Beth and Bob had been living in their New Jersey apartment complex for ten years now. It had been a time of economic well-being and relative comfort.  But recently it seemed like something had changed in the neighborhood.

Maybe it was that the neighborhood was getting a little dilapidated.  As usual, the tenants of the apartment complex had their grievances against the landlord. Repairs were slow to be made, lighting in the passageways came on and off at random as if controlled by the light leprechauns.  Automobiles stayed in the tenant parking lot because people were working from home. Delivery trucks pulled up at the building to drop off large packages. Cars stopped by to deliver donuts and coffee, not just pizza on Saturday nights.

Beth ran down the steps from her second floor apartment to see if any deliveries had come for her. She was waiting for a shirt to give as a birthday gift to her husband Bob.  It was very unique with images of whales on it, one of Bob’s favorite creatures. She looked up the sidewalk along the side of the building where all the apartment doors faced outward.  No delivery people could be seen coming through the distant gate. No one.

Then a door popped open and it was Glenda.

“Hey did you know about our porch pirate?” Glenda called to Beth.

“Porch pirate? What’s that?”

“Any package delivered to this address will disappear. We’ve all been wondering why. But I looked out the window one day and I caught the culprit. Yes, I did. And I called the police on him!”

“You caught the thief?”

“Yeah, and guess who it was.  Angel.” Glenda tossed her head and sneered.

Angel had been the stow-away living in apartment B4 with his aged mother, Lucy. She was such a nice, quiet old lady, but she hardly knew what her son was doing. He had money some days, but not others and never any to help pay the rent. Beth felt sad for people in such situations, but what could she do to help?  Then it occurred to her that Bob’s gift may have gone the way of other online orders.  Shopping online was beginning to look risky.  Would they have to go back to shopping at that giant mall?

Beth went back upstairs to her apartment. She fixed a cup of tea and sat down to think. It was no big deal—the loss of the money that she had paid for the shirt. She had bought it through a group that was working to protect whales. It was a donation. So to that extent, the organization obtained the money. But now she needed something else to give Bob for his birthday. She looked out the window and wondered if it was worth going over to the mall.  At least she’d have the gift in hand.  She put her cup in the sink and grabbed her purse. How crazy is it that society can offer so many conveniences, but can’t do anything to help the poor folks who steal to survive.