A little boy gives his last twenty cents to the poor man that his father used to help. The man becomes a millionaire and repays the boy for his kindness.
Jimmy and his dad did certain things every day. They played baseball at the park every Saturday afternoon and then went to their favorite ice cream shop to get a double scoop of chocolate and vanilla.
After getting their ice cream, they always walked past a poor man sitting at the same street corner. Always, Jimmy’s dad would take out all of his money and give it to the man. The man would smile.
“One day, I’ll pay you back, John Landry, every cent!” he would add.
His dad would say, “Sure, Wayne.” “I’m counting on it!”
He pulled on his dad’s hand one day. “Dad, how does that man know your name?”
John called out, “Jimmy.” “I knew Wayne a long time ago, when I was in college.” He was always about to find something big. In any case, things didn’t go well for him; that does happen sometimes.
A kind heart always gets you what you want.
“When I see him, I give him what I can, and he says he’s going to use it for labs.” I act like I do, even though I know it’s not true… I tell him I believe him when he says he’ll share the money made from his finding.
Jimmy didn’t understand everything his dad said, but he could tell he was sorry, so he stopped him and gave him a big hug. James didn’t know it, but that was his last hug.
That night, Jimmy’s dad’s big heart stopped beating while he was out for his evening run. Jimmy was all by himself in the world after John Landry died. His mom had died when he was born, so Jimmy was without anyone.
Wendy, his grandma, was the only person he had left. Before he died, Jimmy’s dad had a small software company that did well. The company went out of business, and everything he owned, including their house, went with it.
Their grandmother Wendy only had her pension, so she found them a trailer to live in. Things got very hard for Jimmy. Wendy really wanted to give her grandson all the things he used to get when his dad was alive, but she just couldn’t.
Even though she was retired and pretty old, she got a job at a laundry. She worked the night shift. However, her health began to get worse, and Jimmy was very worried about her. Jim would be by himself in the world if Gran Wendy died too.
He became very quiet and began to cry a lot. Wendy chose to make him feel better. “Listen, Jimmy,” she told him. “Why don’t we go to the park this Saturday?”
Jimmy and Gran Wendy went to the park and threw the ball around a bit. Gran Wendy threw like a girl, which was funny. After that, they went to get ice cream. When they got outside, Jimmy saw Wayne, his dad’s homeless friend, standing on the corner.
“Wait, Gran Wendy!” He cried, Jimmy. “There is something I have to do!” He went up to Wayne and turned his pockets inside out, but Wayne only had twenty cents in them. He was really mad.
“I’m sorry Wayne, but I only have twenty cents!” he told him with tears in his eyes.
Wayne said, “Hey there.” “That’s fine!” Every little bit helps! How is your dad? He hasn’t been seen in a while!”
Jimmy began to cry at that moment, and Gran Wendy ran over. “He’s dead!” He cried, Jimmy. “He’s dead and we’re poor and I’m afraid Gran Wendy will die too, and I’ll be all alone!”
Wayne looked shocked when he heard that Jimmy’s dad had died. Gran Wendy buried Jimmy and told him she wasn’t going to die.
Then Wayne said, “Listen, I’m going to be rich when my patent registration goes through.” I also told John that because he invested money, he would get a lot of my money! “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re okay!”
Gran Wendy smiled and shook her head sad. She said, “Thank you.” “You’re very kind.” It wasn’t true, but she gave Wayne their address so he could get in touch with them when he got rich.
Wayne showed up to their trailer a year later in a car with a $5 million check. Wendy was shocked. Even more shocked was Wendy when Wayne took her and Jimmy to a beautiful seaside house he had bought for them for a cool $740,000!
Wayne said, “I told John he’d get his money back.” “A multinational just bought my patent for more money than I can ever spend, so I’m keeping my promise!”
Gran Wendy’s health got a lot better in the new house, and Jimmy stopped being so worried all the time. Wayne, on the other hand, was happy and would stop by all the time to play softball and put them up.
