Lost innocence

One of the many children begging in the streets
He came up the jeep I was riding in
And distributed dirty envelope to passengers
I glanced at the envelope the child shoved on my knee
Did not say a thing
I raised up my eyes and noticed the other passengers
Indifferent, staring at nothing
I looked down again
This time on a small paper bag I had on my lap
Inside it were bits of chocolates
And a boiled saba
Extra of what I had for lunch
I couldn’t give him money
I didn’t want to
‘Coz he might just spend it for sniff
Or gamble it away, so I thought.
But will give him the bag
So he can eat the chocolates and the saba
He stood up and gathered again the envelopes
Dirty, empty envelopes from the knees of passengers
Unmindful of his presence.
I handed him the bag
Did I see a flicker of gratitude lights up his eyes?
Would those pieces of chocolates and saba
Stab the pangs of hunger in his stomach?
Or somebody else’s?
A mother… or a younger sibling perhaps…
waiting for him to come home?