***
So that was how they got to shoot the street children going about their daily routine, if you can call it routine, for they did exactly as their hearts dictated. And in the process, Rox came up with some more issues to address in her show. To her amazement, she noted that there was a tremendous wastage of food in town. Even the middle class were living pretty good lives. The street children had no problem getting food. There was no shortage of good food being thrown away on a daily basis. While the adults clicked their tongues in disapproval, the children whooped with glee to find discarded fruits, outdated canned food and drinks. No wonder they looked amazingly healthy, Rox thought, marveling at their brown glowing skin as they frolicked on the bank after taking a dip in the river. San remarked that it was ironic that her little nieces were so well taken care of and yet fell sick regularly whereas this lot abandoned to their own vices seemed to glow with good health.
Then there was no lack of charitable souls in town too. Some left food out for stray dogs and cats. Some wrapped up discarded clothes, bags, even toys in layers of plastic and left them on top of garbage bins so that anybody who wanted them could use them again. There was even a house owner who would leave the gate to her back yard open whenever there was a storm so that the children could take shelter in her garden shed.
Ah yes, shelter. Besides the bridge, the children showed Rox public places like parks, civic centres but these had police patrols and guards. Someone had to constantly keep watch while the others slept. Rox had a sneaky feeling that there were other places where the children disappeared to whenever they wanted nothing to do with the outside world but try as she might to get them to tell, they kept it a closely guarded secret. At one point, chatty Jeff slipped up and mentioned something about “an abandoned place” but the rest looked daggers at him and the conversation shriveled.
Such a life was not without its perils though. Besides vigilant security guards, police patrols and social welfare officers who clear the streets of beggars, lunatics and the homeless, there were criminals who prey on them. Jam pointed out one who tried to get him to send a parcel downtown in exchange for a box of fried chicken. Curious Jeff had gotten violently sick after opening the parcel a chink and tasting the white stuff inside. The group roared with laughter as Tan acted out how Jeff had behaved then. Even Ben chuckled. Then there were those people in cars with dark tinted glass windows who threw open their doors and tried to lure the children in with candies, toys and promises. However their fear of the unknown enhanced by the dark interiors of the vehicles had saved them from trouble thus far. Rox shivered and gazed down at the goose bumps appearing on her arms as she listened to the children talking and speculating about such encounters.
She shook herself out of the reverie to hear ‘…..the brown teddy bear looked so soft and furry. It would be nice to just touch and hug it.’ Su said, longing in her voice, her eyes, her whole demeanor.
‘Do you want to end up having another baby?’ Jam asked harshly, his face tight, his voice brittle.
There it was. Out finally, the question that was on every adult’s mind. How had Su come by that baby?
‘It was not my fault,’ Su cried, distressed. ‘You know it wasn’t my fault. He grabbed me.’ Then she ran off, followed swiftly by Jam. Rox got up too, intending to do likewise but Jeff stopped her with his next words. ‘It’s true. It wasn’t her fault. We would not have gone into the house if we knew he was there. He had a knife. He held it to Su’s throat like this.’ Jeff put a forefinger to his jugular vein. ‘Then he hurt her, the whole time he hurt her he had the knife like this. We could not do anything. He said he would slit her throat if we dared move an inch. We believe him.’
‘Oh Jeff,’ San said brokenly. ‘Oh Tan.’ She drew the unresisting boys into her embrace. Rox went round to hug all of them. For a long moment they huddled together for comfort.
‘Come with us, kids,’ Rox urged. ‘I will arrange a place for you to stay, people to look after you, schools to study in….. You will not want for anything…..anymore.’
‘Can we stay with San?’ Tan asked eagerly. ‘San is really nice. We like her.’ San’s agonized eyes looked into Rox’s, begging her to say the right things.
Rox dropped to her knees and took Tan’s hands in hers. ‘San’s all alone in town. She’s got to work too. All of us have to work. But we will make arrangements so that we can drop in to see you’
‘But you can’t be there all the time ….. like a mother,’ Tan said, his eyes intent on Rox’s face. Rox’s breath came in short gasps, like an animal caught in quicksand. She wanted to scream promises, ‘Yes, yes, I can, we can. We’d be there for you all the time.’ But she knew only too well that her promises would be broken and this little group of humanity should not have to condone another act of abandonment.
The children were quick in assessing Rox’s hesitation. ‘It’s alright.’ Jeff said, breaking free from San’s clutching hands. ‘Thanks. Jam will never consent to it anyway. Don’t worry. We’ll be careful. Promise.’ Jeff gave them a wry smile, took hold of Tan’s hand and left.
‘Aren’t you going to wait for Jam and Su?’ San called anxiously after them.
‘We’re going to them,’ came the reply. ‘We know where they are.’
Rox’s eyes were smarting again. Oh gosh, she thought, why is it we always end up in floods of tears at the end of each day?