- I had no idea it would come to this. It wasn’t at all what I had in mind when I decided to do this. I just wanted to make a little extra dough you know, I didnt think they would put him in jail. Now I need to make even more dough to get him out, or at the very least, a decent lawyer. Without my brother with me, I didn’t know how I was going to be able to do that exactly. The plan was to put him in a wheel chair, pan a little and make some sympathy money, nothing more, just a little innocent con. Innocent or not though, someone didn’t think so. So, okay, this one night, the night Johnny got pinched by the cops and he was panning in his chair as he had for the past few months. Someone called him on it, and it got hot real fast. Johnny got up from the chair in order to defend himself. One thing led to another and the man was on the ground lifeless, now lying in a hospital bed in a coma. Of course thats the speedy version, Ill give the laxed stoner version later. Now I had to find away to get us out of this mess, it was idea and I felt responsible for him being in there of course. I know this all makes us sound like a couple of common crooks, the truth is, we are. Its all we knew, our Mother was a great pick pocket and my Father could con the socks off anyone. He now serves in a prison far away, been there awhile and will be coming out in a matter of a few years. My Mother sadly died of broken heart, well thats what Johnny says, he was right though, my folks hated to be apart. She was so sad to be away from him, they really were very much in love. The modern Bonnie and Clyde my parents were, and I hate to admit that I was proud to be their daughter. So there you have it, a dead Mother and an incarcerated Father so all Johnny and I had left was each other. We were raised in a different kind of world, I didn’t even know how to go about living in it any other kind of way. Still I’m young, and I have a lot to learn, just shy of eighteen. My brother Johnny, just turned nineteen, putting him into adult prison. So needless to say, our little family of criminals was not doing so well. I was the only one out and it was up to me to pay for Johnny’s bail and get him out. I guess the first thing I would have to do is earn some income. I had dealt some pot here and there, and knew I could I get a front on a big bag and figured that was a good start. I went over to my buddy Skinny’s place and went right to business. When I got there and told him of what happened to my bro he told me of course he would help me in any way he could and went straight to weighing out. “Hey Roxie, what are you doing over there?” He asked as he went to his work. “Oh just cutting a hole into the inside of my pocket. You know, for storing things such as stolen bottles of booze or whatnot.” I explain as I take my knife to my coat, it was a trick my pick pocket mom taught me. I had stolen so many things things way, it was a great way to make a quick buck off a bottle that i didn’t have to pay for. “Your one tricky little girl Roxie.” Skinny says with a laugh. “Oh sugar, you have no idea. My Mother was the best in the biz, and she taught me everything she knew.” I explain as I begin to pack up. “Well, all the best to you Rox, I love your bro man, I hope you get him out sooner then later.” He says as he gives me a quick hug. “Ah thanks Skinny man, means a lot you helping out like this, Ill get it back to you, you know it man.” I say as I throw my backpack over my shoulder. “You got it babe, see you when I see you man.” He gives me a high five and I quickly leave and head towards downtown to unload the green and turn into the kind of green that could help get my brother out of jail. Cash, money, dough, bones or whatever you call it. To me it was the key to his freedom, but I would need more then just pot money to do this. I would need to take a page out of my Fathers book, literally, he wrote a book of all his favorite cons while in jail and sent them to me. He was funny like that, my Father was always known for his charming and funny personality. Its was made him a great con man, not a good one, a great one. He didn’t get caught because he messed up, he got caught because he trusted the wrong person. His best friend ran out on his during some pressed on heat from the cops, also turning in my Father to the cops at the same time. Thats what happens when you partner up with the wrong asshole, you end up getting fucked up yours. I ran to shelter that I had been staying over the past few cold months, Ontario can be very unforgiving in the winter and it was wise for a street kid to seek shelter or they would probably die out there in it. As soon as I got in, I started to talk to the other women who lived in the house and began to move the shit at a rather quick pace. Before I knew it I was half way done, all the money I made went straight into my safety box that was equipped with a lock, the house provided these to avoid house fights among the girls. It helped, but thats about it. After I took a shower it was dinner time and after that I took to the streets. It was pick pocket time, it was Friday night and the streets of Toronto would be packed, even in this way below zero weather. Perfect conditions for pick pocketing, layers of clothes and busy shoulder to shoulder foot traffic. Sometimes people who find out what I do for a living ask me how I feel about doing it. Of course I feel bad, I steel a wallet, I take the cash out, and then pay someone different to turn it into the cop shop to returned. I.D and all credit cards intact, its acts such as though that help to let me sleep a little bit at night; otherwise, I feel awful to be honest though I would never tell anyone that, I would never want them to mistake my guilt for weakness. On the streets, thats exactly how someone would take it. I bundled up as much as I could with still have the freedom to run, just in case I needed to make a fast get away. As I walked through the streets in between the rows for people, bumping into them, my tiny hand slithers into their jackets and bags. I brisk ally walk with my hands in my own pockets and I think to myself, this is not the only way to live and if there is a better way to live it then thats the way I want to. This was no life, it just happened to be my life, for now that is.