Horns blared around her, the drivers of the hundreds of vehicles on the crowded Manhattan street voicing their anger through their horn. Her breath clung to the crisp November air around her; often she wondered why she stayed out at the cafe so long on days like these, but when a tired looking woman sat down at the table nearest her, she remembered. She had a phone pressed to her ear, trying--in vain it seemed--to convince the individual on the other end of her plight. Georgia closed her eyes, drowning out the sounds of the bustling city and listened closely to what the woman was saying.
"You don't understand, Will." she said, sounding desperate. "I need the money to make rent. You told me you'd have the money this month. They're your kids too, and I swear if you don't come through this time, I will take this to court. I knew when you asked the stupid Margaret years ago to marry you, I should have run for the hills, but we're here now, and that's that. I want my money, Will."
Georgia took a long look at the woman. Late twenties, early thirties. Multiple children. Father figure abandons family, promises to pay certain sum in order to continue seeing children. Perhaps something else. Easy target. She was already desperate to make some money. Georgia smiled to herself. When the woman hung up, Georgia made her move. She gathered her things and moved exuberantly to the table where Margaret sat, a smile splitting her face.
"Margaret! I thought I recognized you!" Georgia said, putting on her Southern drawl. "It's been so long, girl! How you been?"
Margaret looked at Georgia, her eyes had dark circles beneath them as if she hadn't slept for days. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" she asked.
"Well of course you do! We only went to grad school togther! It's me, Crissy Henderson!"
Margaret stopped to think, but before she could say anything, Georgia continued. "How are the kids? And Will? Tell me about the family, I want to know everything!"
This was enough to convince Margaret. Poor thing. "A mess. Will's run off chasing some wild dream of his again, and he's using all our money. He told me that he'd have some profit turned up by now, but to tell you the truth, the whole thing is a waste of time. I need some money to pay the rent, but he doesn't seem to have any money. I'm sure he's wasted it all on hookers."
Georgia pouted. "Aww, baby that's too bad. I'm sorry he's such a loser." she sighed. "You said you're short on cash, right?"
"Yes, rent for next month is due at the end of the week."
"How much is rent?"
"Thirty-five hundred a month."
Georgia whistled through her teeth. She started slipping a ring off her finger. Diamond. Or at least, that's what it appeared to be. "This is from an old boyfriend, can't stand the thing anymore. I know you've got rent coming up, but I'll sell you this ring for twenty-five hundred right here. You can take it to a jeweler and get it appraised and sell it for more. It's worth at least thirty thousand."
Margaret stared at the ring. "I couldn't take that from you." she pushed Georgia's hand away, blushing at the thought of accepting the offer.
"I insist girl, you need it more than I do." Take it, you know you want it. Georgia thought to herself.
Margaret reached for her purse. She riffled through everything and extracted her checkbook. Shit, cash is preferred. She wrote out the amount with tears in her eyes. Tearing the paper away she handed it to Georgia, who in turn handed her the fake ring.
"It was nice seeing you, Margaret. I hope we see each other around again." She stood up. "I've got to get back to the office now, but good luck." You'll need it.
Georgia pulled her soft cashmere sweater up around her neck, the soft white of the fabric contrasted sharply with her dark chocolate skin. Glancing around, she put the chekc in her pocket and made her way down the busy street. Waiting at the corner by a pawn shop was a tall man with messy black hair, fiddling with his black and white striped scarf. Georgia approached him quietly, spotting his wallet in his back pocket. It wasn't usually her style to pull such small street heists, but she needed to move her base of operations soon or the feds would be right on her tail. With three feet between her and the man, the perfect oportunity arose. A woman turning the corner quickly, ran into him, causing him to back up into Georgia. Quickly and expertly she dipped her hand in his pocket and extracted the black leather wallet, and turning to leave, she was seized by the wrist.
"I do believe that's my wallet." the man said, his lips pressing together into a tight line. The scruff on his face gave him character, it made him look intimidating, and as he held onto Georgia's wrist, she was intimidated. How had he caught her? "Better luck next time, Georgia."
"You amaze me, Brittain. Nothing gets past you."
He chuckled. "I see everything."
She smiled, though she knew he couldn't see it.
"Even that smile. How much?"
"Twenty-five hundred."
"You sold someone the ring, didn't you?"
"Guilty. We've got a problem though. She wrote a check, so get Monty on that right away."
Georgia began walking, Brittain still holding her wrist as they went.
"Whatever you say boss. The entire underground is at your command."
She smiled, remembering the days when she had started as a mere street scammer. She had moved onto bigger and better things these days, and had plenty of people behind her, all of which were desposable. Her next scam was going to be huge. She would be remembered forever for this one. Her next stop was Wall Street.
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