New York

The hustle and bustle of New York city seemed like a welcoming sight for Tyrone , he covered his head with his hood in an effort to conceal his face as he made his way through to the other side of the road watching for incoming cars.

He knew that Leroy was to be his watcher today, so that meant that he had to be twice as cunning.

He made his way to the fountain near Madison square, thinking of the different tricks he cooked up for the day.

The fountain was the height of two full grown adults with a statue of a dolphin at the center.

As the fountain came into sight, he crossed over and climbed nimbly into it, taking a moment to calm himself he yelled out. " Hey y'all, a moment please." Tyrone said waving his arms in the air nimbly.

Passersby just went on walking as if no one was speaking, with some giving him curious glances as they made their way to whatever jobs they had.

" I am gonna do blow your mind" Tyrone continued , he was unfazed by the fact that no one stopped to listen.

" Imagine if all the water in this fountain flowed up. And it rained on the skies.

I'm gonna make it rain in heaven!" Tyrone laughed maniacally, rubbing his hands against each other as he watched as some people stopped to watch what was going to happen next.

" I'll count to 10 and at the end of the count you shall behold a great miracle.Count with me everyone! 1,2,3,4,5....10!" A few people chimed in , while others tried to hide their excitement. The crowd exclaimed as the water around the fountain rose high into the air, dividing into little drops before shooting up in the air with speed.

Soon everyone stopped, Tyrone smiled as he watched the crowd that had now gathered stare with amazement.

"Hey kid! you got any other tricks?" a middle aged man with a rumpled suit and a double lensed specs asked facing Tyrone.

He seemed unimpressed with his performance. Tyrone fought down his rising anger at the mans attitude and asked. " What's your favourite colour?"

"Red" the bespectacled man answered. " How about we turn the water into red, the colour of blood" Tyrone said with glee as snapped his fingers and the rising water from the fountain became red. " Its raining upside down and its raining blood!" An old woman among the crowd exclaimed staring wide eyed at Tyrone.

" If you like what you see, please place your donations by the fountain."Tyrone said gesturing to the space right in front of him.

Most in the crowd threw some dollar bills at this feet with a few miserly ones giving him coins.

" I'll just sift through the bills later" Tyrone thought as he glared at the coins at his feet. The water around him suddenly fell as it reverted back to its normal colour and the proper law of gravity.

Tyrone jumped down from the fountain, not minding that his clothes was drenched as he cheerfully stooped to gather all the dollar bills in his pocket before picking the coins last. "It seems business today is good" Tyrone thought to himself as he stuffed the coins in the back pocket of his pants.

"I like you kid" Tyrone heard a voice behind him say. His whole body suddenly became alert. He turned around and wondered how that person could sneak upon him without him noticing a thing.

The voice belonged to a middle aged caucasian man , who had a cheerful smile on his face. He wore a white suit and a cain in his right hand. " You could be so much more than a street magician. How old are you? 12?"The man asked with a slight frown as he tilted his head to the side assessing Tyrone with keen eyes.

"It ain't none of your business man, back off" Tyrone replied coldly, he was not concerned with anything the man had to say. He knew they were weird men who like doing weird stuffs to kids, though he didn't feel that the man in front of him might be one. He felt that no one would take notice of a strange kid in the street if it ain't for their own personal vendetta.

He hadn't survived this far by being naive and stupid." Alright, I have no bad intentions I just want to make your life better. if you change your mind, here's my card" The man said taking out a thin colourful card from the front pocket of his suit before taking hold of Tyrone's arm and pressing it into his palm.

"I hope to see you again kid" The strange man said with a smile as he tipped his hat to him before slowly blending into the now moving crowd.

Tyrone stared at where the man had been moments ago before making his way home.

.....

"Where have you been kid?" Tyrone looked at the shabbily dressed man in front of him demanding an answer. " Does it matter? The main point is I got your money, so stop with the interrogations. You're not my dad, so don't pretend to care" Tyrone chided , looking at the man with scorn as he dumped the thick wad of cash by his feet.

Jack gave the young boy a long glare before picking up the money. He could not say he was displeased with the boy's work. He seemed to be the only one pulling his weight around here. He was glad he took him in and taught him all he knew.

Back in his day, he was known everywhere for his magic tricks but what people didn't know was, there are tricks and then there's the real deal.

But not everyone can learn the real deal, most can't master the simple tricks not to talk about the real thing.

That was why he treated Tyrone special from the other kids, because he was the only one with the ability for both tricks and real magic.

"Watch yourself boy, you're good but not indispensable" Jack cautioned, gazing at Tyrone for a few minutes before turning his back and retreating from the room to continue his rounds.

Tyrone breathed a small sigh of relief, he was certain that Jack would catch him this time. The total amount that every kid was to submit wasn't supposed to be less than five hundred dollars a day.

Jack was strict with that rule, the only kids exempt from that rule where the watchers. They were the kids tasked with looking through the money gotten at intervals to make sure that nothing was stolen and every kid was to submit the total amount accrued at the end of the day to the watchers for counting before submitting it to Jack.

The watchers were changed everyday to discourage collaboration to steal or deceive Jack.

Tyrone made his way to the side of the door, bolting it tightly before throwing himself on the bed.

He obviously hid some of the dollar bills in his boxer shots, waiting for the right opportunity to stash them away secretly.

He gazed at the ceiling for a moment, thinking of the stranger in suit and of a better life for himself. Tyrone pulled out the business card from the back pocket of his pant.

Boom Boom Boom, the door suddenly sounded. "Open the door dawg, This room ain't exclusively yours" Tyler said sounding a little pissed. Tyrone quickly stuffed the card back in his back pocket before striding to the door.

The bright orange hair that belonged Tyler stood on end, his face was covered in bruises with bags under his eyes.

" You just gonna stand there? let me in dude, stop staring". Tyler shoved Tyrone away as he made his was to his bed which lay adjacent to Tyrone's.

" Damn, I'm aching all over. Business was bad today bro, and Jack being Jack , didn't let me go for not making the rounds. He would be taking Cindy to a Better place tomorrow. This is her fifth time of not making the rounds, we know five is Jack's limit."

"So, Jack is gonna sell her?" Tyrone asked looking displeased, his eyes held a spark of anger in them.

" Well duh, my best bet is she'll be dancing for Alejandro before the end of the week." Tyler smiled, observing the expression of his room mate. His body was attacked with pains and he was sure he might have a few broken ribs as it was hard to move.

" You don't need to be worried dawg, Alejandro is pretty good to his dolls. She's sixteen! She had it coming the moment she clocked that ripe age." Tyler paused for a bit, waiting for Tyrone's reaction.

Tyrone frowned, he was upset with the current situation but he could not say that he didn't see it coming.

He made his way to the adjacent bed, not that it was worthy to be called a bed but it was the biggest mattress in the whole flat.

"With the money we make for him, he should at least improve the living conditions around here." Tyrone punched the mattress a little for emphasis.

" Don't sweat it dawg, a few more years and we're outta here, no more jack and no more broken bones. We'll be making good cash you and I. I'll be a rock star and you a magician with his own show on one of those fancy TV channels"

Tyler had a dreamy look in his eye as he smiled from ear to ear. Tyrone scoffed at Tyler's comment as he pulled the thin bed cover to himself. "Go to sleep bro." Tyrone said as he turned to his side, showing his back to Tyler as he switched off the lights.

" You know, it wasn't like I didn't see what that man gave you." Tyler suddenly broke the silence. Tyrone sat up abruptly, looking at the area where Tyler's bed was he could see his silhouette in the dark. He snapped his fingers and a spark ignited in his right thumb burning brightly but with no apparent damage to his right thumb.

" Show off" Tyler said giving him an unimpressed look. " And you didn't rat me out?" Tyrone inquired looking cautiously at Tyler. " Relax, your secret is safe with me. But you know it's against Jack's rule to talk with strangers, co..."

" Cops or well wishers, unless its about money I know" Tyrone finished Tyler's statement with a sigh. "Remember what happened to Jaime, he talked to a stranger about what was happening around here. He wanted to be a hero but he ended up dead and in a bag."

"It was about money I swear to you bro, I'm wiser than that" Tyrone countered."Just don't think about being a hero man. Better to be a living looser than a dead hero. Don't do anything stupid" Tyler stared fixedly at Tyrone gauging his facial expression. Tyler seemed like a mild tempered everyday good boy, but he hid a devious mind.

" But, why the hell would you trail me about when you got your own business to do. If you had stuck to your business, you sure as hell wouldn't have become all bashed up like a broken doll"

"Why would I do that, You're more fun anyway"Tyler smiled mischievously. Tyrone sighed tiredly, turning of the fire in his thumb with a flick. "Goodnight dude." Tyrone laid back on his bed thinking of how he was going to find the time to slip away to the weird strangers office building. He knew that there was no way that Jack would let any of them go easily. "If i don't want to become another Jaime or Cindy, I've gotta act soon." He thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep.