I read a disturbing story the other day about a love triangle that ended in the death of one of the two men involved.

The woman had made her choice and the other guy couldn't live with the decision, so he killed the chosen one and tried to kill the no-longer-available woman.

As terrible as this story is, what disturbed me even more was the fact that all three individuals were homeless! While I agree that 'love' comes in all sizes, shapes and (apparently) circumstances, that's not exactly the situation I would have envisioned prior to reading the story.

A positive contributor

Sitting from my corner of the universe, I would like to think that finding a proper shelter, maybe securing some way of getting regular meals and maybe even working out a way to be a positive contributor to society would be the top things on the agenda of a homeless person. But, nope, the killer decided that he wanted this grand dame and, if he couldn't have her, nobody could and decided to eliminate his rival. That he did but, before he got the chance to reload (or should that be 'restone'), the 'damsel' ran away.

Messed up

One friend asked incredulously how hot could the woman be to elicit such a reaction from both men. But, then again, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and I suppose that being homeless, the poor chap (the killer that is) must have thought that his one chance for love had rapidly disappeared. I guess he figured that life had been so mean to him, up to this point, he really had nothing else to live for and just lost it. Poor thing!

The whole messed-up situation merely underscores some of the things that give Jamaica a black eye. First, the plight of the homeless - don't know if the statisticians have any idea how many there really are.

The woman said she was intimate with both men. My first reaction to this was EEW!, but I saw the serious side of the information after that. I don't think any of them had access to condoms. Imagine the scenario of sexually transmitted diseases and maybe even pregnancy, while still living on the streets. Yikes!

As with many love triangles of this nature, neither guy ends up with the girl. One man is dead, the other going to prison for life. And, the woman is left, possibly, to continue roaming the streets, by herself, even more susceptible to the dangers.

If the state doesn't take her in, she might (gasp) find another poor pair to fight over her. Now, that's troubling!

Find me shelter at daviot.kelly@gleanerjm.com