Mike

Mike

Age: 55
Background: Homeless military veteran
Residence: Wolfwater Homeless Encampment

Mike is a fifty-five-year-old veteran living beneath the Wolfwater Bridge.

Years of homelessness have weathered him, but they have not stripped him of discipline or compassion. He understands the sounds of the encampment—the difference between a restless sleeper, an approaching police sweep, and footsteps carrying harmful intentions.

Femi befriends him while living beneath the bridge. Mike never pressures her to speak or explain her past. He shares food when he has it, watches the darker edges of the camp, and treats her silence as something worthy of respect.

After Samuel’s mother dies, Mike becomes the boy’s primary protector. He cannot offer a proper home, but he provides the things Wolfwater understands best: vigilance, loyalty, and the promise that the child will not wake alone.

Mike once served a country that later forgot him.

He still refuses to forget anyone placed in his care.