CRYPTO: Infidelity (Book 1)

CHAPTER 80: HONORED

Spiney got up on the stage. The weight of his body made me worry that it would collapse under him. Each footstep shook the room.

Everyone went quiet and turned their attention to the stage. There were about thirty animals packed in the small room

"Welcome, everyone!" Spiney said into the microphone. "If you're new here I apologize for the strip search."

A few animals laughed.

"Now for my first comedy act," he said. "Nah. I'm just kiddin'."

A few more animals got a laugh out of that.

"Crime has been up by 30% since last year," the Boss said.

The crowd clapped. I looked around. Were they really celebrating that? I guess they did make their living off of crime.

Spiney smiled. "I know. I know. Congratulations! Your hard work has not gone unnoticed, but unfortunately, I can only choose one to be the Honored member for this half of the year. Now, this is someone who has worked his tail off since he's joined us. He has gone above and beyond the call of duty and has increased his ranking faster than I've seen anyone else, besides Diesel, of course. Oops. I gave it away. It's not Diesel, everyone. As you know, you can only be an Honored member once. But... Is the suspense killing you yet? Do you want to know who it is?"

"Yes!" the crowd cheered.

"Okay," he said. "The Honored member is... Drumroll, please."

The crowd stomped on the ground, making the room rumble.

The Boss picked up the microphone. "Crypto!"

Everyone cheered and clapped.

"What?" I said though I couldn't even hear myself over the cheering.

Rockie pushed me forward. "Go up there!"

I walked forward as the crowd parted. As they clapped for me, I wasn't sure how to feel. I didn't feel good about being a part of their criminal system, but at the same time, I was kinda proud of myself for fooling them into thinking I was one of them.

I climbed up on the stage with Spiney. If the stage was going to collapse, we were both going down with it.

"Speech! Speech! Speech!" the crowd chanted.

"You don't have to give a speech," the Boss told me.

"I don't mind," I said.

"Okay." He gave me the mic and the crowd quieted down.

"I'm honored," I said. "No pun intended."

Nobody laughed, but someone coughed probably on purpose for dramatic effect.

"Tough crowd," I said. "Should I sing a song or something?"

Spiney took the mic back. "I think we've heard enough."

The crowd laughed and I rolled my eyes.

"Since you're new here, Crypto," the Boss said, "allow me to explain what it means to be an Honored member. Gavin!"

Gavin, the white owl, appeared with a trophy with an angel on top of a star.

"You will receive this trophy," the Boss explained, "after you pass a test."

"Test? What kind of test?" I asked.

"I'm getting to that," he said. "You will be working closely with me and you will complete a special mission. If you do well, you will be rewarded with this trophy and you will be given a higher ranking, along with a raise."

"Sounds good," I said.

"You can get off the stage now," he told me.

I walked back to Rockie.

"I just have a few more announcements," the Boss said. "The first one: we found a few orphanages willing to work with us and a potential camp."

Is he referring to child trafficking? I wondered.

"Second," Spiney said, "there are free snacks and drinks at the bar if you want to stick around a bit longer and chat. Okay. That is all. You are dismissed."