Author's note: Inma's not going to like this one bit. Oh, I'm also trying to find a good hiatus point. Where should I stop the story? Not going to end it, Just take a breath and think about how to continue it.
Jack was flabbergasted. Appalled! What was going on about?
"A criminal?" Jack responded as his eyebrow raised, "What do you mean?" Mr. Tooth flashed a devilish smile and took another smoke of his cigar. He blew out a large puff of smoke before continuing.
"Destruction of property, vandalism, thievery." Mr. Tooth listed off the "crimes" that jack had committed. Jack couldn't believe it. He was doing it because tooth told him so.
"I did this for you." Jack felt his voice rising as his anger grew. He looked down and shuffled around his bag to pull out the jar.
"I got you these god forsaken beans!" He moved the jar into Tooth's direction. Jack was now red in the face and was huffing and puffing. He felt his heartbeat begin to beat faster and his anxiety begin to rise. Tooth looked at the jar with a smug grin.
"Magic Beans!" Tooth began, "Did you really think there was such a thing as magic beans?" His smile was smug and his eyes were shrewd and devious. Jack felt his anger start to falter. Had he been tricked?
"You mean-" Jack looked down at the old, dusty bottle filled with dying and near rotten beans. He held the glass mason jar in his hands and looked at it for a few seconds. He began to frown.
"There were no magic beans in the first place!" Mr. Tooth continued his speech, "I only did this so that you'd have a reason to sell me the farm." Jack's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. He was furious that he was victim of foul play. A lie! He couldn't believe that he actually thought to trust tooth in the first place.
Jack made his way to tooth and grabbed apart of his suit. Mr. Tooth's expression didn't falter one bit. He still had his devious smile glued to his face.
"Tell them it was an accident!" Jack demanded through grit teeth. Mr. Tooth was struggling not to laugh.
"An accident? An accident! The entire town saw you steal from the auction! You ran away from the guards! You're about as guilty as they come!" Tooth replied to Jack's threat. Of course tooth didn't feel threatened. In a way, he was right. Jack let go and began to back away in disbelief.
"This old fart is right!" Jack muttered under his breath, "I'm completely screwed." Tooth laughed again. Jack noticed the man with the gray mustache watching intently. He looked at Jack curiously and had a stern look at . What was that old man thinking about?
"Now about the farm!" Tooth began. Jack cut him off.
"That's what THIS was all about?" Jack yelled. He tried not to let his emotions get the best of him. He struggled to hold back frustrated tears.
"Of course! What else would it be about?" Mr. Tooth said as his cigar began to dwindle. It was about half way finished.
"I told you, Tooth, I'm not selling-" Jack began before tooth cut him off.
"I don't need the approval of a 'criminal'!" Tooth said as he smiled again, "Your poor old mother won't be able to pay the bills anymore. I'll take it off her hands for a pretty penny. She'll be fine. You however-" He stopped to take in another whiff of his cigar.
"I hear jail cells are quite comfy these days. With any luck, you'll get 2-3 years tops. You'll be lucky if the townspeople don't kill you first." Mr. Tooth said as he dropped the burnt cigar to the ground. He raised his foot and crushed it. Jack saw bright embers of red fade away into black.
Jack was grieving. He couldn't believe that all that he worked for was about to go up in smoke and fire. He showed Tooth the beans again.
"What about the beans?" Jack asked. It was his last resort. His last bargaining chip. They had to be worth something.
"Keep the damn beans. They're worthless." Tooth said, "I have more important matters to worry about." Mr. Tooth straightened his suit and began to walk away. Jack, reluctantly, put the beans back into his bag.
"Oh, and Jack!" Mr. Tooth added on, "You should really be quicker next time. A little nimbleness goes a long way." Jack's glare couldn't display the amount of burning hatred that he felt for that man. With this topic finished, he turned away and made his way home to his patient mother awaiting the news.
