Chapter
4:“What goes around comes around......”
He almost
didn't see the old lady, stranded on the side of the road. But even in the dim
light of this day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her
Mercedes and got out. His Poncho was still sputtering when he approached her.
Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for
the last hour or so ... was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe, he looked
poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the
cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fears can put in you.
He said, "I'm here to help you ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where
it's warm?
By the way, my name is Adrian."
Well, all she
had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Adrian crawled
under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time
or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his
hands hurt. As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and
began to talk to him. She told him that her name was Joan and she was from La
Estrada and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for
coming to her aid.
Adrian just
smiled as he closed her trunk. She asked him how much she owed him. Any amount
would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things
that could have happened had he not stopped. Adrian never thought twice about
the money. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God
knows there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past.
He had lived
his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way. He
told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw
someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed,
and Adrian added, "... and think of me." He waited until she started
her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good
as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.
A few miles
down the road Joan saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take
the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy
looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was
unfamiliar to her. The cash register was like the telephone of an out-of-work
actor-- it didn't ring much. Her waitress came over and brought a clean towel to
wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for
the whole day couldn't erase. The waitress had been going through very hard
times still she tried to make it to work with her children home.
Joan wondered
how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she
remembered Adrian. After the lady finished her meal and the waitress went to get
change for her hundred dollar bill, the lady slipped right out the door. She was
gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where Joan could
be, and then she noticed something written on the napkin under which were four
$100 bills. There were tears in her eyes when she read what Joan wrote:
"You
don't owe me anything, I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the
way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do
not let this chain of love end with you."
Well,
there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the
waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and
climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what Joan had written.
How could Joan have known how much she and her husband needed it?
It was going to be hard. She knew how worried her husband was, and as he
lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low,
"Everything's gonna be all right; I love you, Adrian."
There is an old saying "What goes around comes around”