The game

Looking at the wall clock, Tracy Morgan rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing clearly. It was 10:33am. She was late for work. No, she was late to being a famous scientist. Without taking a bath or breakfast, Tracy slid into a blue tight trousers and a white T-shirt. She took her car key and inserted a flash drive- the drive that contained the evidence, the drive that would change her life and that of the entire world- into her pocket. Minutes later, she was in her 1988 yellow Volkswagen's Beetle. She inserted the key into the ignition and turned. The car roared and stopped almost immediately. No. Not today. Not today. She tried it couple of times. The battery was dead. Frustrated, she got off, gave the car a long stare and hurried down the street. I'll change you after today. She would've considered taking a taxi,but she was penniless. A penniless scientist? Well, all that will change for good. She thought.

She was turning into a Corner when a huge body rammed her and she fell, hitting her head on the hard floor. For an instant, the world went dark, blur. People had gathered around her. A deep male voice came through. "Excuse me, I'm a doctor." He showed an ID and the crowd broke, Making way for the doctor. He knelt before Tracy. "Let's see." He said to no one in particular. Everywhere was normal now, Tracy started to rise, when he gently pushed her back. "Stay still honey. It won't hurt." He placed two thumbs on her neck and nodded. Next, he placed the same fingers on her wrist. He called out to the crowd. "She needs an ambulance. Someone call 911." Tracy started to protest. She was fine now, she needed a taxi, not an ambulance. She needed to get to the lab now, she needed to show them the million dollar proof. How many minutes more before the bosses leave. They were not the kind of people who entertained being kept waiting. She looked at her wrist, her golden Rolex watch was gone. In bewilderment, she touched her neck, the necklace her mother gave her many years ago had disappeared as well. Fear gripped her. Even before she searched, she knew one more thing was missing. She touched her pocket- the million dollar drive, which contained the most important information and her future was gone.

In spite of the confusion and fear, she managed to stand, searching for the doctor with her eyes. The people were busy, dialing 911. Oh my God. She muttered. The doctor had disappeared, so did her dreams to become famous and wealthy.

She lay back down, waiting for the Ambulance to come take her away. To take her to somewhere safe. Moments later, an ambulance arrived. Two men put her on a stretcher, then into the Ambulance. When the ambulance started moving away, Tracy closed her eyes thinking about all that had happened, how close she was to being famous.

"Where's the drive?" She ignored the voice.

"Where's the fucking drive?" This time, she sat up, facing the two men who were supposed to be nurses.

"I'm going to ask one last time," The first man said. "Where is the drive?"

"W-what drive?" Tracy stammered. How come they know about the drive, the only persons that knew about it were the big bosses. She answered the question herself; one of the bosses was a traitor. She came back to her senses when the second man pulled out a gun under his white coat. "Let's help each other. Give us the drive. We save our bullets and you get to save your life." He said, his voice deeper and meaner than that of the first man. He pointed the gun towards Tracy's head. Fear gripped her. The last thing she wanted was a bullet in her brain. She had no money to get it out if she survived.

"O-okay." She stammered. "We will help each other. I don't have it." Without waiting, the second man pulled the trigger. The bullet swept past Tracy's cheek, ripping off a small portion of flesh and stuck into the metal body of the ambulance. Tracy was screaming now.

"I missed on purpose. But, next time," he leaned closer. "I wouldn't. Now, let's do it again. Where's the flash drive?" He stepped back, pointing the gun towards Tracy. She needed no one to tell her what these men were capable of doing.

"I Swear, I don't know. The doctor took it. I was going to work when someone pushed me..." She looked at their faces, that was not the look people gave when they believed your story. "I'm not lying. I swear, the doctor who called this ambulance took it. I swear. Please, don't kill me." She was crying now. The two men looked over each other.

The first man spoke, "Doctor? A doctor stole it?"

"Yes. Believe me. He also took my wrist watch and necklace." The men looked, they could still see the white line around her neck indicating she actually wore a necklace.

"He stole it and you didn't raise an alarm?"

"He was good. I-i didn't r-realize it was missing until he was gone." Her body was shaking. It was obvious they believed her now. The men knew the only man who could rob one blind during the day. The second man frowned, "we should call the controller." Moments later, he was speaking into the phone.

"He arrived before us... This time, he was a doctor... No problem, we'll take care of him... I understand... We know where to find him." The line went dead.

Tracy stared blankly. The controller? She wondered who the bad guys were. The doctor or these nurses. The first man leaned towards her. "Time to sleep."

"What do you mean by-" She felt an object Pierce into her body. She looked down to her lap. It was a syringe. Slowly, her eye lids kissed each other.

Many blocks away, Jeff was removing the fake grey moustache. It amused him how people could be so stupid. He was saying to the huge black man, Ben, "you almost knocked heavens out of her." He was laughing. His laugh died away under Ben's stare. He wasn't here for jokes and Jeff knew better. "Alright. Here is your money." He handed Ben some dollar notes. Quickly, Ben slid the money into his breast pocket. He could trust any man but Jeff.

"Come here big guy, give me a hug. You did great." Jeff spread his arms. Ben observed him a moment, then sighed. What's the worst that could happen. I won't be seeing him again. A goodbye hug. He went into Jeff's arm. Jeff was smaller, his head touched Ben's huge chest. When the taxi Ben had boarded was out of sight, Jeff waved down another taxi. "Central train station." He said.

Ben stopped at zik's Avenue, he reached into his pocket to pay the driver. He wasn't too surprised when he noticed the money was no longer with him. "God send you to hell, Jeff!" He yelled into the deserted streets.

Half an hour later, Jeff was at the train station. Looking around, he could make out easy targets. But, he had something important to do. He had to take the flash drive to his boss. He was an untouchable god. He took whatever he wanted, nobody took from him. If there's any one who could pick my pocket, he thought. He is either dead, or yet to be born.

He was about to step into the train, when a pregnant lady bumped into him. Her bag came falling down. The items in it were out. "watch where you are going. She's pregnant." The man who appeared to be her husband yelled.

"I'm sorry." Jeff apologized for his clumsiness, he bent over to help her pick her things.

"Watch where you are going, young man." The man said once more and brushed past Jeff, his pregnant wife behind. Jeff sighed and stepped into the train, opening the purse he had taken from the pregnant lady's bag. Empty purse? He shrugged, tossing the purse out the door. He took an empty seat next to an old lady. Jeff impatiently looked at his new Rolex watch. He couldn't wait to leave this town.

"Two minutes before departure." The lady offered. Jeff nodded. He wouldn't have considered coming here if whoever he was working for hadn't paid him handsomely. Ten thousand dollars for a flash drive?. He knew whatever it contained was very big, he had no idea who he was working for, he was taking orders from a voice over the phone. I should have told him fifty thousand. He thought. He reached into the inner pocket of his coat to take a close look at the flash drive.

The elderly woman gave him a worried look. "Looking for something?" She asked. Mind your damned business. He wanted to say, instead, he said, "No. I'm not."

"Okay." She said flatly. He could tell from her tone that she did not believe him. But, He didn't care. Why would he? he had something else going on on his head. Had he misplaced it? The answer came almost immediately. He looked out of the window and saw the couple waving at him, smiling.

"Are they your family?" The lady asked. He ignored the lady and hurried towards the door, but he was late. The train was moving now. He pressed his head against the glass door, staring at the couple. He couldn't believe he had fallen for the oldest pick pocket cover; the pregnant couple. His eyebrows rose when the husband pulled off his fake moustache. He stared closely, he couldn't believe who picked his pocket. It was Mark, his son.

His lips formed a smile. He was the proudest father on earth.