Blood In The Water

Chapter 9- A Plan

The sun was high in the sky, it's glowing light reflecting on the clean barrels of the huge guns held by the cops staring blankly straight ahead. Scotty tossed a rock up and down, watching it glint for a moment then fall back into the shade, what a metaphor that was. Damien laid on his stomach, watching the rock like a puppy with sparkling brown eyes that matched his dyed hair. Sam leaned against the fence and blew smoke into the air, attracting the glared of the cops who didn't dare face him. Joel was nowhere to be seen, he'd been absent for the last three days and not even the prison guards knew where he was. The rock clattered to the floor, breaking Scotty from his trance and making Damien sigh, flipping onto his back. "When we see Joel again, I'm going to kill him for making us wait so long." Sam hissed, reading Scotty's mind and stomping his cigar into the ground as the younger boys watched him. "Sounds like you're worried. He's Joel, I'm sure he's fine and if not, we'll then-" Scotty shrugged and lowered his gaze as Sam lifted his hand but didn't dare hit him. "I'm not worried, I just want to know if he threw us under the bus. If anything, you're the one who would be worried about poor little Joel." Damien laughed so hard that he fell over and Scotty smiled at Sam's bluntness.

Years ago, when Damien was only thirteen, the boys had gone on their first heist as a team and Sam had refused to rob a casino. Taking about how the employees wouldn't get paid or something, they did it without his help. Those days Joel never got caught and Sam visited jail just because, like a regular to a cafe. "You just wait, he wouldn't leave us, I don't know why, but he wouldn't. Especially not Scotty. You two have known Joel long enough to know that, right?" Damien pulled his knees to his chest and bit his lip hopefully as Scotty and Sam glanced at each other. They'd promised to be heist men, to destroy capitalism and rule it themselves, not to take care of each other like they did. That part had come up somewhere along the line seit hour them meaning for it to happen. "You don't know Joel like I do, he'd jump ship if he needed to." Scotty lord, avoiding looking at Damien who straightened up and stared at him pleadingly.

"He'd kill us if he wanted to. We're his pity case, especially you, kid. Get over it quick and forget he existed or make him not exist at all." Sam's voice was cold as he glared down at Damien who looked at his hands and clenched them into fists. "Where do you think he is?" Damien's tone went from soft to embittered in a second and his bright eyes glazed over like autumn leaves in December. Scotty watched him boredly as he stood and stepped at Sam with a sneer. Sam quirked an eyebrow and held the boy's fists down at his sides as if he'd done that hundreds of times. "How would I know? What would I care of he abandoned us? It's what he was supposed to do in the beginning, go back to his pretty little gang and rule it in his expensive mink coat. You ever seen mink, kid? I'll tell you why, because Joel's a two timing cheat and I can turn on him just as quick as a die to a clicker." Damien threw Sam away from him and pounded his fist against the fence, fury bubbling in his veins.

"Oh cut it out would you? You didn't really think he'd stay with us for long. What's the first thing I ever taught you?" Scotty asked, waving his hand and holding Damien's hot gaze evenly as Sam side eye him. "You told me that if one person doesn't get out that it's their fault." Damien mumbled slowly, lowering his hands into his pockets and shuffling his feet as he stared at the ground. "Good Boy, and This heist is one Joel didn't get out of, so forget it." Scotty felt the words draw bile over his tongue but didn't flinch. All the boys turned their heads towards the side door as it slammed shut and a guard threw someone into the lot. The man fell to his knees and spun back to his feet, hitting the guard and knocking him out. Scotty stood and squinted to see who it was but he could hardly see through the guards. Whoever it was didn't get taken down easily and the crackle of a taser ended the shouts. "Is that Joel?" Damien asked, bouncing to see who the person may be, though he was already taller than most of the guards. "I told you, Joel's dead, he threw us under." Sam shot, tilting his head and holding a hand over his eyes to see, even he was curious. "You guys move on too fast, I'm gonna see who it is, if it's Joel then Scotty has to pay me." Scotty tried to grab Damien as the younger boy jogged over to the man laying on his stomach on the concrete. "We move on too fast? This kid is gonna end me." Sam sighed in exasperation, racing after Damien and shooting for him to slow down. Sam was right, heist-men didn't move on fast, they just knew how to survive and holding onto someone wasn't how. Sam obviously hadn't forgotten about Joel's riches though, so did that make him wrong? Even if Joel had thrown his members under, which Scott was beginning to doubt, wasn't there a good reason?

Joel was smart but he was also sentimental, it was an odd mix for someone who led a group like theirs. "Joel!" Damien's shout of glee wa shears all around the prison as he hauled the taser man to his feet. Scotty's eyes widened and Sam turned back to him, waving for him to come see for himself. "Where have you been, Sam was going to throw you under a real bus!" Damien snitched, getting shoved by Sam who sneered and him as Joel glared. "We're you? Sound vaguely familiar, don't you think? Come on, think of better threats if they're going to work at all." Joel laughed, rubbing his arm where he'd been taser and nodding to Scotty who slid it a stop behind Damien. "You listen to these guys, they're right when they say to move on, it hurts if you don't." Joel's eyes met Scotty's as he quickly looked away, ruffling Damien's hair and earning a kick in the guts. "Thanks kid." Scotty bit his tongue to keep from laughing and Sam turned his back as Joel shoved Damien under his arm. "Good Lord, how old are you to keep your hands to yourself, second graders?" Joel chuckled, letting Damien out of his grasp and swinging his arm around Scotty's shoulders.

"What've your been up to, Joel, think of a way to get us out?" Scotty asked as he held Damien back by his shirt and motioned for Sam to stay put as the youngest swung his fists in the air. "You'd be surprised. The cops wanted me to tell them about the drive and what it could be used for. Good thing I know a lot about drives and may have pretended to misunderstand what one they meant." Joel laughed, brushing the dirt from his shirt and pulling a drive from his pocket, painted red at the ends. Each boy nodded and listened carefully as Joel explained his backup plan for them to follow. "Here's the thing, I did think of a way to get us out but it's dangerous and the statistics are... well, not so great." Sam lit a cigar from his jacket and laughed as Joel lowered his tone as if it were hilarious. "My kind of odds." Sam glanced over at Scotty who leaned his boot against the fence and crossed his arms, unamused. "Sure, death is your kid of odds but I don't like this. We're facing life so I don't see the reason not to collect more information first." Damien let out a sigh and vivaciously leaned back his head, Scotty shooting him a glare. "You're such a Nerd, why don't we just climb the fence and steal one of the cars. A guard I know keeps his keys right on a hook outside my cell when he leaves every Thursday." Damien explained, sending the group into silence aside from Sam who choked laughing. "Oooh, Thursday night." The older boy teased as Scotty elbowed him in the ribs, fed up at the same time as Damien and Joel. "Shut up, he's not married." Damien defended after he'd successfully shoved Sam against the fence and made him drop his cigar. "Exactly." "Sam!" Everyone shouted in unison, making Sam laughed harder, which was fine since he couldn't talk.

Joel lowered his head and Scotty smacked Sam to make him quiet as Damien glanced around and leaned in. "Tonight, I'll meet you at the east gate kn the opposite side of where we entered. Don't be late and come as soon as your guards leave." Joel explained, earning uneasy looks from Scotty and Sam who didn't have the guards on their side. "That gives us a two minute window to get across the whole half of the building which normally takes five minutes to walk." Sam protested, drawing a map on the dirt and tapping where their cells were to the east gate. "Then run, moron." Damien hissed, kicking dirt over the map and making Sam turn his glare on the younger boy who didn't look fazed. "Aren't there guards kn the east side? The detective said that was the most heavily guarded area." Scotty asked, licking his lips nervously and intertwining his fingers Laing the fence as he swung on his heels.

"Not unless I have something to do about it, I told you that guard leaves his keys every Thursday. It's Wednesday today." Damien nodded, looking over at Joel as if for permission as the older boy shook his head with a sigh. "What're you going to kill someone with a key?" Damien laughed, clapping his hands as if he knew something the others didn't and felt rather proud of it. "Why no, are you gonna stop me?" Damien turned instantly serious and lifted an eyebrow at Joel who shrugged and waved him off. "Then that's that, tonight, we'll go back for the drive once we get a hideout that they won't find." Scotty's heart raced a she watched his friends walk back to their cells, thinking of the cop who had escorted him. Shaking his head, he clenched his jaw and sat on the ground with a sigh, this time he wouldn't fail.