When Larry is twelve years old, he is caught shoplifting. From his father’s store. He justifies this.
“It’s not stealing when it’s yours,” he shouts.
His father smacks him around. “It wasn’t your watch,” he says. “It was a customer’s watch.”
Larry sold the watch for a hundred dollars. His first crime. Unfortunately, a stupid crime – he unknowingly sold the watch back to the owner, a local thug, Dwight, the guy who collected protection money from all the businesses in town. A drug dealer. A petty thief.
“I had a watch like this once,” Dwight tells Larry. “Some little creep stole it.”
Larry swallows hard, nurses his ribs where his father kicked him when he was down. It doesn’t matter, though, he needs the money.
For what? He isn’t sure. It’s just something people need. Money. Lots of i
