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'I knew Melvin quite a while'
By John C. Ensslin
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
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| Keith Williams, 40, sits on a steam grate near 18th and Arapahoe streets. When not staying with his sister, Williams sleeps on the grate. |
Keith Williams slowly rises from his spot where he has curled up in a fetal position alongside a circular steam grate on Denver's 18th Street.
A bicyclist darts past, narrowly missing him.
He sits up cross-legged like a man next to a campground fire. He is a few feet away from the spot where Melvin Washington, another homeless man, was fatally beaten on Sept. 8.
"I knew Melvin for quite a while. I used to drink with him," Williams says, his voice groggy with sleep and drink.
This is one of Williams' favorite spots for sleeping. The grate is hot to the touch. Step away from it and the chilly autumn wind will cut right through you.
Normally, he will salvage a piece of cardboard to serve as a buffer between his body and the hot metal. Sometimes, he's not that careful.
"I've got the grill marks to show for it," his says, lifting a pant leg to reveal a cross-hatch-pattern scar on his calf.
"I got a place to stay. I do," he insists. "I stay with my sister; a place in Aurora."
The 40-year-old has lived the transient life, on and off, for the past 18 years. Tonight, with the last bus to Aurora long gone, he is settling in for a night of hot steam and cold concrete.
He knows the danger, but he's too drunk to get to his sisters' place.
"When I'm on the street, I always think about it. I do. I think about it every day. Well, not every day. I don't stay on the street every day. But when I do, I think about it.
"If it's warm enough, I usually stay with one or two other people. I'll probably run into one or two other people tonight. Right now, I'm just by myself right now."
"I don't have to stay in the shelter. Whenever I'm down here, I usually stay here on the heat."
"It's kind of scary, but it's where I stay."
November 28, 1999
