Trouble is a Friend of Mine

‘Sounds like …’ he said. We started walking again. ‘There.’


We stopped. Again, nothing. Then I realized what it was.

‘Oh …’ I tapped my foot. ‘My tap shoes.’

‘You’re kidding,’ he said.

‘It’s not like I thought we were going to be sneaking up on people. Wait, are we sneaking up on people tonight?’

‘Well, we know you won’t be.’

A flash went off. Bill had photographed Digby and me.

‘Hey,’ I said. ‘Why are you taking pictures?’

‘What? I’m not,’ Bill said.

‘She’s been doing it on the down-low this whole time,’ Digby said. ‘I was going to deal with it at the end of the night, but Bill, looks like your participation in our night’s ending right now. Can I see that, please?’

‘No.’ Like the kid that she was, Bill put her hand behind her back. ‘It’s my phone.’

‘What are you doing, anyway?’ I said.

‘My guess is she’s writing some kind of blog. Only thing worse than a tourist is a tattletale,’ Digby said. ‘I’m sorry things didn’t work out, Bill. You could’ve been a good backup for Princeton here –’

‘Hey!’ I said.

Digby faked left, then reached right and plucked the phone out of Bill’s hand.

‘Oh, I look good in this one. You can keep it. The rest … delete.’ Digby erased the photos and returned the phone to Bill, who stormed off.

At the counter, the 7-Eleven cashier was opening big sealed envelopes and shaking out stacks of scratch cards. His nametag said he was ASSOCIATE TED, but he didn’t look up when Digby called out his name.

‘Uh, Ted, we need to ask you some questions,’ Digby said.

Ted slowly slid the pile of scratch cards into a drawer.

‘Are you from New York Lottery?’ Ted said.

‘No,’ Digby said. ‘Homeland Security.’

Ted raised his hands, knocking down a display of lighters when he stepped back.

‘Dude. I’m kidding,’ Digby said.

‘He’s joking,’ I said. ‘Really.’

‘Relax … we’re in high school, man. We’re looking for our friend.’ Digby showed him Ezekiel’s photo.

‘You looking for this guy?’ Ted said.

‘You know him?’ Digby said.

‘Well … yeah. I know him. But if you want stuff, I mean … I could hook you up … for cheaper,’ Ted said.

‘Oh, yeah? What you got?’ Digby said.

‘We should probably focus,’ I said.

‘Okay, yeah … our friend?’ Digby said.

‘Sure. He was here tonight,’ Ted said.

‘You remember anything? Did he say anything weird? Buy anything special?’ Digby said.

‘I dunno. Maybe some food?’ Ted said.

‘Can you review transactions on that?’ Digby pointed at the register.

‘That isn’t copacetic,’ Ted said.

‘Okay.’ Digby dumped some candy on the counter. ‘I got to pay for these.’

Ted logged onto the register and rang up the candy.

‘Can we take a look at security footage from tonight?’ Digby said.

‘Yeah, right,’ Ted said. ‘Even if I wanted to show you, these cameras feed straight to the security company.’

‘Even that one behind the counter? It’s different from the rest,’ Digby said.

‘There isn’t one behind the counter,’ Ted said.

‘Sure there is. By the cigarettes,’ Digby said.

Ted’s face filled with dread and he turned slowly. When he spotted the hidden camera, he walked into the back room without saying another word.

‘Think he’s coming back?’ I said.

‘I seriously doubt it. I mean, if I found out there was video of me committing lottery theft, I’d get straight out of town.’ Digby got behind the register and hit the back button until he saw it. ‘CornNuts. Two hours ago. Bottled water. Miscellaneous maps. Thirteen ninety-five.’

Digby ran to the shelf and pulled down maps to read the prices on the back.

‘Too cheap … nope … too cheap …’ Finally, he pulled down a book: Road atlas USA, Canada, Mexico. $13.95.

‘Makes sense. He’s probably driving to Canada with the rest of his cult,’ I said.

‘Except …’ Digby ran back to the register and looked again at Ezekiel’s transactions. ‘He also bought four things of Imodium. Seems excessive for a trip to Canada.’ Digby tapped the cover of the atlas. ‘He’s going to Mexico.’

I had to ask. ‘We’re not going to Mexico, are we?’

‘Well, the night is young …’ Digby said.

Then I saw Sloane talking to a shifty-eyed middle-aged man in a cheap suit. ‘Oh, great. Look.’

The guy leaned into Sloane in a way I didn’t like. I heard Sloane say, ‘Do I look like I’d know a taxi driver?’

Then the guy’s hand reached for Sloane.

‘Sloane!’ I shouted so loudly that Sloane jumped. The guy’s hand froze inches from her boob and quickly retracted. Sloane hadn’t even seen it. ‘Come here. Right now!’

Sloane had the nerve to look irritated when she toddled over. ‘What?’

‘What do you mean, “what”? That guy,’ I said.