Walking in the door I heard Raymond talking with mom.  For brother and sister, the two were somewhat awkward together.  I had asked my mom about it but she just told me it had to do with when they were kids.

"Hey boss, what's up?"  I almost cringed.  Boss was a nickname I hadn't heard in years.

"Not much big man."  I tossed my bag to the floor and responded in our little code.

"It's a good thing you showed up when you did, I'm dying for a light."  Ray pulled a cigarette from his pocket.  Another small, but crucial sign that I recognised instantly.

"Well, lets hit the garage then."

"You two have fun."  Mom waved us out, clearly annoyed at our intrusion.

Getting into the garage I felt tense.  Ray calling me "Boss" meant he either knew, or at least strongly suspected I was thieving again.  The cigarette meant he was pissed about something.  On their own I wouldn't be worried, but I had witnessed Ray use this combo on my dad once, he died the next day.

"What's on your mind?" I asked, trying to sound more calm then I was.  Ray had already lit the smoke and taken a puff.

"You.  What the hell have you been up to Mitch?"

"Just sorting some.."

"Cut the shit kid!"  He spat in my face a little.  "I tried to leave you your privacy, but the last time a Townsend told me he was sorting some stuff out, I found out he'd been killing people behind my back!"

"Quiet the fuck down!"  I motioned agressively for him to actually enter the garage and followed close behind.  "I'm not my dad Ray.  I may look, walk and talk like him...but I do not work like him."  Ray took a long drag and exhaled slowly.

"I know, and I want to believe you Mitch, I really do.  I'm not your mom though, blind faith isn't something I'm capable of."

I thought hard about what exactly to tell him, knowing full well that the longer I took, the worse it would look.  I trusted Ray with my life, but Kevin, he was a different story.  Not to mention the weird shit going on with my hand, that was easily something I could ignore.  Suddenly, the perfect explanation came to me.

"I found someone, someone like dad."  Ray's eyes widened at that.  "I can't let him get away with what he's doing."

"And that's why you knocked over a convenience store?  Why you've been picking your way across the city?"

"You of all people know that you need to earn someone's trust before they let you lead them into a trap."  As I said it, I realised how cruel my words were.  Ray walked over and clapped his hand on my shoulder, hard.

"That was a low blow kid."  He exhaled some more smoke.  "But you're right.  I guess that will tie me over for now."  He walked over and inspected a wooden chair.  "You make this?"  I explained that it was my final project in Woodshop last year.  "You missed some spots sanding, and this cut is a little rough."

"Hey I got an eighty something, I know it's not perfect."

"Just know that if I catch wind of you doing something colossally stupid again, I will be back."

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"I know."

"So how's the crew?"

"What?"

"Can it, you stole the hostage play from me."  Finished with his cigarette, Ray flicked it across the garage's concrete floor.  "Four?  Five?"

"Five," I sighed.  "Including me.  Amatuers, but they have potential."

"Any experience?"

"None whatsoever."  This got a shocked expression from my uncle.  He and I talked shop for a while longer.  I told him a little about each of my new friends and their respective talents.  He told a few stories about previous partners he had been reminded of.  After a while he grabbed another smoke, and offered me one.

"Nah," I declined.  "Your sister would kill me."

"Yea, hell you should have seen what she did when she saw me with one."

"Was that before or after the asteroid killed the dinosaurs?"

"After, you little shit.  Before you chopped the steering wheel out of a Sunbird though."  I recoiled a little after his shot back.  "Well, I think I'm going to clear out.  Oh, one more thing though."

"What's that?"

"I ran into a certain, Vince DeWalt the other day, he said he was glad to be clear of his debt to me and my partner."

"I bet he is."

"Be a little more careful spending my money eh?  That guy was worth keeping in pocket."

"There was no one else close enough."

"I realise that, but still.  You could've abadoned the car in a field or something."  I shot him a "really?" look and he just shrugged.  "I restored Josie once, plus I could use a new project.  Another thing, you borrow four hundred horses and take them five blocks?"

"I saw myself running from a lot more."

"For Luke's? Really?"  I just shrugged.  "Whatever kid.  Seeya round."

After he left, I stayed in the garage for a while.  Ray had made some good points.  The way I had been working had been stupid, too much too soon, but Kevin wasn't giving me an option.  I wondered just how greedy he was.  His surprise at my previous experience meant it was likely that either he'd tried this before, with little success due to an inexperienced crew, or he just didn't expect an eighteen year old to be a practiced pro.  My next problem, regardless of Kevin's greed, was how hot the city would be in a couple months.  Even if we maintained one job a week, we'd run out of corner stores quick, pickpocket awareness campaigns would ruin even my chances...and bigger hits, well I didn't want to think about that.  I had this nasty feeling in my gut that Kevin would have eyes bigger than our pockets.

I went inside to do anything else before I let myself start thinking like that.  I played music as loud as my mom would tolerate and spent the next few hours on my computer, eventually I crashed.

Following my morning routine I was soon ready to leave for school.  As I exited my front door, I saw someone on my front step, someone I quickly realised was Riley.

"Riley?  What..what are you doing?"

"Nice to see you too."

"Uh yea, hi.  But really...what's up?"

"Found myself a few blocks away, figured we could walk together."  I noticed she didn't have a bag or anything that resembled what one would need for school.  "Can we get going?"

"Uh, sure."  After we started, I again asked about how she wound up here.  From what she had told me, her house was practically on the other side of the city.

"Sometimes I just walk.  The city is quiet at night, I enjoy quiet."  That satisfied my curiosity.  I had a similar habit when I was younger.

"Think about anything while you walk?"

"Hmm?"

"I did the same thing a few years back.  I would ride my bike from two till four in the morning sometimes.  Clear my head, write, whatever."

"You write?"

"Used to, sometimes I tried getting it down on paper, but I always wound up hating it.  Now I just leave them in my head where I enjoy them."

"Oh cool, I don't know if I think about much.  It's about the walk for me..." as Riley continued I waved 'hi' at someone I saw each morning.  All I knew was that he took a bus at the stop near my house.  He tried to step around Riley but ended up bumping into her left arm.  I only noticed because she winced loudly after.

"You good?"

"Yea, just did something stupid with my brother yesterday, nasty bruise."

The rest of the walk was uneventful.  Having new company was refreshing, and Riley seemed to have a similar taste in humour as we soon began pulling out our raunchiest jokes.

Much like the walk to, school was routine.  That is until fifth period.  I never knew what to expect anymore, but this was a complete blindside.

"You want us to rob a what?"

"Did I fucking stutter?"

"No, but why a hotel suite?"

"For what's in it dipshit!"  As Kevin began outlining what we'd be going in for, my mind went back to the night before, more specifically, what Ray had said to me.  This was definitely stupid.