It Pays to do the Right Thing

A thick fog cascades over the distance one night in Chicago. The streets are vibrant with activity despite the unwelcoming fog. Lucas a divorced ex-cop now cab driver had been driving diligently all day and night for the past two weeks. Due to his recent divorce and being fired by the police department for reporting his partner for taking bribes from criminals he had been working overtime to get caught up on bills. He had driven at least fifty different people this day alone and was beginning to feel exhausted. He knew he was a little short of his goal today but he didn’t want to risk getting in a car accident from being too tired so he decided he should head home. Just as he was about to turn off his taxi light he heard a knock on his window.

He was parked on the side of a high end hotel waiting for another customer. He was beginning to drift off to sleep and the knock surprised him and caused him to jump up. He immediately let his window down and was greeted by what appeared to be a little elderly woman. Her large white hat covered most of her face so he couldn’t see exactly what she looked like. She asked him if he could take her home. Lucas was tired but he didn’t have the heart to say no to her so he said, ”hop in“. She told him she lived on the north side roughly twenty-five minutes away. He was familiar with that area so he proceeded in that direction.

The closer they got the nicer the area got. He wanted to ask her what she did for a living but he didn’t want to be rude so he kept quiet and enjoyed the scenery of all the beautiful mansions they were passing. They passed by a couple of other amazing mansions and the woman said, ”here’s mine up on the right with the big gate.” Lucas looked closely at the mansion and said, ”holy cow that’s nice.” He thought he said it to himself but it just came out. The little old lady chuckled and said, “thank you.” Lucas noticed how long the driveway was to her mansion and asked her, ”would you like me to drive you up to the door?” She replied, “that won’t be necessary,” and just like magic the gates opened up and a man driving a go cart pulled up to the cab waiting for the woman to exit the cab. Lucas noticed and said, “ok that’s pretty cool.” The lady began to exit the cab but not before giving Lucas a crisp $100 dollar bill. Lucas immediately began to reach for his wallet to give the lady her change and she gently said, “that’s all yours young man.” Taken back but thankful he said, “thank you.” The lady then exited the car and drove up to drive way with her chauffeur in the golf cart. Lucas couldn’t help but be amazed by what he had saw. Thinking to himself, “man I wish I could live like that.” He then realized how late it was and proceeded home.

He lived about forty-five minutes away on the south side in a small apartment. He still hadn’t quite reached his financial goal for the night but the elderly woman’s tip definitely helped him get closer so he was grateful for that. He pulled up to his apartment and began to exit his cab. Even tho he was exhausted he decided he should clean out the cab now so he wouldn’t have to in the morning. He grabbed his cleaning materials from his trunk and then opened up the back door and noticed a big black purse was sitting on the seat. He wasn’t that familiar with purses but that one looked really expensive. He began thinking which one of his passengers it could belonged to and it hit him that it was probably the nice old lady’s that he had just dropped off. He was way too tired to bring it to her that night so he decided to do it in the morning.

Lucas finished cleaning his cab then went inside his apartment with the bag. Upon picking up the bag he noticed it had some weight to it. He said to himself, “that old lady must be strong.” Lucas put the bag on his dresser and plopped down on his bed exhausted. He didn’t even bother to change his clothes. As soon as his head hit the pillow he was fast off to sleep.

Knock! Knock! Lucas woke up in a daze to a loud knocking sound on his door. He stumbled to his feet and towards the door to see who it was. He looked out of his window and saw it was his landlord Oscar. He was an angry old man that always wanted the rent money early and usually Lucas could pay early but this time with everything that had happened to him recently he was a little behind. Lucas opened up the door and said, “good morning Oscar.” “Where is the rent money,” Oscar yelled? “I’ll have it all to you by tomorrow. I just had some bad luck this past couple of weeks but I’ll get it to you by tomorrow.” Lucas replied. “You had better hurry up or else you will be out of here,” Oscar replied. “Yes sir,” Lucas replied nodding his head. Frowning and mumbling angry words under his breath Oscar turned and walked away.

Lucas closed the door behind him and began walking to his couch. He plopped down on his couch and began thinking about how many people he would need to drive around today to have the rent money he needed. He realized that he should probably get an early start so he wouldn’t have to be out so late again. He then headed to his bathroom to take a shower and clear his mind. As the water hit his face he instantly remembered he needed to take the old lady her purse back. Once he was done showering he headed to his bedroom where he had left the purse on his dresser. He was trying to remember exactly where the lady’s house was but he couldn’t recall the exact address just that it was on the north side. He thought maybe she had some info in her purse he could use so he began to open the purse. As he unzipped the black bag and opened it up his heart instantly felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. The purse contained huge wads of money.

Lucas couldn’t believe his eyes. He ran over to his bed and dumped out the money on his sheets to see exactly how much it was. As the money fell out so did a little black book. He was so blown away by the money that he didn’t even notice the book yet. He began to count all the money and it totaled to be $20,000. Holding the money in his hand he began thinking, “wow this would solve all my troubles.” He couldn’t believe how lucky he had gotten. Then instantly a thought crossed his mind, “what if the lady really needed this money?” Then he thought, “no way she’s rich I’m sure she won’t mind.” Then he thought again, “technically it’s not mine it’s hers.” Racked with guilt he didn’t know what he should do. It was at this point he noticed the little black book. He opened it and saw it had an address on the inside of the cover. Along with a list of charities to donate to. As Lucas read the list of names he knew he couldn’t keep the money. Shacking his head with frustration he plopped his body on his bed and let out a loud huh saying, “oh well time to do the right thing.” He then got up and put the money back in the purse then headed to the lady’s address.

Once in his cab Lucas typed the address in his GPS from the little black book and headed off to the lady’s home. As he got closer to the address he began to remember the beautiful mansions he passed by the previous night. A little bit further down the road he began to see the same big gates leading up to the woman’s beautiful mansion. The gates were closed so he drove up to the voice box on the side of the gate. He grabbed the purse got out of his cab and pressed the call button. A heavy masculine voice answered. “Hello,” the voice said. “Hi my name is Lucas I am the cab driver that dropped off the woman who lives here last night. I think she left her purse in my cab,” Lucas responded. After a long silence Lucas responded again, “Hello you still there?” Then suddenly the gates began to open.

Lucas looked at the gates as they opened and noticed a golf cart coming down the long drive way. The same man from last night was driving the cart. “We have been expecting you,” said the man. “Oh really,” replied Lucas? “Please get in the cart so I can take you to Ms.Saltour,” the man said. “Saltour,” Lucas asked? “The women you dropped off,” the man said. Lucas shook his head as if he was saying “I see,” in his head. They drove down the long drive way and around to the back of the mansion. Lucas couldn’t believe his eyes. The mansion looked even bigger from this point of view. The backyard had multiple smaller houses, a tennis court, olympic size pool, and a track for running. Lucas thought he had died and went to heaven. The man driving the cart looked over at Lucas and noticed his mouth was wide open. Chuckling he said, “it’s nice right.” “It’s amazing,” Lucas responded. As they drove around the tennis court off in the distance was Ms.Saltour.

She was sitting in a beautiful cabana overlooking the pool wearing a big white hat and sun dress. “Here he is Ms.Saltour,” said the man. “Thank you,” said Ms.Saltour. Lucas got out of cart and said thank you to the man driving. The man nodded his head and drove off. “Please sit,” said Ms.Saltour. Lucas walked over to the cabana and sat next to her. “So I left my purse in your cab,” said Ms. Saltour. “Yes ma’am I would’ve brought it back last night but I was really tired,” said Lucas. “You must have some memory since you recalled where I live,” said Ms.Saltour. Clearing his throat and a little embarrassed Lucas replied, “I actually found your address in the little black book I found inside the purse.” “So I take it you saw all the money inside the purse right,”Ms.Saltour asked? Shyly Lucas looked down then up again and said, “yes ma’am.” “So why didn’t you keep it,” Ms.Saltour asked plainly? Shrugging his shoulders and smiling slightly Lucas replied,” it wasn’t mine to keep.” Amazed Ms.Saltour stared into Lucas’s eyes and smiled. “You know you are the first cab driver to bring me back my purse,” Ms.Saltour said. Confused Lucas replied, “what do you mean?” “I’ve left over 30 purses this year alone in random taxi cabs and you’re the first person to return one to me,” said Ms.Saltour. Lucas was still confused as to why she had been leaving purses with huge amounts of money around town. Then it hit him, “wow you must really be rich to be leaving this much money around town.” Ms.Saltour let out a cheerful laugh. “I do well for myself. But the main reason I leave purses with money around town is because I like to employ honest people,” she said. Lucas was amazed at what he had heard. “I did some research on you and I found out you were fired from the police station for telling the truth,” she said. Lucas nodded. “Due to your honesty I would like to offer you a job in my company,” she said.

Lucas couldn’t believe it. “Are you serious,” he asked? “Completely and you can hang on to that money. Just take my card and call me in the morning,” she said. Tears began to well up in Lucas’s eyes. He held out his hands and Ms.Saltour shook his hands. “Your life is about to change for the better,” she said. Just then the man driving the cart pulled up and said, “You ready Lucas?” Lucas shook his head and said, “yes.” “Don’t forget to call me tomorrow,” said Ms.Saltour. “I won’t thank you so much again,” said Lucas. Lucas then got in the cart with the man and they headed back to his cab. “Welcome to the company,” said the man. Lucas smiled and asked, “how long have you been working for Ms.Saltour?” “Going on five years now she left her check book at the insurance office I use to work at and I brought it back to her,” the man said. Lucas looked at him and they both let out a hardy laugh. “I guess it pays to do the right thing,” Lucas said. “I guess so,” replied the man. The cart continued to head to the front of the mansion where Lucas first arrived. The sun seemed to shine brighter than ever before and from that moment on Lucas’s life was never the same again.