Arthur lost his house two weeks before Christmas.
He's done his best to adjust; he lives on the street, but he saved his violin when he was thrown out and he plays songs on the street for money. Sometimes he breaks it up by reciting Shakespeare or poetry, but mostly he plays songs.
He's playing An Irish Lullaby for a child when Francis first sees him. The boy looks enraptured by the song, and he bursts into tears as his mother pulls him away from him, lecturing about strangers, especially hobos. Arthur isn't upset at the way she's talking about him and when the boy turns to look back at him, he waves goodbye. Francis smiles at him and drops a few dollars in the cup in front of him before he moves on.
When Francis sees him next, he's playing I Buried My Wife and Danced on Her Grave for a group of teenagers are dancing in front of him. They're taking up the entire sidewalk, and while some people are trying to walk between the dancers, most are just watching. He watches Arthur instead of the kids because he doesn't know if he's ever seen him that happy before. He's grinning madly, tapping his foot; pleased just to make others so happy.
The third time Francis sees him he's playing Barbara Allen for no one in particular, so Francis stops to listen. When the song came to a close (They both were buried in the old churchyard, but she was buried higher. And from her grave a red rose grew, and from his grave a brier.) Arthur looks at him and asks if he would like him to play anything special, and Francis requests whatever Arthur likes best. To his surprise, Arthur sets his fiddle in his lap and recites a poem instead.
( i am a beggar always
who begs in your mind
(slightly smiling, patient, unspeaking
with a sign on his
chest
BLIND)yes i
am this person of whom somehow
you are never wholly rid(and who
does not ask for more than
just enough dreams to
live on)
after all, kid
you might as well
toss him a few thoughts
a little love preferably,
anything which you can't
pass off on other people: for
instance a
plugged promise-
the he will maybe (hearing something
fall into his hat)go wandering
after it with fingers;till having
found
what was thrown away
himself
taptaptaps out of your brain, hopes, life
to(carefully turning a
corner)never bother you any more )
Francis is surprised, but not disappointed. This time he drops a twenty into the cup in front of him before moving on.
The next week when he sees him, Arthur isn't playing at all; he's sleeping on a bench, holding his violin case tightly. Francis stoops down and gently jostles him awake. Before he knows what he's doing he invited him to come home with him. Arthur is suspicious at first- he insists that he's will not have sex in exchange for shelter and Francis laughs, saying that that's not what he had in mind at all.
It's another hour before Francis can convince him that he's not a serial killer, nor a sex trafficker. Finally Arthur finally agrees to go with him, but only because there's a blizzard warning that evening and the shelters are completely filled.
Arthur's never seen on the street after that evening. Instead he can be found (with a job and a home, in new clothes, completely clean, gaining a bit of weight, with money in the bank) on a plush couch, playing for Francis (his lover, his partner, his fiancé.) He's content, He's safe, and he is terribly in love. And that is how Arthur Kirkland found his home.