Untimely Death

Barry always considered himself a failure. He hated school, from the
very beginning. In fact he dropped out after the eighth grade. He fell
into bad company. He joined a gang of boys who moved about on
motorcycles. These boys snatched all kinds of things from people
passing by. Sometimes it was a handbag, sometimes jewellery and
sometimes wallets. Barry lost his father when he was just one. He lived
with his mother. Their only source of livelihood was the pension given
by the government to them as dependents of a soldier who had died in
action. Barry's mom would be sick often. Thus, there was no one to
discipline the boy. When he left school his mother was ill with high
fever. When she recovered she discovered that she was too weak,
physically, to control her son who was in his teens. She scolded him,
abused and reminded him that his father was a disciplined soldier till
his last breath. But, Barry spent all his time with his motorcycle
friends and was now considered a member of their gang of snatchers. The
gang was caught by the police very soon and Barry was lucky because he
had been told about the police raid by a friend who meant well. It was
a lesson for him. All his motorcycle friends went to jail for three
years. Barry lived in perennial fear of being caught. That and his
mother's continuing illness made him somewhat more sober than before.
He tried looking for a job. But he was a school dropout with no skills
whatsoever. Why, he was incapable of writing a correct sentence without
making a mess. Whenever prospective employers asked him about job
experience he honestly stated that he had none. He also added rather
modestly that he was eager to learn whatever he would be taught. But no
one was willing to give him any work at all. When he tired of asking
for work he decided to start a shop. But that was easier said than
done. Barry suddenly found that he had a lot of relatives. And all
these relatives visited his shop to buy supplies. What was more, these
relatives of Barry either wanted to buy on credit or they expected
discounts. When Barry bluntly told that they could neither have credit
nor discount they all said that his father was such a nice man. How
could he, as his son, be so mean. Gradually he began to lose interest
in his work. At the same time he also began to buy lottery tickets. He
never believed that he would win. Again, it appeared to be his only
glimmer of hope. He was twenty years old now. A girl in his locality
began to send him love letters. The girl whose name was Jill worked as
nurse in the local hospital. Barry's mother was completely bed-ridden
now. Jill began to visit her occasionally. Sometimes, she would bring
flowers and at other times fresh fruits. It was not clear why homely
Jill liked Barry. She probably found him good-looking. One day, when no
one was around Barry's mother fell from her bed. When Jill found her on
the floor, she wasted no time. But it was too late. Barry's mother was
declared brought dead at the hospital. Barry married Jill six months
later. Now, all Barry had was the house they lived in. He had no job
and he could not bring himself to admit that he was incapable of
running the shop. But both these things were true. Barry still bought
lottery tickets regularly. Life was painful for him. He and his wife
loved each other dearly. But he did not have an income. For every
little thing he had to ask his wife for money. Recently, his wife had
bought fire insurance for their house. There was no reason for this.
Only that all her girlfriends had also bought fire insurance for their
houses. Barry felt that he had to do something to prove his worth. As
he waited one evening for his wife to return from duty an idea struck
him. The fire insurance was in his name. All he had to do was set the
house ablaze and collect money for the ensuing damage. If Barry was
wise, which he was not, he would have consulted experts and found a way
to claim the money. Instead, he went to the dilapidated bathroom and
tried to set it on fire. Barry was not used to torching things. So,
like a fool, he set fire to his own clothes. Before he knew he was
screaming with pain. Barry died the next morning from his burns.
Neither he nor his wife read the morning paper which contained the news
that Barry had won one million pounds in the state lottery.