Fighting (7 page)

"Yes!"
Spencer cried.

August
smiled and Ollie smacked his hand down on the table.  "Hot damn!" he
yelled out.

That
move was so uncharacteristically energetic of Ollie that it made me laugh out
loud in astonishment.  Guess he really liked field trips.  Ethan was quiet but
not particularly moody so I figured he was wearing his excited face. 

"What
kind?" August asked.

"Well,
it's a little soon for Alex to take a trip to the
actual
field, so I was
thinking a trip to town.  Maybe go through a few scenarios with the people in
the stores.  See who's on top of their game?" he goaded.

"What
do you mean, scenarios?" I asked.

"He
picks a random place filled with unsuspecting customers, and gives us objectives
to complete without their knowledge," Ollie said.  "Like lifting an
item from their pocket or conning them out of whatever's in their hands."

"Last
time, the winner got to choose the next family outing," Spencer said.

My
brain stuttered on the word
family
but I powered through it and asked
who won.

"August,"
Brooks said proudly. 

"I
picked a theme park," she volunteered.

"It
was beyond amazing," Spencer said.  "There were rides
everywhere!"

"What
are the rules?" I asked.

"It's
simple, really," Brooks said.  "We'll go into a town with stores
along the street, and pick a few to raid.  Each team member must successfully
lift one, and only one, wallet off of a stranger and bring it back to the
group.  Whoever's stolen wallet has the most money in it wins.  No time limit,
but it has to be reasonable.  Like, less than an hour.  No marks that you know
in real life.  And you cannot demand for the wallet or money outright.  You can
pull a con or do a simple lift, but if you don't get a wallet within one hour,
you automatically lose.

"And,
of course, after we count the money in the wallet you steal, another one of us
will return it to the owner and say they found it somewhere and is just
returning it," Brooks added.

Oh,
good.  I wasn't too sure about letting a twelve year old steal money and keep
it.  Might not send the right message.

Yeah,
that's it.

"And
we can do any kind of con?" I asked. 

"Within
reason.  You can't sell anything, fictional or not.  No one can use the same
con or target the same mark, either.  This is more like an exercise in working
on the fly and testing your skills to see if you can actually pull it off
without tipping anyone off.  That includes witnesses," Brooks said.

I
felt a smile tugging at my lips and said to the others, "I'm game if you
are."

We
all piled in the SUV and Brooks took us to a town two hours away to make sure
we really were going to meet strangers and not someone who recognized us from
the store we usually shopped at.  He parked in a coffee shop parking lot.  We
climbed out and stood in a huddle. 

I
felt nervous, excited.  I'd done my fair share of stealing, but it was never
recreational.  This time, I wouldn't have the added guilt of keeping the
money.  It was like fishing just to see if you could catch one and then
throwing it back into the water.  Except with this, we weren't injuring a poor,
unsuspecting fish.  We were just borrowing their wallets for ten minutes.

"Who's
up first?" Brooks asked, sliding his hands together in anticipation.

"Me,"
Ollie said. 

We
wished him good luck and trailed after him to an interesting café that had flat
screen TVs and what looked like gaming consoles placed strategically around the
room.  It looked like a really cool place, actually.  I made note of it in case
we stopped back through. 

The
store had a big bay window that we could see into, so the rest of us sat at the
tables outside and casually watched him inside.  He walked to the counter and
bought a drink before wandering around the place, looking curiously at the TV
screens that others were playing on.  He found one person sitting alone on a
couch, so he walked over and it looked like he asked if he could join him.  The
mark nodded his head and they talked for a few minutes before shaking hands and
turning toward the TV and picking up game remotes.  We watched as the mark
steadily grew more and more frustrated while Ollie kept his cool and almost
seemed to be staring blankly at the screen.  Finally, about fifteen minutes
later, Ollie looked over to watch the mark set his game controller on the table
in front of them none too gently, and then wrench himself up off of the couch. 
Ollie stood too and watched as the guy tore his wallet out of his back pocket. 
He pulled all of the money from the wallet and forked it over.  Ollie, forever
chill, calmly accepted the cash and gave him a two finger salute before turning
back to us.

I
was super proud of him, even if he did just hustle some other kid.  He looked
at us through the window on his way out and a slow smile curved his lips.

He
came outside and sat down at our table.  He threw the wad of cash on the table
and said, "That's how it's done, kids."

August
reached for the money and counted it.  "Sixty bucks."

"Not
bad," Spencer said.  "But I could do better."

Brooks
collected the money off of the table and pocketed it.  Spencer got up and
looked around the sidewalks for a moment.  He spotted something that caught his
eye and said, "Stay here." 

He
walked away toward two guys leaning over a brick wall that overlooked a
stairwell below.  Behind their backs were two skateboards, just asking to be stolen. 
Spencer waltzed up and without stopping, bent at the waist and scooped up a
board.  The two guys didn't turn around or notice him at all, and Spencer kept
walking casually down the sidewalk. 

He
crossed the street at the intersection and walked up the sidewalk for a few
seconds.  His eyes were continually scanning the sidewalk in front of him.  His
head tilted to the side and a moment later, he threw the board in front of
him.  It rolled ahead of him and he jogged behind it before hopping on and skating
down the sidewalk.  He had his eyes focused on one spot ahead of him.  I looked
over and saw a woman who looked around my age walking with a cell phone in her
hand, eyes glued to it and totally clueless to the world surrounding her. 

He
weaved between other people on the sidewalk with ease, pumping his foot on the
concrete beside of him every few seconds.  When he finally made it near her,
instead of dodging her, he threw himself onto her from behind.  Her bag spewed
its contents as she doubled over to keep from falling on her face.  His body
was molded against hers after they collided.  He hastily stood up and bent down
to help her gather the loose items from her bag.  He was speaking and appeared
to be apologizing profusely.  She was shaking her head in a flustered
it's
okay
kind of way. 

They
both straightened up and he finally got her to smile before picking up his
board and skating back down the way he came.  He traced his steps back, placing
the board back where he found it without the guys even sparing him a glance. 
He fell into his chair at the table and tossed a pink wallet covered in purple
hearts on the table. 

August
picked it up and flicked through the bills.  "One hundred and sixteen
dollars."

We
all made appropriately impressed noises and then August volunteered to go.  It
was getting closer to my turn, and I was getting that nervous feeling that one
would expect before having to speak publicly.  But I was also excited, so it
wasn't too bad.

August's
scam was short and simple.  She asked to borrow my jacket and walked into a
crowded restaurant and right to the bar.  She squeezed between two people and
leaned over the bar to ask for a drink.  There was a man with his back to her,
and she crowded him so that her body blocked the other patrons from seeing his
back.  We couldn't see what she did, but she obviously dipped her fingers into
his back pocket and retrieved his wallet.  She placed it in the hand that was
holding the jacket, so it was hidden from the room, and walked away without waiting
or paying for the drink.  She came back outside and handed Brooks the wallet. 

"Seventy
eight," he said. 

August
sighed and said, "It's all right. I won last time."

I
was going to volunteer to go next, but Ethan beat me to the punch.

He
stood up and looked down at August.  "Feel like playing a bratty kid
sister today?" he asked her.

She
made a face at him but stood up anyway.  "I'm not a kid.  I'm almost
sixteen." 

"That's
cute," he said. 

I
still wasn't sure what to make of Teasing Ethan.  It was . . . weird.

She
rolled her eyes at him and he slung his arm around her shoulders.  They set off
down the sidewalk at a sedate pace and walked up to a couple just emerging from
a restaurant.  They turned toward Ethan when he began speaking.  He removed his
arm from August and used his hands while he spoke, pointing up and down the
street.  When he pointed down the street away from us, they both turned their
heads while he was speaking, and I saw his right hand dip into the woman's
purse.  He had a black wallet in his hand when it emerged, and he swiftly
placed it in his back pocket.  The couple turned back toward him and nodded
their heads.  The man said something and smiled when Ethan put his arm back
around August's shoulders.  Ethan and August walked back toward us and he
looked back at the couple to wave as they crossed the street toward a book
store. 

They
returned to the table and Ethan handed the wallet to August, the self-appointed
banker.  She counted the bills and said, "Two hundred, even."

Ethan
smiled, satisfied to be the current leader.  He sat back in his seat with a
lazy arrogance and crossed his arms, his eyes settling on mine in a direct
challenge.

Shit
just got serious.

I
picked up my jacket from off the table and shrugged it on.  I stood up and
looked around us at the shops, looking for the best place to start.  I spotted
a crowded bar across the street and walked inside.  I looked around for a few
seconds, taking everything in.  It was around five, so a lot of people were
just getting off work.  I wound my way around the crowd of bodies and to the
bathroom.  I stood in front of the mirror and fluffed my hair and fixed my
cleavage, showing a little more than I usually did.  Enough to get noticed but
not enough to be slutty.  I shuffled back outside and toward the employee's
only entrance.  I slid inside unnoticed and stood in the doorway to survey the
room. 

I
saw a man enter the bar and found my mark.  He looked like a decent dude
approaching his thirties who worked a nine to five job.  He had dark brown hair
in a typical blue collar job haircut with a clean shaven face and a perfectly
wrinkle free suit.  I shucked my jacket and left it in the hallway.  I glanced
at an office door with a nameplate on the outside that read
Susan
and
then I took a deep breath and walked confidently behind the bar with an extra
kick in my step.   

There
were two other people working behind the bar, a man and woman.  The man didn't
notice me, but the woman did. 

"You
can't be back here," she said.

I
made a face like I was confused.  "I'm new.  Didn't Susan tell you?"

She
pressed her brow line down and her lips squished together in thought. 
"No."

I
hooked my thumb over my shoulder, gesturing behind me.  "She told me to
come on out and work my first shift with you guys, so that I'm not overwhelmed
'cause I'm new here."

She
sighed and glanced at the people crowding the bar, asking for her attention. 
"Fine."

I
could have simply lifted any wallet in the joint, it was that crowded, but I
knew I had to beat two hundred dollars and most everyone who frequents a bar
like this opens a tab with a credit card.  I had to work a little to make them
get more cash.

I
watched my mark walk down and sit a few yards away from where I was standing. 
I slathered on a big friendly smile and made my way toward his end.  I tended
to two other patrons before letting him catch my attention.  I pointed my smile
toward him and tilted my head to the side slightly in a flirty way.

"What
can I do for ya?" I asked, adding a little southern twang to my voice. 
Hopefully he would find it cute. 

He
smiled a little and said, "Coldest beer you got."

"Comin'
right up," I said on another smile.

I
turned and pulled a bottle from the cooler and popped it open, placing it in
front of him. 

"Five
bucks, even," I said.

He
handed over a credit card and I shook my head in mock regret.  "Sorry
sugar, our machine is down.  We're taking cash only tonight," I flat-out
lied.

He
made a face and looked back down to his wallet, flipping through the bills.  I
glanced down and could see two fives and some ones.  I looked back up before he
did and said, "Mike spilled his soda on the machine earlier."  I
rolled my eyes playfully and leaned my forearms on the bar, closing most of the
distance between us.  "He's such an idiot."