I wanted to tell him that there were angels and that while I was happy to get him breakfast there was more at play than me and my apparently guilty conscience. “If I tell him that I hear spirits, he’ll think I’m crazy!” I thought. Instead I said, “I think I should.” Another awkward pause and then, “Can we do this?” It was all I could get out!
He nodded his head in consent.
“Okay. So, get your plate,” I said, relieved and suddenly able to speak, “I have to be somewhere at ten o’clock so we’ll have to be quick. Does that work?”
He nodded and walked off toward the eggs.
I turned and headed back to the pie and then immediately back to him. I was getting the sense that the eggs were not going to be enough. “Do you like pie?” I asked.
His voice perked up. “Yes. I like pie.”
“What kind? Berry, apple?”
“Berry is good.”
Berry! Suddenly, I knew that that was what I wanted too! I walked back and grabbed two mini berry pies. I arrived back at the eggs just as he was lifting a piece of bacon onto his plate. His serving of eggs and bacon was dainty at best. We walked toward the cash register. “Do you want a drink or a sandwich or a breakfast burrito or an energy bar?” I asked, surveying the merchandise around us, “They might be good to keep in your back pack.”
“No,” he said, “someone else bought me something.”
At the cash register, I paid for the food. “This is for you,” I said, handing him one of the pies.
“Thank you.” His eyes brightened and he walked away with his food. He sat down a few feet away at the counter by the window that looked out onto the parking lot. He began to eat.
The Angels conveyed that even the eggs, bacon and pie were not going to be enough. For the second time that morning, the picture of a gift card flashed in my mind. “Do you sell gift cards?” I asked the clerk. “Yes,” she said.
“Are they activated so you could just use them … like he could just get food with it," I asked pointing to the man for whom I had just bought breakfast. I did not want the man to have to worry about finding an Internet connection to activate the card before he could use it, something that could be challenging if he were homeless.
She nodded.
“Do you know him?” I asked.
“No. I don’t usually work in the morning.”
Again, I hesitated. What if he used it for alcohol? I remembered also that I am unemployed.
“Buy it,” The voice said, calmly this time, “Thirty dollars.”
I purchased the gift card and walked over to the man. “I’m sorry. I hope you don’t think I’m stalking you,” I began.
“No. Thank you,” he said, “Really, thank you.” There was sincerity and gratitude in this voice.
I held out the card. “This is for you. There’s thirty dollars on it.”
“No, I can’t. It’s too much,” he said. The stools at the counter were tall; his feet did not reach the floor and instead rested on the stool’s metal rungs. Due to the height of the stool we were able to see nearly eye to eye. He did not lift his hand to take the card.
(for more, see next post)
These cliffhangers are driving me nuts!
ReplyDelete