foreign
ER and I'm just giving this special
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you have not studied from episode one
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immediately this link will take you to
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good now huh
chapter 20 bag of chicken
shops reveal a lot about a local
population from wealth to diet most of
the world sells cheap Goods mass
produced in Asia and this area is no
exception
an argument between two shop owners is
getting heated so I pass by quickly
I left Ronnie in the car a few blocks
back and I'm being watched by Hunter
from over the other side of the road he
stands out a tall fit naval officer in
his white uniform which helps me be
invisible
I'm trying to act every bit the tourist
even though none have strayed this far
downtown
I need to hurry we have a lot to do and
I can't see what I need feeling
increasingly conspicuous I buy a dull
forgettable hat
a man with a hat can be two people hat
on hat off
now I only have one twenty dollar bill
and a few small notes left the rest are
all one hundred dollar bills
a small kid approaches me with his
handout and I'm hit with a flashback of
a homeless parentless kid on the streets
of Syria one of many starving injured
and displaced children whose images will
never leave me somehow I must learn how
to live with the memories and the PTSD
I reach out just touch the boy's cheek I
need to feel he's alive what do you need
buddy I ask him with an American accent
eat
I want to feed him rather than give him
money which might go to a pimp I look
for his Handler who'd no doubt see more
value in me than the kid does
food Mister he says his tone changed to
desperation if he's acting it's worth an
award I really don't have time for this
but I can use him
I drag him to a Street Cafe that has
rotisserie chickens
you take US Dollars the owner nods but I
see no prices I guess he's wondering how
much he can overcharge me so I don't
give him the opportunity
chicken a whole one in a bag and ten of
those
I point to the flatbed wraps I offer him
the only 20 I have keep the change I say
and I see him trying to build the
courage to tell me it's not enough but I
know it's more than adequate and my look
dictates the same
I invite the kid to help himself to food
from inside my bag if I have food I have
the kid
I need your help I Tell Him Softly the
kid looks up at me fearing he might lose
the food desperate to eat he overfills
his mouth
take me to a shop to buy a luggage case
a big bag for all my clothes for travel
I need to buy Cosmetics for my wife I'm
mime lipstick eyeliner still being as
American as I can
the boy takes another handful of chicken
and pulls me over the road
this investment will achieve my goal
it's an old trick
he finishes his fistful and wipes his
hands and face on his shirt before
dragging me into a shop that I'd never
have found alone
I look around for his Handler for any
kind of trap but I see nothing Hunter is
following so I'm covered the street kid
introduces me to the owner in broken
Spanish and some english the Spanish
part is no doubt claiming a finder's fee
I can interpret that without any
language skills
he deserves a commission it's a shop
with travel cases and unsurprisingly the
owner starts at the top of the range
while I appreciate his salesmanship
bright white does not work for me dark
black I ask man's case must have wheels
heavy the boy translates and the man
almost moves to slap him with a noise
but controls himself the kid backs away
the owner points me to a huge luggage
case expensive he offers I nod as the
owner digs it out I notice the kid has
taken a like into a pink rucksack with a
cartoon on it
he is boldly asking the man for the pink
bag as his commission I'm amused and
impressed by his confidence
the shopkeeper would rather shoo him out
but he wants my sale
I give him the chicken he sneaks a
crafty handful and hides his chewing in
a smile
I can see the kid is thinking of running
now he has the food and I don't want him
to go
Hunter might not take too kindly to a
kid running
who knows what or who he is running to
or why
he could report back that he's found a
rich American
if Hunter thinks he's a leak it could be
the kid's last day's work
he must stay here until I can walk out
with him
chapter 21 big case
you want that
my sister School
I'll pay for the kids bag I offer and
look to the boy and give him a thumbs up
so he'll stay
I see the perfect case solid four wheels
and claiming another inside two sets of
two would be perfect
one hundred thousand dollars is just
over four inches
ten of those is a million
the brick in alley is safe is a double
size but not that big so under a million
not that that matters now the small case
will fit three stacks Deep by two stacks
wide and four across we have a load of
room for money
I'm done
I will both cases towards my young
assistant and see that from where the
pink back Satchel came there is one in
blue I offer it to him
oh how much I ask the owner tries to
hide his surprise
135 dollars he announces as confidently
as he can what a Payday for him
I slide two notes out of my pocket no
change he says showing me the little
amount of money in the till I take a
little bottle of lethal looking tequila
from the counter but that still doesn't
come close
I put a couple of t-shirts from his
shelf then from a pile of plain canvas
bags that lay flat I take six all that
goes in a smaller case
Mr your wife the boy says showing me the
array of cosmetics
there is no nail varnish I'm I'm taking
off the nail varnish and the owner
understands two I signal
are we Square
he agrees super fast both small cases
are fitted into the larger ones and we
leave
my young assistant Wills his case next
to me hugging my arm the pink sack on
his back thanks mister
there are some things in life money
can't buy
Hunter is at the main road and the car
arrives as we do
Hunter opens the door but the excited
over helpful child runs to the trunk
where the dead body is and flips it open
in a split second I compute that once he
sees inside he is dead
[Music]
