The next day Edy gave him his first job. He went with Kardi to eating places. Kardi was his friend now. They cleaned people’s shoes. They had to give half of the money to Edy. They kept the rest for themselves. Sugeng was happier, but he wanted to be with his family.
After a few days Edy gave him some newspapers to sell. Sugeng worked with Yanto. They tried to sell the newspapers for a lot of money. They could sell the newspapers for fifty rupiahs and they could still have some money for themselves. But they always asked for one hundred rupiahs. Sometimes people gave them a hundred. When this happened Sugeng and Yanto had a big meal.
Yanto’s mother and father were dead. He lived in his brother’s house. Sugeng sometimes went there to sleep. On other nights he slept under a bridge.