"Who's Annie?"(Kevin Hughes) The guy leaned back against the hot brick wall. He might have been thirty, or maybe thirty two. He looked three decades older than that. Two bouts with drugs and alcohol, taking away all of his Teen and Young adult years…had left him like this. Starving, homeless, and hopeless. He was just sitting there stewing in his own self pity, with a dash of the “life is unfair” sauce bubbling along side the pity.

Then he saw the kid. He couldn’t help but laugh. And smile. Somewhere in his memories was a TV show with a little red headed freckled kid running away from home, with everything he owned wrapped in a bandana hanging from a stick. So he shook his head to make sure it was real, and not a flashback or hallucination.

It was neither. It was a little kid, maybe ten or so, running away from home…and whistling while he walked. He couldn’t help it…he smiled again.

The little kid saw the old skinny guy wearing threadbare clothes. He had stubble on his face, dirty nails, and a big hole in the bottom of his left shoe. He looked…well, worn out.

But he was smiling. There was a twinkle in the old man’s eyes as he waved to the young kid. The kid walked right over to him. Sat down, opened his bandana and revealed two fruit juice boxes, two tuna fish sandwiches- a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and a small bag of Lay’s potato chips.

The Bum’s mouth watered. The kid caught the look.

“You want tuna, or Peanut butter and Jelly…wait! You aren’t allergic to nuts are you?”

The Bum laughed out loud.
“I ain’t allergic to anything except hard work and school.”

The ten year old scrunched up his face.

“You can be allergic to School? And hard work? Is that why you are a bum?”

‘What!?”

The kid was impervious to the Bum’s tone.

“I hope you aren’t allergic to nuts. My friend Annie is in Eighth Grade. I saw her eat a peanut butter sandwich, and her face, lips and tongue, swelled up something terrible. They took her away in an ambulance.”

The bum couldn’t help it. His anger forgotten.

“Is Annie okay?”

The kid handed the bum the PBJ sandwich. And opened one of the Tuna sandwiches. Before he replied.

“Yeah, she missed a day of school. And she forgave Bryan for giving her his sandwich too. Bryan just wanted to give her a gift. He didn’t know about the allergy stuff.”

“A gift? Why?”

The kid shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know. Bryan is weird. He likes girls…well, Annie anyway.”

The bum laughed again. So hard the kid had to stop eating and ask:
‘“Are you okay? Did I say something funny?”

Wiping a tear from his eyes, he couldn’t help it. He asked another question:

“How old is Bryan?”

“Thirteen, Annie is in Eighth grade with him. “

The bum nodded sagely.

“That’s about the right age.”

“For what?”

“For liking girls.”

“I don’t know. I like Annie. She babysits for us all the time.”

The bum smiled again.

“Do you like her enough to want to kiss her?”

“What? Yech!”

The Bum smiled again. The sandwich was all gone. So was the juice box. The little kid offered him the other Tuna Fish sandwich. He took it.

“Well, I gotta go. I was going to run away from home. But I am tired and out of food.”

The Bum stood up. Looking the kid right in the eyes he said:

“Look, I may be a bum. But I had a good Mom and Dad, I just got stubborn and ran away. Running away doesn’t fix anything …so go home. Tell your Mom you love her, and be glad you have a home!”

He said it so fiercely that even a ten year old could hear the pain.

“Okay, if you promise me something.”

“What?”

“I will go home. But promise me you will go home too.”

“I can’t go home!”

“Why not? You said you had a good Mom and Dad. “

“I did.”

“Well, then go home. My Mom will probably yell at me. But then she will hug me. Mom’s do that. So go home.”

The Bum thought for a long while. He put out his hand.

“Deal.”

They shook hands on it.

*****

She looked through the window. It couldn’t be! She thought she recognized him, but it had been fifteen years. He was so thin. He had thrift shop clothes on, a fresh shave and a haircut. And a timid smile on his face when he saw her look through the window.

“Jack, Jack get in here! It’s Kevin! He’s home!”

She heard her husband yell out from his Office, but she was already out the door.

She flung herself around her son. Almost knocking him over. Over her shoulder he saw his Dad, a look of stunned relief on his face, and a tear already rolling down his cheek.

He heard his Mom’s : “I love you. I love you.” And his Dad’s : “Welcome Home son. Welcome home.”

At dinner he filled them in. They all laughed when he showed them what was in his backpack:
“I always carry a Tuna Sandwich and a PBJ with me now. Just in case. I don’t want Annie to get sick.”

“Who’s Annie?”

Then he told them the story that changed his life.

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