The Bait
He went to work that day without getting any sleep. It was a long
day. He thought it would never end. But three o'clock finally rolled around. After work, he
went to the bar for one quick drink. He didn't want to break his pattern and make anyone suspicious.
He sat there deep in thought and then he realized that he was acting weird by keeping to himself.
He challenged Moose to a game of darts, just to make it look good. Then he left.
As soon as he got in his house, he fell asleep. He woke up at about midnight and thought this
was a good time to try it.
He packed his suit of armor and some weapons into
a back-pack and headed for Chicago. He stopped at a gas station along the way and changed clothes.
He looked at himself in the mirror and thought he looked too big. People might be scared of
a guy that big. So he hunched over and tried to look decrepit. Yeah, that was it. He smiled
to himself and said out loud "wait until the get a load of me."
He parked on a street that was dark and had some empty lots and no people around. Then he got
out and started walking. He walked slowly and with his back hunched. He leaned
on his cane. He stopped often to act like he was trying to catch his breath. He tried to look
and act as old and weak as he could.
Where are all the punks, he wondered?
I hope somebody tries to mess with me. This is going to be great, he thought.
He walked around for hours. It was about four o'clock in the morning when he walked into a
Seven-Eleven to get a cup of coffee. He was getting tired. He sat on a bus stop bench and drank
his coffee. His back was begining to hurt from all that walking while hunched over, so he decided
to stretch out on the bench. He laid there for a few minutes and relaxed. And he fell asleep.
When he woke up, the sun was shining. He looked at his watch and it was six-thirty.
He knew he would be late for work, so he stood up and started walking toward his car. It was
over a mile away. He stopped at a payphone and called his boss.
"Alfred,
I am going to be late. I overslept. I am on my way and I will be there as soon as I can."
He said.
Alfred wasn't too upset "alright, I'll see you when you get
here."
He wanted to run to his car, but he didn't, just in case someone
was looking. He continued to walk like a hunchback all the way back to his car.
Maybe next time, he thought, as he started it and drove away. He didn't get far when he saw
two young hispanic men running. He turned toward where they were running from and within a
block, he saw a man running who was obviously chasing them.
He drove around
the block as quickly as he could. He was just in time to see the two men run into the back
door of an apartment building. About six apartments he figured. They must live in one of them.
He drove around the block again and saw the man who was chasing them. He was walking now.
Todd pulled up next to him. "Are you chasing those two men?" He asked.
"Yeah, they hit me in the face and took my wallet. They would have killed
me, but I ran." He answered, then added "I don't know what I would have done if I
would have caught them anyway, they were both bigger and younger than me. Did you happen to
see which way they went?"
Todd told the man which building they ran into
and then he went around the block again to see what happens.
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