Ditta Sylvester, Contributor

He was the eldest of three. Dalton's father had been mysteriously shot inside a church and his mother refused to even talk about that. He had been at home with his brother and sister the day a woman passed by, giving out invitations to a religious crusade. He showed the invitation to his mother when she came home from her domestic job that evening.

"Dem people betta dan me," was Rose's reaction. "Fi dem bread butta!"

"Mi can go?" Dalton asked.

"Why?" Rose enquired.

"Di lady say wi can get a betta life by coming."

"Betta life?" Rose echoed. "A heaven dem a talk bout. Dat a when you dead, Dalton! Have sense noh bway!"

"But everybody mus' dead," Dalton countered. "Meck mi go nuh Mum?"

"A'right gwan!" Rose said, dismissively.

Dalton was impressed by what he saw and heard that night. The lady who had given him the invitation welcomed him and brought him to the preacher when the service was over. The man was counting the money collected during the service. Dalton had never seen so much money in all his life.

The preacher was a kindly man. He looked at the boy's shabby clothes and smilingly handed him $200. Dalton was too surprised to even say thanks. He didn't stop running until he had reached home. He shook his mother who was snoring.

"Wake up, Mummy!"

Rose opened her eyes. She was angry that he had stayed out so late and started cursing at him.

"Look!" Dalton interrupted, holding up the money.

"Who you tief dat from?" Rose demanded.

Dalton explained how he had come by the money and his mother took it and went back to sleep.

When it was time for the crusade to be over, he was introduced to the local church and soon became a member. Dalton was only 17 when Rose was diagnosed with cancer. It had been detected early, the doctor said, so she had a very good chance of surviving if the operation was done promptly. He dropped out of school to find work to help his mother. But the money for the operation was hard to come by.

Summer came and it was crusade time again. He was very tired after work that day, but Dalton could not stay away. It was a rousing experience and the audience gave money without thought of tomorrow. As he watched the ushers move the containers to empty and replace them, Dalton got an idea. Not one which he was proud of. Not one he would confide to another living soul. But one that could definitely be the solution to his money problems.

The following evening he came early. The night before, he had had the good fortune to meet, again, the woman who had first invited him to the crusade that first time. She was very happy to see him and introduced him to the new preacher as her "young disciple". When he expressed his desire to help out, he was given an usher's robe.

In addition to his Bible and hymnal, Dalton took with him a container which looked exactly like the ones used for the collection. He was very nervous about what he was about to do. What if he were to get caught or struck by lightening? But as the excitement of the crowd grew to fever pitch, he forgot his fears and sneaked his own container in with the others, when he was sure no one was looking.

As people wept and answered the altar call, the ushers moved the now overfull containers to be emptied and replaced. And so did Dalton. But as he sang and clapped like everybody else, he also managed to empty and replace one container while hiding the other where only he could find and retrieve it later.

He hurried home after the service and sat on a stone in the yard to tally his loot. Eight thousand seven hundred and forty-five dollars! Dalton grinned. Between him and Rose, they had managed to save almost $10,000. By the time he got his pay that Friday, they would definitely have the $20,000 needed for his mother's operation.

The operation was a success and he kept trying to pay off what he had stolen by putting a little money into the collection plate every Sunday. That Sunday morning, he was about to leave home with another $200 when he asked his mother:

"Why you don't come a church to give t'anks today, Mum?"

"Is where you did get di money fi di operation from, Dalton?" Rose asked quietly.

Dalton stood silent.

"Somebody give you it?" she asked.

"No," he mumbled.

"You get it fi borrow den?"

He shook his head.

Rose gazed solemnly at her son.

"You save mi life," she told him. "Mi really tank you, son. But a mus' tief you tief dat money! How me fi go a church go t'ank God say mi son a tief?"

"But - " He wanted to tell her that he was paying it back.

"Is church you daddy was robbin' when police shoot him you know!" Rose cut in. "Dat is why I shame fi go back dere. But I want you fi continue goin' cause 'blood follow vein'. An' I don't want you fi turn no church tief like you pa!"