Life Gets Harder

            by Adnan Shah

 

            At home there were not enough jobs for everyone. Rehman was the oldest of four brothers and one sister. Rehman’s dad was getting old and Rehman became responsible for taking care of his family. At age twelve he started work, loading crates into trucks. Work was hard. Each crate weighed around sixty pounds and was to be transported by hand from one truck to the other.

 

            One day there was an accident at work. The steel cables that held up the cement bags broke and the bags fell on Rehman. The incident left Rehman with a broken arm. The company paid him one hundred rupees and, he was laid off because he was not fit enough for the job. He was told he would be called in a month by the company and if not then he was off the job for good.

 

At five feet and two inches, Rehman was the shortest of the four brothers. He weighed around one hundred and twenty-five pounds and made very little money but had to feed many bellies. The only way out of this miserable life was to go to America, where he would have a better chance of making more money. Every Pakistani family that went to America told stories of how there were jobs for everyone and that anything a person wanted was available. They can have a nice big house and a new car if they work hard.

 

            The following week there was a lottery sale for a ticket to America. A lottery was a random drawing of people who bought a ticket. Two strangers who promised to take the two winners to the U.S. ran the lottery. Rehman was unsure of their motive. He didn’t know if the strangers were going to keep their side of the bargain. He decided to trust them anyways.

 

However, the lottery tickets were really expensive. The tickets cost five hundred rupees each and Rehman only had one hundred rupees.  Although he was poor, he knew how hard other people worked for their money, so stealing was not an option. He, on the other hand, tried to figure out how to get the money without stealing it. He wondered if he could borrow enough money. What if he didn’t win? He would have to work extra hard to pay for the rent, food and the debt.   

 

After much debate Rehman decided to go to America. There he could find a job and help his brothers and his sister get an education. He only needed to find a way to get enough money for the ticket. He went to the neighbor’s house and asked if he could borrow money.

 

“Hi, I’m the next door neighbor’s son.”

“I understand. How can I help you?” replied the neighbor.

“I was wondering if I could borrow some money.” Rehman asked.

“Sorry, I don’t have any money but I can ask my brother who works for the government. He might have some.” answered the neighbor.

 

Every neighbor he went to was willing to help. Those who had money let him borrow some and those who didn’t were willing to help in some other way. They offered to take care of the family if anything happened to them while he was gone, that is if he won the lottery and he actually went to the U.S.

 

All together Rehman collected nine hundred rupees from his neighbors and added his one hundred rupees to the sum. He now had a thousand rupees. It was good for two tickets. He thought he had a higher chance of winning because he had bought two tickets and everyone else only bought one.

 

Two weeks later the results were drawn. Rehman and another person from the town won. Rehman was filled with joy. Now he could go to the U.S. and fulfill his family’s dream. He did not know what exactly lay next but he was very excited. On the other hand, he was not going to see his family and was going to be by himself in a foreign country at such a young age. The thought of feeling alone in America made him want to stay. But he had no other choice; he had to go to America.

 

They had a very big feast the night before Rehman was to leave. The family invited friends and family. Everyone brought Rehman a gift for him to take on the journey. They stayed up all night and told stories; stories of his generation, and no matter what happened, at least they thought he would know where he came from. His family and friends were somehow trying to prepare him for his journey and make him brave.

 

He was to leave at seven o’clock sharp the next morning or else they would leave without him. At the port everyone said good-bye and wished him good luck. His dad took him aside and in a shattered voice, had a one on one conversation with him.

 

“Son you are very young. You are going to be there by yourself and you have to be brave,” his father told him with tears dripping down his father’s face.

“I will, don’t worry about me.”  Rehman spoke trying not to cry.

“Don’t forget us when you get there. Don’t do anything bad there and don’t join a gang or sell drugs. You are going to be a role model for your brothers and the town’s kids.” his father advised.

            “I won’t do anything bad. I promise.” responded Rehman.

“Okay then son, it is time for you to go may God be with you. Take care.” the father said while trying to catch his breath.

            “You too.” said Rehman to his father.

 

            Rehman waved good-bye from the ship, tears dripping from his eyes onto his clothes which made it seemed like Rehman had fallen into the Ocean.

 

 The trip was terrible. The ship was dark and had tiny holes that let in the light and the air. The holes were either made by bullets or by rain. There were many other people on the ship too. It was either their first or second time trying to go to America. There was no food on the boat, so you were responsible for bringing your own food and water. The bathroom was in the corner. It was like facing hell on earth or a less comparable place would be a dungeon. The terrible smell and the crying of people all made it a horrible place.

 

            It took a month to arrive to America and once they got there, it was every man for himself. Rehman had no one in America, so he called the streets his new home. He had only fifty rupees in his pocket. Everyday he would wander the streets looking for a job. It was hard to find a job because he did not know how to speak English. Rehman was introduced to all sorts of people and everyone was special in their own ways. Some people were black, some were white, and there were many other ethnicities he had never seen in Pakistan.

 

One day he called home and he found out that his neighbor, Asan, from Pakistan was willing to take him into his home. Asan lived in Berkeley, California and agreed to pick up Rehman in Chicago.

 

After arriving in Berkeley, Rehman picked up all sorts of jobs for many years. Every job paid very little. He decided to be a cab driver and would send most of his hard earned money back home every month. The money was used for many things, such as paying for his siblings’ education.

 

He would buy lottery tickets every week for fifteen years and played the same numbers which appeared to him in his dreams. He would dream the numbers 2, 6, 17, 25 and 33. The dream would end with dead bodies scattered everywhere. He did not know what the dead bodies represented. Would wealth bring death? Rehman did not know because he never was rich. This time he did not know if he was going to be as lucky as he was when he won the lottery that got him to America.

 

His dreams finally came true when he won the lottery. When Rehman was young his mom told him he would be a rich man eventually. Little did Rehman know that he was going to be fifty-two million dollars richer. But his nightmare started to haunt him more often in his sleep. Some time he would get visions of people in panic with no where to go each dying one by one  He would see his family and his neighbors dead bodies scattered throughout the streets. Was this a sign of  what will happen if he cashed the lottery ticket. He wanted to find what his dreams were telling him.

 

 Rehman felt that it was time to go back to Pakistan and find out what his dreams meant. While there maybe he would get married and start a family. He wanted to have four sons and a daughter just like his parents did. This time he would provide everything without having to lose anything.

 

            When Rehman arrived in Pakistan, it was not the same as it was when he left it twenty years ago. He had a hard time recognizing people; he could not even tell who his family was at the airport. His brothers and sister looked strange to him. Everyone had changed; even the streets were more crowded. There were houses where he played when he was young. The adults he remembered all had gray hair. There were new faces everywhere he went. The dirt streets did not exist any more they were now made of tar.

 

            Rehman explained everything to his father at once. When he arrived first to America. How he slept on the streets, and how he won the lottery. He told his dad about the nightmares that have haunted him for so long. The dad didn’t give him a response but instead gave him a very understanding look. His dad at first glanced knew what the dreams meant. What he did was he burned the lottery ticket while Rehman was asleep. That night Rehman did not have a nightmare. The next morning Rehman spoke to his father and the only thing his father said to him was that he burned it.

           

What the lottery ticket represented Rehman never found out. He did not even find out why his dreams stopped haunting him.