Greed Come in a Box
"Hello, are you Xavier Bates?" A man asked me. For a brief moment I couldn't hear him, for I had been so focused on the sheet covered body being carried away on a stretcher. Everything around me was a blur of noise, a blur of nonsense and pity. I didn't need that. I needed a dark corner with peace and quiet, not pity from those who never knew me.
"Yes." I told the man, my back towards him as my voice was slow and dragging. I had spoke as if on command, instead of actually listening to what he asked me.
"Son." The man told me, his voice right next to me and his hand on my shoulder. A cold, dead hand that gave no warmth or comfort, but pure pity.
The man on the other hand, wore a plain black suit along with a crisp white shirt and black tie. He wore expensive black shoes and a plain black hat on his head, covering his silvery pale hair. There was evidence of age on his kind and gentle face from smile lines to the little wrinkles, this man looked genuinely nice with his washed out grey eyes.
"I am deeply sorry about your uncle, he was a...kind man." He told me unsurely.
"To bad his greed got to him before age and health had a try." I retorted back, bitterness in my voice. It had been true, my uncle was a greedy man who soon went to spending all his money on liquor and petty games. Anyone could have guessed that he wouldn't have lasted long.
"Oh, money can change a man deeply." The old man informed me, a small smile forcefully plastered on his face.
"Yes well, I'm just glad I didn't witness his stupidity." I finished with a sigh as I ran a hand through my unkept hair.
"No matter what, your uncle will be deeply missed."
"By who? The worthless women who he fancied trying to get? Or maybe the men who hated him deeply. Or perhaps what you mean is that no one will miss my uncle but only the men who profited his ill gained goods."
"Oh Xavier, that is not at all what I mean."
"Then who will miss my poor uncle?"
"You."
"Ha! I will never miss that old coward."
"Oh I think you will one day. But until then, I have been asked by the bank to give you this." I was handed a plain box with thin paper wrapped around it carelessly. "Your uncle wanted to give it to you and specifically asked for you to open it when you have come of age."
I eyed the box carefully. "I want nothing to do with that, that trash." I snapped, pure disgust evident in my voice.
The old man chuckled at my reaction. "Oh, I think your curious to know what your uncle left you." The man then placed the box in my hands and whispered in my ear. "Happy 14th birthday Xavier."
***
(16 years later)
"Xavier! Xavier where are you?" Reyna's voice pierced through the quiet and peaceful summer morning, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"I'm over here Reyna." I replied quietly, my eyes glued onto the object lying on the table.
"Oh finally I found you! Listen I can't find Nolan and he has to get ready for school and you're not even listening to me!" Reyna shrieked. "Xavier!"
No comment.
"Xavier Bates answer me!"
Silence.
Reyna then growled in frustration and smacked me behind the head roughly, making me wince in pain as I soon snatched her hand tightly and stood up, towering over her as I stared down at her, my lips pressed in a line. Reyna looked up at me scared and softly placed her hand on my cheek as she then managed to force a comforting smile on her face.
I sighed and let her go, mumbling my apology as I sat back down on my chair.
I had met Reyna when we were both 18 in London. We were both orphans, instead she never had someone take care of her after her parents died, unlike me. I had followed her persistently each day, trying to get her to talk to me. She truly is a gorgeous sight with her dirty blonde hair always down and her sea green eyes. She was fragile when we were young, almost skin and bones, until I taught her to steal. You could say I changed her, but she never saw it like that. She saw it as a second chance of living.
I helped her out in tight spaces, even though in the beginning she hated me deeply and saw me as a pest. However, I was drawn to her like a moth to light. I stole a bunch of things for her, jewels, food, clothes, everything. But I also did save her skin. Like this one time, she had gotten caught stealing a roast from a local butcher and was going to get beaten until I stepped in and took the beatings for her as she ran.
After that, she started accepting me in her life, knowing that I was never going to leave her.
Once we turned 23, I asked her to marry me, then confessing to her that I had fancied her ever since I saw her outside the dress shop in London. She agreed to it, and we married the next day. No grand church, dress, or suit, just the two of us in a small chapel and wide smiles on our faces.
When we were 25, we found out that Reyna was carrying a child and London wasn't a good place for us anymore. So we moved to India and continued our little Bonnie and Clyde adventure until Nolan was born.
Everything was going great, amazing even. Until war broke out and stealing became hard, for soliders started camping out here. We stayed in a small, abandoned house and once Nolan was old enough, we sent him to school, knowing he needed to be educated.
And that's our life now. Horrible. No money, no food, nothing. But we manage to get through each day slowly. Until today.
"Xavier?" Reyna said, snapping her fingers in front of my face, making me blink rapidly and force a smile on my face. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Reyna. It's just that something from my uncle has come back to haunt me." I told her, staring at the thin paper wrapped box that was in front of me.
"What is it?" She asked curiously, eyeing the box.
"I don't know."
"Well open it!"
"It's probably just some trash."
"Well you don't know. Xavier, open it."
I took a shaky breath and reached out, my hands grasping the box as I tore the paper off it, revealing the plain box underneath the brown paper. I then opened the box and found a note on top of a mummified hand.
"What does it say?" Reyna asked, trying to read the letter.
"It says, 'Dear Xavier, I am probably dead if you are reading this and you probably hate me. I would too if I were you. I wasn't ready to take care of you and you didn't deserve me but, please take this paw. When I was younger, I had walked around with a sack of money in my trousers and saw an old man coming towards me. He told me about a paw he had that had the power to grant three men three wishes. I was thrilled and asked him how much. But he said I could have it. So I took it, wrapped it in a box, and put it in my will for you. I never made a wish, this was your gift. Hopefully it works. Your uncle, Jaxon'." I threw the letter away and took the paw out and study it.
"It looks like a monkey's paw." Reyna told me, her eyes squinted at it.
"It probably doesn't work." I told her.
"Well try." She told me. "Make a wish."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Money." She told me. "We have none of it and I fear we can't give Nolan the best."
I nodded at her and held the paw in my hand. "I want three-hundred pounds." Suddenly I felt the paw move in my hand and I jumped back in shock, the law lying on the table in front of me.
"What?"
"I-It moved! The thing moved in my hand!"
"Well we have no money so," Reyna started.
"Mum!" Nolan's voice rang as he ran to us.
"Hey Nolan." Reyna told our son, smiling big as I put the paw back in the box.
"We have to go to school!" He yelled, making Reyna's eyes widen.
"Oh! Well come on Nolan! We'll be back Xavier." Reyna told me as she rushed Nolan out of the house.
***
"So, any money?" Reyna asked when she got back from the market. "We could really use some right now."
"Like I said before Reyna, it doesn't work. Uncle Jaxon probably just made the whole thing up." I told her as we heard a knock on the door.
I got up and opened the door, seeing my old family friend Sergeant-Major Morris.
"Hello Sergeant-Major! What's with the visit? Would you like to come in?" I asked.
"No Xavier, I think I will be fine out here." He told me.
"What's wrong?" Reyna asked.
"It's Nolan." Sergeant-Major told us.
"What about him?" I asked, fear filling me.
"I am so sorry but, the class was out on a trip and Nolan ran into the street before we could stop him. Your son got shot. I am so sorry." He informed us.
Reyna screamed in horror as she buried her head in my neck, her hands clutching the fabric of my shirt as my world crumbled down.
"The government however, would like to donate money to the two of you."
"How much?" Reyna asked, anger in her voice.
"Three-hundred pounds."
***
The funeral had been short and small for Nolan. Only Reyna, Sergeant-Major, and I were present. Along with a priest and the two gravediggers. We had been given our three-hundred pounds in pity for something that Reyna and I both felt horrible for, but at the same time, I didn't feel horrible about it. I gained money, power basically. And on the walk back home, the thought kept running in my head, what could we do with the money?
"You are going to destroy that paw!" Reyna scowled at me as she slammed the door shut.
"But why?" I asked her.
"That thing killed my son!" She yelled at me. "How can you not feel revolted?"
"That 'thing' just got us rich. I am sorry Reyna, but I am not getting rid of this paw." I told her.
"Oh, yes you will Xavier." She told me before she ran to the table and snatched the paw.
I chased after her and then pinned her up against the wall, her arms on either side of her head as tears fell on her face.
"This paw has given us money. Imagine what else it can give us. I am never getting rid of it." I sneered at her as I snatched it out of her hand. "Yes I feel bad for Nolan but, we are rich! We can finally have a life!"
"Nolan was our life!" Reyna yelled.
"Our life before was horrible! We need this paw!" I snapped at her.
"No we don't, we need Nolan back!"
"You're selfish!"
"Oh, I'm selfish? Says the one who would kill their own son for money!"
"Be quiet! I wish you were dead!" I yelled, soon regretting it for Reyna stared at me wide eyed and started choking. Her hands grasped her neck tightly as she struggled to breath, her face turning red immediately before she collapsed.
"Reyna?" I asked shakily.
I checked her pulse. She was dead.
"What have I done?" I asked myself, anger boiling up in me. "I'm worse that Jaxon!" I paced back and forth before I made my decision.
I snatched a piece of paper and scribbled on my letter for Sergeant-Major, placed it on the table and held the paw tightly in my hand.
"I wish die."
"Yes." I told the man, my back towards him as my voice was slow and dragging. I had spoke as if on command, instead of actually listening to what he asked me.
"Son." The man told me, his voice right next to me and his hand on my shoulder. A cold, dead hand that gave no warmth or comfort, but pure pity.
The man on the other hand, wore a plain black suit along with a crisp white shirt and black tie. He wore expensive black shoes and a plain black hat on his head, covering his silvery pale hair. There was evidence of age on his kind and gentle face from smile lines to the little wrinkles, this man looked genuinely nice with his washed out grey eyes.
"I am deeply sorry about your uncle, he was a...kind man." He told me unsurely.
"To bad his greed got to him before age and health had a try." I retorted back, bitterness in my voice. It had been true, my uncle was a greedy man who soon went to spending all his money on liquor and petty games. Anyone could have guessed that he wouldn't have lasted long.
"Oh, money can change a man deeply." The old man informed me, a small smile forcefully plastered on his face.
"Yes well, I'm just glad I didn't witness his stupidity." I finished with a sigh as I ran a hand through my unkept hair.
"No matter what, your uncle will be deeply missed."
"By who? The worthless women who he fancied trying to get? Or maybe the men who hated him deeply. Or perhaps what you mean is that no one will miss my uncle but only the men who profited his ill gained goods."
"Oh Xavier, that is not at all what I mean."
"Then who will miss my poor uncle?"
"You."
"Ha! I will never miss that old coward."
"Oh I think you will one day. But until then, I have been asked by the bank to give you this." I was handed a plain box with thin paper wrapped around it carelessly. "Your uncle wanted to give it to you and specifically asked for you to open it when you have come of age."
I eyed the box carefully. "I want nothing to do with that, that trash." I snapped, pure disgust evident in my voice.
The old man chuckled at my reaction. "Oh, I think your curious to know what your uncle left you." The man then placed the box in my hands and whispered in my ear. "Happy 14th birthday Xavier."
***
(16 years later)
"Xavier! Xavier where are you?" Reyna's voice pierced through the quiet and peaceful summer morning, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"I'm over here Reyna." I replied quietly, my eyes glued onto the object lying on the table.
"Oh finally I found you! Listen I can't find Nolan and he has to get ready for school and you're not even listening to me!" Reyna shrieked. "Xavier!"
No comment.
"Xavier Bates answer me!"
Silence.
Reyna then growled in frustration and smacked me behind the head roughly, making me wince in pain as I soon snatched her hand tightly and stood up, towering over her as I stared down at her, my lips pressed in a line. Reyna looked up at me scared and softly placed her hand on my cheek as she then managed to force a comforting smile on her face.
I sighed and let her go, mumbling my apology as I sat back down on my chair.
I had met Reyna when we were both 18 in London. We were both orphans, instead she never had someone take care of her after her parents died, unlike me. I had followed her persistently each day, trying to get her to talk to me. She truly is a gorgeous sight with her dirty blonde hair always down and her sea green eyes. She was fragile when we were young, almost skin and bones, until I taught her to steal. You could say I changed her, but she never saw it like that. She saw it as a second chance of living.
I helped her out in tight spaces, even though in the beginning she hated me deeply and saw me as a pest. However, I was drawn to her like a moth to light. I stole a bunch of things for her, jewels, food, clothes, everything. But I also did save her skin. Like this one time, she had gotten caught stealing a roast from a local butcher and was going to get beaten until I stepped in and took the beatings for her as she ran.
After that, she started accepting me in her life, knowing that I was never going to leave her.
Once we turned 23, I asked her to marry me, then confessing to her that I had fancied her ever since I saw her outside the dress shop in London. She agreed to it, and we married the next day. No grand church, dress, or suit, just the two of us in a small chapel and wide smiles on our faces.
When we were 25, we found out that Reyna was carrying a child and London wasn't a good place for us anymore. So we moved to India and continued our little Bonnie and Clyde adventure until Nolan was born.
Everything was going great, amazing even. Until war broke out and stealing became hard, for soliders started camping out here. We stayed in a small, abandoned house and once Nolan was old enough, we sent him to school, knowing he needed to be educated.
And that's our life now. Horrible. No money, no food, nothing. But we manage to get through each day slowly. Until today.
"Xavier?" Reyna said, snapping her fingers in front of my face, making me blink rapidly and force a smile on my face. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Reyna. It's just that something from my uncle has come back to haunt me." I told her, staring at the thin paper wrapped box that was in front of me.
"What is it?" She asked curiously, eyeing the box.
"I don't know."
"Well open it!"
"It's probably just some trash."
"Well you don't know. Xavier, open it."
I took a shaky breath and reached out, my hands grasping the box as I tore the paper off it, revealing the plain box underneath the brown paper. I then opened the box and found a note on top of a mummified hand.
"What does it say?" Reyna asked, trying to read the letter.
"It says, 'Dear Xavier, I am probably dead if you are reading this and you probably hate me. I would too if I were you. I wasn't ready to take care of you and you didn't deserve me but, please take this paw. When I was younger, I had walked around with a sack of money in my trousers and saw an old man coming towards me. He told me about a paw he had that had the power to grant three men three wishes. I was thrilled and asked him how much. But he said I could have it. So I took it, wrapped it in a box, and put it in my will for you. I never made a wish, this was your gift. Hopefully it works. Your uncle, Jaxon'." I threw the letter away and took the paw out and study it.
"It looks like a monkey's paw." Reyna told me, her eyes squinted at it.
"It probably doesn't work." I told her.
"Well try." She told me. "Make a wish."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Money." She told me. "We have none of it and I fear we can't give Nolan the best."
I nodded at her and held the paw in my hand. "I want three-hundred pounds." Suddenly I felt the paw move in my hand and I jumped back in shock, the law lying on the table in front of me.
"What?"
"I-It moved! The thing moved in my hand!"
"Well we have no money so," Reyna started.
"Mum!" Nolan's voice rang as he ran to us.
"Hey Nolan." Reyna told our son, smiling big as I put the paw back in the box.
"We have to go to school!" He yelled, making Reyna's eyes widen.
"Oh! Well come on Nolan! We'll be back Xavier." Reyna told me as she rushed Nolan out of the house.
***
"So, any money?" Reyna asked when she got back from the market. "We could really use some right now."
"Like I said before Reyna, it doesn't work. Uncle Jaxon probably just made the whole thing up." I told her as we heard a knock on the door.
I got up and opened the door, seeing my old family friend Sergeant-Major Morris.
"Hello Sergeant-Major! What's with the visit? Would you like to come in?" I asked.
"No Xavier, I think I will be fine out here." He told me.
"What's wrong?" Reyna asked.
"It's Nolan." Sergeant-Major told us.
"What about him?" I asked, fear filling me.
"I am so sorry but, the class was out on a trip and Nolan ran into the street before we could stop him. Your son got shot. I am so sorry." He informed us.
Reyna screamed in horror as she buried her head in my neck, her hands clutching the fabric of my shirt as my world crumbled down.
"The government however, would like to donate money to the two of you."
"How much?" Reyna asked, anger in her voice.
"Three-hundred pounds."
***
The funeral had been short and small for Nolan. Only Reyna, Sergeant-Major, and I were present. Along with a priest and the two gravediggers. We had been given our three-hundred pounds in pity for something that Reyna and I both felt horrible for, but at the same time, I didn't feel horrible about it. I gained money, power basically. And on the walk back home, the thought kept running in my head, what could we do with the money?
"You are going to destroy that paw!" Reyna scowled at me as she slammed the door shut.
"But why?" I asked her.
"That thing killed my son!" She yelled at me. "How can you not feel revolted?"
"That 'thing' just got us rich. I am sorry Reyna, but I am not getting rid of this paw." I told her.
"Oh, yes you will Xavier." She told me before she ran to the table and snatched the paw.
I chased after her and then pinned her up against the wall, her arms on either side of her head as tears fell on her face.
"This paw has given us money. Imagine what else it can give us. I am never getting rid of it." I sneered at her as I snatched it out of her hand. "Yes I feel bad for Nolan but, we are rich! We can finally have a life!"
"Nolan was our life!" Reyna yelled.
"Our life before was horrible! We need this paw!" I snapped at her.
"No we don't, we need Nolan back!"
"You're selfish!"
"Oh, I'm selfish? Says the one who would kill their own son for money!"
"Be quiet! I wish you were dead!" I yelled, soon regretting it for Reyna stared at me wide eyed and started choking. Her hands grasped her neck tightly as she struggled to breath, her face turning red immediately before she collapsed.
"Reyna?" I asked shakily.
I checked her pulse. She was dead.
"What have I done?" I asked myself, anger boiling up in me. "I'm worse that Jaxon!" I paced back and forth before I made my decision.
I snatched a piece of paper and scribbled on my letter for Sergeant-Major, placed it on the table and held the paw tightly in my hand.
"I wish die."