“Madam, please,” he asked, “did you see an old woman sitting here? White hair, begging?”
The woman looked at him and shook her head. “No, I did not see any old woman here.”
Raymond’s chest tightened. “But she was here just now,” he murmured to himself.
He felt foolish and confused, like someone who had followed a dream and woken up with empty hands.
As he stood there looking lost and thinking about where to sleep that night, someone tapped him lightly.
“Raymond,” a voice called.
Raymond turned quickly and saw an old friend—a man he had not seen in a long time.
The man smiled in surprise. “Ah, Raymond, what are you doing here, standing like this?”
Raymond tried to smile, but it came out weak.
“My brother, I don’t even know where to start.”
His friend looked at the bag in Raymond’s hand. “Why are you carrying your bag outside like this?”
Raymond sighed and told him everything: the job hunting, coming home tired, seeing Lizzy with Tony, the insults, how Lizzy threw out his bag and chased him from the house.
He ended in a low voice. “I have nowhere to sleep today.”
His friend’s face changed immediately with pity.
“Raymond, don’t worry,” he said. “I have a big place. You can stay in my house as long as you want. You’re my friend.”
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