The nth Day

He climbed out of the back of the Toyota Hilux SR5 with his blue thermos flask tucked under his left armpit. "Thanks for the ride." He chuckled to himself as he trod the pathway to his home. It was a short journey of about 30 paces, across the pavement and up the small garden path that was bordered on both sides by luscious green grass. He pushed open the side gate without so much of a creak. He'd mastered this process because of the amount of times he's had to do it quietly. As he closed the bright yellow gate behind him, he bent down on to his hands and knees, slowly crawling behind the hedges. He finally reached the bottom of the garden, stood up and fumbled with the thermos lid before taking a sip. When he opened the shed door he was confronted by a complete stranger. A stranger who was rifling through his belongings. Luckily, the intruder hadn't heard the door swing open. So Marvy was faced with two options; confront the stranger and salvage his belongings or run and avoid the confrontation.

He chose the second option. He clutched onto his blue thermos mug, the sound of the swilling liquid was of some comfort to him as he sprinted through the same yellow side gate. This time there was a sharp scrape along the concrete pavers.

It seemed like he'd been running for an eternity, through endless winding alleyways and streets. The sun was starting to set as his pace slowed down, he reached the southern part of the city by nightfall. Marvy grasped on to his thermos as he strolled around, fully aware of his surroundings and looking for a quiet park or alley to sleep in for the night. The blue metal flask was the only thing he had left. Even the shoes on his feet were battered and falling apart. The once black shoes had faded into a dirty grey, and they looked older than the man wearing them. His grubby toes stuck out through one of the many holes in the shoe. He stumbled upon what seemed to be a perfect spot, it was an empty alleyway with a dim light attached to one of the graffiti covered brick walls. He slumped over to it, leaning against the wall, slowly bending his legs and sitting down with his hairy chin resting on his knees.

Marvy had just dozed off to sleep when he was awoken by loud shouts. He opened his eyes and bolted upright. The argument was between a black man and a young teenager. Marvy was too tired to process what the two men were saying, and really he was too tired to care. He placed his head back down onto his knees while the shouting continued, and after a while it did stop. The young teenager was nowhere to be seen and the black man was now sitting with his back against the wall opposite to Marvy. "Leroy. And you are?" Spoke a voice coming from the man sitting opposite. Marvy hesitated, he wondered why he was making an attempt at conversation. He thought that when you were on the streets, it was best to keep yourself to yourself, cause no drama and to lie low. Leroy raised his eyebrows, obviously waiting for an answer. Marvy answered quickly, he didn't want to make any more enemies. "I'm Marvy..." he spoke softly, unsure of what to make of the other man. His past experiences were flashing like warning signs in his head. Involuntarily, Marvy started to shiver, goosebumps appearing over his naked arms. "Nice to meet ya! Here, do ya need a blanket?" Leroy offered, his hand outstretched with a partially torn blanket for Marvy. "N-No. I'll be fine...thank you." Memories of his past started to spread through his mind even more so. Marvy rested his head back against the brick wall as the memories replayed...

Marvy's computer software business was struggling. Part of the reason was that the cost of production was more than the money they were making, and the other part of the reason was because a new business that was focused on the same product was on the rise. There was now competition for Marvy. This new business advertised their product to be cheaper, easier to use and with a longer warranty than Marvy could offer.

Marvy managed to keep the company going. He went without pay for over 6 months, his wife's part-time job at the local supermarket became the only source of income. After another few months of this vicious cycle, his business collapsed. Following the collapse of his business his wife left him too, she kicked him out of the house because "he was the one who had caused all of the problems in our relationship". Those words had echoed in Marvy's head ever since. He never forgave himself. He packed up a few of his items from his house and he left that night. He'd been living on the streets, and in people's sheds ever since then. On the first night that he was alone, he slept on a park bench, only to wake up and find that all of his belongings had been stolen. All besides his blue thermos flask that he had clutched between his hands. For the next few months he visited various food banks which had helped him survive. Marvy was still grieving about everything that he'd lost, his wife, all of his money and savings, his business that he had worked so hard for and even simple things like having a hot cup of tea in the morning. All of that was gone. He blamed himself for this and also the owner of the business enterprise that took over his. And the owner of the business was a black man. Marvy still held a grudge against them today, partly blaming them for his failures...

When Marvy awoke from his deep daydream, it was pitch black. He stretched out his legs in front of him, pulling the blanket up to his chin. The blanket!? Marvy looked over in Leroy's direction and managed a smile. "Thanks." He muttered, not expecting a reply. "Anytime." Came the reply from Leroy. Mavry closed his eyes, ready for a restless night.

As the weeks passed, Marvy's past judgement of the man (and his race) altered. Leroy made him feel like he belonged in that alleyway. He made it feel like home for Marvy. He shared his limited amount of possessions and they soon started to take it in turns to get food from the food bank for each other. Marvy began to feel closer to Leroy than he had ever felt to anyone, even his wife...

Marvy had his suspicions about Janis, his wife of 15 years. She'd told him that she had gained contact with one of her old high school friends. He believed that at first. But after visiting this 'friend' at least once a week, and staying back to do overtime at work more often, he started to suspect that something was going on. He mentioned it to her, it only caused a blazing argument that lasted for weeks. So he invested his time into his business instead...

Leroy and Marvy's friendship blossomed in the coming months. Sometimes they would sit for the whole day telling each other stories. Stories about their lives, stories that have been passed on through their families, or stories about what they've seen in their times on the streets.

One cold afternoon in the beginning of autumn, Marvy was walking back from the food bank. He was carrying a bag with a variety of rice dishes and pastries for dessert in one hand and in the other he had his fingers wrapped around the handle of his blue thermos flask. His eyes were glued to the floor, he'd learnt to do that to block out the stares and the giggles he received when the public saw his tattered clothes. As his eyes were scanning the littered pavement underneath him, he saw a yellow purse out of the corner of his eye. He bent down and picked it up after tucking his flask under his left armpit. Marvy turned around looking for anyone who might've dropped it. It could've belonged to anyone, the streets were busy as it was a Saturday afternoon. Excitement filled Marvy as he imagined all the things he could do with the money inside it, of course he'd shared it with Leroy. Months before though, sharing it with Leroy wouldn't have entered his mind. He placed the purse in the food bag, and raced back to Leroy.

"There's $400 in here! Just in cash." Marvy cried, showing Leroy who was sitting down next to him. On the long walk home, Marvy had thought it over, instead of imagining the possibilities that this could bring, he instead imagined how the owner of the purse must be feeling. Leroy tugged at a card from one of the slots, it was a driving licence revealing the owner. It was an old lady. An old vulnerable lady, her date of birth made her 85 years old. Leroy and Marvy both looked up at each other. "We can't keep this. Even if it is a gift of God!" Marvy laughed and Leroy nodded in agreement. Finding out who the owner was supported that even more. The pair decided that after they had sat down and enjoyed their dinner, Marvy would head off to the police station and hand the purse in. They knew that because there was ID in it, the purse would soon reach its rightful owner. Just as Marvy was heading off into the night, he turned back and looked at Leroy, who was sipping from Marvy's blue thermos flask. "You're a true friend, Leroy. You're a true friend."