He left her alone and she pulled out the paper.
YOU ARE A PAUPER. A BEGGER. YOU MUST CONVINCE FIVE PEOPLE TO GIVE YOU MONEY IN ONE HOUR. YOU DO, AND THE ROLE IS YOURS.
Never had she heard of such a thing for an audition. It had to be a joke. But as she looked around, there were a few others being handed bags of their own. Sofia wasn’t about to question it any further. She wanted this, and if begging on the street was what got her the role, so be it.
She went into the dressing room and quickly donned her new attire. When she looked in the mirror, she realized the clothes were only one piece of the puzzle; she really needed to look the part if she wanted the part. Wiping the makeup off, then tussling her hair, she pulled out hair spray and made it look as though she’d spent the night sleeping on the sidewalk.
Her heart ached as she looked in the mirror again. This was now the face of people she and her parents tried to help. Each night when the restaurant closed, they took all the leftovers and handed them out to the homeless. Nothing was discarded without first contemplating if it could be utilized by someone who needed it. She was blessed to have come from a family who didn’t know such hard times, and fortunate that her parents passed down their generous heart to her and Sal.
Pulling from the depths of her soul, she went out the back and into the alley. There was a large cardboard box, and she knew that wasn’t placed by any tech crew to set the stage. Someone literally had spent the night in there. Sofia felt like such a fraud doing this and wanted to turn and head right back inside and tell them no role was worth this. But she reminded herself that if she really made it big like she wanted to someday, then hopefully she could use that money to help more people in need.
Turning away, she took all she’d seen firsthand and prepared to use it now. Once on the street, she could feel the looks from people passing by. The men who once would check her out and devour her with their eyes, now avoided making any eye contact with her at all. This might be one of the most valuable lessons she’d ever learned: what it was like to walk in someone else’s shoes.
Sofia had no idea who was there watching her and the others, or what the others’ roles were. Did it matter? Not really. This was something she needed to do. Putting out her hand, she went up to one passerby.
“Can you spare a dollar?” Sofia asked. He brushed her hand away and kept moving. Her voice had been soft, but he had seen her, just ignored her. Pulling herself together, she knew she needed to beg as though she’d be hungry again tonight if she had no food. In a louder voice, she asked another person. “Excuse me, I’m hungry. Do you have any change so I can buy something to eat?”
“Get a job,” a woman in a business suit snapped.
Ouch.Sofia knew some of the people her parents helped had jobs, and lost them. They had homes and lost them. It wasn’t the lack of desire to work, it was no work. They were caught in the system. No one would hire them because they didn’t have transportation or a place to live. And they didn’t have a place to live or a car because they had no job. They couldn’t even get assistance from the government with a check because of their homeless status.
Of course, she knew not all homeless people were like that, but until you spoke to them, heard their story, how could one judge? Sometimes things spiral out of control and you’re left with…nothing but hope.
There was a little girl, about six years old, blond braids on both sides of her head. She tugged on Sofia’s torn plaid shirt. She didn’t say a word but opened her hand and showed Sofia it was filled with coins.
“Wow. Is that yours?” Sofia asked softly. The little girl nodded then put her hand closer to Sofia’s. “You want to give this to me?” The girl nodded again. Sofia reluctantly took the little girl’s money. Her eyes welled up as she said, “Thank you so much.” She fought the urge to pull the girl into her arms and give her a huge hug for having such a kind, sweet heart. Then she noticed the little girl was wearing two hearing aids, and the braids probably were meant to conceal them.
It was so touching that she was surprised she could keep her emotions in line. Sofia dropped to her knees so they were eye to eye. Sofia knew sign language because her cousin was deaf. She brought her fingers to her lips, then brought them forward and smiled. The little girl beamed and signed back, ‘you’re welcome.’ Then she turned and dashed back to her mother, leaving Sofia kneeling on the sidewalk as they disappeared in the crowd.
She didn’t know when the sobbing started, probably when she looked again at the coins she held in her hand. Sofia wished she could rush home and share this beautiful moment with her parents. But this was hers alone to carry.
Clutching the coins close to her, she tried to get up off the sidewalk. A quarter fell, then a nickel. With her vision blurred by salty tears, she struggled to retrieve them without her fingers getting stomped on by the numerous pedestrians. As she reached for the last coin, her hand encountered a pair of black leather shoes pointing her direction. A large hand reached down and retrieved the nickel.
Sofia looked up and was about to tell him that belonged to her. Before she could, he said in a deep but soft voice, “I believe you dropped this.”
The sun had set and the streetlights above him were bright, almost halo-like around him. How she wished she could make out his features, see who it was behind such a tender tone. Still rocked by her sobbing, Sofia reached up and took the coin from him. She choked out, “Thank you, sir.”
As she tried to get up again, she felt a hand on her elbow guiding her up until she was steady on her feet. With her burst of tears, she now realized her contacts had made their escape along with the change. Damn it. She couldn’t see anything close by without them. But it didn’t matter. She’d already decided this little test the theater had created for her was done. The part wasn’t worth the emotional turmoil she was in.
Turning, she headed for the wall of the building, which she knew wasn’t far behind her.
“Please wait,” he called out. “You have options. Let me help.” He took her hand and she felt him slip money to her. “My cell phone is on the card. Call me at any time.”
She didn’t bother trying to read what it said, since it would all look like ant footprints to her. Sofia nodded and gripped the paper firmly as she felt her way along the wall. Once she had come to the corner, it was about fifty steps to the backstage entrance. Whoever was supposed to be watching over her hopefully would be there to let her back inside.
Sure enough, the door opened, and the stage manager said, “You didn’t get five, but we are impressed. You were so authentic in your performance that you had some of the others in tears. Brava, my dear. You have the part.”
Sofia should correct him. That tearful display wasn’t for show. It wasn’t for a part. Her heart and soul had been out there for all to see, and they thought they’d been looking at an actress. You will be so disappointed when you realize I could never fake what you just witnessed, and I wouldn’t want to.
“Rehearsal starts next week. Every night at eight. Miss one and you’re out. Do you understand?”
“Yes. What would you like me to do with this?” she asked, holding out the money so he could see her bounty.
“It is yours. Do as you wish.” He walked away, leaving her standing there.
Thankfully, she wasn’t far from the dressing room, and she knew she had a spare set of contacts inside.
Her night might not have gone anything like she had planned, but somehow fate seemed to have intervened, and maybe things had happened the way they were supposed to.