The little Black Book

Carmelo had been waiting torturously in this cold damp alleyway for three hours without as much as a chance of 'boosting' a wallet off of anyone. The thought of leaving crossed his mind, but his empty growling stomach reminds him that his alternatives are few.

Just when he is about to give up hope he notices a dark silhouette approaching towards him. There is a slight shuffle to the gait of his prey.

Yes! Here is the 'mark' he's been waiting for. Carmelo quickly profiles him,

Infirmed, probably elderly and a cane. Perfect!

Our industrious little pickpocket musters his courage, straightens out his crumpled clothes and makes headway past the victim. He bumps into him intentionally at the bottlenecked part of the alley that he had setup previously. " Sorry Dude!" Carm manages to sputter as he reaches into the elderly gentleman's trench coat.

The old man turns and bares his teeth like an angry dog, " Wretch! Take care of what you do!" he snarls.

The gentleman pivots and resumes his journey. Carmelo is in a sort of daze, reeling from being scolded like a child. Gaining his faculties he stumbles away to investigate his prize. He went a few blocks before daring to open the wallet. Thoughts of what this leather treasure pouch would hold filled him with anticipation. His fingers trembled as he took it out. Wait! What! It wasn't a wallet at all. It was some kind of journal and the pages were all blank. The book was new and had what looked like a very expensive pen that was held by a fancy clasp.

He was stunned verging of tears. he held the pen for a moment." Maybe I can get a couple of bucks for this" he whimpers.

He re-opens the book to replace the pen when he realizes that the page that was just a moment ago blank, now had writing on it. Just a brief passage. The words tore through him like an assailants blade, " Did you care or even bother, to help your sick and dying mother?"

"What!..... how did?......is this real?" His senses were stunned. Thoughts of his recently dead mother passed through his mind. He did indeed forsake the woman who gave him life, but how did the old man know? He couldn't have known. Even if he did why was it written in this book when it wasn't there five minutes ago?

So many questions and uncomfortable feelings were swirling within him. He went to close the book and realized there was a business card, pulling it out it revealed the address of his victim, but the name was scratched out

A strange idea occurred to him, he should return the book. Carm stopped in his tracks at the notion. " Are you crazy? What are you gonna say? Oh I found this book with your name in it. Could I get a reward?". He finally realized he was very alone right now. " Great! Now I'm talking to myself" mumbling to himself.

"I gotta go home" Carmelo rambles on. "What am I gonna do?" The young man just trudged back to the home where his mother had died while he was out on the streets, hustling. She always believed he would make something of himself one day, even as she drew her last breath. His father left before he was born, so he never knew him. They had only each other and she got the short end of the stick. He arrived at his home and there was an emptiness there so great, you could feel it. He began to weep.

Suddenly, he felt a great compulsion to find the man. Where was that business card? He opened the book and found it. The address was clear across town. What was this guy doing over here? That would be a question he would ask him. It was late, but he had to go now. He called for an Uber. He waited briefly, the car arrives and they depart.

Arriving at their destination they notice a light illuminate the front entrance of this magnificent home. Carmelo told the driver to wait and summoned enough courage to walk up to the front door. He didn't reach the door when it opened very slowly and the elderly gentleman stared into Carmelo's eyes. Carmelo went weak.

The old man smiled a devious smile and spoke "So Carmelo, you are here in disbelief, far from the world of a petty thief. Carmelo just gazed in wonder, " How do you know my name? Who are you? How did you know about my mother?

"Return tomorrow and I will answer ONE question! Just one. So it had better be a good one." he turned to walk back into the house, but stopped and without turning he said " Keep reading the book. It will give you all you need". Then he left to go... Carmelo blurted out " But the pages are all blank!"

"Is that so?... only those who have eyes to see can ever hope to reach their destiny." Then he went in and closed the door leaving Carm alone and more befuddled than he was when he got there.

He then got back into the Uber and returned home. At least he didn't feel so guilty about stealing the book, just really confused. " What a day!" he stated and then passed out on his bed with the book in his hand.

Falling into a deep and distant slumber, a peace he has not known overtakes him and leads him to a place where he sees a female figure with her back to him. He cautiously approaches her and she gently turns to face him and he realizes it is his mother . He pauses briefly as she reaches out her hand which holds a small gift, our little fellow extends his hand to accept . The package is a small thoughtfully wrapped present. Carm holds it in his hands as the woman smiles and gives him a look of admiration and pride, then suddenly dissolves like a morning mist.

Carmelo awakens with the vision still fresh in his mind and salty tears gently rolling down his face. A pressure develops around his heart, not painful but a subtle presence that spreads throughout his entire being and then he realizes the one question he must ask of his mysterious mentor. He calls for the Uber and paces while he waits for it's arrival.

The Uber arrives and his excitement can barely be contained." Wait here, please !" he asks of the driver. Reaching the porch, the door swings open and the old gent looks at our friend with a much different gaze than he has in the in the near past.

" Sooo... you have come for your query I see I see, what is the question you would ask of me?"

Summoning the strength of perseverance and courage, he asks " How can I prove myself worthy in my mother's eyes and be successful?

The old man displays a very wry grin. "An excellent question I must agree, yes a very great one that you ask of me. Here do I respond:

To be who you will, you must find who you are. One from the other you don’t need to look far.

Under your nose is where you really should look , as I told you before keep reading the book .

The elder said something in Spanish which translated means " The book you hold in your hand is not ordinary".

Carmelo responds" So it is a special book?

The man nods his head and tells him, "Return tomorrow and tell me what you've learned."

Carmelo returns to the Uber and it brings him home. He goes upstairs to make him self something to eat then shower. Finishing all that he sits on his recliner picks up the book and flips through the empty pages. Taking a deep breath he closes his eyes and again deep sleep finds him.

Sitting at the little desk his mother bought for him to do his schoolwork on he is finishing a poem that he hands to his mother. She reads it and tears of joy swell up in her eyes.

He awakens hours later and realizes he has the book in his hand, only now the pages are nearly full, bursting with poems, short stories, outlines for novels and other articles for print. He , himself had written all this. How? How is any of this possible?

At that instant a flood of memories come rushing back to him about how he use to have a great talent with words and expressing himself through them. He tried to hold back his emotions. Was this the gift his mother had given to him? It must be! He couldn't wait to tell the old man recounting what he had said about what he would learn.. Did he know that Carmelo would learn so much in one night?

" I gotta talk to the old man." he muttered excitedly. He called for another Uber and waited.

While waiting he had a sobering thought, why did he abandon this gift? What was so enticing about hustling that made this fade away? " Doesn't matter, I'm going to change my ways."

At that moment he decided to go outside and wait, brushing by his mailbox which he hasn't checked on in awhile he notices a yellow legal size envelop e and plucks it out . Tearing into he has a sense of dread but as his eyes fall upon the contents, the dread changes to elation. His mothers estate has bequeathed to him the sum of $20,000.00 because he is the beneficiary of her life insurance policy.

He starts laughing uncontrollably and dancing, then notices the Uber driver sitting there watching him. So Carmelo collects himself and gets in the car.

Arriving at the mansion Carm asks the driver if he would stay and he agrees. The young man bounds over and this time knocks on the door.

A middle-aged man pokes his head from around the corner of the house and asks " May I help you?"

" Yes ! I'd like to speak to the old man who lives here?"

" I'm sorry, but no one has lived here for a few years now."

" You must be mistaken! I just spoke with him yesterday."

" No young man , You are mistaken. There was an older gentleman who lived here , but he has passed away. His name was Carmelo Rivera, quite an accomplished author so I've been told."

" Carmelo Rivera! ? Why! That's my name!"