crazy lady

I came upon this lady slumpped on the ground by the highway. 

The highway here is a lot like Alta Dr.  It is a main but mostly two lane road

there are houses up and down it, the bus runs on it, and the speed limit is, at most,

45.  The difference is- no sidewalks.  Just grass.

I almost walked past her, but she cried out at me.

"Where is the bus stop?" 

I have never dealt with someone so drunk.  I told her where it was.  I asked if she needed to call someone.  She had me try to call her son.  It went to voicemail.  She had me try to call her mom.  My phone froze.  My phone is grounded.  Anyway, she asked my name and where I'm from and what my mom's name is.  I lied about everything except that I was a lifeguard, I'm Mormon, and my age- because she guessed 22 .  Crazy lady. 

Why did I lie?  Well, there aren't many 'Aria's around.  Anywhere.  It doesn't really matter if I never see her again and I probably won't.  If I gave her my actual name, I can be found and I don't really know what she is or has been involved in.  I don't think she'll come and kill me or anything, but I feel safer in these situations when I don't use my own ID.  

I offered to take her to the bus stop.  She stood up on her own which, given her state, was an accomplishment.  We walked for awhile but the path is on top of a slope and she got really wobbly, so I grabbed her upper arm to steady her.  When we got to the bus stop, I told her that 'that' (down the street) was my temple.  "You're Mormon?", she said.  For some reason that amused her.  When she sat down we tried to call her people again and we were more sucessful.

Her name is Denise.  She is from Miami.  She was in Maui and has been on Oahu for about a week.  Her son's name is Joshua and he is my age, she has two daughters, one is 21 the other 24.  Her mom lives in Clark County (I know this because her area code is 702) and her name is Cecile.  Denise smokes, she is a lifeguard, she thinks her son should marry me because I am an Angel sent from God, and she says that God is the s#*!.  She was wearing a swimming suit and a rashguard, no shoes.  From what I gathered from the phone calls- she walked about 14miles before I got to her, there is someone she loves in the hospital, she lost her phone, she does know a bit about Mormons (enough to know that Laie is the main Church point on the island).

I gave her some direction about the bus- Take the transfer slips, she needs to ask the driver for directions, it is $2.50, it is Saturday so the bus should come every 25-30 min, I hadn't seen one pass when I was in the store nor had I seen one pass me on my way so I figured it would be soon.  Then I left, leaving her with hopes that she would get where she needs to be and taking her blessing.

I think I should've stayed with her until the bus came, but I didn't.   I was right though, I had been walking for about 5 min when the bus passed me. 

For once, I saw someone that I was allowed to help..  She was in no state to rob me, nobody else lingered around, I knew where she was headed, I had a phone- the circumstance was in my favor to help.  I hate walking or driving by homeless people, people begging or out of work, people hungry or fainting; so, thank you, God, for letting me help this one.  :)