The race is over, page 1

The sun glaring through the window woke me up. I got out of bed and got dressed. I proceeded into the kitchen where I ate stale cereal for breakfast, just like every morning for the past 3 years. It was time to go to work. I stepped outside and walked at a leisurely pace. It was the best time of year for my line of work: the summer when all of the tourists came to New York. I got to the city square, and as usual, the very same people were there, and in numbers today. 'It looks to be a very good day,' I thought as I smiled to myself. I saw a white man in his late 30's. Guessed he looked kind of lost. 'Perfect,' I thought to myself. 'Time to work.' I calmly and confidently stepped up to the man.

"Hello, sir. Can I help you?" “Yes. I am looking for the Madison Hotel." "Yes, yes... Oh, okay. Go three blocks down, and take a right. It will be on your left. You can't miss it" "Thank you." "You're welcome. Have a good day sir."

I walked away with not only a smile on my face, but with the man's wallet in my pocket. I opened it up to see 48 dollars, an American Express and a MasterCard. A couple of hours and 4 wallets later, I decided to get lunch. So far, I had acquired 6 credit cards, 726 dollars, and several patent leather, Italian made billfolds.

I decided to go to my favourite place a little bistro called DaVinci's. They have the best pizza. But then, I saw the man. He was about 6 feet tall, with a dark complexion. He was actually walking in circles - even an amateur could easily recognize that he was lost. Perfect.

I cautiously approached him, like a lion stalking his pray. "Hello, sir. Can I help you?" "Yes. Do you, by any chance, know where the movie theater is?" "Ah, yes. No problem. Go down 52nd Ave. and take a left. It'll be right there. You can't miss it." "Thank you, so much." "No problem, sir. My pleasure."

I was practically bouncing up the street as I opened up the mans wallet. I found three hundred dollars and three credit cards. I glanced at the name on one of the cards. 'Mr. Johnson,' I thought. 'Thank you very much, Mr. Johnson.' I arrived at the restaurant feeling very good indeed. After my 4-course meal Italian feast, I privately made a toast to Mr. Johnson. 'May he increase his own happiness like he has mine.'

I decided I was done for the day, and started on my way home. Little did I know, something was about to happen that would change my life forever. On my way back, I passed through a small alley. As I got to the end of the small alley I saw him, I saw my gracious benefactor.

A little white girl had fallen down, and Mr. Johnson was kindly helping her up. The mother saw what was going on, and started to scream and yell for help. The mother started to hit Mr. Johnson with her bag and continued to scream. Mr. Johnson tried to explain to her that he was just trying to help, but she would not listen, and began to panic. A few men heard the noise, and came barreling out of a house carrying a couple of bats. The 3 men, who were all white and each about 5 or 6 feet, started yelling at Mr. Johnson. One of the white men hit Mr. Johnson across the face. They all started swearing and physically abusing him with their weapons of choice. They just would not stop.

I wanted to scream: "Stop! Stop! What are you doing?" But I could not. I just stood there, frozen, and was unable to say anything. He was only trying to help - only trying to help a little girl up off of the street. Then, one of the white men pulled out a knife and threw himself on top of Mr. Johnson. Then, the 3 white men ran away, dropping the weapons as they ran. Mr Johnson however lay motionless in a crumpled heap.

Continue...

[edit on 10/02/2008 by Paulene-abeth]