On the Trail

There are situations in life you'd rather forget...

"Impossible, did he really say that to her?" The fork-loaded wuzetka froze

halfway to my mouth. "What a boor and a simpleton!" If I were Jolka, I'd throw him out

the door – this time the wuzetka reached its destination. "Oh, well, it's good to say it."

Ewa, as usual, brought me back down to earth – and who's going to support her??? You know she's got

two left hands to work with and more debts than hair on her head. Well, in the face of such

arguments, I couldn't help but agree with her. We'd been sitting like that for an hour and a half and

had already discussed the biggest scandals about our mutual friends from different

perspectives. Still, it was nice to enjoy the warm interior of the café,

especially on a day as miserable as this. A cool, sleepy October morning,

the rain drizzling, people rushing around, taking care of a ton of unfinished business, and we were sitting in

a cozy café, enjoying our vanilla coffee.

"Well, it's her business, whatever she wants," I concluded, reaching for

a cup.

"Pseprasam, do you have a złoty?" A dirty, maybe eight-year-old boy stood before

me with the look of a beaten dog. "Very well," he lisped

. "I don't have one, go to your parents!" I snapped sharply, as usual. The kid lowered his head and

walked to the next table. "Gee, how I hate this," I said in a low voice, unable

to contain my indignation. "Come on, tell me, there are these vagrants walking around, probably saving up for

cigarettes or vodka for their degenerate parents! I don't even know why they let them into establishments. You can't sit quietly and chat without running into a beggar!

" "Hey, what are you doing? He's just a child, maybe he's hungry?" My friend, as usual,

naively looked for the good in people. "Do you feel sorry for a single złoty?

" "And what about Mother Teresa?" It's not about the money, but the principle. How do you know what he'll spend that

money on? Maybe there's a group of puppies waiting around the corner, ready to buy some drugs

or glue and sniff dirt with your money? Haven't you thought about that???

They're preying on naive people like you. I saw a program on TV. These teenagers

organize into real gangs and use specialized methods to extort money. One for

my younger brother's surgery, the other for my sister's leukemia. I'll never have a hand in that,"

I said, ostentatiously turning my back on the kid. Meanwhile, my sensitive

friend persisted. "Maybe he's hungry and saving up for food? Do you know how much?"

How many people are living on the brink of poverty now? Look how skinny he is... – she softened. –

"Sure," I replied sarcastically. "He's definitely hungry, haha, don't be ridiculous. That

's what social services are for, there are free soup kitchens, and you can't tell me he's saving for bread."

Anyway – I narrowed my eyes as an idea came to mind – we'll soon

find out. Confident of my point, I called the little one – Hey, come here for a moment. The boy

came quickly with hope in his eyes. – What's your name? – I asked. – "Piotrek,

ma'am, and my brother is Dawid, I have two other sisters, Ania and Basia." The kid started talking in

earnest. – He'll probably tell me a memorized story about his seriously ill mother soon – I thought

sarcastically. Hehe, he doesn't know he's been tricked into a bad situation, and I won't be fooled by a sad story.

– So, Piotruś, are you hungry? – I asked gently, trying to lull him into submission. – No

, ma'am, I'm saving up for daddy – he replied with childish sincerity. – Yes –

I turned to my friend with a triumphant expression – for daddy you say… So, go, child

, and tell daddy to find a job. The little boy opened his eyes wide and

replied resolutely – My daddy has a job, but he doesn't earn enough because the materials are too expensive.

"Yes, yes," I thought to myself, "definitely, especially the liquid materials."

I smiled indulgently, though, because, well, it's not the child's fault. The little guy turned around

and was about to leave when suddenly my friend blurted out, "Wait, here's some

change," and pressed the money into his hand. "Thank you, ma'am." The little guy was clearly

delighted. "Oh no, now you've gone too far," I didn't hide my indignation as soon as he left.

"Are you crazy? Did you see what he was saving all that money for?" I couldn't help but

marvel. "But he was so polite, he wasn't intrusive. In the end, I only gave him a few zlotys,

don't panic!" Ewa clearly didn't know what I was talking about. "Gosh, I can't believe my

eyes, you gave that little guy money for alcohol for his poor daddy??? Oh yes," I nodded

pityingly. "It's thanks to people like you that such scum never exist." They'll get to

work!

- But how do you know? Maybe he was saving for food after all, but was ashamed

to admit it... - my friend was stubborn - some children do just that!

- "I really find it hard to believe someone could be so naive, but since you insist, I have

an idea, we can check it out. Maybe if you see it with your own eyes, you'll wise up! Would

you like to go for a little walk?" - And without thinking, I pulled my friend out of the cozy

We walked out of the pub in pursuit of the boy, who, having received what he'd come for from several people, had

already left and disappeared around the corner. We set off quickly towards him, panting with

exertion, as the boy had a pair of legs in him. "You'll soon see what the poor guy will spend your

hard-earned money on," I panted. "Be careful not to lose sight of him!

" "Okay, okay, I've got my eye on him. He turned right, we need to run a bit," Ewa ordered, and

galloped after the disappearing child. "Well, he can't escape us," I admitted,

gasping for breath. "Let's run after him!" As the rain began to fall,

cold water streamed down my face. "Good thing I have waterproof mascara," I noted

consciously. "Running through the city center, you meet a lot of friends who, like

us, enjoy sitting and drinking coffee." They'd have something to talk about, no doubt! But it's hard to

bring this to a close – I thought to myself – We'll catch the little one, or even

the noble one, and we'll talk him down so much he'll stop wanting to extort money from decent people. Convinced of my point, I quickened my pace, as the boy was clearly heading towards a shop. And what a shop! The colorful sign reading "Paints, Glues, Varnishes" left no doubt. Ha! I was right! "See, didn't I tell you?" I was beside myself with joy as I watched my friend's face fall. "Soon your well-behaved boy will come out with methylated spirits or glue and go smoke with his friends. Oh, look! One of them is waiting for him!" Standing outside the shop was another boy, slightly shorter than Piotruś, and clearly hiding something under his jacket.

"Well, just as I thought, it's some kind of clique," I continued. "One has this, the other that, then they swap and laugh until they burst into tears at human stupidity!"

Meanwhile, Piotruś emerged from the store, carrying a huge jar marked "BUTAPREM."

He greeted his friend, and the two set off together toward the apartment blocks. "Shall we follow them, or have you had

enough?" I asked my friend, who hadn't uttered a word yet. My triumph was

imminent, and I wanted to seal it with the sight of two stoned teenagers. "At least

we'll follow them," I tugged on her arm, seeing her hesitate a bit. "They're definitely going

to the basement or the attic," I declared with the expertise of a senior tracker. We set off

toward a housing estate of low, two-story apartment blocks. "I can't believe it. How

can such young children be taking drugs already?" Ewa regained her speech, but perhaps not entirely

her mental faculties. "It's terrible, isn't anyone monitoring this, taking care of them?" My

friend asked questions to which there was only one answer: "And I, I don't know how anyone

could be so naive." What world do you live in, girl? Don't you know that's exactly what

Thanks to people like you, this business is flourishing? I deliberately wanted to irritate her, so

she would remember this lesson and draw conclusions for the future. We were approaching the

stairwell where the little ones had disappeared. The red brick building didn't evoke pleasant

associations. "I'll go in first," I ordered. "If they're hiding in the apartment, we won't

find them... but that's unlikely." I considered various options with a Sherlock

Holmes expression. "We'll go down to the basement and listen for them." We opened the door, and

immediately the smell of mustiness and chemicals enveloped us. "Ugh, what a stench!"

I grimaced at the thought of having to descend the stairs into that abyss. But

this was a real death! We groped our way down the stairs in complete darkness, holding onto

the wall for balance. We didn't want to turn on the lights so as not to scare

the little rascals away. As our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we began to make out the corridors.

"Okay, let's search the area one by one, first this corridor to the left." I pointed, and

we walked along the wall, passing basement doors one by one. The corridor was about 4 meters long and ended in a wall with a tangle of pipes. "Nothing," we said, emerging

again. "Let's try this one now." The second corridor was a bit longer, but we thought we

could see a faint light at the end. "They're hiding there..." I whispered, "we'll catch them soon."

We crept forward in absolute silence, step by step. My heart was beating like crazy, as if

we were on the trail of a scandal on the scale of Watergate. With each step, we got closer, and

individual voices could now be distinguished. "Those... let's hear what they're talking about," I

whispered, so we stopped about half a meter before the basement, lit by a single bulb.

The light shone through the wide slits of the wooden door.

"Can I try it?" – A small child's voice quivered with impatience. – Please, may I?

– Wait, you're too young to know how it's done. First I'll show you and then

you can try, okay? – The man replied

. My hair stood on end. – Gosh, Yulek! There's a grown man and two little

boys in there! Maybe he's a pedophile??? He'll stun them with glue and then... I didn't want to think about what would happen

next. I looked at Ewa and saw, despite the dimness, that she was as pale as chalk.

– What are we doing? – I asked in a whisper, genuinely terrified. – Are we going in? – She shook

her head in denial and whispered, – Let's wait, or we'll scare him off and he'll deny everything. – Okay,

you're right – I nodded. We have to beg for evidence. We listened, so we continued with bated breath.

"...oh so good...now hold and squeeze hard, oh so good...do you want

to try it now?" the man apparently turned to the other boy. "...well, you

're doing great, you'll definitely succeed with a little practice!" "I can't do it, sir, I don't have

the strength," the boy panted with exertion, and my vision went black. "Try tensing

your muscles with all your might and then hold them, it takes some effort, but I guarantee

the effect will be excellent." The guy clearly knew his stuff, and my imagination was working

at full speed. We couldn't wait any longer. I flung open the door, and

even though the light blinded me a bit, I roared in the most menacing voice I could

muster:

"Let them go now, you pervert, we heard everything! Enough of this, it's disgusting!

People like you should be...etc., etc., etc. (I should have sunk into the ground at this point).

In front of me, on a stool, sat a man of about 40, wearing a gray shirt and a dirty

apron. Jars, jugs, and cans lined the countless shelves all around, and on a huge table

lay coils of string, piles of felt pads, and scattered nails. The air

was filled with the unpleasant smell of glue and rubber. Two little boys, mouths agape with

surprise, squatted next to him, tightly gripping a huge shoe that refused

to fit onto its metal shoe tree. As you might imagine, we were in

a tiny shoemaker's workshop, and I looked like the biggest idiot who had ever

walked the earth.

"I... I mean... we thought... it looked completely different... I'm so sorry,"

I rambled, desperately trying to get out of the awkward situation.

Piotruś, who was the first to regain his ability to think logically, pointed to Ewa,

who was standing right behind me and with the look of a winner in a competition for remembering details, said

with pride in his voice, "Dad, that lady gave me one złoty and 40 groszy, so that's why I could buy you

a large glue stick!

" The second boy, seeing that my expression didn't indicate any presence of mind,

explained matter-of-factly, "Piotr's dad is a shoemaker, and we're helping him because he has a lot of work!"

The man smiled uncertainly, stood up, and, limping slightly, walked towards us. Seeing this,

we instinctively stepped back, but he reassured us with a wave of his hand. "Don't be afraid of me, ladies,

I'm not a robber, I just look so dangerous!" He laughed heartily, and we felt

more embarrassed than ever before. "Oh no, we're not afraid," Ewa interjected. "Oh... you repair shoes here

?" she asked, trying to change the subject. "I do repair shoes," he replied, nodding. "I do."

The estate comes to me because I make good shoes; I don't accept shoddy work. I used to be

better off, I had a workshop in the garage, but unfortunately, hard times have fallen, and I have five mouths to

feed at home. It's only thanks to the boys—he nodded at the two rascals, who were grinning

from ear to ear—"we somehow manage to make ends meet. I hope they

didn't steal anything from the ladies." He glared at them menacingly. "Because if I found out, I can't guarantee

my safety." He shook his finger at them. "No, no," we denied almost simultaneously. "Piotruś was

very polite," I added, feeling myself turn beet red. "He's a very nice boy.

" "You know," he turned to us, clearly embarrassed, "it's not like I'm telling them to collect.

I'm terribly ashamed that I can't support my family on my own. I'd be the first to go get

a job because I'm good at carpentry and construction, but after an accident,

my leg is disabled, and they won't hire me anywhere. " I really tried, it's good that

I know something about it." He gestured broadly, sweeping his humble workshop.

"It's lucky you have such good children," I added, looking at the little rascals with

admiration. "That's a rare occurrence these days .

" "Oh yes," the man said, clearly pleased. "My children are the best in the world. The older one

just went looking for some scrap metal or bottles, then he goes to the collection point and

gives all the money to his mother," he added, not hiding his satisfaction.

"We'll go now, it was nice meeting you." We slowly backed away,

feeling a sudden urge for fresh air. "Goodbye!"

"Goodbye! And if your shoes break, come back, I'll charge you cheap!" we heard

as we were already halfway down the corridor. We practically ran out of the basement.

"You," I choked out, leaning against the railing, "that's unbelievable." My surprise

just reached its peak. "Whatever you want, at least the kid was telling the truth about saving up for

fabrics for his daddy." Ewa looked at me with obvious amusement. "And since you didn't

believe him..." "Don't say anything more, not a word more," I ordered my friend as I descended

the stairs. I heard her snort with laughter, but she didn't say anything more. We walked back like

beaten dogs. I hadn't had such a moral hangover in a long time. "Well, at least we discovered

a cheap shoemaker," I said aloud, and inwardly I thought, "and something else, the old truth

that not everything in life is what it seems, and even the worst-case scenario can have

a happy ending. But why do we have to find out for ourselves???"