EASY PEASY
1000 Words
“And what was that?” he said, raising his eyebrow again.
“You...” She realized she had very little to say. He touched my knee.
“Yes?” he said.
“I’ll - I’ll tell my father what you did. He’s six-three and weighs two hundred and fifty pounds. He’s a construction worker."
Mr. Estella’s dark complexion lost a little of its color. He watched her for a few seconds.
“There’s no reason to make threats,” he said, cordially. “At Next Superstar, we guarantee satisfaction." He stepped behind his desk and crouched to one of the cabinets. She heard clicking. It sounded like he was opening a safe.
“Two thousand dollars, you said?”
“That’s right." Jade was sure this was some kind of trick. She couldn’t believe he would actually refund her money.
He shut the safe and placed two bundles of one hundred dollar bills on the desk, then pushed them towards her.
She stared at them.
“Go ahead. Take it."
She picked them up before he could change his mind, putting both bundles in her purse.
“I hope you see now that we are a reputable agency, and that you will tell others so. Just because your personal expectations weren’t met, it doesn’t mean the same will hold true for other girls."
When Jade reached the lobby, she saw that it was still pouring with rain outside, and then realized that she had left her umbrella in Mr. Estella’s office. She wasn’t about to go back and get it.
She flew out the door and dashed down to the bus stop. By the time she reached the shelter, she was soaked to the skin. But she was grinning ear to ear.
She had gotten all the money back! Every last dollar!
Her father would be proud of her. He had been right all along. He would have the satisfaction of saying “I told you so,” but at least she got the money back.
As she waited for the bus, she began to worry. Something was bothering her. It felt too easy. She glanced up and down the rainy street. What if Mr. Estella called some thug to intercept her and steal the money back?
Making sure no one was watching, she took the bundles from her purse and slid them into the front pockets of her jeans.
The bus soon arrived. Jade took a seat in the back and worried all the way home, glancing out the rear window every so often, afraid someone might be following along in a car.
When she reached her stop, she asked the driver to wait for a second while she stepped out and checked the road behind the bus, but no car was following.
She quickly made her way home. She didn’t live in the kind of neighborhood where it was safe to carry more than ten dollars around in your purse. But then, nobody expected her to have any money, and everyone on her block was terrified of Herbert Brownie.
Jade found her father in his usual position, sitting in front of the TV set, a beer in his hand.
“How was your day, sweetheart?” He looked more closely at her. “You’re soaked, Jady! You better change clothes."
Jade pulled the two damp bundles from her pockets and deposited them on the coffee table in front of him.
“What’s this?” he said, sitting up.
“All the money we spent at Next Superstar, Dad. Every penny." She leaned over and put her arms around his neck and kissed him. “You were right."
“About what?”
“It’s a scam. All they do is...well, I’d rather not say. The point is, I got the money back."
Her father looked at the two stacks of bills in amazement.
“I want you to put it in the bank, for college,” she said.
Patrick gazed at his daughter with admiration in his eyes. “You’ve grown up, honey, you know that?”
In her bedroom, when Jade took off her wet jeans, she shuddered, remembering Mr. Estella putting his hand on her leg. Then she noticed that there were two grayish stains on the white material over the pockets, where the two bundles of bills had been.
Even the man’s money is dirty, she thought, as she put the jeans in the laundry hamper.
She hoped the stains would come out.
* * *
The following evening, when Jade and her father were eating dinner, there was a knock at the door.
“I’ll get it,” she said, rising from the table. She went to the front door and cracked it open, leaving the chain in place. The first thing she saw was the flashing of blue light on the houses across the street.
“Is this the Brownie residence?” a man in a gray suit asked.
“Yes."
He flashed some kind of badge with a star on it. “U.S. Secret Service. Open the door, ma’am."
Stunned, Jade unchained the door and pulled it back. There were not one, but two men in gray suits.
“Does Herbert Brownie live here?” one said.
“Well...yes." She swallowed, having a very bad feeling. “Dad,” she called, but he was already stepping up behind her.
“What’s going on?” he said nervously.
“Herbert Brownie?”
“Yes...”
“Did you deposit some cash this morning at the First National Bank branch over on Penn?”
“Well...yeah, I did, but... "
"The total sum of two thousand dollars?" the other man asked.
"Yes, two thousand dollars, but..."
Handcuffs snapped around his wrists. “You’re under arrest for passing counterfeit currency."
The other man said, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney...”
- Writer
