Honesty

Roy had learnt not to expect miracles in life, and he had learnt it the hard way. He had lost his parents in an accident when he was five and had to fend for himself ever since. He could read, write, and add numbers. A kind and old teacher in the neighbourhood had taught him these. The death of the teacher marked the end of  Roy’s education.

His mornings began before sunrise, and he swept the street outside his shack and the streets in the neighbourhood in exchange for a few coins. And later in the day, he would carry sacks in the market yard-sacks of rice, lentils, vegetables, and sometimes crates that were heavier than his own body. He would count his earnings at night, sitting under a dim light. He would divide the money carefully: a little for food, some for rent, and nothing at all for his dreams.

Dreams-those were for the people who could afford disappointment.

One evening, as the sun was about to set and the sky had turned orangish, Roy stood outside a tea stall sipping the last of his watery tea. The stall was quite crowded, and someone bumped into him, almost knocking him down. Luckily, he had finished his tea. The man was in a tearing hurry to catch the bus that was just leaving the station, and he looked back and said, “Sorry”. Before Roy could recover his balance, the man had got on to the bus and left.  Roy paid for the tea after carefully counting the coins and started for his shack. He noticed a worn leather wallet at the spot where the man had bumped into him.

He picked it up.

The wallet was thick, and Roy’s fingers trembled as he opened it. Inside the wallet were currency notes neatly folded-the money was more than what he had ever held in his life. There were a few cards and a photograph of a family.

Roy looked around to see if the man had come back for his wallet, but he had gone.

His heart began to race. Ideas formed in his head-he could eat properly for weeks or even months, buy some clothes for himself, and a pair of shoes for his feet-he looked at his tattered shirt and at the oversized, worn-out shoes that he was wearing. He could get some rest, maybe for a few days. This was the chance that would help him break free and not make his life a constant uphill climb.

He looked at the family photograph again, and a little girl with a missing front tooth grinned at him. He closed the wallet.

The next day, he did not go to the market yard. Instead, he went to the tea stall where he had found the wallet. He asked the owner of the tea stall if he knew the man in the photograph. The owner replied that he had never seen him. Roy went from shop to shop asking if anyone knew the man in the photograph. He even asked the passersby, the customers, and whoever he met. Most people waved him away, and some did not even listen.

He felt disappointed by the afternoon and began to have doubts. “ What if I never found the owner? What if someone took the wallet from him for the money? Was he being foolish?”

But he did not give up and kept asking about him.

Finally, a shopkeeper recognised the face, and he said,” He works in a bank just a few streets away”.

Roy ran all the way to the bank. His legs ached, but his spirit felt light.

He found the man working on a computer. His face looked pale and worried. His eyes had a sunken look-apparently, he had not slept. Roy went up to him and handed him the wallet calmly. “ You dropped this yesterday.”

The man froze and just stared at the wallet for a moment. Then he grabbed the wallet, opened it, and counted the money with trembling hands. Everything was there.

“ You did not take anything”? asked the man in disbelief.

Roy said simply,” It was not mine”.

The man’s eye went soft, and he said, “ I had saved this money for my daughter’s surgery”. The man took a few of the notes and pressed them into Roy’s hands. But Roy said, “ No, I have enough”.

The man insisted, but Roy smiled and walked away. That day, Roy returned to his shack with his pockets light. But he felt something different-his mind felt calm, and his heart was at peace.

A few days later, someone knocked at his door.

Roy was surprised; no one had ever visited him.

He opened the door and found the man, whom he had helped, standing outside. The man said,” I have a job for you at the bank where I work.” Roy could not believe his ears. The man had spoken to the manager of the bank and had praised Roy’s honesty. They were looking for a reliable office boy, and this man thought Roy was a perfect fit. The position was small, but the pay was steady. He would get a monthly salary, and he would have regular work hours. This was a chance to live a life that he had never imagined.

Words failed Roy, and he stood with tears in his eyes and stared at the man. The man patted him gently and asked him to come to the bank the next day to start work. Roy finally found his voice and said,” Thank you” feebly. The man left, and Roy sat on the floor and played what the man had said over and over in his mind. He found that his hands were shaking not with fear but with Hope.

And for the first time, he allowed himself to dream.