Story by Connie V. Akpan
I’ve always enjoyed rainy Sundays. After church, my family and I would quickly sit down to one of my moms delicious meals because mom, being old school would prepare most of the meal the day before, or put a roast in the oven right before leaving for church.
On this particular cold Sunday, two of my four sisters and I decided we’d go for a walk in the light rain. Although it had started to clear up, we still enjoyed the thought of splashing puddles on the city sidewalks while Rhea mimicked the lady who sang like a chicken at church. Once the three of us reached the corner of our house, our attention was immediately drawn to the other side of the busy street.
My little sister Terrye, spoke first as she pointed to the poorly dressed man hunched over a wet table at the closed donut shop.
“What’s that man doing over there?” she asked. We found ourselves grabbing her hand and crossing the busy street.
There was a slight hesitation before approaching him. Not out of fear but respect. Once there, Terry screamed,
“He don’t have on any shoes!”
My big sister Rhea suggested we run home, and bring him a blanket and a plate of moms food. “Momma won’t know, cuz she’s at grandma’s.” We did just that. Roast beef and gravy, rice, greens, yams, cornbread and a big piece of chocolate cake. His eyes danced as he ate in silence. Rhea and I said nothing—only smiled as we watched him eat. Terry giggled as if his eyes told her a private joke.
Later, Terry blabbed the whole event to my folks over dessert. My dad stood up shocked. “I saw him too—gave him $10.00.”
My mom, said, “I saw him too—gave him all I had, about five bucks!”
My brother, who had just walked in said, “I just gave him my spare work boots!” We all jumped up and ran to the corner to see what else we could do for the man. He was gone—nowhere to be seen—which was impossible unless he had just been picked up by car. As we walked back, talking about the event, my little sister kept looking up in the sky, laughing.
“What you lookin at, girl?” I asked her. She squinted her eyes and pointed to the bright blue sky.
“The man.”
For her birthday this year, Erin asked readers to send her their personal tales of why they believe in a supernatural world. A couple times a week, some of those submissions will appear here as a series. All stories appear with the author’s permission. We encourage you to comment on the stories and to continue sharing your own! Stories can be posted on Erin’s Facebook Fan Page or as comments on her Blog. Join the discussion!
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