| Kevin Rogers used to be my boss. At
that time he was a hard-working, up-and-coming businessman and a real
slave-driver, always telling us we had 'to sell more and more. As soon as I
could, I got a job with another company. The last time I saw Rogers was more
than ten years ago. At least that's what I thought until last Thursday. But now
I'm not so sure. I was on my way back to my office in the center of town. There is a small park nearby which I sometimes walk through after lunch. It is empty, except for an unshaven, shabby-looking man on one of the benches. He looked about fifty years old and was wearing an old, gray overcoat. It was a cold, wintry day, and he was shivering. "It's been a long time since I had a meal. Can you help me?" he said. There was something about his voice that sounded familiar. I gave him a few coins and he mumbled something about being grateful. As he stumbled past me, I looked at his face closely. I wondered where I had seen him before. Then it hit me. Could it possibly be...? No! Impossible, I thought. I watched him walking away. He was the same height as Rogers but looked a lot thinner than I remembered. Then, as he left the park and turned down the street, I caught sight of his face again, this time in profile. The nose was the same as Rogers', too. I almost followed him but something made me stop. I just couldn't be sure. But the resemblance was very close. Yesterday I ran into someone who had worked for Rogers at the same time I did, and had stayed on longer. I started telling him about the man I had seen in the park. For a moment I thought it was our old boss. The voice, the nose, and even the face were just like Rogers, but it couldn't have been, "Rogers must be the director of a big company by now" I said. My ex-colleague shook his head. "I thought you knew." "Knew? Knew what? What are you talking about?" "Rogers was sent to prison six years ago. He's probably out by now. For all I know he's sleeping on park benches and begging money from passers-by." |