Money Mania (Prompt 3)

It is the nature of the dreams to give its dreamer the pleasure of imagining himself a winner. And sometimes dreams do come true and yet, almost always, the dreamer regrets dreaming that dream once it becomes his reality. 

A balding man in a well fitted blue jacket and even more tightly fitted black trousers stood in front of Heramb. He was wearing a black tie to match his trousers. Heramb had seen him arrive in the red sedan. He had parked it in the middle of the street on an unusually quiet morning. And that was not the most unusual thing about him. He was carrying money, a lot of it. And he was showing it off! Bundles of notes and coins stacked together in perfect towers to his side, on the road. He held a few of these paper bills in his hand, spreading it like a pack of cards. It was an invitation. Heramb looked around. He could see no one in sight. The world had been deserted and he was left alone along with this wealthy man, or so he thought. Was it just his luck that this man had come to where Heramb had made his hold? It hardly seemed so. If Heramb was so lucky, he would not have been a homeless beggar, living in a small alley, with animal carcasses and garbage leftovers for company. 

The man was staring at him. Heramb jumped to his feet. He had been lying with his back against one of the metal trash cans and it vibrated with a hissing sound. He started to walk gradually towards the man, watching for any sudden movements. The man stood still. He could have been a statue if only his eyes didn’t sparkle like the stars in the night sky and his teeth didn't shine like pearls in the deep sea. Heramb reached to where the man was and stood in front of him, his head just about reaching the man’s waist. Heramb’s plan was to distract the man and run away, taking as much money as his tiny hands could hold. A long stare from the tall, boastful man and Heramb forgot all about his cursory plan. Heramb had enough experience of being beaten up by tall, strong men and in that stare, he remembered all of those beatings. He flinched slightly. Maybe, just maybe, he could make use of his innocent childish eyes and those beseeching expressions that he had practised and mastered, to beg successfully. 

Just as Heramb was spreading his arms and was framing in his mind, the words that would make him rich, the man spoke.

‘What is it boy? Why are you taking so long? Take the money. I don’t have all day for the likes of you.’ He sounded annoyed. His deep voice couldn’t hide the sharpness of his tone. Heramb stuttered and shifted backwards, expecting the man to hit him. 

When Heramb was sure the man was not going to hit him, Heramb spoke, ‘Is all this money for me? How much is it?’

‘You wished for it, didn’t you, you tiny beggar? What sort of an idiot wishes for ten lakhs and then forgets?’

Heramb searched his memory. He didn’t remember any such wish that he had made. Oh wait! He remembered now. He was having one of those surreal, romantic moments with Sujanta, the prettiest of the homeless peoples, who begged a few streets north. He had asked her what kind of a man she would want to spend her life with and she had said, ‘The man with ten lakhs rupees.’ That was when Heramb had wished for ten lakhs and nothing else.

‘My wish came true!’ Heramb shouted joyfully. And then, with a bit of concern on his face he continued, ‘My wish came true? But how? No one’s wishes come true! Why me? Who are you, you devil man? What do you want from me? I am not one of those, you know. If you try to touch me, I will bite it off you.’ Heramb gestured towards the man’s pants.

The man stood expressionless. Heramb had now shifted a few feet back and was staring the man in his eyes. He was ready to leap backwards and run or maybe even attack the man. He wasn’t sure. 

‘Take the money. There are no terms. No compromises. No trade. You wished and I am here to make it true.’ This time the man sounded exasperated.

Heramb gathered a bit of courage and moved forward. He snatched a bundle of notes and jumped back, his eyes never leaving the man. The man didn’t move. He stared at Heramb, most likely, thinking of him as a scuzzball.

‘Is it really mine? All of it?’ He said looking at money in his hand.

The man nodded.

‘But what will I do with so much money? I can’t very well keep it with me. Someone will steal it. Killers roam these streets. They would kill even for a thousand rupees.’ Heramb kept back the notes that he had taken.

The man shrugged. ‘Do what you will. My job is only to hand the ten lakhs to you.’

‘Do you think Sujanta will want to marry me, now that I have ten lakhs?’

The man shrugged again.

‘No. No! I am too young to be married. In any case, she has eyes only for that bastard, Jerra. Why waste my money on her? I will give some to the Hariyali gang. They are my friends. They have taken care of me when I was down on my luck. But! Wouldn’t they want all of the money? And what if they spend it all on those evil bottles. The ones that make you swirl and dance and laugh and cry. The ones that make you shout at each other. They make you violent and then they make you drowsy. No! I can’t risk it.’ 

He thought about all the ways he could use the money, but always came up with an excuse not to share his money with others, or to spend on the things he had once he had so desperately wanted.

After a long time, he asked the man, ‘Can I change my wish?’

To this, the man shook his head. ‘A wish once made cannot be taken back or exchanged.’

‘But I don’t want the money. I am not sure what I will do with so much money. I can maybe take some, enough to hide it in my torn pockets, but not the entire ten lakhs. I have thought about it. I want a house to live in and some clean clothes. I want a family to take care of me. Can I exchange this ten lakhs for that?’

‘No. No, you can’t.’ Heramb looked crestfallen. ‘Although,’ the man continued, mindful of Heramb’s mood, ‘you can wish again. You could wish for a family, a house and clothes and maybe if those wishes are heard, they might come true.’

‘Is that possible? Will that happen?’ Heramb asked, a glow emanating from his face.

‘Why not! This wish came true, didn’t it?’ The strange man was smiling now.

‘I will start right away.’ With that Heramb walked back to his secret keep. He slid off the lid of the trash can and jumped into it, settling his feet on the bottom of the can and resting his elbows on its edge. The man, his car and the money had vanished and the streets were again buzzing with traffic sounds. Surrounded by trash bags, with garbage and bones sticking out of them, he wished for a family. He thought of having a bath and wearing clean and ironed clothes. He thought about the picnics they would go to together. He thought about all the great times they would have. 

After spending a long time, sitting in that garbage dump, Heramb’s wishes still hadn’t come true. His stomach growled with hunger. As he looked around in the garbage for options, a little voice in his head reminded him of the man and his money. Wouldn’t that money have bought him food?