Lives Between Walls

Let me tell you a story about the richest man in Orchidville – Vasanthan Ferreria. Now Vas was not your typical rich man. Typical rich men usually lived in mansions, ran successful business empires and had beautiful wives and kids who were usually the envy of the town – not Vasanthan. Well even though, he did start out like that initially, but you could never tell that if you had seen him afterwards. Do you see the statue of that scruffy bearded man in the middle of the park? Over there, yes the one with the torn rags over his back – carrying the large sack? That right there was the richest man that ever lived in our town. I know you are probably asking why is he depicted as a beggar?

Well, Vasanthan didn’t start out like that. He was quite a humble young man. I knew his parents, good people but they had raised him in abject poverty. Vas was the type of kid who wore torn shoes to school, and dirty uniforms. It was so offensive, that the school had decided to sponsor him once. They raised funds to buy him new shoes and help to pay some of his school fees. The ‘school charity case,’ is what some of the kids called him. “You better watch your attitude Vas,” one of his peers had said, “never forget that it our parents’ donations that are keeping you in this school!” As much as he had acted like he didn’t care, I know those comments really went deep for him. His childhood was a rough one. After school he did meager jobs like paper delivery to try and make ends meet for himself and his family. His dad, a former carpenter was not working, due to him being in a wheelchair. His mother was already juggling three jobs. They were always overburdened with work at that family, there was no time to sit together at the table or do the things that normal households did. By the time his mother came home from work, Vas would be asleep, exhausted from paper delivery. “One day,” he had vowed to us, “I will have all the money in the world, and will not have to worry about being broke. I swear, even if it kills me.”

And sure enough, when he grew up and made it big in Orchidville, things changed drastically for him. He managed to revive his dad’s carpentry business, following a sponsorship from one of the people from his church, and it blew up immediately. I remember when he got his first big paycheck at age 25, it changed him. He was an overnight success. After that he just couldn’t get enough of the taste of money. That is the inevitable repercussion of when extreme poverty comes into contact with great wealth. Before long his franchise had expanded colossally, as there was a large demand for cupboards and built in furniture within Orchidville. ‘Ferreria and Son Carpentry’ became a household name. There was even a point where people would say, “I need some Ferreria’s in the living room,” referring to cupboards specifically designed by Vas’ company. He even bought a house for his parents a few kilometers from here – I hear it is quite grand. His parents must have been very proud of him I’m sure. He would regularly give speeches in schools, public gatherings and on television, with people always waiting in eager thirst for the drops of wisdom that would come from his lips. Every young man wanted to be like him. Eventually he married and had two beautiful children. His wife is amazing, I would see her from time to time around the block when she went out jogging in the morning. Yup, life was pretty good for Vas.

But then something horrible happened to him. He started believing that money was the source of all his happiness. “You know,” he had said at one of his public speeches, “I believe the answer to the world’s pain and problems, is money. Pain is an indicator that you don’t have enough money.” I remember his words were the source of controversy and were heavily contested by the church. “I really think that Vas was out of line there,” one of the prominent pastors had spoken on the radio, “He needs to remember the influence that he has on this generation and start thinking about the responsibility he needs to take for his words. Money is not God.” That is where I started noticing his decline. He had gotten quite arrogant and disrespectful. There were stories of unsatisfied customers coming to him with complaints about some of his furniture, and he would literally throw money at them, much to the shock of aggrieved customers, “What the hell? You think money can sort this out?” He would just throw more. On one instance I heard a staff member say that it was around R1000. The customer after a moment of contemplation would pick it up and walk out of the store confused, “Umm, thank you I guess.” The police also made alot of money from him. When they would pull over his Range Rover at a road block, he would just open the window and throw money at them. “Mr Ferreria are you trying to bribe an officer of law?” One constable had asked. He threw more notes at him. “Mr Ferreria you are under arrest, please step out of the vehicle,” the officer had boomed, clearly not moved by Vas’ efforts to thwart justice. Vas had smiled, and offered his hands to be cuffed after stepping out of the vehicle. The story was, as they walked toward the officer’s car, Vas whispered something into the officer’s ear. After which the constable uncuffed Vas and said, “I’m letting you off with a warning Mr Ferreria.” Vas had gotten into his car and sped off. What he had said to the constable no one knows, but there’s a rumour that this constable was promoted to head of department the following week.

Then there was the time he pulled the same stunt with his wife as well. I know because she told me about it in passing. Sue had noticed that Vas would avoid talking about difficult matters by simply giving her money. “At first, I was happy to have a man who provided for my needs, but later on I realised that I was in a relationship by myself,” she had told me that afternoon at the coffee shop, emotionally distraught. “Money can never replace relation and intimacy. For him money had become an avoidance. I felt like a bloody stripper in my own house!” I think the last straw for Sue, was when she had asked him to take the kids to football practice one afternoon. His response was to throw money at them and tell them to hire a driver. Eventually his wife had asked for a divorce. It was quite a somber day for him. She tells me that he tossed almost R200 000 in cash at her asking her not to go. “Unbelievable! Is everything about money to you Vas?!” She had stormed out of the house in anger, with her suitcases. She drove out the driveway with Vas desperately throwing notes at her.

After the divorce Vas became a closed book. He hardly had any friends as he believed that they would take his money away from him. He chose to store his money in sacks and not in the bank, so as to avoid bank charges and he chose to stay in a tin shack to avoid paying levies. He would also eat from the bin so as to not spend money on food. His franchises still operated and his money would be delivered directly to him in armoured trucks. He became somewhat of a spectacle, and tourist attraction. People came from far and wide to see Orchidville’s billionaire who lived on the street. The mayor ordered continual surveillance and protection over him, as his presence was proving beneficial for the city. Infact, proceeds went to him for the tourism benefit that he had brought into the town. A statue was eventually erected in his honour. In 1989 he passed away at the age of 46. I was one of the few people who had attended his funeral – me and his ex wife Sue, who now happens to be my wife. We married five years after her divorce, and I love Vas’ kids as though they were my own. His business, Ferreria and Son Carpenters is still operational to this day and it was ruled by the court that the shares of the company be handed over to his children, along with his inheritance as he had not written a will himself.

This was a long time ago though. I am now 65 years old, still happily married to Sue, and living out our retirement and enjoying all the wealth that Vas had worked for. I am now the richest man in Orchidville, and have taken over his house, wife, kids, businesses and life. The lesson of the story is that if your life is so occupied in getting wealth, just know that you are essentially working to make somebody else rich.