The camera system of this local gas station spotted the most peculiar thing: a young woman made her appearance, and it grabbed the attention of the attending security guard right away. And for good reason—because she was secretly up to some strange behavior.
Marcus was having a pretty normal day before this bizarre woman showed up. He was watching the camera, looking at cars passing by without any hiccup. But then a woman appeared on screen. She was not accompanied by a vehicle; she just walked into the frame on foot and stood weirdly still by the pump. The lady looked around nervously multiple times, like she didn’t want to be seen. That’s when Marcus spotted the small Jerry can in her hand.
It seemed like she was waiting for cars to fill up their tanks with gas, and once they had their fill, then she made her move. Marcus could see the first car leaving the station, and immediately after it was finished pumping gas, she rushed toward the pump that the car previously occupied. She was siphoning off the excess gasoline in the pump after a car was finished.
Marcus shouted at the screen in surprise and anger. This type of behavior was a serious offense and one that Marcus couldn’t simply let happen. This was a deliberate crime, and that meant that Marcus had to intervene.
Once he got to the gas station, he was already too late. The mysterious woman had disappeared from view. Disappointed, Marcus walked back to his security booth. He let a petty criminal take off with her prize, and that didn’t feel good. But what he did not know was that the woman wasn’t done yet. Just after he returned to his stationary post, the woman reappeared on his television prompter.
He still had his gear at the ready, so that made him good to go instantly. But still, he was too late to catch the perpetrator in her stealing act. This game of cat and mouse occurred over three times, and every time Marcus was just slightly too late. He had to devise another plan. That’s why he decided to leave his off-site security booth and stake out the gas station itself. This time he would be right there in the action with the monitor in hand.
He placed himself behind the station and waited. And it turned out that this plan of his was the best thing he could do. Because after about an hour of waiting, it all came to fruition. He watched his monitor like a hawk, and eventually, he saw the mysterious woman appear on screen again. She walked up to the gas pump to steal some more gasoline.
He got on his feet, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. But then he realized something; he had to catch her in the act. Even though she had committed this crime multiple times already, he felt like he had to catch her in the act this time. He needed ultimate proof. So, he waited for her to grab the hose and fill up her Jerry can. He jumped out from his hiding spot behind the building and jolted toward the unsuspecting female.
“Stop right there!” he screamed at her while running at full speed. Marcus told the woman that he saw her multiple times today and that he was onto her from the start. He missed the bullet the first few times, but he now caught her red-handed. He saw her steal the gasoline and also caught everything on tape.
After that, he explained to the woman that she was in big trouble. He was going to arrest her, but before he would do that, he demanded an explanation. “You are going to tell me right now why you siphoned all that extra gas,” Marcus said with a serious face.
Marcus was expecting a snobby response after that demand, but to his surprise, he got the opposite reaction. The young woman started weeping softly and brushed away a tear with her free hand. The act of crying caught Marcus off guard, and he even loosened his grip because of it.
She put her hand on his shoulder and asked Marcus to follow her. There was something he had to see. The woman’s touch made Marcus shiver; he didn’t expect this criminal to have such a gentle touch. It caught him off guard, but guarded he did remain. “What do you want me to see?” he asked her.
The woman told him that he should see for himself. So Marcus had no choice but to oblige. Guided by the woman’s hand, they reached a large room inside the nearby building. It was pretty much barren with nothing but some empty shopping carts and a bad odor surrounding them. Marcus could hear voices coming from that part of the room. “Who is there?” Marcus asked the mysterious woman.
The woman pointed forward, and then Marcus saw it. The floor was filled with large mattresses, food cartons were scattered all over the room, and when he looked to his right, he even saw a cooking setup. But this one was made out of empty bean cans. “What is all of this?”
But the biggest surprise was yet to come. Because after that realization, dozens of people emerged from the shadows. They were all covered in dirt and had raggedy clothes. Most of them were shocked at first, but after the woman nodded her head, they came over to greet Marcus. A small child stepped forward first; she approached with caution and said hi to the confused Marcus.
The woman patted her on the head and gave the little girl the Jerry can. “Give this to your father, Lucy,” she said. Initially, Marcus wanted to stop the little girl from running away with the gasoline. “Stop right there, little girl. Give that back to me!” Marcus demanded. But before he could reach out and grab the Jerry can for himself, the woman stopped him and started talking.
“Don’t do this; I can explain everything,” she said. She started out by saying that her name was Amber. It was good to finally put a name to the face. But Amber, what is all of this?” Marcus asked.
Amber explained that many of the homeless people in the city were living inside this very building. And that was not without reason. Amber said that this building was the very last place where these people were able to go. The city has been focused on its rich and privileged people for years, leaving the less fortunate families to fend for themselves.
These people begged the local government for shelter but were refused time after time. Marcus had been angry and determined to make an arrest the entire time. But now, for the first time, he could feel his anger slip away. It gave way to understanding and sympathy. He felt horrible that these people had to go through that.
But there was something that still bothered him. He still did not understand why Amber needed to steal that gasoline. A metal sound was heard in the distance, and suddenly the dark room lit up. “You see, that gasoline fuels a large portable battery that provides power and heat to this entire floor,” Marcus stood there with his mouth wide open. He now finally understood and realized that these people were in desperate need of help.
But still, one question remained to be answered. If fuel was the only thing that Amber needed, she could have simply bought it like normal people would have, right? “So why
didn’t you simply do that?” Marcus asked. That way, the homeless would have been helped, and Amber wouldn’t have done anything wrong. But she had an answer to that. Amber told Marcus that she had been helping these homeless families for a while now. It has been an uphill battle, but with hard work and determination, she even managed to set up a foundation to help these people with food and much-needed supplies. But it wasn’t just time that Amber donated to these people; all her own money went into the foundation.
It was a noble cause, but the foundation was the long-term solution, and these people needed warmth and power right now. Without money in the back to provide, the young woman had to get creative. After hearing this heroic tale, Marcus was fully conflicted. He got why she did what she did; these people desperately needed help, and she was giving it. He couldn’t take that stolen gasoline away, but he also couldn’t let Amber keep stealing from the gas station.
That’s when Marcus decided to do something totally out of character. The humble security guard decided to start a community drive at the gas station where this all began. Here, people from within the community itself could offer their help a little bit at a time, and all proceeds would go to these families.
And wouldn’t you know it, it became a hit success. Within weeks, the local community picked up Marcus’s initiative, and the word spread like wildfire. His gas station was visited well over four times more than the second most popular one in town, and the donations just kept flooding in. “I still have a hard time believing it,” Marcus said, smiling at this moment in time.
The gas station has already gathered enough money to provide the families with a year’s worth of power. But why stop there? Marcus has promised to keep the community drive going for as long as needed. Who knows where this could go? It’s time they get a second chance at life.
