“They’ll steal?”
“They’ve got a lookout and someone to bump into the right person,” Kota said. “When you pull out a wallet or open up your purse, the flower kid is showing the other kids where the money is. He’ll either take it while you’re trying to buy the flower, or follow and wait for you to make a mistake, maybe put your wallet down somewhere when buying something else or when you leave your purse on a counter. Depends on the target and the opportunity. If your wallet has a lot of cash, you’re more of a target.”
“Should we do something?” I asked.
“Security will be around,” Kota said. “There’s a few policemen that walk through here, watching for them. They aren’t going to let kids hustle people entering the shops, even if they were just selling flowers.”
“But...” I wasn’t sure how to put it. Maybe it was the fact that the kid was so young, and his siblings were there. Shouldn’t they be at home studying? Or playing?
And what about Luke and Kota? They were Academy guys. Couldn’t they talk to them and get them to stop?
“No good,” Luke said, squeezing me a little around the shoulders before he turned me away from the doors and further into the indoor shopping center. “I know the feeling. But it’s no use. Tomorrow, it’ll be a different kid, a different adult. Or the kids will be in school. It doesn’t happen a lot, and maybe some days they really are selling flowers, but right now they aren’t. But if we tried to talk to them, the parents get all into your face about harassing their kids and try to call the cops like you were the one doing something wrong. They’re very protective.”
“So you’ve tried to talk to them?”
“Maybe not these people in particular,” Kota said. “It’s something the Academy might send a younger team out to do. The parents are less likely to harass another kid.”
Younger kids dealt with this? I kept forgetting that Kota and the others had joined when they were very young: around ten or so. For some reason, even if they’d been pulled out of school, I still imagined they went somewhere, studied like regular students. But if they were with the Academy, they probably had special jobs to do, too. “Why not just sell the flowers?” I asked. “Why steal?”
“We’re out of tourist season,” Kota said. “So there’s not a lot of opportunities to sell, and locals don’t want them. Some families don’t save for the off-season. They spend it all. Mostly bad money management and lack of knowing what else to do. You get in a rut, and you revert back to something you know. That mom probably used to do something similar.”
“And a lot of them are just bad,” Luke said, his lips dipping a bit into a frown.
“Isn’t there anything we could do?” I asked. It struck me as odd that he was so quick to dismiss and not want to help, especially when it was a young kid.
“Some people can’t be helped,” Kota said quietly. He reached out to brush a palm across the small of my back. It was a quiet motion, urging me further into the shopping section, but also a reaffirming touch. Coupled with Luke’s arm around my neck, it felt amazing to be protected on each side. “And we can only do so much. Family first. After that, we can only help people that want it. That’s the trick, though. They have to be willing. We can’t stretch ourselves so thin to fight for people who won’t even use the opportunities we give them.”
I pressed my lips together. They’d all told me before they do what they could. I knew I should trust them on their judgment, but my thoughts kept turning to the kid with those big eyes and such a strong personality. Was he really beyond hope?
I supposed the most intriguing part about the whole thing was the fact that they were usually so helpful and concerned and did their best, and here was one instance where they drew a line and said don’t. Don’t and can’t weren’t words I often heard from them. They saw that invisible line somewhere and they both knew exactly where it was.
I quelled my thoughts as Luke pointed to one of the shops. “Hey, there’s a jewelry store. Let’s go look.”
It was enough of a change of topic that I focused. Not all the shops were open on a Sunday; some had their doors closed and lights off. The whole interior of the shopping center was much more elegant than the mall they’d taken me to last time. The floors were marble, and there were fancy chandeliers hanging from the wall. There was a station down the hallway with a row of seats and places to prop up feet, and it took me a minute to figure out it was for shining shoes, something I hadn’t seen except in movies and couldn’t believe still existed.
Luke was pointing to a display case filled with necklaces and rings just outside an open jewelry shop. The display was pretty fancy, with velvet-covered neck models and boxes decorated with crystals. There was a tiny jeweled clock and a gilded box covered in expensive-looking gemstones inside as well.
“Gabriel’s birthday is coming up soon,” Kota said.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Luke said.
“His birthday?” I asked. I knew his birthday was in November, but I’d not thought of things like birthdays for a while. I usually forgot my own. Remembering to think of someone else’s was new to me. “Should we do something?”
“Be on the lookout for something he’d like,” Luke said. “Might as well take a look while we’re waiting.”
I walked in, staying as close as possible to Kota while Luke moved forward and started looking at the display cases. My arm brushed his, and his hand reached out to mine, holding onto it. I clasped it back, waiting with him.
A salesman checked us out. He didn’t say anything, but he kept his eyes on us. I suppose because of our age, he probably thought we were just browsing.
I checked out the closest display that was filled with diamond bracelets. I didn’t see a price tag on anything in the shop. I supposed you’d have to ask. My eyes kept getting distracted by sparkling here and there. Kota moved further down the line, and I followed to stay near him and hang on to his hand still. I wasn’t really looking at anything in particular, but admiring the settings and the pretty colors of the rings in the cases.
Jewelry was one of those things that had never crossed my mind much growing up. I knew it existed, but I didn’t wear any because I didn’t have any. It was like knowing caviar existed but if you never were going to experience it, why waste time thinking of it?
“Your ears aren’t pierced?” Kota asked.
As he did, I sensed movement behind us, and noticed the salesman had moved to lean against the front of the counter and was staring at us. It was making me nervous.
“No,” I said quietly.
“Did you want to?” he asked. “I guess with your parents you probably never got a chance, but we could...”
“No ear piercings,” Luke said. “I like that she doesn’t have any. She’s like this perfect little clean slate.”
Kota released my hand and turned to Luke, touching a finger to the corner of his glasses to adjust them. “Did you ask to see if she wanted them pierced? What if she does?”
Luke’s brown eyes widened in surprise. His head tilted and he looked at me. “You’ve never mentioned it.”
My face heated and I took a small step back, almost knocking into the glass case. “I haven’t really thought about it.”
Kota put a palm at my back to guide next to him again. “We could if you’d like. You can tell us what you want to do.”
My heart raced a little. I appreciated the thought and how they both looked eager to hear what I had to say, but the truth was, I didn’t really know what I wanted. Something like getting my ears pierced hadn’t been on the table as an option before, like many things in my life. Now suddenly I had every opportunity and didn’t know where to start.
The problem was maybe I simply never assumed I’d ever have such a ch
ance, so I never thought about exactly what I wanted. I also liked knowing what the guys liked. If I didn’t really like something, I’d say so, but some liked me in sporty clothes, and some liked me to dress formally. I liked it all, and wanted to wear what was comfortable. Something like getting my ears pierced probably wasn’t a big deal, but I didn’t have a strong opinion about it one way or another, and Luke’s confession about liking me without made me wonder if I shouldn’t.
The unease inside me told me I didn’t want to get my ears pierced, at least not today. “I don’t want to at the moment,” I said. “I’d rather look for something for Gabriel.”
This seemed to appease them both. Luke reached back and adjusted the clip in his hair. When a couple of locks fell back against his face, making a nice frame, I stared. With the high cheekbones and the strong chin and friendly eyes, he reminded me of male models in magazines. “I usually get him some new crystal earrings, but I’m thinking he might like a gold hoop or two. Or maybe a ring. Something for his pinkie.”
“He mentioned getting his tongue pierced,” Kota said. “Or his lip.”
“Mr. Blackbourne said no to the lip piercing. But he could have one of those magnetic ones or the fake hoops that don’t require...”
“Excuse me,” a voice said and we all turned, looking at the salesman. He’d approached us quietly and he kept his hands behind his back. “May I interested you three in anything?”
“Pardon us. We’re still browsing,” Kota said in an easy tone. “We’re thinking of—”
“If there isn’t anything specific,” he said, cutting Kota off, “why don’t you try the jewelry store at the mall.”
From his tone, I gathered if we weren’t going to buy, that he’d want us to move on. My spine rippled, sensing he was displeased with a few kids talking about piercing body parts. I imagined it wasn’t the type of thing he’d want other customers having to listen to, even if we were the only ones in his boutique at the moment.