Chapter 2

When I got back to our old apartment in the projects after school, I carefully took out the food I'd saved.

"Look, Dad! I saved this just for you. You must have worked so hard today."

Dad was a scavenger. He woke up before dawn every single day to collect recyclables. I knew how grueling it was.

He froze for a moment, staring at the lunchbox in my hand instead of taking it right away.

"Dad?"

I quickly poured him a glass of water, figuring he was just exhausted from the long day.

Only then did he snap out of it. "Thank you, Joshua. You're such a good boy."

As if rewarding me, he pulled out a wrapped candy. "I saved up for a week to buy you this. Joshua, you must always be thrifty. Don't let us down. Study hard so you can give us a better life in the future."

I took the candy and unwrapped it. It was incredibly sweet. I nodded. "Don't worry, Dad. I'll work as hard as I can."

Satisfied, he turned to leave, but the sudden pain in my stomach forced a small whimpering cry from my lips.

Dad stopped at the door and turned back. "What was that?"

I clenched my jaw. "What was what? You must have misheard, Dad."

He just muttered an "oh" and walked out.

Once he left, I let out a sigh of relief and dragged my aching body over to my makeshift bed on the balcony floor.

There were cobwebs in the corners. I was terrified of spiders, so I pulled the blanket tightly over my head to block out the view.

…

The next morning, Mom dragged me out of bed. Before I could even process what was happening, her furious voice lashed into me. "Joshua Kirkland!"

She looked at me with deep anguish. "Your dad and I may be poor, but we have always been honest! But you actually stole money from your classmate?"

I froze, completely bewildered.

Dad stood beside her, looking at me in pure disappointment. "How did we raise a child like you?"

"No, I didn't!" I shook my head and waved my hands frantically.

But Mom reached into my uniform pocket and yanked something out. "We found this 100-dollar bill in your uniform! And you're still denying it?"

My eyes widened in absolute panic. "I didn't steal any money…"

That was 100 dollars. I had never even seen that much money before, let alone dared to steal it.

"I don't know how that got in my pocket!" I cried out in defense. "Please, you have to believe me."

Dad just shook his head, thoroughly defeated. "The 100 dollars was found on you, so we have to return it and compensate them as well. Starting tonight, I won't sleep. I'm going back out to scavenge for extra scraps at night."

Ignoring my devastated expression, he spoke with solemn earnestness. "Joshua, this is the price of your mistake. Remember what we sacrifice for you."

They didn't listen to another word of my explanation. They just turned and walked away.

Suddenly, a violent spasm tore through me, and blood sprayed across the blanket. Terrified, I clamped my hand over my mouth and forced myself to swallow the rest of it down.

As I sat on the floor, my tears flowed uncontrollably.

I couldn't understand how that money had ended up in my pocket. All I knew was that my parents were going to suffer even more because of me.

No.

I balled my hands into tight fists. I had to earn money to treat my illness myself. I couldn't be a burden to them anymore!

The moment the thought took hold, I scrambled to my feet. I skipped school and headed straight to the streets to find work.

But every shop owner I asked just frowned and shooed me away. "What's a kid doing looking for a job? Scram! Don't hold up my business!"

Clutching my increasingly agonizing stomach, I was chased from one storefront to the next. Not a single person would take me in.

"Earning money is so hard…"

Finally, unable to walk another step, I curled up in an alley. I wept quietly, my heart aching even more for how hard Dad and Mom had it.

Why did it have to hurt so bad?

I began to blame myself.

Why did I have to get sick? Why did that 100 dollars appear in my pocket?

"Hey there, kiddo."

Just then, a middle-aged woman crouched down in front of me with a warm expression. "Are you looking to make some money?"

My eyes lit up. "Ma'am, can you give me a job?"

She nodded. "Of course. Come with me."

I bolted upright and eagerly took her hand. As long as I could help Mom and Dad, I didn't care how grueling the work was.

But… my stomach was burning worse by the second.

The woman ushered me into her van and drove off, but I suddenly coughed up a mouthful of black blood.

"What the hell? This kid looks like he's on his deathbed!" another woman inside yelled. "The buyers won't take a sickly kid!"

The first woman frowned.

I scrambled to wipe my mouth, panicking. "I'm not sick, I swear!"

She glared at me, threw the van door open, and shoved me hard out into the dirt. They drove off, leaving me stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Stunned, I scrambled up and tried to run after the accelerating van, but I couldn't keep up.

Finally, I coughed up a massive surge of blood and collapsed heavily onto the dirt road.

"Don't leave…" I whimpered, weakly stretching a hand out toward the disappearing van. "I need to make money… for Mom and Dad…"

My eyelids felt impossibly heavy. I just wanted to sleep for a bit, and then I'd get back up and look for work again.

"Just five minutes, Joshua," I muttered to myself before closing my eyes.