Chapter 5

Several thoughts were running inside my head as I walked towards my new home with the box in my hand.

Will I ever be allowed to get in the house ever again?

Will I see my mother ever again?

What if my father had not died that day?

Would we have been a perfect family?

All these thoughts ran freely in my mind because I was the genius who conveniently forgot his phone and headphones to distract myself.

I was waiting to cross the street at the red light when I felt something tug my pants.

I looked down to see a little girl. The girl was a beggar. About six or seven years old. She had matted hair and a dirt ridden face. Even her clothes were dirty and moth-eaten.

"Something to eat, mister?", she said, pointing a finger towards her mouth.

"I don't have anything. Get off.", I replied and looked at the timer, wishing it would run faster.

"Please, mister, I haven't had anything to eat for a long time", she begged, her eyes wide and pleading. "And my mother and brothers and sisters are hungry too.", she said pointing at the woman with four children sitting on the footpath across the street.

This girl was making me angry just by standing so close to me. As if that was not enough, she had to touch my clothes with her dirty hands and beg for something she didn't do anything to earn.

I pursed my lips and said in an angry voice:

"I haven't had breakfast and I happen to have the money to buy it. Why don't you go to that mother of yours and tell her not to have any more children? Maybe then you would have money to buy some food instead of begging."

Hearing my harsh words, the girl's eyes became filled with tears. She didn't say anything but walked over to a building wall nearby and crouched down with her head between her knees. Possibly crying.

I looked up to see some people staring at me with disgusted expressions. Like I was the only one denying to give her something.

Suddenly, I started to feel guilty for telling her off.

I managed to balance the box in one hand, took out some money, walked over to where she was sitting, and offered them to the girl.

"Take it", I said, my voice harsher than I intended it to be.

The girl looked up, her eyes red from crying. But instead of taking the money she shook her head and refused.

I was both astonished and angry by the girl's reaction. First, she begs and when I give her she refuses.

"Take it", I repeated in a much harder voice.

She shook her head and croaked "No", still staring down.

I said, "Suit yourself", pocketed the money, and hurriedly crossed the road when the signal was about to change.

I caught the stare of the girl's mother. She was looking at me with an odd expression. One filled with both anger and sadness.

Like she was cursing me.

You do not know anything woman, I thought.

A little curse, won't make anything worse.