A 28-YEAR-OLD scavenger, who ekes out a daily living from the Beetham Landfill brought tears to the eyes of top entertainer Denyse Plummer when the two met last Tuesday for the first time at the TnT Mirror office.

But for Nathaniel Drakes of Phase Five, Beetham Gardens, it was a dream come true.

He had long wanted to meet Plummer, whose music he said he grew up on and loved tremendously.

It was a strange twist of fate that brought the two together.

Drakes was rummaging through the “La Basse” as usual last Monday, in search of metal to sell, when he suddenly became Plummer’s instant hero.

As he dug for his “gold”, he miraculously stumbled upon Plummer’s stolen driver’s permit, which stuck out like a beacon in the mounds of refuse dumped in the landfill sometime earlier.

She had lost her personal documents a mere 48 hours (last week Saturday) before.

While attending a wedding ceremony at Pier 1, thieves broke into Plummer’s car, at the carpark and stole her handbag.

She embraces him.

DENYSE and NATHANIEL
exchange notes.

Drakes told Mirror he spotted the driving permit as the backhoe was pushing aside mounds of garbage.

He told Mirror he was afraid to take the lost item to the cops, for fear that he might be accused of being the perpetrator of some kind of theft.

Last Tuesday, Mirror was on the beat in the depressed Beetham community, when Drakes handed over the driver’s permit and asked that we make contact with the soca artiste and give it to her.

Up to the time Drakes was explaining his story, he was unaware that Plummer’s handbag had been stolen.

He was shocked when he heard that Plummer had reported her handbag stolen and that a story had appeared in the newspaper about the theft.

He said he began questioning himself, what to do with the driving permit of one of TnT’s leading entertainers?

“I don’t trust the police,” he told Mirror.

“So I was afraid if I carry it to them, they might not believe me and lock me up.

“I from the Beetham, you know.”

Drakes said he wanted to cut it up and throw it away, so it will not remain in his possession, in the event that police raided the area.

“But then I say I might get in trouble, too, because that is government property,” he added.

He was glad when Mirror came along and took the opportunity to share his good news story.

His move to hand it over to Mirror brought cheers and smiles from his friends who had been revealing sad stories of life in the ghetto.

“That is honesty,” said Fari, the spokesman among the group of youth men gathered under the shed.

“Let them know it have honesty in the Beetham; we have love down here too.”

Plummer was more than gracious, telling Mirror that Drakes’ honesty saved her time and money.

“Too much run around and headache to get back documents,” she explained.

“It’s only three weeks ago that I collected this permit and I’m grateful to him because he didn’t have to give it back to me.”

She went on: “It’s divine intervention that I get it back and it goes to show that not everyone in the Beetham is bad.”

Plummer presented Drakes with an autographed copy of her C2K6 CD and poster, and a cash token for his honesty.