A manager and partner at a club in Austin who has been friends with a homeless veteran for the last nine years is due to get married soon. Wanting his special friend to be a part of his big day, he took him to get fitted for a suit.
“I don’t want him to feel any different than anybody else,” Duece King, 39, told The Epoch Times. “I want him to enjoy it the same way as everyone else because he’s my real friend just like everyone else who is going to be there.”
Duece, who is also the door guy at Lit Lounge on Sixth Street in downtown Austin, has met a lot of homeless people over the years. However, he has a special liking for Darrell as he is always looking out for him.
Darrell, 59, is a retired war veteran who had a nice home and job before his wife died unexpectedly. This sent him into an “extreme depression.”
“He just wanted to be alone … I guess he didn’t want to fight for things that didn’t matter to him anymore,” Duece said. “So he just chose to be homeless.”
Recalling how their friendship blossomed, Duece said that Darrell, who works in a few restaurants in the downtown area in exchange for food, would always ask him if wanted to eat anything.
“He always asked me at the beginning of the shift, what I’m hungry for, and he‘ll go do work for two places that night, and he’ll bring me back food,” Duece said. “I just thought it was really cool. There’s a guy who doesn’t even have a home, who goes out of his way to help me out.”
Touched by his uplifting and positive attitude, Duece, too, began to look out for Darrell, assisting him with money or resources whenever possible.
Ever since Darrell found out that Duece is going to get married, he has been counting down for his friend’s big day.
“It’s almost like he’s more excited than I am some days,” Duece said.
To help him feel comfortable at the wedding, which is scheduled for Sept. 4, Duece took Darrell to Men’s Warehouse so that he could pick up a suit of his choice. The staff at the warehouse were touched by Duece’s gesture and were really nice to the two men.
“They suited him up, and [Darrell] was super happy, he was on top of the world, which made me happy,” Duece said.
Darrell, Deuce said, will be a part of everything, including the wedding at Chapel Dulcinea and a reception at the nightclub that he works at.
“He’s going to be able to enjoy everything,” Duece said. “It should be really special for him as well as for me.
“He’s a good guy, just circumstances are not on his side.”
For Duece, Darrell is more than a friend and is like his “family.” The two have created a lot of memories over the years and hang out together for burgers sometimes. Darrell is also a very protective friend who sometimes goes out of his way if his homeless friends are in trouble or if he sees anyone causing an issue at the club.
Duece said that he is not friends with just any homeless person.
“Just like people with homes, there are good and bad ones. Darrell is just one of the great ones!,” Duece said. “Home or not, good people are rare and we have to hold on to them when we meet them.
“There are a couple of others, but none like him.”
