October 8th, 2014

Details... What's my name again? 

I just started writing and this is what came out.

“It’s all in the details, kid. Ya gotta sell it with the details.”

“Ya, I know.” I replied.

I did know, and I slipped up.

The first thing I did was to forget my own name. Well, not MY name, but the name I was using.  A con can’t work if forget the details.

And because I screwed up, we got pinched. Our mark caught on too quick and we couldn’t pull it off. We backed ourselves into a corner and now we’re in cuffs in the back of some cop’s cruiser.

Big Joe continued to chastise me, telling me all the mistakes I made, but to be honest he made a few of his own.

“It wasn’t just me that screwed this up, ya know.” I knew as soon as I said it that I should have just kept my mouth shut, obviously not my first mistake of the day.

“Listen up ya little shit, I took you on this con against my better judgment, but you promised me you were ready…” His voice was cutting into my skull. “If you had remembered your own damn name, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

I wished he would just shut the hell up.

“And then you proceeded to strike up a conversation with our mark about her kids? What were you thinking?!”

I squirmed in my cuffs and twisted to give Joe a dirty look. “At least I didn’t drop my jacket and have my wallet and keys fall out.”

Joe’s eyes narrowed, and I shut up.

The cops were still talking to the mark. Susan was her name. Sweet thing, I felt sorry that we almost ripped her off too, but fish gotta swim and con men gotta con.

I squirmed again, and twisted, and brought my foot up a far as I could get it.

“The hell are you doing, kid?”

I ignored Big Joe, something I should have done from the moment I met him.

I squirmed and wiggled my hands around from my back, where they were cuffed, just far enough to reach my shoe.

Joe looked on with interest.

A little more squirming and I was able to pull out a paperclip.

“Hey, hey! Look at you, Kid. Nice work.”

I shot Big Joe an irked looked. He wasn’t dealing with no amateur here, I knew what he was doing.

I quickly unlatched the lock on the cuffs and slid them off my wrists.

Joe kept looking at me, anticipating. He could anticipate all he wanted, the first moment I had, I was ditching him, ditching the cops and ditching this dead end town.

And that moment was about to happen…

The first cop was coming back to the car.  

“Hey!” I shouted. “Hey, I gotta take a leak”

The cop looked at me and shrugged.

“No, really, I really gotta take a piss, man.”

The cop ignored my plea.

“Ok fine, I’ll just piss in your car, I don’t care.”

With a heavy sigh, the cop reluctantly opened the back door.

I sprang like a monkey on fire. He didn’t know what hit him. I kicked the door, he staggered back, I flew out of the back seat and ran like the wind.

I could hear Joe calling after me.  “Kid…”

But I didn’t care.

They’d lay heavy on him, try to get him to give me up and maybe he would crack. Who knows. I don’t care. He had noting on me.

He could tell them my name was Roger, that’s the name we used for the con, o r he could tell them my name was Kid, that’s what he calls me, or he could tell them my name was Jacob, that’s what he thinks my name is, or he could tell whatever he wants. Truth is, I have a lot of names.

It’s no wonder I forgot which one I was supposed to be using today.

Comment if you like. 

Hope you enjoyed.

Cheers