A young man brutally booted out by his rich stepfather years ago accidentally sees him living in an old, abandoned car on the street. He follows his heart and does the unthinkable to teach him a lesson.
“Good deeds are like a boomerang; they always come back,” 10-year-old Leo’s mother Candice often told him. He only understood what she meant by that while returning home from the park one day.
Candice noticed an older woman struggling to carry her bags, and in the blink of an eye, she hurried to the lady’s rescue and helped her. This sudden act of hers puzzled Leo.
“Mom, why did you help her when all she said in return was thanks? You never got anything else.”
“Son, when you keep putting out good, it will come back to you one day. Never expect anything in return when you help others. God will reward you Himself!”
Leo nodded and brushed his mom’s words off, knowing little they would leave an unforgettable impact on his life very soon…
“Mom, where are we going now?” Leo grew curious when Candice took him elsewhere instead of their home. She took him to the café and marched to a table occupied by a middle-aged man and a boy.
“Sweetie, sit down,” she told Leo as he stared at the man and the boy who looked a bit older than him. Before Leo could ask further, Candice revealed about them to him.
“Darling, meet Mr. Roberts and his son Mark. Sweetie, Mr. Roberts will be your new father very soon.”
“A new father??”
Family is not about blood; It is about who holds your hand and lifts you when you have fallen.
For illustration purposes only | Source: Getty Images
“Yes, darling. We are getting married next week. I am sure you will like him. Mark is such a wonderful boy, and you two will get along pretty quickly.”
Leo was unprepared for this, and the news overwhelmed him with shock. But what could he possibly do? His mother found a perfect partner and decided to move on. Leo was not given a choice but was told to adapt to the sudden changes in his life.
Candice and Mr. Roberts married the following week in an intimate ceremony. Leo pulled himself together to act like a grown man and marched Candice down the aisle as her flower boy. He was ready to do anything, even move mountains, to make his mother happy.
Time ticked away too soon, and Leo, 14, quickly learned to adapt to circumstances. He regarded Mr. Roberts as his new father and Mark as his older brother. He did everything it took to be a part of the family and heavily counted on his mother. She was his primal support and motivation.
But who knew Leo’s life would face the most brutal blow and drive him to an unexpected turning point? Candice was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and Leo’s little world crumbled to bits and pieces. He promised his mother that he would be strong.
“And promise me you will help the needy. Sweetie, kindness is the best form of love, and it comes back tenfold,” were the last words he heard Candice tell him before he painfully promised her. She died shortly after, assuming her son now had a loving father and a brother who would care for him after she was gone.
But Candice was wrong.
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Days passed, and even before the mound of earth on his mother’s grave could level, Leo’s life turned miserable. Mr. Roberts stopped sending him to school and made him do all the housework while pampering his own son, Mark.
“But dad, I have to prepare for my tests,” he pleaded with Mr. Roberts one day.
“Tests? You’re not going to school. I’m not paying for your education. You can stay in my house as long as you work for it.”
Leo was crushed, and his heartbroken soul fluttered like a caged bird inside him. Weeks and months passed, but nothing changed in Leo’s life. Even when his teachers visited Mr. Roberts, asking why Leo was absent from school, he lied to them.
“He told me he doesn’t want to go to school. He is hurt after his mother’s death. So he wants to stay home. Just give the boy some time. He’ll be alright.”
Mr. Roberts made Leo do all the household work, garden, and wash his cars. Day by day, the poor boy lived like a servant. Several months passed, and one day, Mr. Roberts kicked Leo out of his house after he accidentally burned his expensive suit while ironing it.
“Get out of my house! Do you know how much that suit costs? You’d never be able to afford it. Go away and don’t come back.”
Heartbroken and orphaned, Leo wandered across the street. He was hungry and terrified and didn’t know where to go. He was exhausted and took refuge on a bench.
“Mommy, I’m scared. Please help me. I never wronged anyone, and why is this happening to me??” Moments later, an answer arrived from someone who gently touched his shoulder from behind.
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Leo freaked out and recognized Wendy, the older woman his mother once helped carry her shopping bags home.
“Son, how are you, and how is your mother?”
An eerie silence sprawled on Leo’s weary face. “Mommy is dead,” he said in a soft, sad tone.
“Oh, dear, what happened to her?”
“She died of cancer.”
“Jesus, I’m so sorry to hear that. And what are you doing here? Where is your house? I’ll leave you there.”
“I don’t have a house, and the ones I thought were my father and brother kicked me out. I have nobody.”
Wendy was moved to tears after hearing Leo’s story. She then offered him the biggest motivation in his life, making him realize that his mom was right about good deeds and how they come back in surprising ways.
“Dear, never say you have nobody because God is watching over us all the time. When He shuts one door, He opens a better one. We are never alone because God is our Father, and we are His children.”
That said, Wendy took a grieving Leo home and showed him the doorway to his new life. Days passed, and Leo regarded Wendy as his grandmother and his only family. He worked on her farm and attended night school.
Several years flew by and Leo, 29, climbed the ladder to success. Impressed by his budding talent, a local agricultural company hired him for a good position. Leo devoted his heart and soul and gave his best at work.
One day, his car broke down, so he walked home and came across an old, abandoned car that looked lived in. Leo ignored it and walked away, only to be stopped by an older man’s coughing sound. It sounded dry and severe, so Leo decided to peep in and ensure he had some water.
When Leo peeped through the window, he was in for a huge shock. The man coughing inside was none other than his stepfather, Mr. Roberts.
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“MR. ROBERTS?? What are you doing here?” Leo exclaimed in shock.
The man rose and started to cry after recognizing Leo.
“Leo, it’s been so many years. How are you?”
“I’m fine, but what are you doing in this car?”
“I live here.”
“You live in this car? But why? What happened to your house, and where is Mark?”
Mr. Roberts gulped his sorrow and spoke up, revealing that he had been kicked out by his beloved son, who he had loved and pampered all his life.
“I handed my company over to Mark because I was getting old. I trusted him, but he ruined my business. He took things for granted, and my company became bankrupt. I took it back from him and sold it off.”
“Money ran out quickly, so I sold my house and then moved into a smaller house. I sold my cars to pay the debts, and my savings ran out. One day, he booted me out, saying he would never let me in unless I returned with the money. I have no friends or family and nowhere to stay. My heart wouldn’t allow me to live in a shelter for the homeless because I’ve never helped the needy. So I started living in this old, abandoned car and survived on alms from passers-by.”
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After hearing Mr. Roberts out, Leo took the next most significant step of his life. He took his stepdad home and sheltered him.
“But dear, I was so cruel to you. Why do you want to help me?” Mr. Roberts sobbed, feeling guilty and ashamed of himself.
Leo smiled and replied: “I was kind to everyone, and it returned to me. I now have a family, friends, and a home full of warmth and love. But what did you get out of being evil? NOTHING! And this is where you ended up. Your deeds come back to you, so you should be careful of what you do.”
“Family is not about having the same blood; It is about who loves you and stands by you when you are down. I needn’t be your blood to take care of you. All I need is a heart, and I’m doing what my mother would have wanted me to do!”
Leo lived up to his promise to his late mother and was proud of himself for being kind to everyone regardless of how people treated him. He took Mr. Roberts home and took care of him, thus teaching him a lesson that family is about love and not blood.
