The Wanderer: The Story of James the Gray

Chapter 2

“Man, I don’t understand how you’re so good at that.”

    I looked over at Devon and grinned.  “It’s all about training.  You just have to train until it’s easy, and then train some more.”

    “Well,” Shimmer said from the couch in the corner of the room, “Not all of us have your kind of free time James, some of us have real jobs to do.”

    “That’s not fair, I have a real job, I’m just really good at it.”

    Devon chuckled and glanced my way.  “I don’t believe you.  For some strange reason, I can’t imagine you being good at anything, aside from throwing those knives.”

    “How do you know that’s not my job?” I said with a grin.

    “Because you still haven’t told us what your job is.  I mean, not that it’s a big deal,” Shimmer said, “But we’ve been friends for almost three years, and Rebels for longer than that.  It is kind of weird to know so much about each other, but not to know what we do for work here.”

    “Well…” I started, “That’s not completely accurate.”

    “Yeah, yeah,” Devon said, “We know… you can know what we do, but you can’t tell us what you do.  We’ve heard that story at least forty times.”

    Shimmer giggled and put her hand on my arm.  “Not that we mind.” she said.

    “Easy for you to say,” Devon continued, “I really want to know, makes me curious about what exactly he’s so good at, that we aren’t allowed to know about.”

    A knock on the door echoed through the room.  “Luckily, I’m saved from further explanation by my lovely and wonderful girlfriend.”

    Slightly muffled by the door, but still clearly audible, came the words: “Kiss-ass”.

    Devon and Shimmer started laughing as I walked toward the door.  “Whatever Bri, guess I’ll think twice next time I say something nice about you then.”

    I opened the door and was greeted by Bri’s smiling face and a set of keys dangling from her fingertips.  “I couldn’t find my keys, so I took your Ferrari, I hope you don’t mind.”

    A chair fell to the floor behind me as Shimmer’s voice rang through the air.  “You have a Ferrari, and you haven’t taken me for a ride in it?!”

    I looked at her quickly, then back to Bri, and noticed that her smile had widened.  “Guess I should’ve been more discreet about it, huh?”

    I kissed her and grinned.  “Ya think?”  We walked into the room and sat down on the couch opposite Shimmer’s.  “Yes Shimmer, I do have a little money, and I like to have a couple nice toys.”

    Devon put his boots on the round table and leaned back in his chair.  “A Ferrari doesn’t say ‘a little money bud.  It’s a slightly bigger statement than that.”

    “What do you mean?” Bri asked confusedly.  She turned and looked me in the eyes.  “I thought you said that your friends make more money than you do?”

    Everyone’s eyes focused in my direction.  I leaned back against the couch and smiled.  “That’s true, I just invest my money better than they do.”

    Shimmer’s eyes narrowed as she heard that.  “What exactly does that mean, James?”

    I rolled my eyes and looked her way.  “I didn’t mean that maliciously Shimmer, I meant it literally.  I split my income between three different investments and leave a quarter of it for my living expenses.”