Go to the Beginning of the story
Chapter 4: Thursday Morning (cont.)
Phineas
sat in the empty grandstand, staring at the grass track below. He was tired of
studying the control diagram of the Spartan. There was only just so much you
could learn by looking at a schematic. The rest he would figure out when he got
into the cockpit. You can’t plan for everything, sometimes you just have to get
lucky. Now he was taking advantage of the solitude to reflect on his life and
how he’d gotten to where he was today.
Life had
been so simple before. He remembered some of his old grifts. They were small,
but fun. It was enough to keep him fed. A little sleight of hand and he could
have a waitress believing that he’d already paid, and that she owed him change.
He had talked his way into countless hotel nights and plenty of free vacations.
He’d once even talked his way into a new steamcar, free and clear, and gotten
the salesman to thank him afterward. Those were the days.
Then one
day, he figured out that he could make a good living in betting. The spread
alone that he could earn on a single race was more than he brought in during a
single year of his old fast talk schemes. Besides that, he was good at it. He
could convince even the stingiest miser that a bet was a sure thing. In time,
it was the selling that started to get him in trouble. Nobody goes after the
bookie when they lose a bet fair and square. But a mark isn’t happy when he
realizes that he’s been had. Phineas was developing a reputation, and it wasn’t
a good one.
He’d
changed his ways in the recent years, establishing a more straight-forward
model. Gone were the cons and smooth talking deals. He was legitimate now, and
he had been making good money on it. That was until he got a new odds maker. An
odds maker who had majorly messed up. Suddenly, he found himself paying out
more than he was taking in. And once he got the reputation as an easy win, the
tables were turned, and more and more clients were placing bets. By the time
he’d realized what was happening, it was too late, and he was already out more
than he could pay.
He
reverted to his old ways. He repeatedly found ways to hold off the pressure for
a day or two while he collected the money from other bets. The margin was thin,
and the new money coming it wasn’t enough to settle his old bets. Negotiation
and wordsmithing could only go so far. There would be a reckoning, and he
feared it would be soon.
When Higgs
came along with a way out, it was too good to pass up. He could take his share,
pay off his debts and get away from the city. He only hoped that he hadn’t lost
his skills. When he had been doing it every day, the words came easy. He was
smooth and practiced. But now, he wasn’t so sure. He could pull it off, but
he’d need to keep his focus. The most important thing was to get away with
enough to pay his debts. Nothing else mattered.
He heard
the footsteps on the grandstand steps coming from behind. He turned to see
Anabelle approaching. She was dressed to the nines, as usual, in a form-fitting
coat and ruffled skirt. She wasn’t exactly the person Phineas was hoping to
see, but he tried not to let it show. She took a seat on the bench beside him.
“Good
Morning Phineas.” She said with a smile. “Beautiful day, don’t you think.”
Phineas
cleared his throat. “I suppose it is, Anabelle.”
“I thought
we should talk about our plan for the bank.”
“Ok. What
are you thinking?”
“Well, I
think, if you’re willing to go in disguise, you can pose as a repairman. The
problem is that the building guard would need to check you through, and he’ll
know you aren’t the usual man. So I’m thinking that I can… distract him. If I
do my job right, he’ll never know you were even there. What do you think?”
“Ok. Go
with it.”
Anabelle
cocked her head to one side, “Phineas, why do you hate me?”
“Honest?”
“Of
course.”
“I resent
people like you. You think that you can just flaunt your beauty and get
everything you want. You think that life is so simple. I used to think like
you, but I learned how wrong I was. I don’t hate you, I just don’t trust you.”
Anabelle
wasn’t fazed by his bluntness, “You miss that life, don’t you?”
Phineas
looked at her, smiled sardonically, and then looked away toward the field. She
was right, but he wouldn’t give her the pleasure of acknowledging it.
Anabelle
continued, “You know, I’ve thought about changing my ways, but I don’t feel
guilty about how I get by. Do you know how much pleasure it gives those men to
have the attention of a beautiful woman? They get the attention they want, and
I get the things that I want.”
Phineas
laughed quietly. “Attention, good word.”
“That’s
all it is, Phineas. I talk with them, exchange a smile, flirt a little. That’s
all. I’m a lady, afterall. Besides, they’re paying for hope. If I take that away,
they lose interest.” She laughed flirtatiously.
Phineas
was unaffected. “See, that’s what I mean, you think it’s a game. It’s not a
game, Anabelle, it’s life. Someday, it will catch up with you, and I hope for
your sake that you get off easy.”
“Despite
how you feel about me, I respect you, Phineas. I hope that by the time we’re
done with this, you’ll learn to respect me as well. I think you’ll find that
there’s more to me than a pretty, shallow woman. I hope that at least you can
trust me.”
“I trust
that you are going to do what’s best for you. It’s what I’m going to do. So
long as your best interest aligns with mine, I would trust you with my life. I
have no illusion that anybody on this team has any other interest besides his
own. We will all be cheering for each other just as long as we have to. But
don’t tell me for a second that you won’t sell me out first chance you get if
it saves your own skin. I don’t buy altruism. Be careful whom you trust,
Anabelle. Everybody’s looking out for himself; I suggest you do the same.”
“Fair
enough.” Anabelle stood, “I will see you this afternoon.”
Phineas didn’t bother to turn as she left.
Part 16 >
No comments:
Post a Comment