Story writing
TWGHs Wong Fut Nam College
Bonnie To
Please Don’t Get It Wrong
‘Number 2, 25, 5, 33, 46, 37 and the special number, 6…’ ‘Damn it! Another $10 for the Jockey Club. What a kind man I am, always donating money,’ said Phillip, a construction worker, squatting beside the entrance of the gambling premises. Having a coffee in hand, Phillip waited the God of Fortune to knock on his door. ‘Splash!’ A man walked by Phillip and knocked his coffee over. Phillip thought that was a bad omen, he had to fight the bad luck away. He immediately stood up and followed the huge guy. ‘Hey! Don’t you walk with your eyes open? Can’t you see you’ve knocked my coffee over? I think I deserve an apology at least.’ Phillip said as patted the fellow’s shoulder. The fellow turned and looked into Phillip’s eyes. ‘Are you talking to me?’ he said, with anger in his voice. ‘No! No…Em…Of course not.’ Phillip answered, knowing something was not going well. He tried to escape from this huge stranger. ‘Oh! Wait! Phillip? Are you Phillip? I’m Lawrence. We were in the same class in primary school. Do you remember?’ Phillip flashed back to the time when he was still an innocent child. Lawrence always ate chocolate during classes. But most of the time, they ate together. That was their little childhood secret, ‘Hey! It’s really you, my friend. What are you thinking about? Want some chocolate?’ Lawrence asked. ‘Sure!’ Phillip answered, ‘And don’t need to afraid to be caught. So, what are you doing now?’ ‘Me? I work in a hospital.’ ‘That’s nice. Do you enjoy it?’ ‘Not really. Long working hours. How about you?’ The place was so crowded that they could hardly talk. ‘I, I build houses,’ said Phillip. ‘Sorry I really need to go. Let’s meet here at 7pm tomorrow, okay?’ ‘See you then.’ When Phillip walked back home, he started to be worried. Lawrence worked in a hospital; he must receive high education level and high salary. Comparing to himself, a construction worker, Phillip was afraid that his image would be degraded. On the next day after work, Phillip went straight home. He washed from his hair to the toes. Made sure not a tiny dust is left from his work. He shaved his beard off carefully, looking neat and tidy. Finally he tucked into his best suit and put on some eaude-Cologne. Now he was ready to go. So as Lawrence, he went out with his best tuxedo. He thought Phillip was an architect. Although it was raining heavily, it did not affect the two ‘gentlemen’ to meet as they had dated. Neither one of them was late. In fact, they arrived fifteen minutes earlier. As the weather was not very good, they decided to have dinner somewhere nearby. Pretending to be wealthy and stylish, Phillip suggest going to a famous Italian restaurant. The two had a delicious and expensive meal there. Phillip’s heart was sour when he was having dessert. Just once, he told himself. The cost of the meal was equal to has wage for ten hours. But to keep his appearance, spending money was necessary. When they were about to go, a middle-aged woman appeared in front of their table. She was elegant. This was the only word came out in Phillip and Lawrence’s minds. Maybe she came to them because she was attracted by them. Nobody spoke a word. All
the noises faded away. The air was frozen. For any reason, the three spent the rest of the night together. The two men were amazed by what spending more money had brought to them. And so, the two agreed to come out again to have fun. Every time the two spent a lot of efforts to make themselves look smarter. This time, they were heading to a pub. On the way, they met some of Lawrence’s colleagues. ‘Hello Lawrence! How are you doing? I must say you have done a really good job! The job suits you well.’ Lawrence might have saved somebody from heart attack, or transplant a kidney, Phillip thought. Shame on himself, Phillip tried to dig a hole for hiding until he heard somebody else speaking. ‘By the way, thanks for keeping everything in place, especially the tissue paper. It never runs out!’ What? A doctor who keeps tissue paper? Ridiculous! As soon as the doctors were gone, Phillip had the chance to ask. ‘So they are your colleagues?’ ‘Yes. What? I can see some question marks on your face.’ ‘They are doctors?’ ‘Of course.’ ‘So do you? A doctor?’ ‘Haha! I’d love to be. But the fact is, I ain’t and I can’t. I don’t see why see said that. And you see? I’m a dustman, who clean the toilets in a hospital.’ ‘Why did you lie to me?’ ‘I didn’t lie. I’ve never said that I was a doctor.’ ‘Look at you! You are wearing more like a doctor than a dustman.’ ‘Because I don’t want to degrade you.’ The two men were yelling at each other in the middle of the street. They did not care how the passers-by staring at them. They just knew how much time and money they have spent to improve their outlook. And the result was ‘ a discovery of a liar’. Phillip was even depressed. How can a construction worker be further degraded? He thought Lawrence was making jokes on him. The pub party was cancelled soundlessly. The two left in two different directions. Three days later, they met again at the entrance of the gambling premises. ‘Still want some chocolate?’ ‘Sure!’ The construction worker took a piece of chocolate from the dustman’s hand. It made no difference as if it was from a child’s hand or a doctor’s hand. It was a gift from the God of Fortune.