Free Fighting by Cat Phoenix Page A

appropriately impressed noises and then August volunteered to go.  It
was getting closer to my turn, and I was getting that nervous feeling that one
would expect before having to speak publicly.  But I was also excited, so it
wasn't too bad.
    August's
scam was short and simple.  She asked to borrow my jacket and walked into a
crowded restaurant and right to the bar.  She squeezed between two people and
leaned over the bar to ask for a drink.  There was a man with his back to her,
and she crowded him so that her body blocked the other patrons from seeing his
back.  We couldn't see what she did, but she obviously dipped her fingers into
his back pocket and retrieved his wallet.  She placed it in the hand that was
holding the jacket, so it was hidden from the room, and walked away without waiting
or paying for the drink.  She came back outside and handed Brooks the wallet. 
    "Seventy
eight," he said. 
    August
sighed and said, "It's all right. I won last time."
    I
was going to volunteer to go next, but Ethan beat me to the punch.
    He
stood up and looked down at August.  "Feel like playing a bratty kid
sister today?" he asked her.
    She
made a face at him but stood up anyway.  "I'm not a kid.  I'm almost
sixteen." 
    "That's
cute," he said. 
    I
still wasn't sure what to make of Teasing Ethan.  It was . . . weird.
    She
rolled her eyes at him and he slung his arm around her shoulders.  They set off
down the sidewalk at a sedate pace and walked up to a couple just emerging from
a restaurant.  They turned toward Ethan when he began speaking.  He removed his
arm from August and used his hands while he spoke, pointing up and down the
street.  When he pointed down the street away from us, they both turned their
heads while he was speaking, and I saw his right hand dip into the woman's
purse.  He had a black wallet in his hand when it emerged, and he swiftly
placed it in his back pocket.  The couple turned back toward him and nodded
their heads.  The man said something and smiled when Ethan put his arm back
around August's shoulders.  Ethan and August walked back toward us and he
looked back at the couple to wave as they crossed the street toward a book
store. 
    They
returned to the table and Ethan handed the wallet to August, the self-appointed
banker.  She counted the bills and said, "Two hundred, even."
    Ethan
smiled, satisfied to be the current leader.  He sat back in his seat with a
lazy arrogance and crossed his arms, his eyes settling on mine in a direct
challenge.
    Shit
just got serious.
    I
picked up my jacket from off the table and shrugged it on.  I stood up and
looked around us at the shops, looking for the best place to start.  I spotted
a crowded bar across the street and walked inside.  I looked around for a few
seconds, taking everything in.  It was around five, so a lot of people were
just getting off work.  I wound my way around the crowd of bodies and to the
bathroom.  I stood in front of the mirror and fluffed my hair and fixed my
cleavage, showing a little more than I usually did.  Enough to get noticed but
not enough to be slutty.  I shuffled back outside and toward the employee's
only entrance.  I slid inside unnoticed and stood in the doorway to survey the
room. 
    I
saw a man enter the bar and found my mark.  He looked like a decent dude
approaching his thirties who worked a nine to five job.  He had dark brown hair
in a typical blue collar job haircut with a clean shaven face and a perfectly
wrinkle free suit.  I shucked my jacket and left it in the hallway.  I glanced
at an office door with a nameplate on the outside that read Susan and
then I took a deep breath and walked confidently behind the bar with an extra
kick in my step.   
    There
were two other people working behind the bar, a man and woman.  The man didn't
notice me, but the woman did. 
    "You
can't be back here," she said.
    I
made a face like I was confused.  "I'm new.  Didn't Susan tell you?"
    She
pressed