15
Elle
Minutes later, I stand before a tall brick building. The sign reads, East Side Jewelers and Pawn Brokers.
I push open the door. “Leon!”
The place is little more than a tiny room with a grungy counter set into the wall. Dirty Leon stands behind a Plexiglass window. He’s got greasy dark hair and what looks like mustard caked onto his scraggy chin. The entire store smells like rotten dumpster.
“No way, Elle. No, no, no, no, no.”
“What?”
“Not selling you anything,” declares Leon.
“Why not?”
“I don’t do business with kids.”
In other words, Dirty Leon doesn’t like me. Mostly because he’s pretty sure I scam him on a regular basis. And in truth? I totally scam him on a regular basis. Hey, if he’d split reward money with me, I wouldn’t have to con him.
I puff out my lower lip. “B
