The Girl Thief

by Robert E Cummings

  Igor waved Cindy forward. “Step into the light so he can see you.”

  Cindy took a hesitant step under the light. She pressed her hands together as if trying to prevent them from fidgeting.

  If he’d said anything bad, Sammy would’ve kicked him in the balls, but he grinned that wolfish grin.

  Igor twirled his finger. “Turn around. Show him everything.”

  Jonathan nodded. “How old?”

  “Nineteen or is it twenty?” Igor asked.

  Sammy stepped forward. “She’s seventeen and a half.”

  Jonathan rolled his eyes and sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you they have to be at least eighteen?”

  “She looks at least nineteen, Johnny. Doesn’t she?”

  “It doesn’t matter what she looks like. It’s what I can prove.”

  “I get ID card. She’ll be nineteen and a half.”

  “Like that last girl you got me who was supposed to be nineteen.”

  “She was stupid girl. She went to cheap place for ID. I go to good place.”

  Jonathan studied Cindy as if he wasn’t sure she was worth the trouble.

  “She is beautiful girl, yes?” Igor asked, looking up at Jonathan. “She will bring smile to many customers.”

  “If you get me a good ID card, I’ll make her a hostess.”

  “Hostess is good, right? Full fee?”

  “Hostess is half fee. If she becomes a dancer when she really turns eighteen, then you’ll get the other half.”

  “But Johnny, with the ID—”

  Jonathan put his hand up. “That’s the deal. Who’s the kid? Her younger brother?”

  “I’m a girl.”

  Igor sneered. “Yes, an annoying girl, but a good thief.”

  Sammy scowled. “Why don’t you just go outside and scream it out, Igor?”

  “Johnny might need something, and you can get it for him. You get job, and I get fee.”

  “How old is she? Twelve?”

  “How old are you? Seventy?”

  Jonathan looked down at her like she was something stuck under his shoe. Igor shook his head, glaring at her.

  Sammy sneered back. They were both creeps as far as she could tell.

  Jonathan stepped up to Cindy and smiled. “What’s your name, doll?”

  “She’s not a blowup toy you spend your nights with.”

  Jonathan spun back. “Is there a lawn nearby where we can drop this gnome?”

  “Gnome?”

  Igor stepped in front of her. “What are you doing?”

  Sammy sidestepped him. “How many rats had to die to make that rug you dropped on your head?”

  Jonathan glared. “Who is she? Who is she really?”

  Igor grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away. “Nobody, Johnny, nobody.”

  Sammy looked toward Cindy, figuring she’d be right behind her, but Cindy looked away. Was she embarrassed?

  Igor dragged her to the door. She offered no resistance. “Stupid girl. Stupid, stupid girl.”

  “Let go of me,” Sammy said, pulling free of his grip.

  “You almost cost Cindy job. She is smart and kept her mouth shut. Not like you, stupid girl.”

  “You mean you almost lost your fee.”

  He sighed. “Half fee and she gets job.”

  “Yeah, what a great job that is.”

  “What job can she do? She is runaway girl with no money.”

  Sammy looked away. She had no answer.

  “And you could’ve gotten work if you kept mouth shut.”

  “I don’t need work from him.”

  “Oh, big heist that will solve all problems,” he said with a mocking laugh. “You are little girl with big dreams and no ideas.” He shook his head and walked back into the club.

  Sammy took off down the street, running.

  Chapter Twelve

  _____________________________

  Sammy put the boxes down by the curb on the corner of Eighteenth and Second. She’d been carrying them since noon today. Whoever said stealing was easy didn’t know what they were talking about.

  Thugs stole by putting a gun to the head or yanking a chain from the neck. Sammy used the light touch. Open the snap and let it fall into her hand. Then they’d think they lost it, or it was old and the chain broke. People lost things all the time, especially people with money. Stood to reason if they had more things, they had more things to lose. So if they lost a necklace or bracelet, they’d go out and buy another one, maybe two. Could be they have so many, they don’t even care if they lose it.

  One of those square sanitation bots rolled toward her with the trailing refuse bin close behind. The bin and the robot were forest green with yellow trim. It had the “green is clean” slogan brandished across its broad front. A few well-placed bearings would change the slogan to “green is dead.”

  It stopped by her pile and extended its arm toward her boxes.

  “Hey, that’s my stuff.” Sammy jabbed its arm. It didn’t even budge. Probably take more than a few bearings to stop this hunk of junk.

  “Scanning indicates that this is refuse.”

  “Want to see refuse? Look in the mirror.”

  “If this interaction has been unsatisfactory, say yes.”

  Sammy just stared at the robot. She wouldn’t play its game.

  “If you would like to make suggestions for improved interactions in the future, please speak clearly.”

  “Roll over to the nearest dock and take up swimming. How’s that for a suggestion?”

  The red light in the front blinked for a few moments as if it were waiting for something else. “Thank you for your suggestion. At the Department of Sanitation, we take your input seriously so we can make our city green. Remember, green is clean.”

  It retracted its arms and rolled off. The bin dutifully followed.

  Sammy felt her pocket for the stash. She had three necklaces and one bracelet. The one she got the bracelet from had a nice necklace, but the clasp didn’t fall right. She had a fifth, but the lady spotted the necklace before Sammy could hide it under the box. Did she have enough for the holo-screen?

  Sammy scanned the area. There weren’t many people out and what there were, none looked as if they had a decent job. She thought this was a nice area. There were a couple of expensive apartments on Twentieth. Was everyone home already?

  A lady turned the corner at the end of the block. She looked business, and her walk wasn’t rushed. Sammy picked up the boxes and headed toward her. She pretended to trip, spilling the boxes. The lady bent down to help her. The necklace was middling, but the clasp was within easy reach.

  “Let me help you with these,” the lady said. She had a warm smile.

  Sammy hated when they had the warm smile. She’d take the annoyed scowl, another dumb-clumsy-kid look any day.

  “If you’re not going far, I can carry some of these for you.”

  “That’s okay.”

  The lady crinkled her nose. “This one doesn’t smell too good.”

  That one did smell like old fish. “It’s for the cat. He’ll eat anything.”

  She chuckled. “Can we trade cats?”

  Sammy remembered spotting Igor’s sister’s cat in the back courtyard. “Mine’s gray and black, kind of like a tiger.”

  “He must be pretty.”

  Sammy tried to remember more, but she’d never gotten that close. “He’s okay, but I don’t think he’ll win any awards for looks.”

  The lady smiled, looking down at her with a slight tilt of the head. “What’s his name?”

  “Cat.”

  “Your cat’s name is Cat?”

  She thought about calling him Tiger, but it sounded like a stupid name for a cat. “It’s not a good name?”

  The lady laughed. “You remind me a little bit of someone I know.”

  “Yeah? Who?”

  Her eyes strayed as if she wasn’t sure she should say. “My daughter, Beth.”

  The lady definite
ly had a mother vibe. “She looks like me?”

  “More in other ways.”

  Sammy had the boxes stacked. Lift the boxes, drop a couple, and when the lady bent down again, undo the clasp and let the necklace drop in her hands.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to help you with those? I wouldn’t want Cat to go hungry.”

  Sammy stood, balancing the boxes. “Thanks, but I got it.”

  “Be careful now,” the lady shouted to her.

  A block away, Sammy dropped the boxes by the curb. She hoped three necklaces and a bracelet were enough for the holo-screen tablet.

  The pawn shop was cast in the orange haze of the setting sun, making it look even more run-down. The guy looked up from a tablet and smiled. He bent down and set an orange-and-red box on the counter. “Look what I found.”

  Uncle Danny had tapped the empty box with his magic wand, opened the lid, and pulled out a white stuffed rabbit. He’d put the rabbit back, tapped on the box twice, and pulled out a black one.

  Sammy opened the lid. No white or black rabbit.

  “After the last time, I looked in the back room and found a bunch of his old tricks. Don’t know why I took them. This stuff never sells.”

  “Do you know how it works?”

  He laughed. “Not a clue.”

  Sammy closed the box, remembering Uncle Danny always saying, “A magician never tells his secrets.”

  “Do you want to see some of his other stuff?”

  “Always wondered what happened to his tricks.”

  “Whenever he’d come in, he’d tell me not to sell it, and one day he’d buy it all back from me. I’ve heard that song before, so I wasn’t buying it, but when he talked about you, I thought he might be the one in a hundred.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He gushed on so much I didn’t know what to think.”

  Sammy ran her finger along the edge of the box. She couldn’t ever remember him saying anything about her.

  “Do you want to look at the other stuff or not?”

  “I’m here for a tablet, but if you can hold onto them, I’d like to buy them someday.”

  He put the box on the floor and took a tablet out of the case.

  Sammy flicked it on, but it was a flat screen. “I need the holo-screen version.”

  He sighed, shifting in his chair. “You have cash?”

  Sammy felt for the thicker-chained necklace and laid it out on the counter.

  “It’s not enough, kid.”

  Sammy laid the second necklace on the counter.

  He grinned. “You’re Danny’s kid all right. Empty out what you got. I usually only take cash for holo-screens.”

  Sammy put the other necklace and the bracelet on the counter. Was it a mistake not taking that last necklace?

  “You’ve been busy,” he said, glancing back at her, then dropped the jewelry onto the scale. He stared at the scale, rocking back and forth.

  Sammy checked her pockets, hoping she had something else to tip the scales. She only had a handful of bearings.

  “I’m sure I could get more for it,” he said, walking to the back room. He returned and slid the tablet onto the counter. It was larger and thicker with a ridge around the edge.

  Sammy looked for a switch. “How do you turn it on?”

  He drew a circle over the screen, and up popped a pad with the setting selections. “You ever use one?”

  Sammy shook her head. It did remind her of the big building screens in Midtown. She flicked her finger through the projection, and part of the screen briefly twirled like eddies in a pool of cloudy water.

  “It’s used and not the latest version, but still expensive. Off.”

  The projection collapsed in on itself. Wow. She could spend hours just playing with the screen.

  “So you want it? Like I said, I could probably get more for it.”

  Sammy nodded, hoping he wouldn’t change his mind.

  “There’s a cover here somewhere to protect the screen,” he said, turning around and rifling through the cabinet. “I have the box here too if you want.”

  “I guess.”

  “Might as well.”

  “Thanks,” Sammy said, taking the box from him. “I’m Sam.”

  He nodded to her. “Arnie.”

  “I’m going to buy back Uncle Danny’s tricks when I get enough money.”

  He grinned, dropping the jewelry into the drawer. “Sure, kid.”

  “It’s Sam, and I ain’t a kid.”

  Arnie laughed. “Yeah, definitely Danny’s kid.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  _____________________________

  Sammy hid behind a large sycamore across the street and down the block from Gladys’s house. The twins emerged from the front door dressed in their blue coats and red knapsacks she’d gotten them last year. Gladys wasn’t following today. Sammy waited for them to cross the street to the next block before jogging up behind them.

  She walked with them for a few steps. “You two know of any candy-monster-slaying twins?”

  The twins spun around, wonder etched in their faces. Jenna ran up and hugged her. Justin held back, trying to get a pout going as though he was mad at her.

  Sammy held Jenna with one arm and extended the other for him. “I don’t get a hug?”

  Justin turned away. “Why did you go?”

  “I had to, sweetie. I didn’t want to go.”

  Jenna stepped back. “Can we go to your new home, Sammy?”

  Sammy ran her fingers through Jenna’s hair. “I wish you could, but things are tough right now.”

  “When things get better then?”

  “That won’t be for a while, sweetie.”

  “Nobody wants us,” Justin said.

  Jenna cast her eyes down.

  Sammy simmered. “What happened?”

  Jenna toed a patch of dirt. “We heard Momma Gladys talking to Mark, saying no one will adopt us.”

  That miserable witch.

  “Justin hit Momma Gladys and said he hated her. She sent him to bed without dinner.”

  Justin crunched his face into a scowl. “I hate everyone.”

  Sammy stroked his arm. “Do you hate me?”

  He turned away, trying to hold onto his anger.

  “Can’t you look at me, sweetie?”

  He turned toward her, looking down.

  She caressed his cheek. “I love you.”

  His lip trembled and his eyes welled. “Why’d you have to go?”

  Sammy pulled him to her, stroking his back as he wept on her shoulder. Jenna put her arms around both of them.

  “I love you two. Don’t you ever forget that.”

  Jenna rubbed her cheek into Sammy’s shoulder. “I love you, Sammy.”

  Justin leaned back and nodded to her, running his sleeve over his face.

  “Look at us, must be a sad sight.” Sammy kissed their heads and stood. “Let’s get you off to school.”

  “I don’t want to go,” Justin said.

  Jenna looked up at her. “Can we stay with you today?”

  “You two trying to get me in trouble?”

  They shook their heads, their faces angelic.

  Sammy ushered them ahead. “Then let’s go.”

  They trudged up the block. Jenna turned to her. “You can come back, Sammy.” Her eyes were wide with expectation. “I bet Momma Gladys will let you back.”

  “Momma Gladys is mad at Sammy for throwing the bearings at her,” Justin said.

  “I didn’t throw them at her. I threw them up in the tree, and she just happened to be walking under it.”

  “I thought a bunch of bees got her,” Jenna said.

  Sammy bit her lip to keep from grinning. “I did a bad thing.”

  “Can I have some of those bearings?” Justin asked with Jenna pleading for a handful.

  Sammy tickled their sides. “Now I know you two are trying to get me in trouble.”

  They squirmed and dashed up the block.


  Sammy caught up with them, asking if anyone came by the house recently. They shook their heads.

  The cops could’ve come by when they were asleep or at school. Gladys would have to call the state and notify that she and Cindy were runaways. She’d probably wait until after the check cleared. “Have you been keeping up with your homework?”

  Jenna bit her lip, and Justin looked sheepish.

  “I’m gone a few days and everything goes down the toilet?”

  “I miss you, Sammy,” Jenna said.

  Justin nodded. “Me too.”

  “Okay, I’ll make it a third,” Sammy said, pulling out the state tablet from Jenna’s knapsack. She quizzed them on adding and subtracting as they walked up to the next block.

  “We know you’re both math whizzes. Let’s try some reading.” Sammy flipped through the screens. She had forgotten how bad these tablets were.

  “It’s so much better with you, Sammy,” Jenna said.

  Justin tugged on Sammy’s shirt. “We like it the way you do it.”

  Sammy bent down next to them. “You can help each other like how I’m helping you. Remember, no matter what happens you got each other.”

  Jenna’s eyes widened and her forehead creased. “You’re not going away, are you?”

  “Going away? I’ll be around so much you’ll get sick of me.”

  Jenna smiled, looping her arms around Sammy’s neck.

  “Let’s do one reading, then off to school you go, okay?”

  They nodded with rapt attention.

  Sammy stopped a block away from school and read the passage. It was as dry as she remembered. She tried her best to liven it up, then peppered them with questions as they resumed their walk.

  Sammy slipped the tablet back into Jenna’s knapsack. “I’m walking with a couple of geniuses. Next time you’ll be reading me the story.”

  “We can’t read as good as you, Sammy,” Jenna said.

  “If you practice real hard, you’ll read better.”

  The schoolyard was fenced in, and the doors were opened, but there were still a lot of kids in the yard. Sammy wasn’t eager to see them go. She looked down at them and brushed their cheeks.

  Justin smiled. “You got candy?”

  Jenna scowled at him. “Is that all you ever think about, Justin?”