Three Geeks and a Kebab

Three geeks bent low over a dying laptop trying to retrieve its final message before the virus takes it over completely. The screen flickers into life momentarily.

“I got it,” shouted Frank.

“Are you sure?” said Mervyn, his acned face screwed up in distress.

“Quite sure.”

“What did it say?” muttered Ian who found it difficult to talk through the brace a sadistic dentist had fitted. He still didn’t realise that the nickname ‘Goldie’ his friends had given him was ironic. “What did it say?”

“Look to the East.”

“That’s all?”

“Yep, that’s all.”
“Who the fuck buys a Dixons Gabriel 211 PC anyway?” said Mervyn as the computer finally gave up the ghost and shut down for the final time.

“Great name for a virus though,” lisped Goldie, “Very clever calling it Glad Tidings.”

Located near the station trade had been brisk earlier in the evening but now as the commuters drifted away the numbers coming into the shop had dwindled to those few making their way home from the pub. What was it about alcohol that made the stomach scream for a kebab. ‘Shepherds’ had been selling food for over one hundred years but over time the diet had changed from pie and mash, through fish and chips to the current lamb kebab offer. No one could remember the original ‘Shepherd’ but now it’s new owner was trying to make a go of things in difficult times.

Pietro turned away from the flickering TV as he heard the bell over the door ring. He looked around the empty shop. It was unnerving, there was no one in the shop and no one on the pavement outside. He waited for a few moments to make sure it wasn’t kids messing about and then turned back to the screen. ‘Beneath the Star” filled the screen for a few moments and then the programme returned.

Pietro shuddered and decided to shut early. He was his own boss and besides, people at this time of night were more trouble than they were worth. He carved a few slices from the kebab into one of the polystyrene trays, took a coke, gathered his coat and began to turn everything off.

Mervyn squeezed in the back of Goldie’s beaten up Fiat Uno with Frank in the front seat.

“Let’s head towards Islingston, that’s due east from here,” said Frank

No one disagreed as no one had a better idea of how to crack the code.

Pietro pulled the door closed and turned the key in the three locks. He heard the alarm beep twice and turned away. He never knew what made him take a different route that night but for some reason The Angel tube station was calling him.

At this time of night The Angel was one of the few bright lights in the area. It made him feel safer walking towards it. He glanced up and saw a light above one of the buildings that seemed much brighter than before. Almost unconsciously he was walking towards it when he heard a low moaning coming from an alley.

“Who’s there?” he shouted letting his eyes grow accustomed to the dark. There, by one of the large refuse carriers, was a young girl slumped on the ground holding something in her arms. “Bloody druggies,” he thought to himself.

“What are you looking at?” said a voice behind him.

Turning he saw a young man with eyes filled with fear and hate.

“We’re doing nothing wrong, there’s just nowhere to to go.”

Without thinking he heard himself speak. “I’m here to help you.”

The boy brushed past him and knelt down by the girl. “I’m sorry love, I can’t find any food or drink, the bloody shops are shut,”

“Here, take this,” said Pietro reaching out and offering them his lamb and the can of coke from his coat pocket.

“Thank you,” said the young girl in a tiny whispered voice. It was then he saw what she was holding. A tiny baby rested in her arms and at that moment it looked up at Pietro. That was the moment something happened inside him. He felt a blinding light shine through his life and the light found him wanting.

He was woken from this trance by a screech of brakes. Three men jumped out of a car and rushed down the alley. The young man stood up to protect his wife and child but it was clear that these three men were not here for violence, nor up to it.

“Hi,” said Ian, “I’m Goldie, and this is Frank and Mervyn. What can we do to help you and your child."

So what if this happened tonight? What hope is there for a young homeless couple with a new baby today? Of course we all know the Bible story and we all know that we would have done the right thing back then. It’s easy really because they were all heathens back but we know how to behave now, how to protect the poor, care for the weak, love all our ‘brothers and sisters’. 

But perhaps we don’t, because it is happening today and not just at Christmas – it’s all year and every day. So what are we doing ourselves, as a community, as a society, through our governments to care for a little child?