Searching For A Home

The Plane Tickets

It was 1987 and cousins Alex and Kevin were at Logan airport for their vacation to Puerto Rico. They had just finished leaving their bags on the conveyor belt when Kevin noticed two tickets laying on the floor.

"Alex, Alex," whispered Kevin as he nudged his cousin with his elbow. "Look, someone dropped something." Alex was about to reach down when Kevin stopped him. "No, don't do that."

"What are you talking about?" Alex went down and picked up the tickets. He looked around to see if anyone was looking for them. "Who do you think they belong to?"

Kevin snatched the tickets away. "I don't know, but they're ours now."

"What do you mean they're ours? We have our own tickets and we're leaving in about an hour."

"Doesn't matter. There's no one here to claim them so they're ours now." Kevin took a look at the tickets and saw their destination. "Look at this, the tickets are for Puerto Rico too."

"And what? We already have our own."

"Shh," said Kevin. "Not so loud."

Alex lowered his voice. "What are you thinking?"

"We can sell them."

"Sell them?"

"Follow me." Kevin led Alex to the back row and sat down.

Alex sat down next to his cousin. "You want to sell the tickets?"

"Yes. Why not make a little profit out of our good fortune?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" said Alex. "Someone probably needs those tickets."

"Then they shouldn't have lost them."

"Okay wise guy, who are you going to sell those tickets to? Everyone here already has their tickets. You'll have to go outside and find someone who would want to buy them and good luck with that."

"We can give them to one of our friends."

"Who? There's no one who's going to be able to get here in time before the plane leaves."

Kevin sat silently as he thought about what to do with the tickets.

"What's going through your mind?" asked Alex.

"I might be able to find someone outside who would buy the tickets."

"You might get yourself arrested for stealing the tickets."

"I didn't steal them. I found them."

"I'm sure the police will see the difference. Stop being a dick and just return the tickets."

"You want me to just put them back on the floor where I found them," said Kevin, shocked.

"Of course not. Return them to the clerk."

"Seems like such a waste."

"Doing the right thing is never a waste."

"The right thing," he mocked.

"Yes, the right thing to do will make you feel better. Good karma." Kevin noticed an old woman standing together with who appeared to be her daughter. "Imagine how you'll feel when some grateful old lady receives her lost tickets back."

"Pfft, like I care about old ladies." Kevin leaned back on his chair as he looked out into the crowd and noticed a couple of young girls chatting amongst themselves. "You want to convince me to do the right thing, you should have said imagine how grateful those girls would be if I returned their tickets."

"I was being realistic. It's probably an older person who lost those tickets."

Kevin groaned.

"Think about how your mother would feel."

"Don't bring my mom into this."

"What would she say?"

"She would say not her problem."

"Before or after scolding you for stealing from the elderly."

"I didn't steal anything."

"I'm sure everyone will see it that way."

"Fine! You want to be the good boy, you return the tickets," said Kevin as he slammed the tickets on Alex's knee.

"Why should I return the tickets? You were the one who took them."

"Nope, technically you were the who picked them off the floor."

"Yeah, but you snatched them from my hands before I even knew what they were." Alex handed the tickets over and Kevin reluctantly took them back.

"At least come with me."

"Why should I?"

"You're the one who wants to do the right thing. You can at least accompany me."

Alex looked at his watch. "Fine, let's go. Whoever lost those tickets are probably going crazy."

"They probably haven't noticed yet," said Kevin as he stood. "Come on, let's get this over with."

Alex followed Kevin to the counter when he noticed the receptionist. "Give me those tickets."

"Huh?"

"Give me the tickets. I'll handle this." Alex had his hand extended towards Kevin.

"Here you go," said Kevin as he passed the tickets over. It wasn't until they reached the counter when he notice why the sudden interest in wanting to handle this, the good looking receptionist.

"How can I help you today?" asked the receptionist.

"Hello." Alex got a good look at her name tag. "How are you doing Jessica?"

"Good, anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, me and my moronic cousin here found these tickets on the floor by the conveyor belt. Someone must have lost them." He put the tickets in front of her. "The owners probably haven't even noticed they've lost them."

The receptionist took the tickets. "Oh yes, they're going to need these soon if they want to depart. The plane is leaving in about half an hour. Thank you."

"Thank you," said Kevin. "It was nice meeting you, Jessica. You have a beautiful smile by the way." He winked at her as she gave him a warm smile.

Kevin rolled his eyes as the two walked away. "Nice meeting you, Jessica," he mocked.

"You're just mad you didn't get to talk to her."

The loud speakers made a buzzing noise as the receptionist spoke into a phone. "Can Alex and Kevin Rodriguez please come to the reception desk to pick up your tickets? Can Alex and Kevin Rodriguez please come to the reception desk to pick up your tickets?"

Alex and Kevin both stopped as they patted themselves down to see if they had their tickets on them. When neither of them found the tickets on their person, Alex gave his cousin an evil glare. Kevin had a shit eating grin on his face as they both realized it was their tickets they were holding the entire time. Alex continued to walk away.

"Where are you going?" asked Kevin.

"Home."

"But our vacation?" he asked as he followed his cousin.

"We'll go tomorrow. You're paying for our new tickets."