The MAN in the

You begin to smile as the man in the suit walks away. His absent-minded phone call had created the necessary distraction for you to easily remove his wallet as you bumped into him. The narrow aisle of the train car impeccably set up the gentle push past on the shoulder with one hand and seamless swiping of the wallet with the other. You have fleeting guilt that quickly passes when you remember your job as a magician isn’t nearly enough to pay for the steep medical bills as a result of the accident that killed your wife and disabled your eight-year-old daughter. If there is any treatment in the world that would allow your daughter to walk again, there is no length you wouldn’t go to obtain it.

Once the businessman leaves the car, you examine the spoils of your misdeed. However, rather than the expected credit card and 50 or 100 bucks, to your absolute shock, you hold $5000 in one-hundred dollar bills and an array of different IDs belonging to the same man. Your shock quickly turns to exhilaration as you realize this could finally be the big break you need to permanently put the trade behind you. One question still plagued your mind, however. Who exactly did you just pickpocket?

While pondering that, you hear commotion a few cars down the train. Although much of the shouting is unintelligible, you distinctly hear the word “wallet” and have the common sense to understand you have just found yourself in the middle of a plot far bigger than yourself. Just as you are about to leave the car, the man you stole from comes back with two large thugs wearing tight-fitting sport coats and visible tattoos. You quickly slide up your hood and prepare to blend in with the crowd. Luckily, you are able to exit the car without alerting the man in the suit.

As you keep walking, you see an open cabin door and seize the opportunity to hide. That’s when the reality of the situation hits. Who are these people? Gangsters? The Mafia?

You begin to create an escape plan. Although the cabin is unoccupied, you don’t know for how long and the next stop is 20 minutes away. You decide to keep a low profile until you make it to the storage car where you can hopefully wait out the remainder of the time until this next stop. However, the whole plan unravels the second you leave the cabin when the thugs are waiting for you just outside the doorway. One of the thugs grabs you by the front of your shirt and drags you down the aisle.

This is it. This is how it ends. As you are dragged away to wherever they are going to kill you, the crippling fear prevents you from fighting back. The thugs lead you to the inexplicably vacant dining car with only one person inside, standing dead center. The man in the suit. One of the thugs locks the door behind you as the man in the suit turns to face you. He holds a large pistol in his hand. You close your eyes and prepare for the worst, only wishing you could have done more for your daughter.

“I need your help.” You slowly open your eyes when he says the four words you would have expected the least. You compose yourself enough to stutter out a feeble, “Excuse me?”

He states matter-of-factly, “Your reputation precedes you. You’ve grown quite infamous for your sleight of hand.” This subtle acknowledgment of your past shows exactly how much he knows. “We knew you were going to be on this train, and the oh-so convenient inattentive, wealthy businessman strolling by was the perfect set-up to lure you out,” he continues on. “Ultimately, I’m putting together a team of the best. For a heist that takes the best. Should you choose to join, it will be very lucrative for you, I assure. Consider the $5000 you already have a token of my respect for your expertise. Join me and that will look like pocket change compared to the sum you will earn.”

Before you have a chance to respond, he says, “I’ll give you time to think it over. Find me in the foremost car when you’ve made a decision. I will be there for 20 minutes, and then this experience and I are merely a bad dream.”

You begin to smile as the man in the suit walks away.

Mayes Fisher