Getting Lucky

CHAPTER 10: THE RESULTS ARE IN

Lucky’s limp vanishes as soon as we get around the corner and he trots along merrily next to me. He’s clearly pleased with his performance this morning as he keeps nudging my hand. He should be rewarded for his part too, so I stop at a convenience store on the way and buy him a bag of dog treats. Every few feet he nudges my hand and I feed him a treat from my pocket. 

 The wind starts howling and clouds move in, but I don’t really notice. I’m busy thinking about everything that happened today. Live long enough on the streets and you learn to spot patterns, be it the demeanour of an undercover police officer, the shifty swagger of a pick pocket or the woman at the soup kitchen whose extra generous with her portions. 

I have enough data points from my day of begging to begin to extrapolate some meaning, an underlying pattern to the seemingly random events. I keep coming back to the guy that dropped in a twenty and got nothing. He was an anomaly, a data point outside the curve, but sometimes it’s the anomalies that provide the greatest insights. He was different, but why? I go several more blocks and another half dozen dog treats before inspiration strikes. I can’t be certain, not without more data points, but for now I have a plausible explanation. I pick up my pace, eager to talk my hypothesis through with the egghead.

This time he’s waiting in the window and as soon as he sees us he rushes to the front door. He practically drags me inside and struggles to get the words out fast enough, “Tell me about your day, what happened?”

Lucky takes up his usual spot on the couch and we head back to the lab. I begin by detailing my plethora of good deeds that gained zero reward. When I am done he says, “Fascinating. It sounds as if knowing about the organisms has somehow changed their behaviour.” He thinks for a moment before a concerned look crosses his face, “Are you sure they are still active? What if they haven’t survived?”

“I can promise you they are still very much alive. I have a theory about their behaviour, but you’ll have to hear the rest of my story to help me confirm it.”

I fill him in about the begging and the various rewards that generous people received. He makes me repeat the story about the gentleman having a heart attack three times whilst frantically scribbling in his notepad. Then I tell him about the man that gave me a twenty and got nothing. I wait to see if he makes the same leap that I have, but he just stares at me and says, “I don’t understand. If he performed the same good deed as the others why wasn’t he similarly rewarded?” 

“So here’s my theory,” I hesitate. What if he thinks my idea is stupid? I’m not even sure why I care, he hardly has a high opinion of my intelligence, after all I’m the homeless guy he pays to experiment on. He’s looking at me expectantly so I continue, “I believe that these organisms don’t respond to actions, they respond to intentions. When I was doing all those good deeds I wasn’t doing them selflessly, I was doing them to get something in return. However with my less than honourable deeds my intentions were clear, and that’s why I was still punished. I believe the same is true of the people that gave me money. That’s why the gentleman that was expecting a reward got nothing.”

He stops writing and stares at me like I’ve grown two heads. I wait for the laughter and scorn but instead he says, “That fits perfectly, I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.” He pauses for a moment, clearly thinking something through. Then his expression sours and he says, “This is a most unfortunate development.” 

I thought he would be thrilled with my discovery, “What do you mean? We now understand exactly how these creatures work. Wasn’t that the point?”

He raises his voice above its usual timid warble, “The point was to get this substance into the hands of the general public, to change the world for the better. If your theory is correct no-one in their right mind would want it. As soon as you are aware of the consequences all good deeds cease being selfless. You would never be rewarded for your good deeds, only punished for your bad ones.” He stomps around the lab like a hormonal teenager and bangs his hand on the table, “I really thought I’d cracked it, but all my hard work is for nothing. I can’t even try it myself now that I know that it works!” He throws the nearest tray of instruments across the room and they clatter loudly against the wall. Then he reaches into a drawer and pulls out a wad of cash. He tosses it at me and says, “Here is the fee we discussed for the rest of the week. I need some time to consider this new information. I will no longer be requiring your services. I would appreciate it if you could show yourself out.” He slumps into a nearby seat, utterly deflated. 

The bundle of cash is more money than I have seen in years. I consider giving some of it back, I only worked a couple of days, but he is the one terminating our arrangement not me. I also don’t know how long I’m not going to be able to ‘work’ for, although I earned more money begging today than I normally would in a week, with the added bonus that I am helping people. I put the money in my pocket and try to offer one final consolation, “I’ll let you know if and when the effects wear off.” 

His head is in his hands and I am sure I see tears leaking between his fingers. He manages to say, “I really am sorry for all of this, I hope things go back to normal soon.” With that he shakes my hand with a damp palm and ushers me towards the door. Lucky and I are barely through before it slams shut behind us. 

We haven’t even gotten to the end of the street when there is a loud crash. I run back to find a refrigerator at the end of the eggheads driveway with a hastily scrawled sign declaring ‘Free’ upon it. I open it and am relieved that my blood samples have been removed, presumably poured down the drain. On a whim I check the vegetable crisper and find two discarded golden vials. I hesitate before pocketing them, but the sign clearly says Free so it’s not stealing. With a final glance back Lucky and I turn and head for home.