"Umm ... excuse me ... Could you please listen to me for a moment? Is there any work available for me? Please?"
A man, wearing tattered clothes, barefoot, with a body that looked like a skeleton, stood outside the store. His stomach was rumbling so loudly that he could no longer bear it.
After a while, the sound of the store door opening was heard, and an old man stepped out, holding some groceries. He saw the man standing there and became very angry. Scowling, he turned around and called out, "Manager... Manager..."
A middle-aged man came running from inside and asked, "Yes, sir, did you call me?"
Pointing at the man who looked like a beggar, the old man, still scowling, said to the manager,
"People like this are coming to such a big store, and if he steals something from me, Are you taking responsibility?"
When the manager heard the customer's words, he angrily looked at the man standing there and yelled,
"Security! Get this man away from our store immediately, and make sure he doesn't come back." Then, looking at the old customer,
He said, "Sorry, sir, people like this won't be seen in front of our store anymore." The manager then walked the old customer to the parking area.
Just then, the security guard came and angrily said, "Hey, beggar, if you want to beg, do it on the street, not here." Saying this, he started to grab the man's arm.
The man, who had come to ask for work, stammered fearfully, "But... Sir... I... I came to ask for work, not to steal."
The security guard, not even looking at him, said, "Yeah, a lot of people come asking for work in clothes like this. If you don't want to get beaten, don't come here again."
As the guard began to forcibly drag him away, the man, without confidence, meekly said, "Sir, I really came to ask for work. Please, sir, listen to me."
But the security guard didn't listen at all. After taking him a little farther away, he said, "This is your first and last warning from me. Don't show your face here again."
Saying this, the security guard started walking back toward the store. The man just stood there watching him leave, too afraid to say anything.
"Ah... please. I don't want to go to bed hungry again," he muttered, tears forming in his eyes as he looked around.
A short distance away, he saw a dustbin where the store had thrown away some waste. He went over and started searching for something to eat. He found a half-eaten bread and hastily devoured it.
After finishing, he kept searching because his stomach was still growling, his hunger not yet satisfied.
"What a shitty life I have," he said, starting to cry. He got up and began walking down the road, heading to the same place he went every day—a small wooden shelter under a tree, surrounded by many others like it.
As he was entering his makeshift home, he heard a voice.
---
When John heard someone calling him, he turned around and saw it was Uncle Tom, his neighbor.
"Uncle Tom!" John exclaimed, surprised.
Uncle Tom approached him with a concerned look. " John... You look exhausted. Did you find any work?"
"And... You look really sad today. What's wrong?"
In a low voice, John replied,
"Uncle Tom... Are we going to spend our whole lives starving like this?"
Uncle Tom looked at John's face for a moment and then said,
"What happened today, John? You usually talk so cheerfully."
John, who was standing, slowly walked over to a broken wooden table nearby and sat down.
He said, "Uncle Tom, I went to ask for work at a big store today, and they thought I was a thief or a robber."
Saying this, he looked up at the sky.
Uncle Tom replied, "That's how people see us—as thieves and robbers."
"At work, all I do is keep my head down and clean, while someone watches over me to make sure I don't steal anything."
John, after hearing Uncle Tom's words, said after a pause, in the same sorrowful tone, "Uncle Tom, ever since I was born, our situation has remained the same. We haven't moved forward at all." After another pause,
He continued, "Are we just going to live like this until we die?"
Uncle Tom, who usually had a bit of confidence, lost even that after hearing John's words. He looked at John, sitting on the broken wooden table, and said,
"To them, we're just free workers, thieves, and robbers, even though we're not."
John listened quietly, not saying anything, and Uncle Tom placed his hand on John's shoulder and said,
"Don't think too much. Look at yourself; your condition has worsened. I have some clothes that are a bit big, but you can adjust them and wear them."
Saying this, Uncle Tom went into his broken wooden home and brought out a pair of black pants and a blue shirt that were a bit dirty but looked new to them, like they had just been bought.
He handed the clothes to John, but John refused, saying, "Uncle, if you give these to me, what will you wear to work?"
Uncle Tom insisted, "I have two more. I'm wearing one, and I hung the other to dry. These two will last me a year. You should take them." He added, "You need them more than I do. The ones you're wearing are really worn out."
He smiled, trying to lighten the mood, and John understood.
"Okay, Uncle Tom, I'll wear these," John agreed.
Uncle Tom had something else in his hand and offered it as well.
"Here, eat this. It'll help calm your hunger, which I can still hear," he said, placing two pieces of bread in John's hand.
John started to refuse, but Uncle Tom interrupted, "Don't refuse. I already ate on my way back from work, and tomorrow I'll get dinner when I finish my shift. That's usually enough for me."
"You're still young, son. When someone offers you food, you shouldn't hesitate to accept it," Uncle Tom advised.
He then turned to leave and said, "Alright, eat up. Good night. I have to get up early for work tomorrow." With that, he went back into his broken home.
"Thank you, Uncle Tom. You're the only one who makes me feel a little better," John said, eating the bread as he walked into his broken home.
He lay down on the ground and thought to himself, "I didn't find work today either. No one has the time to even listen to me."
"I can't lose hope. I have to find a good job. If I don't, life will become even harder for me."
"And Uncle Tom is getting old. He won't be able to keep working for long because of his age."
"If he loses his job, it will be really hard for him to find another one at his age."
---
"I need to go to Milltown tomorrow to look for work. It's a few miles away, but if I get up early and walk, I can reach it in about five hours," John said, closing his eyes and falling asleep with determination.
He woke up at 3 AM, bathed, and put on the clothes Uncle Tom had given him. They were a bit big, so he tightened them a little from the inside. Without shoes, he set out for Milltown.
By around 8:30 in the morning, John had reached Milltown. He stood there, waiting for the garment factory to open.
At around 9 AM, the bell rang, and the factory gate opened. One by one, people began to enter for work, and John watched them go in from the side.
Once everyone had entered, John walked towards the factory. He approached a man sitting at a counter and, with a slight smile, said, "Hello, sir... My name is John, and I've come from Oakville looking for work."
John then waited for the man's reply.
"Hmm... Oakville, you've come from quite far, John. But I'm sorry to say, there's no work available here at the moment. You can go," the man said, beginning to close the gate.
Disappointed, John turned and walked away.
Milltown was a place where clothes were mostly made, but the irony was that people like John couldn't even afford a single pair of proper clothes to wear. The clothes were very expensive, and to get a job in those factories, some sort of reference was almost essential—something John lacked in Milltown.
As he kept searching and searching, it was already 4 PM. John was exhausted and had not eaten anything since morning. He finally reached the last clothing factory, where two men were sitting, laughing and talking.
John approached them, now very tired, and in a soft voice, he began to ask, "Hello sir, my name is John, I've come from Oakville village for work..."
Before he could finish, a voice angrily interrupted,
"Hey... you! You've followed me all the way here! Now I'm not going to let you go this time!!!"
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See... Yaaa ..... Next Chapter
[ Harsh Reality ]