The Child Thief

“YOU LITTLE PRICK!” Bennie cried, and grabbed for Peter. But the
boy was fast, unbelievably fast. Nick couldn’t remember seeing anyone
move that fast, ever. Bennie missed, his feet tangled in his pants, and down
he went, holey underwear and all, hitting the sidewalk like a fat sack of
dough.
Bennie’s antics were rewarded by an uproariously hearty laugh from the
boy with the pointy ears. And all at once Nick found himself smiling. He
couldn’t help it. Freddie shoved him back and jumped for Peter.
Peter skipped out of the way, effortlessly, stomping right on Bennie’s
head as he did so, smashing Bennie’s face into the sidewalk. Nick heard a
crunch that made him cringe, followed by a scream from Bennie. When
Bennie looked back up, his nose sat at an odd angle and blood was pouring
out of it.
“Holy crap,” Nick said.
Freddie dove for Peter, trying to leap over Bennie, who was just
standing. Bennie and Freddie collided, landing in a tangle.
Peter leaped high in the air and came down upon Freddie’s back with a
double knee jam that would’ve made any professional wrestler proud. Nick
heard all the air go out of Freddie in a wounded uuuff.

---

Freddie rolled off Bennie and began flopping around on the grass,
gasping, his mouth opening and closing like a feeding guppy. While Freddie
struggled to get an ounce of air back in his lungs, Peter darted over,
snatched the back of his pants, and yanked them down to his ankles.
“POINT TWO! That’s two for me!” Peter called. He winked at Nick,
then broke into another round of giggles.
Nick wasn’t sure if he was thrilled or terrified.
Peter zeroed in on the kid on the bike. He planted his hands on his hips
and glowered at Jake, daring him to make a move.
But Jake, good old Wang-fu, Jake-the-Snake, Steven-fucking-Seagal
himself, was frozen in place and looking like he just might be suffering a
seizure to boot.
“YOU FUCKER!” Bennie screamed at Peter as he struggled to his feet.
He yanked his sweats back up, shoved a hand into a pocket, and tugged out
a knife, a big one, and popped it open. “YOU FUCKING FUCKHEAD,
FUCKER FUCK!”
“Oh, shit,” Nick said. Bennie loomed easily twice Peter’s height, must
have outweighed him four times over. Get out of here, kid, Nick thought.
Run while you still can. But Peter just stood there, hands still on his hips,
lips pressed tightly together, his eyes squeezed down to slits.
Bennie’s lower lip quivered. He spat blood, screamed, and charged,
slashing for Peter’s face.
Peter ducked and spun, and again Nick found himself amazed at the
boy’s speed. The back of Peter’s fist caught Bennie full in the face. Nick
couldn’t see the actual contact from where he sat, but based on the way
Bennie’s head flew back, based on the horrible cracking sound, he knew
Bennie was going down.
Bennie crumbled to his knees, his arms flopping limply by his sides,
then he fell over face-first onto the sidewalk.
A chill climbed up Nick’s spine. He’s dead. He’s dead for sure. And just
for a second, Nick caught a haunted look on Peter’s face. Then, as though
knowing the boy’s eyes were upon him, Peter’s quirky smile leaped back
into place. But Nick couldn’t get that look out of his head. He’d seen
something wild, something scary.
Peter ducked over to Bennie, grabbed the back of his sweatpants, and
yanked them down to his ankles.

---

“That counts. That’s three for me!” Peter called in a delighted voice. “I
win!” He rolled his head back and crowed like a rooster.
Freddie stared on in horror as he tugged his pants up and scrambled to
his feet. He took off, bumping into Jake, almost knocking him off the bike.
Jake’s eyes darted from Nick to the pack.
No! Uh-uh! Nick thought and lunged for the pack, but his legs were still
tangled in his pants and he tumbled. Nick yanked savagely to get his pants
up. Jake snatched up the pack and pedaled away at full speed. By the time
Nick got his pants on, Jake was nowhere in sight.
Peter gave a big wave and laughed, “Later alligators!”
“FUCK!” Nick cried and punched the grass. “FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!”
“Hey, kiddo,” Peter called. “I did pretty good, huh?”
Nick clasped his head in his hands and clenched at his hair. What am I
going to do now? he wondered. What the fuck am I going to do now? Could
things get any more fucked up?
“I did pretty good, huh?” Peter repeated. “Wouldn’t you say?”
Nick realized Peter was talking to him. “Huh?” he said, low and unsure.
“Y’know, at the pants game. I won, wouldn’t you say?”
Judging by the way Bennie was spread out on the sidewalk with his butt
crack peeping out from his underwear, Nick had to agree.
Peter walked over to Nick and extended a hand.
Nick drew back.
“Hey,” Peter said. “It’s okay. We’re on the same team. Remember?”
Nick cautiously extended his hand. Peter shook it, delighted, then pulled
Nick to his feet.
“I’m Peter. What’s your name?”
“Nick,” Nick said distractedly as he scanned the park for Marko and his
pals, sure they’d be coming out of the trees at any moment, knowing too
well that those guys didn’t fuck around, knowing they’d be packing and
would have no qualms about shooting either of them.
“Good to meet you, Nick. So Nick, what do you want to do now?”
“What?”
“What do you want to do now?”
“Get out of here,” he mumbled and headed into the trees, back toward
the subway, then stopped. He dug in his pockets. “Fuck.” Bennie had taken
every cent. He’d have to find another way out of Brooklyn. Panic began to
tighten his chest. Which way should he go? Marko could be anywhere,

---

could be coming from any direction. Nick turned quickly and almost ran
into Peter. Nick hadn’t even realized the boy had been following him.
Peter’s eyes were full of mischief. “So, what’s the plan?”
“What?” Nick said. “Plan? Look, kid—”
“Peter.”
“Peter, you don’t understand, there’s some bad guys on their way.”
Peter looked pleased.
“They’ve got guns. They’re not fucking around either. They’ll kill you.”
“Nick, I said we’re on the same team.”
Nick let out a harsh laugh. God, he thinks this is all some sort of game.
“Don’t you want to kill them?” Peter asked. “Could have ourselves a
real good time.”
“What?” Nick said in disbelief, but he could see the boy was serious.
“No, I don’t want anything to do with them. I need to disappear, now.”
“I know a secret way out of here,” Peter said, looking left then right.
“They’ll never see us. Follow me.” Peter took off.
He’s crazy, Nick thought, but had to fight the compulsion to blindly
chase after him anyway. There was just something compelling about the
boy, something that made Nick want to follow even against his better
judgment. Nick scanned the park again. It was dark. He was alone. It was
hard to be alone. He clutched his rabbit’s foot, sucked in a deep breath, and
took off after the golden-eyed boy.

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