Alani packed most of his little knick-knacks into a thickly layered cardboard box.
It was filled with ugly wugglies, miniature Mickey Mouse figures, and superhero figures like Superman and Batman. He walked the box out of his place and down to the second-floor apartment below his. He raised his hand to knock on the door but heard a small voice at the end of the hallway."Are those toys?"
Looking in the direction in which the voice came from, Alani saw a little boy sitting on the steps.
"Yeah," Alani held up the box for the little Boy to see. "Do you live in this apartment? If your folks say it's okay, you can have it,"
"What will you do after you give the toys away?" The Little Boy got up from the steps and walked toward Alani. He wore a solid green shirt and Bermuda shorts and had slippers on his feet.
"I'm sorry," Alani asked. "Say that again?"
"After you give the toys away, what will you do?" The Boy asked pointedly.
"Go upstairs, back to my apartment," Alani replied, surprised at the little one's question.
"And then?" The Boy stepped closer until he was looking up at Alani. "And then?"
Befuddled, Alani meant to walk off, but the little Boy grabbed Alani's hand in his. "Let me go," Alani asked.
"Take the toys back to your place, and after that, go back and get back everything you gave away," the Boy instructed. "Whoever has your things, they don't need them."
"Why not?" Alani asked. "I gave it to them,"
"You know very well that those people need you, not what you gave them," the little Boy answered.
Just then, the door to the apartment that Alani stood in front of made a rattling sound, and the portal pulled back. A young woman stood there with her hair in a high ponytail. She wore sweats, and by the look on her face, she knew she had better things to do than deal with someone like Alani.
"Excuse me, is something wrong with you? You out here talking to yourself, are you on drugs?"
"No, no," Alani assured her. "I came to ask you if you wanted this box of toys I'm giving away; I've been talking to your son here, and I told him if you said it was alright, he could have these toys."
"I ain't got no kids; what the hell is wrong with you?" The young woman slammed the door shut, leaving Alani stunned. Without a word, he went back to his apartment. An hour later, he tracked down everyone he'd given his things to and asked if he could meet them and have them back. Many thought the request was strange but still agreed to meet him. When Alani showed up, he waited until they gave him his things, and then he handed them an envelope with a short letter. An hour later, those same people showed up at his apartment one after the other, each in tears. They stayed throughout the day, bringing food and drink and just sitting and talking about everything and nothing, but they all knew they wanted to be with Alani. To be near him, to hug and hold him. Some eventually had to go home because of work and family. Others stayed the night. Alani sat up in his bed, reading the letter he'd given to all of his friends in exchange for giving back the things he'd given to them.
This isn't something tacky where I've changed my mind for selfish reasons, but I gave you what I gave you because I was going to take my own life today. Kill me, kill my existence. I would probably jump from somewhere or let myself get run over. I figured I wouldn't need these things anymore, so giving them away to my friends, like yourself, who I felt could use them, was the best option. I changed my mind at the last minute. I didn't want to die after all, so that's why I asked if I could have this back. In exchange for its worth, you have my friendship and appreciation. Hopefully, it means something. It meant enough to me to have been here today. Maybe it meant something to you.
Alani
Two weeks later, Alani descended the stairs from his apartment and headed to the parking lot to his car. There was a bit more bounce in his step, a bit more life, and no more drudgery as if he were laden down with shackles. The Little Boy from before, dressed in the same clothes, sat at the bottom steps patiently waiting. Alani slowed to a careful walk, seeing the strange little one on the step.
"Do they love you now? Do they know that you meant more to them than what you were giving away?" The Boy asked.
Without giving the answer that the Boy wanted, Alani sat on the step near the Boy and said, "Who are you? Why are you asking such invasive questions at your age?"
Just then, the apartment door down the hallway opened and banged shut. It was the young woman from before. Her slippers slapped the concrete walkway as she headed toward Alani, carrying an armload of laundry. "Are you talking to yourself again?"
The Little Boy was gone. Alani stood up and introduced himself. "I'm Alani, by the way. Do you need help with that? It looks heavy."
"No, I'm fine," she seemed to sing song her answers strangely. Walking past him, she went to the washer and dryer on the other side of the steps. "I'm Alisha, by the way!" She called out.
A short time later, Alani and Alisha shared her apartment together. They were married, and in five years, they managed to save up money to buy their own place. By then, their four-year-old son Andrew had become quite wise beyond his little years. He also tended to wander outside if neither Alani nor Alisha were watching. One morning, with everything packed and ready to go, Alani was finalizing things with the moving trucks, giving them their address so they knew where to find the apartment building. Alisha was in the bedroom putting all the suitcases in order when Alani noticed the front door was open. Without having to look around the apartment, Alani knew that Andrew had gotten out. Alani stepped out the door and saw Andrew down the hallway, talking to some strange man he'd never seen, holding a cardboard box in his arms.
"After you give the toys away, what will you do?" His son asked the strange man.
"ANDREW!" Alani called out in a voice he'd never used with his son. It startled Andrew, making him jump. Simultaneously, the strange man dissolved into thin air like black ashes. Alani realized there and then that his son wore a solid green shirt, Bermuda shorts, and slippers on his feet. He dropped the phone, and his legs went out from under him. He sat there stunned, a frozen look of disbelief on his face. Before he knew it, Andrew was sitting on his lap.
"That was you, the before daddy, not the now daddy," Andrew said. "You were going to hurt yourself, so I made you take everything back you gave away. Otherwise, you wouldn't be the now daddy."
Alani held on to his son, shedding tears. "Thank you, my son, thank you for saving Daddy! I love you so much,"
"What are the two of you doing?" Alisha was exhausted after all the packing she'd done. She had no time for drama.
"We're just gonna miss this place," Alani said, wiping his tears.
"And you?" Alisha playfully asked Andrew.
"I have now, Daddy; I won't miss it," Andrew said, hugging his father. Andrew watched the misty figure of his father from the past go up the steps with the thick cardboard box in his hands and head back to his apartment, where his future would begin to unfold.
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