“Y-y-y-yeah,” you stammer, unsure of where this conversation is going, “they’re Oreos.” The man drops his rock and lunges for the bag containing the cookies. Instinctively, however, you sidestep him and he misses his grab for the bag by about three feet.
“It’ll cost you, though,” you tell him, please that you’re showing such gumption in the face of such a dangerous man. “I want my wallet back.”
The man’s eyes dart back to the dumpster, and for the first time, you notice why he’d been there to begin with. You keep your eyes on him as you slowly move closer to the trash bin. On the other side of it, hidden from view of the alley entrance and leaning against the brick wall, were two small children. They couldn’t be more than 4 or 5 years old. They are both shivering, wet and dirty.
“Oh, MAN!” you exclaim, more than a little annoyed by this turn of events, “Seriously? You think you’re justified in robbing people if you’re doing it to feed these kids??” You’re pretty pissed now. “You hit me with a fucking rock, Man! What lesson were you trying to teach with that one?”
The thief looks down at his shoes and replies, “Oreos are their favorite.”
You roll your eyes, sigh and then stare at the man, who appears much older and more tired than you’d originally thought when you were chasing him down the street. “Gimmie my wallet back. I’ll give you the cookies.”
The man tosses the wallet at your feet, and you bend down to pick it up. Inside is all the money you’d been carrying, and all of your credit and debit cards. You slowly remove the cash from the wallet and put it inside the bag with the cookies. You put the wallet back in your pocket. You crouch down, making sure to keep the man in your peripheral vision, and gently hand the bag containing the cookies and money to one of the children. “Here you go. You need this more than I do,” you tell them. You stumble out of the alley, leaving the man and the two children staring after you with their mouths open.
The same moment you make up your mind to call in for a Personal Day off from work, go home, clean the blood off your head, shower and let Sean know you’ll be a little earlier than you’d thought was the same moment it stopped raining. The sun came out shortly thereafter.
THE END
THE END
