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I stared at the box in horror. Why was there so much jewelry in the
box? For the life of me, I could not understand how Ah Gna could come into
possession of enough jewelry to keep us both in the lap of luxury for
a lifetime. Yet, something gnawed at me, trying to get me to remember it.
Suddenly, I realized where I had seen the jewelry. They were identified as
stolen from the owner's house a few weeks ago. Apparently, the owner's son
was badly hurt in the robbery. I was aghast. When Ah Gna came to see me a few days ago, I should have suspected
something. After all, we moved in different circles ever since he joined the
local
street gang a few years back. He hardly acknowledged my presence in school,
so his visit came as a big surprise. When he asked me to keep a small parcel
safe for him for a while, I did so without hesitation. Perhaps, it was fear of
his connections that made me do so unquestioningly. But when he did not turn
up in school after that, my suspicions were aroused. In the end, I had come
home to open the parcel only to realize that I was holding stolen property in my
hands! In the end, I decided to go to the police with the parcel. On my way to the
nearest police post, I chanced upon Ah Gna loitering about the void deck.
He came up to me quickly and asked where I was going with the parcel. He
looked so menacing that at first I thought of lying to him. But in the end, my
indignation won out. After all, why should I be afraid when I was innocent
in the entire thing? He had implicated me in his trouble and for that, I would
never forgive him. When I told him calmly what I was going to do, he almost spat out threats
to kill me if I did that. But I stood firm, knowing that I was doing the right
thing. That was until he whipped out a lethal-looking knife and threatened me
with it. I found myself capitulating; I handed the parcel over meekly and then
walked home quickly. For that act of cowardice, I earned myself the burden of
shame forever. Even after he was caught and sent to the reformatory, I could
not forgive myself for not having the nerve to stand up to him. |
