"Not exactly what I'd describe as an upstanding citizen."
"Fee, you're talking to a girl with a criminal record remember."
Another day, another argument over Sarah's newest source of income. She had just come by Felix's flat to let him know where she would be if anything — well if he needed her.
"Come on," Sarah continued, "I met him through Pete. He can't be that bad?" It was a question. Reassurance of the same pros and cons list she had been making in her head over the past few days.
"Pete! Right, Pete! Yes the guy who got you pinched in the first place. Sarah don't be an idiot, you have a daughter. You screw this up and you can forget custody, you'll be in prison. Where is Kir—"
"Don't, Fee" Sarah held up a hand, "I hear this from Mrs. S enough," Sarah had to take another step forward to silence new words forming on Felix's lips, "Kira is the reason I'm doing this. I can't be her mother if I'm broke. This guy, Vic—"
Felix couldn't help himself, "Vi—C" He stretched the name into two syllables, letting the second one get caught in his throat, "He's a coke head, that terrible stubble of a beard and wannabe Will Smith hair do." Felix let himself fade off thinking of the detestable human being of Vic.
"Just—" Sarah swallowed as she let herself out of the flat, "Just look out for Kira and keep Mrs. S out of this."
"Right!" Felix yelled back, "I'll just let 'er know her Sarah's hanging out with coke—" The slamming of the steel sliding door cut him off. It didn't matter Felix had got his point across. Crossing his arms, Felix went back to his painting.
Sarah stood outside of Kira's school waiting for that final bell to ring. She was going to drop her off at Uncle Felix's before heading off to meet Vic. Hopefully a night that would earn her enough money to pay for her share of the rent on Felix's flat. It wasn't easy crashing there, but they somehow made it work. The hard part was Kira. A city flat in the middle of Toronto wasn't exactly the safest place for her daughter, but it had to work. Mrs. S didn't seem to have any interest in raising another child.
Pete had told her that Vic would bring in more money. He was connected, he was able to get crews that could pull heftier jobs. Jobs that paid a lot more without it being more dangerous. Sarah's usual pickpockets and credit fraud weren't getting her anywhere these days and she needed to keep up with Kira's needs. Another semester of school, clothes, shoes, no amount of wallets and purses were enough.
Finally the bell rand as Kira's brown locks could be seen bouncing up and down just inside the school. She saw Sarah waiting on the outskirts of the parking lot and started scurrying through the mob of kids. Her tiny mittens hung loosely clipped to the wrists of her jacket. Ugh, that jacket. Sarah made a mental note. With winter coming just around the corner, the jacket needed to go. The padding had worn down in several places and even from across the parking lot, Sarah could see holes in the sleeves. First pay day, new jacket.
"Hey Monkey." Sarah knelt down to give her daughter a hug, "How was school?"
"It was okay."
"What did you learn today?"
"Nothing."
Sarah laughed, "Nothing? There must have been something?" Kira tried to hold back a smile until the muscles finally overwhelmed her as she ducked her head back into Sarah's shoulder, "Okay Monkey, let's go home and see Uncle Felix." Sarah stood and held out her hand.
Kira grabbed Sarah's hand and pulled it back towards the ground, "Why?"
Sarah bent down again raising an eyebrow, "Because that's where we live silly. We're staying with Uncle Felix."
"Oh."
They started walking to catch the 3:24 bus on 5th avenue. Sarah was content for the first time all day, holding her daughter's hand enjoying the feeling of spending whatever little time she had with her.
"It's just—" Kira started, "Whenever you say we're going to see Uncle Felix, it means he's watching me tonight. Where are you going?"
The words echoed in Sarah's ears and it took them a few moments to register. Kira was always too quick for her own good. "Sorry monkey, I—well." She took a breath, "Mommy has something she has to do." Sarah grabbed the tip of Kira's collar playfully, "So I can get you a brand new coat for winter!" She threw a bit of enthusiasm onto the end of the statement, but it came off flat as a rock hit the base of her stomach.
With Kira safely at home with Felix, Sarah stood out on a street corner waiting for Vic to show his face. Hopefully Kira was doing something by herself, coloring or reading, anything that kept her out of Felix's hair. Felix loved that little girl, but there was little Felix was interested in, except having Kira try out an assortment of suits and ties. His little dragster.
Standing in the middle of Toronto in mid-September wasn't exactly a dream. Speaking of Kira's winter jacket, Sarah would need one too. The icy wind cut through her was a bum started to set up shop right outside a convenience store on the corner.
Sarah felt a presence step up from behind her, "'cuse me. Can you spare a light?"
She nearly jumped. This Vic character better show up soon, "Sorry mate. Just waiting on someone."
The man grumbled something, probably offensive, and walked off. She was alone again, the street vacant and she was waiting for a possible coke head to make her and her daughter's life a bit easier. Suddenly the previous few days' pros and cons list was deteriorating.
"Hey! Sarah!" This time she did jump. Vic. He jogged up to her from down the block, "Cold out here huh?"
Sarah composed herself, didn't even bother to look at him, "We gonna talk about the weather or make some money?"
Vic laughed, "My buddy's coming around the corner, he's got a van."
A van, hooray. Thankfully Sarah kept her mouth shut that time as an unmarked black van came rolling around the corner. With a slick black finish it shined underneath the street lights that came on minutes before as dusk set in. The new plates on the front and back screamed straight out of the dealership, but Sarah knew better. New plates were always being cycled out on these types of jobs. They were fakes on a most likely unregistered vehicle.
Vic and Sarah were being driven by some guy she didn't recognize and it was a few minutes before he said anything. The van had been completely stripped of interior. She and Vic sat on the cold metal floor surrounded by plastic containers. Once the van started jostling around the street lights pierced the tinted windows revealing the red, two gallon size containers. Fuel. What had she gotten herself into?
Sarah nudged Vic and tilted her head at the surrounding containers, he just shrugged. Shifting her eyes back towards the front, she wondered when the driver would mention what the hell they were going to burn. Who the hell? God no, please no.
The driver's blond hair was slicked back with a corner section ruffled by the back of his driver's seat. Black jeans, black shirt, the only thing missing was a cap. Shifting her eyes over to the passenger's seat, Sarah saw exactly that, a knitted beanie to pull the whole outfit together.
Once the van came to a stop at a light, the man shifted his gaze to the rearview mirror. His brown eyes were almost enough to blend into his entire outfit, he was born for this business. "Okay here's the deal. There's an office supply store up here on 17th street. Take two containers each, cover every room. Set it up and we'll be off."
"What?!" Sarah was panicking. She knew she shouldn't be panicking, but that didn't stop the sweat from releasing from her pores and all her thoughts to go right back to Kira. She was used to petty theft, credit cards, not arson! She was used to criminal, but not criminal.
The man stopped the van abruptly. Still looking out the rearview mirror, he gave the final instructions, "Here it is." Sarah looked out and saw Ned's Storage Supplies spread out nicely across the top of the large bay window. The glass itself gave information of hours of operation and, 'Largest Selection at a Fraction of the Cost!' "The door should be open, but make sure you shatter a window or two on the way out. From the outside. Go!"
Vic was way ahead of him as he already had his chosen two cans of fuel and jumped out of the van. Sarah hesitated, "Oi!" The driver finally turned around and faced her, "Why the hell are we burning down this place?"
The driver's face froze for a moment. His eyebrows started to pull down as his lip curled, "You get paid not to ask questions."
Sarah stared the driver down for a moment until her eyes flinched towards his waistband. His hand was dangerously close to a black metal object tucked safely in the front of his pants. She didn't have time to guess the caliber, she followed Vic into the store fuel in hand.
Sarah could still feel the heat of the flames against her skin as the van dropped them back off on the corner where they started. There hadn't exactly been a tutorial on how to burn down a building and she lit the fuel far too early. Vic hadn't even been on his second can, she just needed to get out of there. Vic had been the one to pick up a stone from the curb and hurl it through the bay window shattering all of Ned's store information.
"What the hell was that, Vic?!" Sarah sent the heel of her hand into his collar bone.
"Ow!" Vic grabbed his shoulder and spun away spurring all possible future attacks, "Hold on a second, would'ja? I got something for ya."
"Yea well it betta' be good, I'm not doing that aga—" Sarah cut herself off as she watched Vic open a white envelope.
"The guy gave me this before I jumped out."
It was filled to the brim. Twenties, tens, holy shite did she see a fifty. . . hundred?
"So before you go hitting me again," Vic leaned forward and began to smile, "You should at least take your share.
Sarah could only gape at the fresh pressed cash that rushed into her hands. It was heavy. "How—how much is this?" Sarah wanted to count it all right there.
"Our fee was fifteen hundred. That's 750 a piece." Vic stopped for a moment and watched as Sarah's jaw remained in the locked down position. He laughed, "Don't be so shocked. You know I got your back. This is what you get for getting in with the organized guys. They know what they're doing."
"Shite."