by Robert Swetz
He was earlier this time. The same group of homeless people were just gathering outside. He joined them. A few of them tried to say hi or talk to him. Other than trying to be polite, he barely acknowledged them, staying to himself as usual. Did they all think he was homeless like they were?
It was a while before the door opened and Sister What’s-her-name came out. The group of people started going inside. He was last in line like last time.
“You came back,” Sister Agnes said to him. “Welcome.”
“Yeah. Thanks,” he replied. “Is it still free to eat here?”
“Unless you’d like to make a donation. We love donations. Everything we do is because of donations.”
“Uh. Sorry. I don’t have any money,” he replied.
“Then just come in and eat. You know you’re welcome.”
“Thanks,” he said as he went inside.
He was amazed. From what he could see at the back of the line, it looked like the soup kitchen was serving soup. Some kind of stew he figured. At least, that’s what his mother usually called it. He called it soup. As he looked at the trays the people in front of him were carrying to the tables, he noticed that the stew was all they seemed to be serving today. Stew and some bread. This time, the nun said something about her father blessing the food and their lives while he was still in line. Why bother? And who was her father that she had to mention him?
When it was his turn, he took his bowl of stew and the slice of bread and carried them to the table. Yup! Meat and potatoes and vegetables in the stew. His mother would be happy. He tried some. Pretty good. He’d never tell his mother, but it tasted better than hers.
He watched as the nun made her way around the tables. He was halfway through with his soup by the time she reached him.
“It’s nice to see you again,” she said.
“Yeah. You too,” he replied.
“How are things at home?”
“Okay.”
“Are you still interested in talking to Father Joseph again?”
“Who said I was interested in doing that?”
“Nobody. I was just wondering. That’s all.”
“If he wants to say hi, I won’t stop him. Besides, this is his place, not mine. I’m just grateful for something to eat.”
“Just like everyone else,” she said with a smile. “I’ll ask him to stop by and say hello.”
“Whatever,” he replied. Did he want to talk to the priest again? But in the back of his mind, he knew that was the real reason he was there. Of course, the food was a major factor too.
He was just finishing the last of his soup when Father Joseph came out. This time he had removed his apron in the kitchen. He was dressed in the same black shirt again with the weird white collar that still looked uncomfortable.
“Welcome back,” Father Joseph said as he sat down at the table across from him.
“Thanks,” he replied.
“How is your mother? Any more problems?”
“Not with the Scorpions. Just with getting through till payday. Things are a little…”
“Tight?”
“Yeah. Something like that.”
“I understand. Would you like to go somewhere else where we can talk privately?”
“I don’t care.”
“Why don’t we go into the sanctuary. It’s peaceful in there.”
“The sanctuary?”
“Yes. Sister Agnes said she showed it to you last time.”
“Oh, she didn’t call it that.”
Father Joseph stood up. “Come with me.”
He followed the priest back into that big fancy room. The sanctuary, the priest had called it. He had to wonder what some of those statues were really about and why they were there. As far as he could see from those statues, it wasn’t much of a place of sanctuary at all. Father Joseph stopped in the middle of the big aisle, turned toward the front, and then touched each of his shoulders as he knelt down for a moment. Then he turned and walked up the main aisle past a few of the long wooden seats before he entered one of them and sat down. Brian sat in the same seat as the priest.
“It’s so peaceful in here,” Father Joseph said. “This church brings peace to my soul.”
“Not mine,” he replied.
“It doesn’t?”
“No. Why does it have to be so frightening?”
“Frightening? What do you mean? Nothing in here is frightening. It’s all just…wonderful.”
“How about that?” he said as he pointed to the big crucifix that seemed to be the center of attraction up front. “You can’t tell me that’s not frightening.”
“No. It’s not. Not to me at least. But I can understand your point. Do you know who that is on that cross?”
“Why should I? I usually stay just in my own neighborhood.”
“Have you ever heard of Jesus Christ? The son of God?”
“Maybe. Sort of. But God doesn’t live where we do. Why would they make a statue like that showing someone doing that to him? It looks like someone put nails in each of his hands and one going through his feet. How can you not call that frightening?”
“Yes, in that way it may seem frightening to you, but to me, that’s what brings me the most peace.”
“Then you’re sick!”
The priest laughed. “No, I’m not. You see, Jesus was crucified…nailed to a cross. Jesus, the son of God, died for all our sins. He died so that we could all go to heaven when we die. He died, to help forgive us all. The wonderment of what he sacrificed, his life, just to bring me and everyone else all that hope and forgiveness, is what brings me such peace and happiness.”
“Sounds dumb to me,” he replied.
The priest looked at him for a moment. “Will you tell me your name this time?”
“And what if I don’t?”
“Then don’t. I’m not going to force you. It’s just easier if I know what to call you.”
“Don’t call me. I’ll call you.”
Father Joseph smiled. “May I call you David then?”
“I don’t care. Call me anything you want.”
“Okay, then for now, I’ll just call you David.”
“Whatever.”
“David, the last time you were here, you were worried about something. Something you found. Did you ever get that straightened out?”
“No.” He hesitated then added. “But that’s kind of why I’m here.”
“Oh?”
“I found something, but I don’t know what to do with it. I thought I could just leave it alone and forget about it, but it seems I can’t.”
“Can you tell me what you found? Maybe I can make some suggestions.”
“That’s kind of why I’m really here,” he told the priest.
“Then what is it you found?”
“A box.”
“A box?”
“Yeah.”
“What was in the box?”
“Stuff that the Scorpions took that belongs to other people.”
Things suddenly turned a lot more serious for Father Joseph. “What kind of things?”
“Cards mostly.”
“Cards? What kind of cards?”
“Like credit cards, driver’s licenses, bus passes, subway passes. A whole bunch of stuff like that.”
“Driver’s licenses and credit cards,” Father Joseph said. “That’s some pretty serious stuff you found.”
“Yeah,” he replied. “At least I think it is. I know my mother was glad to get her license and bus pass back.”
“What did your mother tell you to do with the box?”
“Are you kidding? She doesn’t know anything about it. She doesn’t even know that I’m the one that found her purse. She’d kill me if she found out. She’s barely okay with me coming all this way here just to eat. But she said it’s okay as long as I don’t tell anyone anything about us. So you see, I can’t tell you my name. I’m probably already telling you too much.”
“I see,” Father Jos
eph replied, although in truth, his head was suddenly reeling. The boy had mentioned a few things that sent his mind in directions he didn’t want to go. “Let me see if I understand this,” he said. “You found a box full of credit cards that the Scorpions had.”
“Credit cards and other stuff.”
“Right. But now that you have it, you don’t know what to do with the box.”
“Yeah. Pretty much.”
“It sounds like you should take it to the police.”
“The police don’t care about anything to do with us. It wouldn’t do any good. Besides, if anyone from the Scorpions saw me talking to the police, they might kill me…or hurt my mother to keep me from saying anything else.”
“I see,” Father Joseph said again as he mused that over. Unfortunately, he had no doubt that the boy had a point. In some of the local neighborhoods, the gangs were a dangerous part of everyone’s lives.
“David,” he said, then stopped and looked at him for a moment. “David, do you know who David was?”
“David? I knew a few of them in some of the schools I’ve been to. I don’t know any in the school I’m in now though.”
“No. I mean the David in the bible.”
“How can I know him? Isn’t the bible like all religious stuff?”
“Something like that,” Father Joseph replied. “David was a boy. A small boy.”
“Like me?”
“Yes. In fact, at the time of the story, David was a young teenager.”
“Like me. Cool! What happened?”
“The Philistine army was attacking Israel.”
“I don’t watch the news. We don’t have TV.”
“I’m talking about thousands of years ago.”
“Oh.”
“Anyway, the big bad guy in the Philistine army was a giant named Goliath.”
“A giant!”
“Yes!”
“You mean like a really big guy?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Why didn’t you just say that?”
“In the bible, they say he was a giant. Nine feet tall!”
“He should have played basketball.”
“They didn’t have basketball back then.”
“Too bad for him. He could have been rich.”
“Yes. Anyway, Goliath was their big main warrior, and little David went out to fight him, and slew him.”
“What’s slew?”
“He killed him.”
“Even though the guy was nine feet tall?”
“Yes. He hit him with a rock.”
“He must have had a good arm.”
“He used a sling.”
“His arm was in a sling? He was hurt? You didn’t mention that.”
“No,” Father Joseph replied, somewhat exasperated. “A sling is like a piece of cloth designed to hurl a rock really fast and hard. He used that to hit Goliath in the head and kill him.”
“Oh. So even though he was so young, David was like a really bad dude.”
“Uh…yeah. Something like that. But the point is, that David was able to overcome an impossible obstacle. Goliath. Maybe that’s like what you need to do.”
“I ain’t going to go up against anyone. Not even Big Paul.”
“Who’s Big Paul.”
“He’s one of the Scorpions. They don’t call him Big Paul for nothing.”
“I see. Maybe we should just forget this. Forget about David and Goliath.
“Whatever. It was a good story though. Kind of cool.”
“I’m glad you liked it.” He stared at the boy for a moment again, then said, “May I make a suggestion about something you can do with the box?”
“Sure. Like I said, that’s kind of why I’m here. That, and to eat. The stew was good by the way.”
“I’m glad you liked it. But if you don’t want to give the box to the police, why don’t you bring it here to me. Let me have it and I’ll see if there’s anything I can do with it.”
He thought about that. “Maybe. If I do, then I’m pretty sure I can get it here without the Scorpions seeing me with it, and they won’t see me talking to the police either.” He smiled. “That might be good. And I also won’t have to worry about my mother finding out.”
“Good,” Father Joseph said. “The next time you come, bring the box and we’ll see what we should do. Okay?”
“Sounds like a plan,” he replied.
--- §§§§§§§§§§ ---
That night, he told his mother that he had gone back to the soup kitchen, and this time, they actually had soup.
His mother seemed amused. “Did you talk to anyone there?”
“Just this priest. I don’t remember his name. Since I wouldn’t tell him my name, he called me David. Then he told me some story about a dude my age named David who killed some big guy named Goliath.”
His mother smiled. “The story of David and Goliath.”
“Well, I never heard it before. It was kind of cool though. I just thought it was a shame they didn’t have basketball back then. I’m sure a big guy like that could have made a fortune.” He didn’t notice his mother rolling her eyes.
To his mother, at least it sounded like her son hadn’t told anyone about them, and he had gotten something nutritious to eat as well. It was always hard to put enough food on the table, especially when their money was so tight…like now. But the way they lived was her fault entirely. Someday, she had dreams for them to live much better lives. Lives where they would have all the money in the world. At least, she used to have dreams. Since her purse had been stolen, her dreams of that were now gone with the rest of her belongings. But at least they were alive. At least they were safe – if you didn’t count the problem with the Scorpions.
Her biggest problem though was the fact that Brian wandered the streets so much. There was literally no stopping him. But in their situation, there really wasn’t anything else for him to do. As bad as it was, she considered him doing that to be a whole lot better than becoming a gang member.
That night, he went into the attic again. Now that he had a plan for the box, he barely noticed it. He went back to where he could watch the Scorpions. He heard laughter long before he got there. Someone was happy. When he looked down, he saw one of the girls. The one called Legs. She was taunting Little Paul.
“Shit!” Legs said with a laugh. “I had her purse and was gone so fast I was a block away before she even realized what happened.”
He remembered why they called her Legs. Not just because she had nice looking legs, but the girl could run – fast! He knew how she operated. He had seen her stealing some woman’s purse once with his own eyes. Unlike Little Paul, she covered her entire face with sunglasses and a scarf. She even wore a hat to hide her long brown hair. He had seen her running along the street, then the moment she passed some woman, she had reached out and grabbed her purse, pulling so hard the woman had been thrown to the ground. Only then did Legs really start running. She was gone in an instant. Now it sounded like she had struck again.
“Frank!”
He heard the sound of Raven calling her boyfriend. Then she came into sight. “Where the hell is the box with the credit cards?” she asked.
“How should I know?” Frank replied. “That’s your business.”
“Well it’s not where I left it,” she told him.
“Where did you leave it?”
“Where I always do, on the shelf in the office. But it’s not there. It’s not in the entire damn room. And trust me, I looked all over for it.”
“Where is it?”
“That’s why I’m asking you.”
“Well I don’t have it.”
“You don’t know who took it?”
“No, why should I?” He looked around the room. “Hey!” he yelled to get everyone’s attention. “Did any of you take the box with the credit cards in it?” Frank looked all around the room, but nobody seemed to know anything about the box.
“What box?” another of the gang mem
bers asked.
“Forget it,” Frank replied. He was upset that the box should be gone. He turned to Raven. “I think it’s time we cleaned all that junk out. Get it out of here.”
“What about the box?” Raven asked.
“We’ll keep asking the others. One of us had to take it. Nobody else would dare come in here. First thing tomorrow,” he told her, “clear all that junk out! No evidence.”
From where he was watching up above them, it looked to him like Raven wasn’t exactly happy. “What should I do with the cards from the woman Legs ripped off today?”
“Junk them. Throw them out with the rest of it.”
From his perch above, he could tell that Raven wasn’t happy about that decision. Probably because she was going to wind up doing most of the work.
As he made his way back to the ladder, one thing stuck in his mind, the Scorpions knew about the box being missing. At least they didn’t suspect him. Still, he was glad he had a way to get rid of it now. He could get rid of it, and he’d never have to think about it or worry about it again.
Chapter 5
The backpack he used for carrying his books to school had a broken strap. It had been broken for about three years now, but that never stopped him from using it – when school was in session. During the summer, he never had a need for it. He’d had the pack for a long time now, since they had lived in Atlanta before coming here. It was old and worn out, but it was his.
He said goodbye to his mother and watched as she went off to work. From the window overlooking the street, he watched as she continued out of sight on her way to the bus stop. Only then did he go back into the attic and grab the box. He opened it again and looked at the pile of cards inside. On top was a driver’s license for some woman he never heard of, but the license said she was from Chicago, so of course he’d never heard of her.
He moved that one aside and flipped through a few of the cards. He found a license belonging to Mr. Giovanni. Should he take it and give it to him? He had given Giovanni his money back when his store had been robbed. Giovanni had seemed really glad then. He pulled Giovanni’s license out and stuck it in his pocket.