Chapter 8: The Summer of Making Money
The boys got in the habit of going downtown almost every day. Money was not a problem. Hemisfair was a veritable gold mine. Tourists from all over the world were there concentrating on other things rather than the three boys from the south side. Dave came up with the new scam. They hadn’t tried it before, but it sounded good.
By now the guard at the back gate of Hemisfair knew the boys and waved them through without any qualms. They went to get their hands stamped and decided to try the scam.
They’re walking back in towards the park after getting the stamp and the group stopped. Dave said, “Let’s try this. Everybody knows what to do. I’ll go over it again. Mike, you drop your wallet near a guy that looks like he has money. When he picks it up and gives it to you, look in the wallet and tell the guy your money is missing. When the guy says he didn’t take anything you start crying and yelling about your missing money. Joe and I will start yelling to give the kid his money back to bring attention to Mike. After he settles with you, we head out.”
The boys agreed and headed through the fair. Joe and Dave followed Mike waiting to see who he picked as a mark. Mike was the guy to do the wallet drop because he was shorter than Joe and Dave and looked young enough to cry over stolen money. Joe and Dave observed Mike heading towards a rich looking couple. They closed in. Mike bumped into the guy and his wallet went on the ground. The polite gentleman picked up the wallet, “Hey kid, I think you dropped this.”
Mike whipped around, “Oh, thank you sir.” He took the wallet and examined it. After a few seconds Mike looked at the guy and said in a loud voice, “You took my money! I had ten dollars in here and it’s gone!”
The guy was stunned. He looked at Mike and started stuttering, “All, All I did was hand it back to you.”
As Mike cried, he was yelling, “You took my money!”
Joe and Dave yelled simultaneously, “Give the kid back his money!”
All the commotion attracted the attention of the people in the area. The plan was working perfectly. As people closed in on the situation the guy became rattled. All he wanted to do was be done with this thing. The guy said, “How much did you have?” Mike said while still crying, “I had ten dollars in here.”
The guy’s wife was becoming flustered at the growing crowd. She elbowed him in the arm and said, “Give it to him.”
With everyone against him, including his wife, he quickly opened his wallet and gave Mike a ten dollar bill. Mike stopped crying and looking down at the ground, “Thank you sir.” Then walked off. The boys went to the rally point on the river.
This plan was better than stealing the wallet plan. There was no possibility of being arrested because nothing was stolen. It was one person’s word against another, and nobody could prove anything. The boys enjoyed running around Hemisfair riding all the rides and eating the great food that would spoil their supper. They definitely had the money for it. They were well off and didn’t have to ask their parents for money. This caught the attention of Joe’s parents.
The boys headed home and as Joe walked in the house his mom said, “Hi sweetheart. Did you have a good time?”
Joe smiled and nodded, “Yeah. We just ran around downtown as usual.”
Mom stopped him, “I noticed you haven’t asked for any money lately. How are you doing all this stuff without money?”
Joe was now nervous, “We help tourists downtown and they give us a little money. It’s just a few cents but it helps going back and forth on the bus and buying food.”
His mom looked at him for a few seconds smiling, “Okay. Just remember if you need anything come talk to me or your dad.”
Joe smiled, “Okay mom, I will.”
The next day the boys showed up at the lot and everyone was there to play football, including the old couple next door. The boys divided up the teams as usual. It was Dave, Joe, and Mike against Gary, Birdie, and Eddy. As the boys got ready to play Dave yelled at Gary, “Hey, y’all want to bet on the game? How about a dollar a guy. The winner gets it all.”
Joe and Mike looked at Dave. Mike said, “What are you doing!”
Dave said, “We’ve got plenty of money and I feel really good today. Let’s do it.”
The guys on Gary’s side hesitated. That was a lot of money, but Gary’s team always won. Gary finally said, “Sure. Let’s see your money.”
Dave pulled out three dollars from the wad of money inside his pocket. He said, “Let’s see your money.”
Gary got together with his team and after putting all their change together came up with three dollars. The game began.
Dave’s team won the coin toss and received the kickoff. Joe caught the ball and ran it back over half the lot before Eddy tackled him. Dave got in the huddle and said, “Okay, Joe, get on the right side and run down the field a ways. Suddenly cut to the left and come across. Mike, if both guys rush, block for a second and run out to the right. Okay, on hut two, ready break.”
The boys came up to the line and Mike grabbed the old, weathered football and Dave yelled, “Hut one, Hut two.”
Mike hiked the football, and everyone took off. Both guys rushed and Mike went out to the right ready for the football. Dave ran to the left to buy time. Gary and Eddy were closing in on Dave and he was ready to throw it to Mike. Dave suddenly noticed Joe cutting across the field. He timed the throw as his left leg came down, he raised the ball and threw it at Joe. The ball was thrown perfectly as Eddy fell down behind Joe. The ball was caught, and Joe ran it in for a touchdown. Dave did the celebration zua and the old people next door cheered. It was a good feeling. The game went back and forth as usual and when Gary’s team was ahead, he wanted to quit. Dave said, “No way, I still want to play. One more drive for us and we’ll quit.”
Eddy said, “Come on, it’s over.”
The way the boys played was after a touchdown they went for an extra point by running a play to try and score. Gary’s team had missed on a couple of tries. If Dave’s team scored, they would be ahead. Dave turned to Joe and Mike, “I guess it’s over if they’re to chicken to finish.”
Gary was riled and said, “Okay, we’ll give you one more drive. We’re going to lock you down.”
Gary’s team kicked off to Dave’s team. Dave got the ball and ran it back for a short gain. They got in the huddle and Dave said, “Joe, you go down and turn whichever way you can get open, and I’ll hit you. Mike, no matter what block the best you can, even if they rush two guys. Just try to get in their way. On hut two, let’s go.”
The boys went up to the line and Mike grabbed the ball. Dave yelled, “Hut one, hut two.”
Mike snapped the ball and Joe took off. Mike was trying to block but was pushed down. With Gary and Birdie bearing down hard Dave saw Joe wide open and threw the ball. Eddy saw he was beaten and laid out flat to try and tip the ball. The ball went into Joe’s hands as Eddy hit the ground in a cloud of dust. Eddy had a painful look on his face, partly because he hit the ground and partly because he missed the ball. Joe ran into the end zone holding the ball up with one hand and laughing. Dave of course did the celebration zua as he and Mike hugged each other dancing around. The old couple was cheering. It only took one play!
Gary’s team paid up on the bet and the boys parted ways. On the walk home Joe said, “Shouldn’t Rhonda be getting home soon?”
Dave and Mike stopped to look at Joe in disbelief. Dave said, “If she sees us out there again, she’ll for sure call the police. No, we’re finished with her for a while.”
Joe said, “Okay, shouldn’t we at least go downtown and check on the girls.”
The boys agreed, the bus downtown, tomorrow morning.
