Jim felt that his contact from the BPD would probably call him soon so he told Amos that they should just sit tight, it was best to stay where they were for now. Amos had felt bad about the imposition, but Jim was having none of it. “You saved those boys; this is the least I can do to help.”

  He wasn’t a great cook, but he did have pasta and frozen pizzas in his kitchen and soon Alanah and the two boys were helping Jim get an early dinner ready.

  How rapidly things can change Amos thought. Those two boys were just held prisoner in a kitchen and now here they are, happily working together to make a meal to share. The simple domestic scene filled Amos with a sudden and almost uncontrollable joy. He wondered why he had been so affected by this moment.

  There was nothing special about the kitchen or the food and he barely knew any of these people. The reality of his personal situation hit him hard, his joy faded, and soon he was almost biting back tears.

  He used to have moments like this, often, his mom and dad loved to cook and laugh together in their apartment and then they would always share and linger over a home-cooked meal. It had been quite difficult knowing those days would never return. Amos had done his best not to dwell in the past but this evening and this scenario had just brought back too many memories in an unexpected fashion.

  Amos waved Jim into the shop and brought out some money, I need to pay for the clothes, and I wanted some more bullets for this. He brought out the small revolver he had taken from the restaurant and laid it on the counter. “Uh-huh, now you’ve got another one eh?” said Jim picking it up and taking a look. “It’s a Colt Detective special. 38 caliber and look at this, it’s got hollow point rounds too.” “What’s so special about that?”

  Jim looked at Amos and sighed “well, if you shoot someone with a hollow point round then it will be a much stronger impact, and the bullet won’t go as far. Great for police work and self-defense but not really meant for kids to be dealin with.”

  Jim sighed and looked at Amos with a weary smile.“ I’m still not used to the world being like this, is all.” “I remember when kids your age were just doing homework and hanging out at the mall on the weekends.” He put the gun down and reclined back. “I’ll get you a box of ammo in a minute for your new gun. Are you fixin ta give it to the young girl?”

  Amos shrugged and thought about this. Why not, she has already shown that she is not afraid to use one and it would keep her safe. “I guess I am” he replied while wondering if that was the reason he had taken it in the first place. “I did find a good place to practice without bothering anyone so I will take her there first and she can get used to shooting it.

  “Do you think things will go back to how they had been” he asked Jim, suddenly looking up at the older man as he did so. “I’m pretty sure those days are gone, at least around here that is.” Jim went on “First it was the banks, they were overextended and they crashed. That ruined most of the economy and what didn’t crash went pretty far downhill and never bounced back. Then people got into all sorts of trouble with loans.

  Car loans, house loans, you name it. People will be digging themselves outta debt for years, generations to come.” He shook his head sadly “then the flu came and came back and came back worse’n ever before. I imagine this is what got your parents?” Amos nodded slowly “Alanah’s too I think.”

  “It’s been one bad thing after another, and I think there is more to come. People need to have faith, I think things will get better but for now, you two had best carry one of these and hope that you don’t need to use it.” Jim handed the revolver back to Amos and said, “let’s go get some dinner, it will be nice to eat with a bunch of young faces for a change.”

  Dinner was surprisingly good Amos thought. It was a home cooked meal, and he was sharing it with friends he had realized, no matter how recently they had just met. Out of the four people there he realized that he only knew one of their last names, but it did not matter, he was with friends. Halfway through dinner Jim took a call and Amos tried not to appear to listen while listening intently the entire time. “What did you find out?” Jim asked the voice on the other end of the line…. (pause)….” oh no, that’s bad, their poor parents” …………(pause)….” they seem fine, no harm that I can see and their appetites are quite good.”

  Jim shifted as he listened to the voice at the other end and then turned his back to the others and lowered his voice. Amos stopped pretending that he was not listening and listened intently. Soon after Alanah and the boys fell silent too, waiting to see what was so important. “So, you found the aunt, that’s good no?” Jim asked…..(pause) “wait, wait maybe you misunderstood……(pause)….“did you try calling back……(pause)……ok, we will keep an eye out and you keep calling, let me know if you hear anything.”

  Jim replaced the old-fashioned phone receiver back into its base and turned to see four sets of eyes watching him, waiting to see what had happened. “Good news actually, it’s good news I am sure of it.” Jim smiled at Amir and Robin “listen boys, we found your Auntie that was supposed to pick you up at the bus station…..we just need to get ahold of her again.

  Apparently, she was so excited with the news there was some confusion when she found out but we will get it all straightened away.” He stood a bit straighter and gave one of those smiles adults always use with younger people when they have decided that they should just accept the situation and wait until it changes. “Who wants ice cream, I have two flavors to choose from.”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Nobody got to make a selection, immediately after Jim offered the ice cream there was a loud and persistent pounding at the shop door. Amos jumped up and Alanah looked startled. Amir and Robin went pale with fear and seemed to freeze where they were.

  Their English was very limited at the best of times, and they struggled to make themselves understood. When they were scared like they were now, Amos noticed that they just went silent and waited to see what would happen.

  Jim made his way to the front door and as he did, the pounding did not stop, it just became more insistent. Amos followed while trying to decide if he should have his baton ready or the revolver. Jim peered through the iron bars on the door and out a small window onto the street. It had gotten dark, so he flipped a wall-mounted light switch, and an overhead light came on suddenly illuminating the sidewalk outside with a harsh white light.

  A middle-aged woman of East Indian descent stood outside, her right fist raised but no longer pounding at the door. She had dark hair streaked with grey tied up in a tight bun and her face and her eyes were filled with anxiety. “Hold on, hold on” said Jim through the small mesh covered opening in the door. “We’re closed now, what do you want?” The woman responded in a shaky voice speaking quickly and unevenly.

  “I was told that you have my two nephews who have been missing for weeks now. Is this true? They were supposed to meet me at the bus station, but they were not there and never came. I just knew someone had taken them.” Her voice which had been quavering at first became higher and louder and shriller as she talked.

  She was almost yelling when she had finished speaking. “It’s ok, it’s ok” Jim began as he reached for the lock and undid it “you can come in and….” The door flew open with a sudden jolt catching Jim on the shoulder and knocking him stumbling backward.

  Immediately afterwards two men forced their way into the store, the first man was tall with a long billowing shirt almost to his knees and a pair of baggy pants the same color and material as the shirt. His dark hair was brushed straight back on his head, and he had a thick mustache that ended in twirling points just above his nose. The man who followed was a good bit shorter but had a stocky build under a black leather jacket. He was wearing dark jeans as well as a traditional turban and he held a small, curved dagger in his hand. Amos was probably more startled than Jim even though he hadn’t been close enough to be hit by the door flying open. He instinctively reached into his pocket and brought out the baton and swung it up and then down so that the steel bearing at the end shot into place with a loud click.

  For the next minute or more it was pure chaos inside the suddenly much smaller front room of the shop. The two men were quite angry and agitated and also very excited. Both were shouting at Jim in a language Amos did not recognize and the smaller man was moving closer and closer to Jim while jabbing with his curved dagger. The older woman was halfway through the front door, hesitant with fear and also yelling in a strange language but exactly at whom Amos could not tell.

  Get closer, protect Jim, stop the one with the knife. Amos lunged carefully forward and swung his baton at the smaller man, but he must have been watching out of the side of his eyes as he darted away from the swing. The man turned toward Amos and began making his thrusting moves with the dagger at Amos. This was the first time he had faced a knife, and it made him most uncomfortable.

  The erratic sudden slashing movements of the pointed blade were impossible to follow or predict and he found himself circling and backing away. He tried to see what was happening to Jim, but he could not take his eyes off of the dagger and the man was too close for Amos to try to get the revolver. Next time carry the gun on the opposite side so you can grab it…..

  “Stop, stop at once, you are scaring them, STOP IT NOW….STOP.”

  Everyone suddenly stopped, almost as if they had been frozen in an instant and then looked at the source of this piercing cry. It was Alanah, she had come out of the kitchen, holding the hands of Amir and Robin who were still looking quite drained from fear. Her face was impassive and quite stern looking for a fifteen-year-old girl and it commanded everyone’s attention. The older woman at the door cried out “Robin, Amir…. you’re safe…ohhh you’re both here, come here, come here.”

  She spoke now with a much stronger voice as she crossed through the shop with her arms outstretched completely ignoring the four males who were now looking quite foolish frozen in rather debatable positions of combat readiness.

  The two boys responded with shouts and then cries of their own. Amos could not tell if the tears were from joy or relief or just the release of weeks of terror and stress. It didn’t matter; the body language of the two boys and their aunt completely overcame the tension and hostility the two other men had brought with them.

  Amos quickly folded up his baton and went to Jim to offer him a helping hand. The taller man also bent down to bring Jim to his feet allowing the shorter man to sheepishly hide his dagger somewhere in his jacket. Amos motioned to the men that they were welcome to come in and Jim went to shut the door as open doors could bring unwanted trouble without warning.

  Alanah was now talking with the boys as the aunt was able to translate their native language for her, and it looked like the aunt was getting brought up to speed on the horrors the boys faced during the past few weeks. Jim busied himself getting tea for the newcomers and after some minutes the tone had changed considerably.

  The two men were very, very impressed to learn that Amos had returned to rescue the two boys and then had taken upon himself to get them paid, clothed and fed. How quickly things seem to change these days Amos realized that less than an hour ago these men had seen him as an abductor, someone to be killed if necessary and now he was a hero to them.

  Alanah and Amos found out more about Amir and Robin as well, they had been sent by their parents to stay with their aunt in Boston while the parents dealt with the flu and to make ready to move to Boston as soon as they could save enough for the move. They had sent the boys by bus to stay with their aunt and when the boys disappeared at the bus station, they had become frantic with worry.

  The father had dropped everything to come to Boston to look for the boys but had only gotten weaker and was now convalescing at the aunt’s home. After hearing all of this Alanah insisted on quickly saying her goodbyes with the boys and sending them on their way to reunite with their father. “The sooner he sees with his own eyes that they are safe the sooner he will heal” she said, and she promised Amir and Robin that they would meet again soon.

  Twenty minutes later after many tearful goodbyes and several thorough, back-slapping handshakes with the two men, Amos, Alanah and Jim were alone in the shop. “Well, believe it or not, that was the easy part” Jim locked the front door again and looked at Alanah and Amos. “Now comes the hard part, you’ve got to steer clear of North Boston, Giorgio and the ‘Ndrangheta’. Question is, can you?