The little boy was constantly begging his father to buy him a new soccer ball from the vendors out on the streets. They were in the city where the death rate was one of the highest. Where every celebrity resides at. Where the Hollywood Walk of Fame was. The "City of Angels" - Los Angeles, California. The sun was out in Southern LA, the vendors trying their hardest to just get at least a few sales. They were set up at different corners throughout the city, selling CDs, jewelry, clothing, movies - some of them were even trying to sell electronics. The citizens of LA were not falling for the “good deals”. Not only did they not know where the merchandise came from or if it’s good quality, but they also did not have enough money. The vendors should have been able to notice this due to the neighborhood they were in. There was litter everywhere, many police cars were patrolling the neighborhood. Rarely anyone was outside, due to the risk of randomly getting shot. Cars sped by to hurry and flee the neighborhood. Except for Kentrayle’s. Kentrayle was on his way home from work. He was watching the little boy from the red light, and started to feel for him. Tears were starting to form in the little boy’s eyes, attempting to persuade his father to buy him the toy. The begging was clearly starting to annoy the father. He kept his calm and just continued to say no. Kentrayle could not just watch the little boy cry like this. He found a park near the vendors. Kentrayle got out and started walking towards the two, pulling out his wallet. The vendor at the table was watching the father and the son, hoping the father would soon say yes. “Excuse me,” Kentrayle said. “How much does the soccer ball cost?”. The vendor’s eyes traveled to Kentrayle’s, and then to his wallet. His eyes lit up.
“I’ll give you the soccer ball for only $5.00,” the vendor said. Kentrayle pulled out a $5.00 bill and gave it to the vendor. He handed the soccer ball to the little boy, and the little boy immediately grabbed it and started to kick it around.
“Thank you, Mister. My son really enjoys soccer, but I cannot afford to pay for the necessary things he needs to actually play it,” the father said. His eyes were not caught up on sleep, and he tried his hardest to smile, yet his eyes would not let him. Kentrayle immediately started to feel for the father as well. The father was watching his son play with the ball. His son was actually smiling, which the father hadn’t seen in a long time. It was such a joy to him. “Thank you so much, Mister -” the man started to say say again. Kentrayle had cut him off and told him to just call him by his first name. The father introduced himself as Michael, and his son’s name was William. Kentrayle asked the man if him and his son was hungry. The man nodded. “We are, sir, but you do not have to buy us anything”. Kentrayle said no, and that he would take them out. They went to the nearest burger joint, where Kentrayle bought them anything they wanted. Michael had a single cheeseburger with a small order of fries. His son, however, had two double cheeseburgers with a large order of fries, and also a large strawberry milkshake - the father honestly did not want to spend any of Kentrayle's money. Yet he was curious on who he was. Why was he just using his money on them? "Kentrayle, who are you? Really?" Kentrayle just looked at the dad. He told him what he did for a living, which was owning his own law firm - he was a lawyer. One of the best lawyers in town, he said. That is all he told him. That is all he needed to know. After they were done eating, Kentrayle offered to drive them home. "Mister - I mean, Kentrayle. You've done enough for us. We can easily take the bus home. I insist, let us take the bus home". Kentrayle once again denied the man’s request, and insisted that he drove them home. “Well . . . ,the thing is . . . ,we don’t necessarily have a home. We live in a shelter 10 minutes away from here. It’s not in a great neighborhood, either. I really don’t want you to see where we live”. Kentrayle said it was alright, and that he lived in a neighborhood really similar to the one they were in now. Michael just sighed, and allowed Kentrayle to drive them home.
As Kentrayle was driving them home, he started grinning to himself. The grin quickly disappeared, though, suddenly having a quick flashback to when him and his mother was in the same situation. No one helped them, like Kentrayle helped the pair. His mother struggled so hard just to feed Kentrayle every night, yet somehow she always managed to do so. Sometimes she would sacrifice her meal just to fill Kentrayle up. He wish someone would have done the same thing he’s doing for the father and son, but to him and his mother when they were struggling. He had made a promise to himself that he would always help someone when in need, despite the need. He would not allow anyone to struggle as much as him and his mom did. As Kentrayle approached the shelter, he suddenly came up with an idea. He was going to let the man and his son move in, until the father was back on his feet. It was a crazy risk, but Kentrayle was going to do it. Help his son get on a soccer team, connect the father with a job at his firm. It was going to all work out perfectly. Kentrayle parked his car and got out. Michael got out as well, holding his sleepy son in his arms; he started walking to the shelter. Michael followed. An elderly lady was at the door, checking people in. She was looking at a card they had, and allowed them inside. Michael pulled out two cards, one for him and one for his son. Kentrayled asked what was it for. “Oh, this is an ID. You have to have an ID to be let in the shelter. If you don’t have your ID, you won’t be let in”. Kentrayle nodded.
“Well”, Kentrayle said. “I want to check up on you and your son daily. I feel as we’re family”. He chuckled a bit. “Is there a phone you all share in there?”. William shook his head.
“No, there’s nothing but a TV in our room, and a bed, a bathroom, and air conditioning. That’s pretty good, though. Most homeless shelters don’t even have a bathroom. Or sometimes air conditioning. We’re blessed”. William smiled again, this time his eyes allowing him to. William looked back at the elderly lady at the door. She was looking at him, waiting for him to come inside. He turned back around and looked down at his son, whom was sleeping, then at Kentrayle. “Um, Mister, it’s time for us to go inside. I’d like to meet again, if you want”. Kentrayle eagerly nodded. He asked when. “Tomorrow we’re not doing anything. We can meet at State Beach. Early, around 11:00 in the morning. It’s supposed to be a beautiful day outside tomorrow”. Kentrayled agreed, smiling. William walked to the elderly lady, holding up the two ID cards. The lady let him in. Kentrayle walked back to his car, and drove home.
* * *
Kentrayle was walking around on the beach, barefoot. He was looking around enjoying the scenery. There were cars driving around near by, destroying the peace. He was still enjoying the setting, though. He was waiting on William and Michael. He checked his watch. It was 11:30 AM. Kentrayle sighed. I hope they didn’t stand me up, he thought. After what he’d done to them. Why would they stand me up anyways? So many thoughts ran through his head, until he heard a young boy’s voice calling him.
“Kentrayle!” William said loudly. Kentrayle quickly turned his head around, a smile appearing on his face. William was ecstatically waving at him from a far distance. Kentrayle laughed and waved back at the boy. He started walking towards William who, of course, had his soccer ball under his foot. Him and his father were crossing the street. Michael looked at his son. He’s never been this happy before. Michael sighed, a sigh of relief. Maybe this man was going to bring good outcomes, Michael thought. Kentrayle was waiting for them across the street. The light turned from red to green, allowing the pedestrians to walk. William was kicking his ball across the street. A car was honking its horn. Kentrayle look to the right, and saw that a huge truck was coming. Coming towards William. Kentrayle looked at Michael, who was looking at Kentrayle. They both looked at William. Kentrayle jumped in front of William, while Michael quickly pulled him away. Screams was all that was heard. Michael was covering William with his arms. Tears were coming down his face. William was breathing hard, not making any noises. He looked over at his soccer ball. It was bouncing away towards the beach. He started looking around for Kentrayle. He couldn’t find him. He looked up at his dad who was crying. Then he the heard sirens.
* * *
William was sitting on the hospital bed, where a doctor was checking up on him. He was looking behind his ears, feeling on his stomach, feeling on his head. William was just looking at him. “What happened to Kentrayle?” he asked the doctor. The doctor stopped checking on him and looked at William with sad eyes.
“He’s gone, buddy”, he said. “The truck hit him really hard. He got hit to save your life. I’m sure he’s in a much better place”. He started to feel his head again. “I’ll be right back, buddy”. The doctor walked out the room. William laid down, thinking about what the doctor just said. William was 10 years old. He knew that he would be able to live now, thanks to Kentrayle. He just looked up at the ceiling, processing it. He closed his eyes. He thought of Kentrayle, and the soccer ball that he bought William. He wanted to be like Kentrayle when he grew up. Nice, rich, and a hero. William grinned. He promised himself that he was going to be like Kentrayle when he got older.
“I’ll give you the soccer ball for only $5.00,” the vendor said. He had a thick Italian accent. Kentrayle pulled out a $5.00 bill and gave it to the vendor. He handed the soccer ball to the little boy, and the little boy immediately grabbed it and started to kick it around.
“Thank you, Mister. My son really enjoys soccer, but I cannot afford to pay for the necessary things he needs to actually play it,” the father said. His eyes were not caught up on sleep, and he tried his hardest to smile, yet his eyes would not let him. Kentrayle immediately started to feel for the father as well. He pulled out his wallet again, this time writing a check. He gave the check to the father and the father shook his head. “I can’t take this”, he said. “It’s too much”. Kentrayle insisted that he took the money, saying that he has plenty for himself. The father slowly reached his hand out for the check, and tears started coming down his eyes. He took the check, and started thanking Kentrayle. “Thank you so much, Mister -” the man said. Kentrayle had cut him off and told him to just call him Kentrayle. The father introduced himself as Michael, and his son’s name was William. Kentrayle asked the man if him and his son was hungry. The man nodded. “We are, sir, but you do not have to buy us anything. We will use this check instead”. Kentrayle said no, and that he would take them out. They went to the nearest burger joint, where Kentrayle bought them anything they wanted. Michael had a single cheeseburger with a small order of fries. His son, however, had two double cheeseburgers with a large order of fries, and also a large strawberry milkshake - the father honestly did not want to spend any of Kentrayle's money. Yet he was curious on who he was. Why was he just giving his money away to them? "Kentrayle, who are you? Really?" Kentrayle just looked at the dad. He told him what he did for a living, which was owning his own law firm - he was a lawyer. One of the best lawyers in town, he said. That is all he told him. That is all he needed to know. After they were done eating, Kentrayle offered to drive them home. "Mister - I mean, Kentrayle. You've done enough for us. We can easily take the bus home. I insist, let us take the bus home". Kentrayle sighed, and unwillingly agreed. He drove them to the bus stop, though, and waited for them to get on the bus. The father was quietly thinking to himself why this stranger was being so polite and giving to them, although they've never seen each other a day in their life. He looked at his son. He was playing with the soccer ball Kentrayle bought for him. He sighed. He did not know how he was going to repay this man back, because he had to.
Kentrayle watched the man and his son get on the bus. He drove off, grinning to himself. The grin quickly disappeared, though, suddenly having a quick flashback to when him and his mother was in the same situation. No one helped them, like Kentrayle helped the pair. His mother struggled to simply feed Kentrayle every night, yet somehow she always managed to feed him. Sometimes she would sacrifice her meal just to fill Kentrayle up. He wished someone would have done the same thing he just did to the father and son, but to him and his mother when they were struggling. He had made a promise to himself that he would always help someone when in need, despite the need. He would not allow anyone to struggle as much as him and his mom did. As Kentrayle approached his driveway, he suddenly came up with an idea. He was going to let the man and his son move in, until the father