A LIFE WORTH SOMETHING BY ALEX ARMOUR

Part 1

William Hill was a desperate man. He didn’t want to leave his family, but he had run out of options. He needed to make money, even if it meant leaving his wife and son for a while. He snuck out in the dead of the night, careful not to make too much noise. As he was about to step over the threshold of the door, he stared back at the letter he left on the counter for his wife to find in the morning.

“My Dear Laurel,

I’m sorry I left the way I did, but I couldn’t bear to see the look on Randall’s face as his daddy walked out the door. I know I’ve been a lousy husband and a worse father, but I’m trying to make it right. I’m going back to Chicago to see if Ricky can help me find some work. I’ll be back as soon as I can.

Love, William

P.S. Kiss Randall good night for me” He thought, “Maybe, just maybe, I can find a way to stay.” That flicker of hope lasted no more than a second as William finally stepped over the threshold, closed the door behind him, and disappeared into the night. After arriving back in his hometown, he was heartbroken to find out his cousin, Ricky, had died in a car accident only a few months earlier. Not only had he lost his only way to make money, but he lost the only real family he ever had. Within days, William was on the street begging for change with no idea how he was going to feed himself...much less his family all those miles away. The cold wind on his face and the emptiness in his stomach were both overtaken by feelings of failure for his son. Not knowing the next time he’d see him, William wrote a letter apologizing to Randall. With every word his son read, William wanted him to know his father left not because he didn’t love him, but because he did. And that every step he took until he saw his boy again was to give him the best life he could. He put the letter in his coat pocket, planning on delivering it the next day. With the weight of shame and embarrassment, his sign reading “HOMELESS-ANYTHING HELPS-GOD BLESS” felt like a 100-pound dumbbell. Nonetheless, he picked it up and held it in front of him.

Part 2

It had been weeks since Andre Davis was fired from his job. He wasn’t out of money by any means, but he was certainly on his way. Without work and nothing else to keep him busy, Andre couldn’t help but think about how he ended up in this situation. How he went from a respected salesman to the lazy, unmotivated person he was today. A few weeks earlier, Andre and a coworker, Brad Stevens, found themselves at the same bar on a Friday night. Andre never really liked Brad, but after today, he could picture beating up Brad within an inch of his life. Seems that Brad, your most stereotypical entitled white man, couldn’t get one girl there to show any kind of interest in him. By the end of the night, he had tried and failed so many times he might as well have still been that fat, ugly kid with braces rather than the successful businessman he was. Brad didn’t think his night could’ve gotten any worse. That was until he looked across the bar to see Andre, his most hated coworker, flirting with not one, not two, but every single woman who had rejected him that

night. In a less civilized world, Brad would’ve fought Andre right then and there. He would’ve lost, but he would’ve fought. Instead, Brad got his revenge a different way. Being in the position he was in the company, convincing their racist VP that Andre was the reason 15 employees didn’t get paid on time was one of the easiest things Brad had ever done in his career. Fired from your job, a job you were great at, because an insecure white man could not bear the weight of his own embarrassment? Yeah, you would want to beat that someone within an inch of their life, too. So here he was. Weeks later, staring at the ceiling in his apartment with no idea how he’d recover from the career ending lie Brad told. Or was it career ending? “Go where you are treated best.” That phrase echoed in Andre’s head all afternoon. It was his mentor, Dan Pena, who had advised him of that years ago. Dan adopted Andre when he was just a little boy; taking Andre out of that situation was the turning point of his life. Dan taught him everything he knew about making money; the “how,” the “why,” the “who to befriend,” all of it. But throughout Andre’s childhood, Dan also always made sure to tell him things that made him a better person, and to give him a better life. Dan was long gone but his words and lessons lived within Andre to this day. Hearing that phrase in his head again really made Andre think. “In this country, I’m stereotyped, discriminated against, and one white man’s lie can ruin my reputation. Why the hell am I still here?” Andre jumped out of bed, grabbed his laptop and booked a one-way flight to Mexico. A country where he’d not only be treated better, but still be able to work at a job he was great at. Oh, the language barrier? Dan also taught him Spanish.

Part 3

His bags were packed, a new start in Mexico was awaiting him, and Andre couldn’t have been more excited. The night before his flight, Andre decided to walk the streets of the city, his last evening walk in the states. All his feelings of excitement melted away when he passed a homeless man with a familiar look in his eyes. It was the same look he saw in the mirror every day at the group home. The look that said, “Why even cry? If you cry, then you’re sad. If you’re sad, then you care. You care about the fact you’re unwanted, but no one else does, so why should you?” Andre could’ve been that man. A man on the street, begging for change, with no tears left to cry. As Andre handed the man $50, he says “Get you something hot to eat tonight, brother. God bless you.” The look he got in return was one of such gratitude, he began to feel some happiness and excitement returned. Andre walked away wishing the man a good life. He put on his headphones and started blasting Sunday Best, his favorite song, to listen to while life was good. Little did he know, Andre would never be able to listen to that song again. Andre felt a yank on his jacket along with a sensation of being completely weightless. When he opened his eyes, he found himself on the concrete in an alleyway he’d just been thrown into. Standing in front of him, was a humongous thug wearing all black and with a mask over his face. The man picked Andre up and pinned him against the wall. “Where you think you going player?! We just getting started! Empty your pockets right now and hurry up!” Andre could smell the alcohol on him. As drunk as he was, there was no way Andre was calming him down or talking him out of robbing him.

“A’ight man just chill, ok? We ain’t got a problem. Take all of it, a’ight?” Andre tossed the man his wallet. As the thug went to pick it up, Andre saw the gun sticking out of his belt. The man abruptly stood up screaming, “No, no, no, no! Shit!” Andre had been so distracted by the gun, he didn’t realize the man’s mask fell while he bent over to pick up the wallet, revealing his face. “Well, I didn’t want to do this, but you seen my face now.” In the same breath, he withdrew the gun, and pointed it at Andre’s chest. Andre couldn’t believe what was about to happen. He was about to die. Less than 24 hours away from his new life, and he was about to die. He closed his eyes only to immediately open them to the sight of a struggle between the hoodlum and the homeless man. Andre didn’t know what to do. He could run to save himself, but that would leave the man to fight the thug alone. He could help the man fight, but the two were already wrestling on the ground. Before Andre could decide what the hell to do, the man picked up a nearby chard of glass and shoved it right into the thug’s chest. The man slowly stood up trying to catch his breath. Andre started in disbelief. “He was going to kill me. You saved my life, man.” Before the man could say anything, BAM! The deafening sound of a gunshot was followed by the homeless man’s body falling to the pavement as the barely living hoodlum took his last breath. Andre knelt next to the man, overwhelmed and not sure of what to do. While the man lay dying, he reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a piece of paper. Struggling to speak, he barely got out his last words. “Get this to my wife and son. I need them to know I didn’t die for nothing. That I died giving my life worth nothing...for a life worth something. Promise me you’ll get this to them.” Between sobs, Andre managed to say, “I promise. I promise you I will.” “Thank you,” the man said with just enough breath behind it to be heard. No more than a few seconds later, William Hill had died in Andre Davis’ arms. The next morning, Andre was still exhausted. He drove all night trying to get to William’s family and back in time for his flight...and he did. He sat in his car for what felt like an eternity, wanting nothing more than to not do what he was about to. He mustered all his strength to step out of the car and walk to the front door. Right before he knocked, Andre imagined what it would be like when his wife opened the door. The sight of her face when she hears a stranger tell her, “Your husband is dead.” The sound of her trying to hold back her tears in order to not wake up their son. The realization of knowing he just ruined this woman’s life. He couldn’t do it. Andre slid the paper under the door, ran to his car, and sped back to Chicago. Later, as he sat down in his seat on the plane, Andre thought about William’s words right before he died. “I gave my life worth nothing for...a life worth something.” At the time, neither William nor Andre realized how much of a burden that was. But Andre didn’t want to think about that. He didn’t want to think about the years it’d take to rebuild his image, or Randall having to grow up without a father, or the sight of a dying man’s eyes that he’d never be able to forget. All he wanted to do was sleep. And maybe, just maybe...dream.