre, where it all happens. It’s big, it’s fast, and it’s full of opportunities” (19). He walks up Pancras Road and spots a row of shops under a block of flats. One of them, a newsagent’s, has a few ads. One ad reads: “B&B, suit working man, rent negotiable” (19). He goes there. The landlord asks for £50 a week and refuses to negotiate. Link accepts, which is his second mistake. He could have tried other places, like the YMCA.

Next, Link looks for work. He goes to the Job Centre and fills out a form, but no jobs or training programs are available. He tries the DSS (social security), fills out another form, and asks for advice. An interviewer tells him they need to decide whether he qualifies for any help, which could take several weeks. That’s when Link starts to feel anxious—he only has enough money for two weeks of rent.

Shelter announces that his recruiting has begun. He finds his first recruit near Camden Station late at night. He squats in front of an unhoused man and lies about running a hostel on Plender Street called the Townhouse Project. He says the hostel is full tonight but might have a bed tomorrow. Then he offers, “There’s a comfy couch at my place if you don’t mind roughing it” (22). The man agrees. They walk to Shelter’s apartment, where he introduces him to his cat. While the man relaxes on the couch, Shelter approaches and kills him. He reflects, “Nobody wanted him, so nobody will miss him, and there’s one less dosser to clutter up the place” (22).