They talked and planned for a while after they had finished their supper. The waitress seemed impatient that these two kids were lingering and acting like adults, so Amos ordered some dessert to make her happy and Alanah did not seem to mind at all.

  Amos was trying to convince Alanah that he could handle Giorgio, he wanted to come to the restaurant before it opened the next day and force Giorgio to pay Alanah and release the boys. “All I need from you is to unlock the front door so I can sneak in before he opens and catch him by surprise.”

  Alanah however, was hesitant to agree to this plan. “You are going to get hurt, he can get really angry and probably really violent, especially if you sneak into the restaurant.” Her eyes widened,“ he will know I let you in and he will accuse us of both of being thieves and then…..” Alanah trailed off and then looked at the door “I should go, it is really late, and my aunt can get really mad at me for any reason, so I had better go.”

  They stood up and left the restaurant and Amos gave the waitress a big smile and a big tip. The next time I come here I bet she will be happy to see me, he thought, the more friends I have in the area the better. Amos walked Alanah toward her building, but they did not need to go too far before their late-night out became a real problem for them both.

  While they had been eating at the restaurant a rough-looking man had noticed the strange sight of two young people eating out alone so late at night. He had shambled by the restaurant window a few more times and saw enough that he was satisfied that they were by themselves, they had money, and that they were an easy target.

  No more than a block had passed between them and the restaurant before Amos heard the rough, coarse voice behind him. “Stop right there kiddoes. Hand over your money and give me that bag.” As the man spoke, he reached out and grabbed Amos’s shoulder balling up the fabric of his jacket in a large, calloused fist. As Amos turned to face his attacker Alanah screamed and jumped back. The man shook Amos violently and hissed at Alanah “shut up or he gets hurt.”

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  Alanah stood there, her eyes wide with fear and her mouth falling open but at least now she was silent. “HAND IT OVER” he practically growled while tightening his grip on Amos’s shoulder “HAND IT OVER NOW.” “OOOWWWW” was the next word out of his mouth as he suddenly loosened his grip on Amos and hopped away off balance on one foot. “OOOWWWWWWW, what the hell…..” Thwack…thud “OWWWW STOP IT, STOP IT, PLEASE STOP.”

  Amos stood looking down at the shabby older man who had now collapsed onto the pavement. The man had one arm braced on the sidewalk holding himself up with the other bent over his head and chest to ward off any further blows. He was gripping his baton in his right hand, half raised and poised for another strike.

  His legs were braced, either to lean in for another blow or ready to flee if needed. Amos glanced at Alanah who was staring wide-eyed at him. He quickly looked up and down the street and then at the man on the ground. “We done here?” he asked and when the man started to shuffle and scoot away from Amos he said, “don’t be here when I come back” and turned to Alanah. “Let’s go, it’s only getting later the longer we stay out here.”

  Once Amos was confident that Alanah was safely inside and that the front door to her building had locked behind her, he turned to go. As they had walked the last block to her building she had been both quiet and calm, as if nothing had just happened and she was just tired. When they had gotten to her building Amos had asked her if she was going to unlock the door just after three pm tomorrow.

  “I’ll do it” she said, “Good luck and be careful.” On the way home Amos moved rapidly and with purpose. He was also moving with a new sense of confidence, not a swagger or a show-off style of walking, but in the way men do when they are alert to danger, but they don’t feel threatened. Amos was starting to feel like he could take care of himself, and it felt good. Tomorrow was a big test, and he hoped he could manage being on the attack instead of being on the defensive.