We see them in the streets all the time. With the way the economy is unpredictable and how hard it is to earn money these days, every country has to deal with an increasing number of homeless people. Most are harmless, but people are discouraged to interact on their own; you never know how desperate these people can get.
One woman had to learn the hard way when she decided to help a homeless man, only to be repaid in a manner that led her to call the cops. But before we start, make sure to subscribe if you haven’t and hit that notification bell so that you won’t miss any new stories.
Marina is a 37-year-old teacher who lived in the city. Every morning, she would walk through the busy streets to the metro station to commute to work. For the past weeks, she became familiar with a homeless man who sits on the same spot every day. The two are so used to seeing each other every morning that they started giving each other friendly smiles.
Marina initially thought that the man was deaf because he would never say a word, even when she greeted him with a good morning. But one morning, the man finally spoke to Marina. When he saw Marina walking his way, he waved her over. Marina approached him with a smile and said her usual good morning. This time she was surprised when the man spoke to her; he asked if he could give her a spare blanket.
The next morning, Marina overslept. She stayed up late checking the test papers of her students, so she was practically running to the metro station when she realized that she forgot a blanket for the homeless man. But it was too late to go back to her place. Now, when Marina neared the corner where the homeless man usually is, she saw that he now had a large backpack beside him. His face brightened up when he spotted her in the crowd of commuters; he must have been looking forward to getting a blanket.
Marina ran over to him and apologized, telling him she forgot about his blanket because she overslept. She made another promise to hand it over the next day and quickly rushed off. Once she was seated, she immediately felt guilty about the homeless old man; he was looking forward to receiving a blanket, and she had failed to deliver.
One of her colleagues asked her if she was okay. She noticed that Marina looked like she had something very serious on her mind that day. Marina then told her about the homeless old man and her broken promise. Her colleague commended Marina for having a good heart, but she also warned Marina to be careful while interacting with the homeless.
She told Marina about something she read in the news last week, where an old lady helped out a homeless young man; that young man ended up following her home and robbing her. Marina’s eyes widened when she heard her colleague’s story, but she doubts that her homeless man would ever hurt her.
Marina told herself that she should bring the blanket to him right away when she gets home from work. When classes were over, Marina rushed home. She dug up a thick old blanket and placed it inside a paper bag. She immediately left the house and headed towards the homeless man’s spot, though he was still there, sitting on the ground. Marina called out to him. The homeless man turned around and saw Marina holding up a bag. He smiled and quickly grabbed the bag from her.
Marina was surprised by how he suddenly grabbed the bag, but she noticed that he looked very happy and grateful. She smiled and was glad to have done her part and helped out a person in need. Marina then turned around to leave when the homeless man grabbed her arm to stop her. The streets were practically empty because of the cold; if something happened to her, nobody would come to her rescue.
Could her colleague be right? Marina took a deep breath and calmed herself down. She looked at the man, and he signaled to her not to move and to wait for him. He ran to his spot and retrieved the backpack she saw earlier that morning. The homeless man offered the backpack to Marina. Marina quickly shook her head and declined. She waved the backpack off, saying that she had everything she needed and that she was just glad that she could help him out.
This seemed to insult the homeless man; he looked a bit mad and told her, “Don’t you owe me this after letting me spend another day out in the cold?” And just like that, he was able to guilt Marina into accepting the bag. Marina found the bag to be surprisingly heavy. She finally arrived home and dropped the bag in the hallway. She was tired and hungry, so she decided to check its contents later on.
The next morning, Marina woke up and got ready for work. When she was about to leave, she saw the backpack in the hallway. She completely forgot about it. She was about to pick it up when she noticed there was a pool of liquid underneath it. The liquid looked like it was coming from the backpack. Marina checked her watch and concluded that she had no time to investigate the bag thoroughly; she had to leave right away.
The liquid did not smell bad or suspicious, so she thought it was safe to leave it as is. Marina walked out the door and decided to just ask the homeless man about it on the way to the metro station. But to her surprise, the homeless man was not there. But then she spots something familiar; she sees the blanket she gave him folded up neatly.
Why had the old man disappeared all of a sudden? Marina became suspicious. She decides to take the day off to get some answers. She calls the school and told them she had a medical emergency. When she gets back to her apartment, she immediately checks out the bag and screams when she sees what’s inside.
Marina falls over and kicks the bag away. She was not sure what to do; would the cops think of this as an emergency? But Marina needed help, so she dialed 911 and told them about the homeless man and his unexpected gift. When the cops arrived, Marina pointed at the backpack in the hallway. She told them she was unable to take a good look at what was inside because she was too scared.
The cops took the bag out to her balcony, where they took a peek at what was inside. The cops looked at each other with serious looks on their faces. One of them calls their station and tells them that the chief should come over quickly. Marina, who was told to stay by the door, could not see what was in the bag. When she heard that the police chief is coming over, she immediately felt worried.
Orders were also made to look for the homeless man. Will the homeless man be arrested? Another police car came over; this time there were more cops, and the police chief was with them. One of the cops interviewed her, asking her questions about the homeless man. Marina described him as well as he could and told them where he usually stays.
When the cop reaches his spot near the metro station, the homeless man still was not there. They asked around, and from the information they gathered, they were able to track him down. And nobody expected his explanation. It turned out that there was a frozen stuffed animal inside the bag, but it was not just an ordinary stuffed animal; it was the preserved remains of an extinct animal. In fact, these remains were reported stolen from a museum.
The homeless man explained that he and his friends stole it a long time ago, but he could not sell it off, so he kept it hidden along with a stash of interesting but useless things under the bridge. The freezing temperatures had kept the items frozen. He thought that the frozen stuffed animal would help return the favor; it was, after all, the most valuable thing he had.
Marina’s innocence was cleared, and the stuffed animal was returned to the museum. The old man had to go to jail. Marina immediately felt sorry for calling the cops right away; she should have just asked the homeless man about it first. But the man told her not to worry; at least he would spend some months in a dry, warm cell where he can get food regularly.
