2
The Straight
Tobias, just before making the call…
There was a certain euphoria that Tobias Snyder got from cooking, that was very hard to describe.
Almost one year ago, Tobias had dragged himself out of a life of crime and addiction, only to find that he had been doing it for so long he didn’t really know how to do anything else. He had become a cliché and this fact disheartened him greatly.
Determined not to go back, he had searched for an old childhood friend, Matt. Matt Ross turned out to still be the kind and generous friend he used to be. After hearing Tobias’ story, he had not only hired him as a cook in his restaurant, but even put him up a couple of days; just until Tobias was able to find a place.
Tobias found that he loved cooking much more than he had expected, and he threw himself into all aspects of the job, learning everything he could from Matt and the business, and in the course of the last year he had moved quickly to the position of Kitchen Manager.
Tobias would have silently reflected on this while he expertly sliced Zucchini in preparation for the night’s dinner rush, but instead, his perfect little meditation was being ripped to shreds by an invader.
Robert ‘Bob’ Stanoski was his name.
One month prior, Matt had had a personal crisis and was forced to sell the restaurant in order to help his daughter out of some trouble. He had received a very pretty penny on the sale, since Matt had rigorously kept his restaurant, his baby, in good condition.
The buyer’s name was Bob Stanoski; a positively unbearable, little, bald man who wanted to resell the prized, independent restaurant to a larger chain. Of course, not before running the store into the ground, at least according to Tobias.
In the last month, the man had fired five cooks, three of whom were damn fine cooks. All of them, more or less, were on time and good at their jobs. The restaurant had gone from perfectly staffed to under employed in a month’s time. The quality and speed of the food service had suffered drastically, and regulars were beginning to walk away.
In the current market, it was nearly impossible for an independent restaurant to survive, let alone be profitable. When Tobias had confronted Bob, he was met with disinterest, if anything.
So now, instead of being in his cooking happy-place, Tobias was staring at the closed door to the manager’s office where Bob had just taken Tom, one of the better cooks on staff. They had been back there for ten minutes and Tobias was almost positive of what was happening.
Suddenly, the door opened and Tobias watched Tom walk out of the office, crestfallen. Tom’s eyes met Tobias’s and he shook his head. Tom then removed his chef’s hat and headed for the back door.
Tobias felt his teeth grind and his anger build. He stormed into the office where Bob sat doing paper work and he slammed the door and locked it behind him. The loud bang made Bob jump in his seat, then stand. His fish-like face curled in anger. “What the hell do you want?”
“You just fired Tom?!” Tobias questioned, although it sounded more like a statement.
Bob relaxed and sighed with frustration. “Yes, I did. We just don’t have the revenue.”
The way Bob made it sound, like he was talking to a child, angered Tobias even more. “Are you kidding right now? How do you expect me to run a kitchen with four cooks?!”
Bob smiled. “I don’t.”
Tobias had become literally confused. “What?”
“I’ll make this clear once, Mr. Snyder,” Bob began. “I do not care if this kitchen runs at all. I care about money. Money, right now. I already have three corporate offers on the table and I will close the deal within the next sixty days. Then you and everything in this place will become property of an Applebee’s or something. Then you and the rest of the staff will be their problem. Until then, however, I want to make as much money off this place as I can. With that said, it’s a simple formula; less workers equals more money.”
“You’re firing these cooks and pocketing their pay?” Tobias wasn’t surprised, he had seen too much to be surprised. He just wanted confirmation that Bob Stanoski was an evil fuck.
Bob smiled, as if the slow kid of the class had just gotten the answer. “Well that isn’t hard to understand is it? Now get the fuck out of my office or your money will be mine next.
****
Back to the present…
“I’m jealous.” Sid said, as Tobias finished telling the story.
Tobias turned and gave her a dirty look and Sidney responded with a shrug. “Look, the guy has a good scam going. I mean, sure it’s a dick move, but he’s going to fire everyone off and pocket the revenue for two months. Then he’ll sell the place before anyone brings a wrongful termination suit against him. Just saying, it’s a good play.”
The two of them were standing outside the car. They had found a spot to the back side of a Wal-mart parking lot and were, for the most part, alone. Tobias took another drag on his cigarette as Sidney counted the border run money on the hood of the car. The sun was slowly breaking on the horizon. It was about six or six-thirty in the morning.
“What the fuck is this?” Sidney suddenly said out of rage, as she hoisted a large sandwich bag of change into Tobias’s face angrily.
“Its $10.00 in change, give or take,” Tobias responded.
“We accept change now? Seriously?” Sid questioned.
Tobias shrugged. “What was I supposed to do? If I didn’t take it I might have blown it.”
Sidney scowled, “Really? You would have blown it? Because you refused to take this guy’s high school lunch money?”
Tobias returned the scowl. “Last time I checked, it’s still U.S. currency.”
Sidney tossed the bag to him and he barley caught it by surprise. “Fair enough. That can be your take. Buy yourself some gum balls.”
“Screw that,” Tobias smiled. “I want one of those rub-on butterfly tattoos.”
“You would,” Sidney said, turning back to the money. “Well, minus the Salvation Army Santa’s bag-o-change, we took about $300.00.”
“Keep it,” Tobias said suddenly. “Consider it a retainer. I want to hire you.”
Sidney looked at him and narrowed her eyes, “After a year of nothing, you drop out of the sky and now you expect me to help you out?”
Tobias shook his head. “No, I want to hire you. Take Stanoski down before he sells the restaurant and get the deed put in my name.”
“Not so easy, how are you planning on paying me?” Sidney asked, her eyebrow in the air.
Tobias shook his head. “I’m not. 100% of the take goes to you and whoever you hire. Except the restaurant, that’s mine.”
It was Sidney’s turn to shake her head. “Fat chance. There might not be anything in it for me, what if the restaurant is the only take?”
Tobias looked at her. “I know better than that. You’ll find something.”
Sidney shrugged. “Well, I do have the ability to sniff out extra cash, but I need insurance.”
Tobias looked at her, confused. “What more could you possibly want?”
Sidney smiled. “You.”
Tobias became very confused. “Me?”
Sidney nodded. “You. You work it with me. Side by side. The whole time.”
Tobias was already shaking his head. “No way. I made a promise. I’m not going-”
Sidney finished his sentence. “-Break it? Oh come on, you already broke it with the border run tonight. You want me to do this? Fine, we do this together or not at all.”
Tobias took a deep breath, then tossed his cigarette away and blew a long puff out into the night. Sidney had to keep herself from laughing.
He was so dramatic.
“Okay, I’m in.” He resigned, and Sidney celebrated with a hop and a smile, clapping her hands.
“Alright, drive me home and give me his address. I have some following to do.” Sidney said, scraping up the money and slipping it into her purse. “Anything else you haven’t told me about that year?”
Sidney said this as she moved to the passenger side. Tobias’ face seemed to drop and Sidney knew he was keeping something more from her. “Seriously? What else.”
Tobias cracked a half smile. “I’m engaged.”
****
It was eight-something in the morning by the time Sidney had gotten home and into a different set of clothes and over to the mark’s house. Sidney could only hope that Bob Stanoski was not a morning person. She was thankful to see his car still in the driveway.
On the drive to her house, Tobias had given her all the information that he had on the guy, which wasn’t much. The only thing Tobias knew outright was that the guy had a wife and a kid, who he had lost a couple of years back. She could have figured this out from the state of his house.
It was a small one-story thing that would have been off-white if the paint hadn’t been chipped and falling off. The flower beds, which had probably flourished with the wife around, had become overgrown with weeds and the yard had not been mowed in some time.
If it weren’t for the car in the driveway, Sidney would have doubted that she had the right house. Hell, she would have doubted if anyone lived there.
All of this, however, didn’t tell her anything other than that he didn’t have a whole lot of respect for himself and that he was probably somewhat unstable. She needed more. Much more.
Tobias’ area of expertise was breaking and entering. Back in the day, they would have waited until he left and Tobias would have worked his magic, entering and exiting the house without leaving a trace. While inside, he would go through records and statements, old photo’s anything that could be used to formulate a scam.
Tobias had been gone for a long time.
She had to figure out other ways to get the information she needed.
So she waited.
The mark turned out to be a late sleeper, which usually meant extracurricular activity in the night. That could be a way in. Suddenly she saw what she was waiting for; the mail man.
She grinned, then prepared. It was time to work.
The clothes she had switched into were put on for this purpose. A pair of capri running sweat pants and a tank top. She wrapped her hair into a pony tail, then picked up her arm am/fm joggers radio. She put in the head phones, leaving the radio off. Sidney then grabbed a washcloth and bottled water.
Pouring the water into the clothe she then padded it on her face, neck, arms, and breasts. The water gave her a reflective shine as if she had worked up a sweat. She then got out low and quiet, as not to be seen by the mail man up the street.
Sidney found a place down the block and started jogging. She jogged down the sidewalk towards the mail man, making sure her course took her past Bob’s house. As she approached the mail man’s little car, she slowed and waved, making sure the mail man saw her wave.
The mail man looked confused by the wave, but smiled and waved back. Sidney came to a stop, as if she had been running for miles, feigning the panting and extra hard breathing. “Hi there.”
The mail man looked at her over the box he was currently at. “Hello, and nice day for a run.”
The mail man seemed friendly and Sidney continued smiling. “It is, isn’t it? Hey you aren’t by chance delivering to 4352, are you?”
Sidney pointed to Bob’s house when she said it.
The mail man raised his eyebrow, becoming suspicious. “I am. Can I help you with something?”
Sidney smiled and wiped her hand on her sweats before extending it to the mail man, “My names Kate Stanoski.”
The mail man shook the hand, “Pleasure to meet you, but what is it that you-”
“I’m Bob’s cousin. I am watching the house for a couple of weeks.” Sidney said, his smile fading.
“Oh, well, what happened?” The mail man asked.
“His son, he suddenly got very sick and he had to fly out there to see him, so I said I would come down and watch the place while he was away. Collect his mail, that sort of thing.” She was telling the story while expertly hinting at what she wanted.
The mail man seemed to buy it. “That is so sad. Well, give him my regards.”
“I will, and oh, one more thing,” Sidney said on the fly. “If you want to just give me the mail for today since I’m here already.”
The mail man shrugged and handed over a stack of envelopes addressed to Bob. “Have a good one.”
The mail man puttered off and Sidney smiled, pocketing the mail before finishing her fake run.
End episode 2
