The Cop and the Anthem

Soapy shifted on his bench in Madison Square. When the wild geese fly south and old ladies buy warm coats, a man knows that winter is near.Soapy had no home. Every winter he found one: three months in the city prison on the Island, with a bed, food, and good company.Now the time had come again, so that night he set out to get himself arrested.

His first plan was simple: eat a large dinner at a fine restaurant, and then say that he had no money.The waiter would call a cop, and Soapy would go quietly. But at the door the head waiter looked down at his torn trousers and old shoes.Strong hands turned him around and pushed him back onto the street. No cop was called.

Next Soapy picked up a stone and threw it through a shop window. The glass broke with a loud crash.A cop came running. Soapy stood still, smiling, with his hands in his pockets.“Where’s the man that did this?” the cop shouted, and then ran straight past Soapy after someone else. Soapy walked away, angry.

At a plain, cheap restaurant he ate a big meal, and then told the waiter he had no money to pay.“No cop for you,” said the waiter. Two waiters threw Soapy out, and his ear hit the hard pavement.Near a cigar shop a well-dressed man had left his umbrella by the door. Soapy took it and walked away slowly.The man hurried after him. “That’s my umbrella,” Soapy said rudely, hoping for a fight — but the man only said, “Oh, sorry. I found it myself this morning. If it’s yours, keep it,” and walked off.

Tired and beaten, Soapy stopped in front of an old church. Through the window came the soft music of the organ and a choir singing an anthem.The music carried Soapy back to the days when his life had held a mother, friends, clean thoughts, and clean clothes.Standing there, he made a sudden decision: he would leave this life behind, find work tomorrow, and become the man he had once meant to be.

A hand fell on his arm. It was a cop. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “Nothing,” said Soapy.“Come along, then.” The next morning the judge said, “Three months on the Island.”