haves and have-nots

the little boy wanted to help.

he went to his bedroom, paused, and then remembered. from underneath his bed he brought out a potato chip can. he shook the can and listened to the jingle. he turned it upside down, and seven pennies fell out.

he frowned, but only briefly. putting the pennies back into the can and the can back under the bed, he made a plan.

so after that, at school, instead of using the change his mother had given him for an extra snack, he saved it. he found some change every once in a while as well. he found all sorts of ways to save a little money here and there.

after a short while, he had one hundred cents. excited, he showed his mother. she smiled at him and told her she was proud of him, and asked if he would like to exchange his coins for... she reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a shiny silver dollar.

oh! yes, please.

the next day he raced home from school. he stopped in the kitchen to say hello to his mother, and then grabbed his stepstool, which he proceeded to drag up the stairs, thump thump thump. he went into the bathroom and washed his face. he combed his hair. he glanced briefly at his father's aftershave, then thought better of it. he put on a clean white shirt and a pair of pants without any holes, and his shiny black shoes.

i'm off, mom! she kissed him on the forehead and watched him ride down the street, one hand on the handlebars, silver dollar clutched in the other.

he reached the address he'd seen in the paper. can you show me where to find the Man Who Takes Care of the Money? i want to help.

a nice man in the lobby walked him to the elevator and pressed a button too high up for the little boy to have reached. the boy felt his stomach go down, down as the elevator went up and up and up. the nice man walked him from the elevator to the secretary's desk. this young man saw the paper and wants to help, he said. the secretary smiled and nodded, and took the boy's hand and brought him into the office of the Man Who Takes Care of the Money.

hello, little boy.

hello.

what can i do for you today?

the boy looked at the Man Who Takes Care of the Money, who was puffing on a cigar. behind him was a pile of money. a large pile of money. a pile bigger than the boy, so big that he could not see the top of it, perhaps bigger than his house. his jaw fell open. he looked down at the silver dollar in his outstretched hand.

i wanted— i wanted to help...

the Man Who Takes Care of the Money removed the cigar from his mouth and said, thank you. he took the silver dollar and dropped it onto the pile. clink. then he sat back down and looked at the boy who continued to stand there, staring at him.

yes?

but...

yes? he blew a few smoke rings.

but i wanted to help.