Twenty Thousand Blessings

TWENTY THOUSAND BLESSINGS

As soon as the bell rang, Calvin dashed out of the classroom. Today at lunch, one of the Johnson brothers accused him of looking at his girlfriend. They had threatened him.

They saw him outside after school, and chased him for blocks. He didn’t know that the brothers had given up their chase two blocks back. He looked back and stepped on a tin can behind the liquor store then tumbled to the ground. When he stood, he spotted a brown paper bag. He kicked it to see if it was empty. He glanced inside and saw tissue wrap with a 100.00 dollar bill on top. He looked around but saw no one. He stuffed it in his book bag.

When he got home, his mother was cooking dinner and he could hear his dad running the shower. His mom yelled from the kitchen.

”Do your homework. Dinner will be ready soon.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

In his bedroom, he pulled the paper bag out.

“What’s that?” His mother was at the door.

“Trash.” He shoved it back into his book bag.

“”How was school today?”

“It was okay.”

“Do you need help with your homework?”

“No, I just have some reading to do.”

“Okay, I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”

When she left, he reached in his book bag.

“Hey, sport. How was school; any problems today?”

“School was okay, Dad. I’m gonna do my homework now.”

“Okay.”

Calvin decided he would view the contents of the paper bag later.

After dinner, Calvin watched Jeopardy with his dad while his mom crocheted. When the show went off, he said goodnight and went to his room, closing the door. He dumped the contents of the bag out on his bed. He set the 100.00 dollar bill aside and removed the white tissue paper. He had never seen that much money before. He counted the bundle of hundreds three times. It was $20,000. He ran to the door to tell his parents then stopped in his tracks. The first thing they’ll do is take it away from me, he thought. They might not even believe I found it. He thought about all of the video games he could buy. He decided not to tell them. He hid the money in his dresser drawer under his little black notebook. He barely slept that night. He woke up wondering where the money could have come from. There were no markings on the paper bag. He searched online to see if there were any robberies in his area. He heard a knock on his door.

“If you don’t hurry up, you’re gonna be late.”

He grabbed a fruit drink and ran out the door. All the way to school, he thought about the money. He had a flashback of himself looking around then putting the money in his book bag. He felt sure that no one saw him.

Jonathon, Calvin’s best friend, came to his locker.

“Hey, did you get away from the Johnson brothers yesterday?”

“Yeah, I hope I’m as lucky today.”

“You are; they’re not here today.”

He was relieved. “I gotta tell you something.”

The warning bell rang. “I’ll tell you later.” John left.

Donny Raymond walked by with a cheerleader on his arm. He pushed Calvin into his locker. “Get to class, dork.” Calvin could hear the echo of their laughter bouncing off the walls as they turned the corner. On the other side of the hall he saw Cordell watching him. He saw him close his locker and go in the opposite direction. Cordell was on the wrestling team and didn’t talk much.

David Johnson’s absence today was a big relief for Calvin. Most days he wished he was invisible so no one would pick on him. There was a bully in almost every class; he hated school.

Calvin saw John in the lunch room and waved. He stood in the lunch line and Rob cut in front of him. Then the guy in front of him let two more people in line. They were serving supreme pizza today and that was Calvin’s favorite. As he moved up, he could see that one of the guys who had taken cuts took the last piece.

He walked to John’s table with his lunch.

“John had a sloppy Joe. “I see you got stuck with the egg salad sandwich again.”

“Yeah, I almost got the pizza but Rob and his buddies took cuts again.”

“Yeah, Kurt did the same thing to me. What did you want to tell me?”

“I found some money.”

“How much?” Calvin looked around first then whispered in John’s ear.

“No way; I don’t believe you. Where did you find it?”

“In the alley behind the liquor store.”

“Are you gonna turn it in?”

“I don’t know who lost it.”

“Did you tell your parents?”

“No.”

“What are you gonna do with it?”

“I don’t know. I might hold onto it for a while to see if someone’s looking for it.”

“I wish I had found it.”

“What would you do with it?”

“Buy a new bike and give mine to my little brother.”

“I don’t know what to do with it. My parents would find out if I made a large purchase. They might even think I stole it.”

After they ate, Calvin put his tray on the tray line and Rob walked by and knocked it off. Before he could pick it up, someone was handing it to him. It was Cordell. He thanked him, but Cordell walked on and didn’t say anything. No one had ever done that before and he was grateful.

It was Friday and Calvin was happy to have two whole days without his classmates. He was also excited because he and John were going to the video store on the weekend to buy video games.

The teacher passed the math papers back. Calvin had an “A.” He heard Dante groan when he got his paper.

“If you keep getting grades like that, you’ll be off the football team; get a tutor.” The teacher walked on.

Calvin turned around. “I can help you if you want me to.”

Dante glanced at Calvin and stepped on his foot as he passed by him.

When Calvin got outside, he saw the Johnson brothers talking to a group of guys. He took the rear exit. On the way home, he went through the alley behind the liquor store to see if someone was there looking for the money. He wanted to give it back, but didn’t know who to give it to.

Saturday morning, Calvin and John got up early and went to Game Stop. Calvin took some of the money with him and bought three new games each for him and John. They played games at Calvin’s house for hours. Calvin’s mom peaked in the doorway.

“You guys want snacks?”

“Sure, Mom.”

She brought four bags of mixed mini snacks and two glasses of lemonade. She looked at the screen.

“I didn’t know you had a Spiderman game. When did you get that?”

“I haven’t had it very long.”

“I don’t see how you boys can play games for so long. But I guess you wonder why I can crochet like I do.” Calvin agreed and she left the room.

On Monday, the teacher handed out homework. Calvin heard Dante moan again, but this time he minded his own business. Before he left the class room Dante asked him if he was serious about tutoring him. Calvin agreed and Dante asked if they could start today.

The next day, Dante received a “B” on his homework. Calvin waited for him to say thanks, but he didn’t.

Today, Calvin rushed to the lunch room. This time, he was behind his buddy, John. The football team came in, and the next thing they knew, they were at the end of the line. They both ended up with egg salad sandwiches.

Calvin walked down the hall wishing he could go to another school where the students weren’t as mean. He dropped his notebook and leaned to pick it up and someone kicked him in the butt. He fell and his papers went everywhere. He heard Mr. Bradley tell Gregory to go straight to detention. Someone handed him a hand full of papers and he looked up. It was Joanne Frazier, the prettiest girl in school. He was embarrassed but he thanked her.

“Don’t you have anyone to help you with these bullies?” He shook his head to say no. She was a girl and she couldn’t help him at all. The last time he stood up for himself, he got a black eye. “I’ll get my brother on him if you want me to.” Calvin dropped his head in shame. She smiled at him and walked away.

Calvin was shaking when he thought about what Gregory was going to do to him after spending the day in detention. The last thing he needed was another enemy. He had to think of something fast.

On his way to the first floor, he saw Dante.

“Hey, Calvin, do you have time to help with my science project?”

Calvin hesitated then said yes. Dante noticed his hesitation.

“Hey, let me know if I can do something for you.”

“Okay.”

Calvin took two steps and stopped. “Are you serious about doing something for me?”

“Sure, what is it?”

Calvin was pleased at the end of the day. Gregory walked by and looked at him, but said nothing. Dante had taken care of the situation as promised.

Calvin left the building feeling so good, he forgot to go out the back door. Before he could run, the Johnson brothers caught up with him. He fought back, but it was useless. They were both punching him. When he got home, he lied to his parents and said he got hurt while playing ball.

The next day, Calvin approached Cordell. He pulled out two one hundred dollar bills. “Can you teach me how to fight?”

Cordell looked at his swollen nose then took the money.

When Calvin wasn’t tutoring Dante, he was training with Cordell. The next time, some one bothered him, he would be ready.

Dante’s grades went up substantially. He tapped Calvin on the shoulder. “Some of the guys on the team need a tutor. Can you help?”

“I can’t tutor them all, but let me see what I can do.”

Calvin went to Joann. He gave her a wad of money.

Her eyes were wide. “How many guys need to be tutored?”

“Eight.”

Joann and seven of her friends began tutoring them right away.

Calvin opened his black note book. Previously, he had written about people who mistreated him. Now, he wrote about people who were nice to him. He also had entries of what he did with the cash he had found. Life was good. Over the last couple of months, Calvin felt confident. Walking down the hall with his head up had become his reality. Now, when he and John went to lunch, no one took cuts; nor did they get stuck with egg salad sandwiches anymore.

Several people spoke to him in the hall today. When he left school, he used the front door. After the fight with the Johnson brothers, they lost interest in him. He thought it was all over, but as he walked, they caught up with him. This time, he didn’t run. They punched him numerous times, but he fought back. He fell, and when he got up, Cordell and another member of the wrestling team were beating the Johnson brothers to a pulp.

Calvin wrote in his little black note book…

I believe finding the money was meant to be a blessing. Today I gave $1,000 to my best friend and $1,000 to a homeless man. I also put money aside for a rainy day, and anonymously donated the rest to my church. He closed the little black notebook.

The End