A young girl brings a homeless man home without informing her mother and provides him with refuge and food. But her mother soon discovers the truth, and the events that follow drastically change their lives.
Jackie Wilkinson was a single mother who raised her daughter Clarissa alone after her husband Andrew died of leukemia six years ago.
After Andrew’s passing, several of Jackie’s friends advised her to get married, emphasizing that Clarissa was young and needed a father’s care as well, but Jackie refused and instead chose to raise Clarissa alone.
Of course, juggling housework and raising a 6-year-old kid alone wasn’t easy, but Jackie made sure Clarissa didn’t miss out on anything. She would get up at 5 a.m., cook Clarissa’s breakfast, drop her off at school, and then go to work. After returning from work, no matter how tired she was, she spent time with her, reading her books and playing games.
Clarissa was Jackie’s entire world, and she would never say no to her daughter for anything. But in the course of managing everything on her own, Jackie utterly neglected her health, and one Sunday, she fainted in the kitchen while baking cookies.
“Mommy! Wake up, Mommy!” Clarissa screamed as she ran into the kitchen after hearing a loud noise. Fortunately, Jackie had taught her how to phone 911 in an emergency, so she swiftly dialed 911, and Jackie was taken to the hospital.
Mrs. Simpson, Jackie and Clarissa’s next-door neighbor, stepped in to care for Clarissa while Jackie was away, but the poor girl missed her mother terribly.
“When will Mommy come back, Mrs. Simpson? Could you please take me to see her?” she would ask her every day.
“She’ll be home soon, sweetie,” the older lady would assure her with a smile. “Your mommy is strong, but doctors say she should stay in the hospital a little longer. Don’t worry, I speak with doctors every day, and they say your mother is doing great.”
“All right, then…” Clarissa would say, dejectedly, and then walk back to her room.
She had no idea Jackie was severely stressed and exhausted, as a result of which her blood pressure had skyrocketed, and she had been placed under observation for a week. Jackie had told Mrs. Simpson not to worry Clarissa unnecessarily, so she didn’t tell the truth to the little girl.
“I’ll be back in a week, Mrs. Simpson,” she’d said on the phone. “There’s no reason to be concerned. Please look after Clarissa until then.” However, none of the ladies realized what was in store for them…
Clarissa was walking back from school one afternoon when she spotted a homeless man begging for alms. She noticed that people would pass by him, but no one bothered to help. “Mommy always says we should help others. I can’t leave him like this,” she thought and ran up to him.
People do not come into your life by chance.
“Hello, mister. My name is Clarissa. Are you hungry?”
The man who couldn’t have been younger than 90 looked at her teary-eyed. “Oh, dear. I haven’t eaten in days. My name is Jeffrey. And I am not feeling well.”
“You can come with me. I’ll help you,” Clarissa said, extending her hand for the homeless man to hold.
Jeffrey smiled with tears in his eyes. “Oh no, dear. I am fine. Your parents wouldn’t appreciate a homeless man like me. No one does…But thank you for your care, sweetheart. You’re extremely kind, but I’ll wait for some help.”
“Well, daddy went to the angel,” Clarissa said sadly. “And mommy is not at home. So you can come with me.”
Jeffrey looked at her, confused, and still wanted to refuse, but Clarissa grabbed his hand and asked him to follow her. “Come with me. Mommy keeps a lot of food at home. I promise you.”
Jeffrey thought if he could get some food at the girl’s house, at least he wouldn’t have to sleep hungry that night, so he went with her. But at the back of his mind, he was wondering why the girl looked so sad when she said her mom wasn’t home.
“Please wait for me in the garage. If Mrs. Simpson sees you, she will get upset. She doesn’t like strangers,” Clarissa told him once they arrived home.
“Where is mommy, little girl?”
“She is in the hospital. So she won’t be home soon. But don’t worry, mommy is nice. She will help you too.”
Jeffrey nodded and walked to the garage behind the house. Clarissa dashed inside her house, grabbed some crackers, juice, and cakes from the kitchen, and handed them to him. The older man couldn’t control his tears at that point. “Thank you so much, girl. Nobody has ever been so nice to me. God bless you!”
“It’s okay!” Carissa said, smiling. “Now I’m going back or Mrs. Simpson will be mad. She is at my house until mommy comes back from the hospital, so please be careful. If she finds out you are here, she will send you back.”
Jeffrey thanked the girl again, and from that day forward, he began staying in Clarissa’s garage secretly. However, Mrs. Simpson did have doubts when she saw the groceries running out quickly. But when she asked Clarissa about it, she said, “Oh, Mrs. Simpson. One of my school friend’s mom was sick, so I took extra food for her.”
However, lies have a way of getting out, and Clarissa’s lies were eventually revealed.
“What the hell? Who are you, and what are you doing here?” Jackie exclaimed when she arrived home from the hospital and discovered Jeffrey in their garage. She had planned to surprise Clarissa and Mrs. Simpson, so they had no idea she was returning home. However, things turned out quite differently.
“Oh dear,” Mrs. Simpson gasped. “Good Lord! Who is he?”
“Please, ma’am, it’s not what you think. I can explain everything….”
“How did you get in here in the first place? I’m going to call the cops right now!” Jackie screamed at Jeffery.
“Your daughter Clarissa brought me here. I told her I didn’t want to come, but she insisted.”
“So you’re saying a 6-year-old forced you to come here? What nonsense! I’m calling the police!”
Fortunately, Clarissa had just returned home from school, and the first thing she did was run to Jeffrey. “Yay! I’m back…Mommy? When did you get home?”
“Honey, please stay away from him. Go inside, now!”
“But, Mom, why? Jeffrey isn’t a bad person. He was only hungry, so I brought him home. You say we should always help others.”
“What?” Jackie was taken aback.
“Your daughter’s right, ma’am….” Jeffrey said and narrated what happened, adding, “My son works abroad, and my daughter-in-law kicked me out, so I had to sleep on the streets. Your daughter is very kind, ma’am. She gave me food and shelter. I will never forget her kindness.”
“Oh dear,” gasped Jackie. “Does your son know what happened behind his back?”
“No, ma’am. I don’t think so…that poor boy has no clue what transpired when he wasn’t home….”
“See, Jeffrey, while I still stand on my grounds that I am not happy with the way you were staying on my property, I understand you’re in a tough spot. I know a lawyer, so I can talk to her, and we can get you back home. After all, your daughter-in-law can’t kick you out like that. And Clarissa, it’s good to help others, honey, but it could have landed you in trouble if Jeffrey wasn’t a nice man.”
“I’m sorry, mommy. I will be careful from now on.”
Jackie invited Jeffery inside and contacted Sandra, who was a lawyer. She suggested Jeffrey should return home and that she would accompany him there.
The next day, when Jeffrey went home, he found that his son Matthew had been staying at their home alone. He had divorced his wife after learning she had kicked Jeffrey out of their house.
“I’d been looking for you for months, dad,” he explained. “But I had no idea how to find you! I called the police and tried everything I could. I’m so glad you’re back!”
Jeffrey hugged Matthew and told him the whole story, after which they visited Jackie and thanked her for helping Jeffrey. With time, the two families became close and started meeting each other often. Eventually, Matthew and Jackie started falling for each other and realized they were in love.
They decided to get married, and everyone, including Clarissa, was super excited about the wedding. A year later, Matthew and Jackie welcomed another daughter, and Jeffrey became a grandfather to two girls.