playing with treasure [open]

”You are not earning any money with your head in that book.” I guess ’The Secret World of The Human Gut’ will not be dropping a wad of 100 dollars onto the table anytime soon. Here my evening starts, along with the doctors that are swapping shifts with the day staff. I head out with the backpack tightly pulled against my back, leaving behind the printed knowledge for later hour spare of reading. So, after the incident I am not allowed to carry the product anymore, instead my job Is to empty the overflowing pockets of the dealers through the night. The boss has the idea that they are hiding extra change from him…tips…TIPS!

Seriously a drug addict that has fifty loans…giving out TIPS?!

So, I have gone from carrying the product, to the cash because supposedly…it is safer. I am grateful for the care the boss has given me, orphaned brat and all but there really is no safe job for a thirteen-year-old in a drug den. This new role is really breaking my tenth rule:

Number ten…Never be alone, have someone near you, even if they’re not in the same room. I used to shadow the real dealers but now I am backpacking through District Six at the dead of night with bag overflowing with cash.

Three emptied pockets already and it is barely eight o’clock, time for a break. It is an odd hour; summer still blesses the sky with some light and the mix of night crawlers with the day marchers is a sight to behold. The orphanage children still playing on the streets, taking advantage of the longer days. I can’t remember ever actually playing with folks my age. Maybe a game of peek-a-boo with one of the junkies in the den but that is about it.

I sit down on the edge of a curb, releasing the bag from my shoulders and placing it on the grass verge besides me, not too far out of sight. Commotion kicks up in the street as a ball finds its way in the centre of the group of children, a game of kick ball quickly erupts, and it is amazing how they so easily divide each other into teams.

Here I am like most nights, taking my fifteen-minute break watching the children of one of the orphanages playing. There are so many orphanages in District Six…so many to choose from. But the dilemma of having independence and a more honest life pulls me apart. ”Hey, we are a guy down on our team, you wanna join us?” I look around as the curly haired girl with the leather ball walks up to…I guess me? ”Oh but I have never played before.” The girl drags me up from the ground by my shoulder. ”I am sure you can play.”

Fifteen minutes turns into nearly an hour, and as every minute ticks by, my eye wanders away from the treasure left behind on the grass verge…