Whom to trust
Today: Nathan Munn, writer, musician, and author of QUÉBEC.
Issue No. 547
Crooks
Nathan Munn
Crooks
by Nathan Munn
They sat at the far end of the busy food court, watching the throng of people. There were parents with unruly children, deciding what to have for lunch; retail workers on break looking harried and morose. Construction workers, men in suits, senior citizens nursing coffee.
The man, gruff and weathered, stared pointedly across the bustling crowd before looking away. After seven seconds, the boy carefully turned to glance in the precise direction the man had looked. There, almost camouflaged against the dingy grey wall of the hallway leading to the bathrooms, stood a janitor. In a moment of peripheral analysis, the boy saw a middle-aged man, olive skin, slightly overweight, grey shirt, black pants. He turned back to the man, questioning—that guy?—and the man nodded.
Watch him.
The boy fixed his eyes on the neon slash of a pizza sign next to the janitor. He let his vision swell until he could see the janitor without being seen and after a moment he understood. The janitor, too, was scanning the crowd with eyes that missed nothing. The boy looked surprised, and the man smiled.
“He’s like us,” whispered the boy.
“Yes. But not for the same reason.”
“Why is he watching?”
“I don’t know. Some people just watch. They’re the ones we have to look out for.” The boy nodded. An excellent student.
A moment later, the janitor turned back to his cart and began pushing it toward the washrooms, wheels squeaking.
“Now,” said the man.
Keep us breathing fire!
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