And what in the hell were these people doing leaving six hours before the start of the celebrated Rose Parade?
The answer was that there was more to this bunch than the typical mid-western tourist family. At least that’s the impression Sammy was now getting. The impression grew stronger as he regarded his captors from his spot on the bunk. They were appraising him with a penetrating gaze that Sammy found uncomfortable. The worst of it was the young woman’s. Sammy found it hard to resist gazing back at her.
Their silence was broken when the ringleader—Sammy assumed he was the ringleader because he was the oldest male of the group—suddenly burst out laughing.
The rest joined in. They laughed hard, as if sharing some secret joke among themselves. Even Gus laughed from the cab of the RV as he drove. Sammy looked around at them, the tension easing somewhat but not nearly enough for comfort. They weren’t making any attempt at assaulting him further; they were just sitting in their respective seats laughing their asses off at him.
Sammy smiled and tried to laugh with them. This made some of them—the two young guys in particular—laugh harder.
The old man stopped laughing, shaking his head. He looked at the older woman and chuckled. “Who would have thought that out of all the years we’ve been coming out here to work the parade route we’d be preyed upon ourselves by a common criminal.”
They laughed harder at this and then suddenly Sammy understood. They weren’t typical tourists out to watch the parade. They were crooks like him who had come out to work the parade. The question was, what kind of racket were they working?
Sammy mustered a smile. “So you’re not tourists then, right? So what kind of work do you do along the parade route?”
There were still some chuckles floating around the cabin. The long-haired guy shook his head and leaned back in his seat, looking out the window as they rode down the freeway. The old man and his lady leaned back, the woman taking out a nail file and working her nails. Sammy felt better as he saw the others relaxing. They weren’t planning on hurting him. If that was the case, what the hell were they doing kidnapping him?
“You could say that we converge upon the parade route every year like yourself to prey on the tourist population,” the older man said. His voice was deep and compelling. Sammy now pegged the ages of the older couple in their late forties or early fifties. The woman chuckled at that, and the man smiled and looked back toward Sammy. “Why don’t I back up a bit. My name is Frank. This is Melissa,” he indicated the woman beside him, who Sammy assumed was either the man’s wife or Significant Other. He introduced the long-haired guy as Jason, and the quiet bearded guy as Robert. The young woman was Olivia.
Sammy nodded at each one as they were introduced and kept his gaze on Olivia longer than he should have. She smiled at him and Sammy felt a stirring in him, a sense of yearning. That familiar feeling was now easily explainable. He had obviously seen her before on previous New Year’s Eves while working the parade. They had probably passed each other countless times on the crowded streets of Colorado Boulevard while each one worked through the long evening.
“And your name is?” Frank asked, looking at him questionably.
“Sam,” he said, grinning. “But you can call me Sammy.”
“Sammy it is then.” Frank leaned back in his seat and regarded him with those steely cold eyes. Appraising him. “You didn’t really stumble in here by accident, did you Sammy?”
They already knew the answer to that. Especially when he had basically confessed to it by asking what line they were in. His best bet was to lay all his cards on the table. He nodded. “No, I didn’t.”
Frank nodded, then glanced at Melissa, who was regarding him the way a mother would if she had caught her son doing something he shouldn’t have been doing. Jason and Robert were relaxing, caught up in the ride, paying scant attention, but Olivia was closely watching the exchange. She gave an encouraging smile to Sammy.
“The question is, what do we do with you?” Frank asked. He seemed to be thinking out loud, tossing the question out for his posse to digest. “We could very well let him go.”
“Let him go?” This came from Robert, who swung his gaze to the center of action. “We’ve never let anybody go before.”
“True, but Sammy’s a special case.” Frank leaned his grizzled form forward, leaning his elbows on his knees, peering at Sammy. He was looking directly at him. “How long have you been doing this Sammy?”
Sammy swallowed a dry lump. What Robert had said—we’ve never let anybody go before—was hanging in his mind. “Seven years.”
“And how old are you?”
“Twenty-four.”
Frank nodded. “You ever been busted for this? Don’t lie to me, because I’ll know.”
“No, I haven’t.” Frank didn’t have to tell him that he would spot the lie. Sammy seemed to get the sense that Frank would. “I usually knock on the RV doors to make sure nobody’s around, then I break in. If somebody answers the knock, I usually pretend I’m drunk and that I got the wrong RV. Works every time.”
“Pretending you’re drunk,” Frank mused. “How many times has that happened?”
Sammy shrugged. “It happens at least once a year.”
“But you’ve never been caught red handed in somebody’s RV before, is that right?”
“Right.”
“That’s not bad.” Frank rubbed his grizzled chin. “You been busted for other things?”
“I spent time in reform school when I was thirteen for shoplifting,” Sammy said. “Other than that, no. I’ve never been busted.”
“You do residential breaking and enterings primarily?”
“Yeah,” Sammy nodded.
“And fencing?”
Sammy nodded.
“Anything else?”
“Credit card fraud. Identification theft. Some computer hacking.”
Frank seemed to think about all this. Sammy’s heart was racing in anticipation. What the hell were these people in to?
“Why do you do this? Surely you could support yourself through legal means. You said you’ve done some computer hacking; surely you could get a legitimate job in the computer industry. Why prey on people?”
“I suppose I could ask you the same question?” Sammy said.
“I’m the one asking the questions.” Frank regarded him menacingly.
Sammy licked his lips, his eyes moving from Frank to Melissa, to Robert and Jason, then to Olivia, who smiled at him. Christ, but she was beautiful.
“People haven’t been much use to me if you want to know the truth,” Sammy said. “I never knew my dad, and my mom left me with my grandmother to raise me when I was six. My grandmother and her husband used to beat me up. They were real shitty people. When I was twelve my grandmother told me that I would have to fend for myself by buying my own food and clothing, so that’s why I resorted to stealing. They were so abusive, though, that I ended up running away from them five times. And in all the times I been in and out of different foster homes and detention centers, the more I saw how fucked up the system was and how people were so fucked up. At first I needed to survive, so I stole things. I shoplifted, I learned to pick pockets, snatch purses. Yeah, I had to survive, but when I got to be pretty self-sufficient and knew I could make it by getting a real job, I decided I didn’t want that. People out there, society,” he nodded outside toward the city as they drove down the 210 heading toward Interstate 10. “They never gave me a chance, never so much as gave a shit about me. Fuck them. I’m stealing from them what they stole from me.”
They were silent for a moment, Frank appraising him, stroking his chin with long fingers. Sammy returned his gaze defiantly. Frank glanced at Melissa and the other two men, and the four of them seemed to share some hidden communication. Even Olivia nodded along, as if tuning into the subliminal conversation. Frank turned to him. “What you just said sounds pretty convincing and harsh. Have you ever had any second thoughts, any regrets?”
“Regrets??
?? Sammy spit the word out like it was a bad taste in his mouth. “The only thing I regret right now is being caught by you guys.”
Frank smiled. The others laughed. For a moment Sammy was afraid that he had said the wrong thing; it had been on his mind and he had let it slip out before he could stop it. But now he relaxed as the laughter warmed him, making him feel better. He had a better feeling about these people now. They were renegades, outlaws like him, that much. But he was still unsure of their game.
“And I’ll be honest with you now, Sammy,” Frank said. “Normally, we would have killed you on the spot. But there’s something about you that we feel that tells us you’re different. Am I correct in that, Sammy?”
Sammy nodded. “You bet.”
Frank watched him, the smile playing at the tips of his mouth. “We’re a nice, tight unit here, Sammy. We’ve been doing this for a long time now. More years than I’d care to imagine. And we’re good at what we do. We’re the best. You seem like the best at what you do as well. I’d like to give you the chance to join up with us. To be with us.”
Sammy was stunned. Frank was asking him to join them? To do what?
As if to answer his question, Frank responded. “Gus has been our good and faithful servant to us for many years. He’s one-of-a-kind. We’ve had a lot of men and women in his place, but they never were ready to take that next step. They were simply content to live with us, work in keeping us safe and moving along. Gus is ready for the next step. To become like we are. In order for us to help Gus, we need another one like him. A man who is strong, who is witty, who knows that he is superior to the rest of mankind. We need a man with a brilliant mind, one who can get out of any jam, one who can manipulate the system. I see that in you, Sammy. You’re that man. Am I right?”
Sammy nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.” Everything Frank said about him was true. He had beat the system time and time again. In fact, other than his juvenile record, society had no knowledge of him.
“I realize that when I say that we need another servant, that the term itself may not seem attractive,” Frank continued. “Think of it as a man who makes sure things get done. A man who makes sure things look legitimate and legal, that makes sure that all things appear normal to the mindless human herd. You with me?”
Sammy was nodding. “Yeah.” He was beginning to get an idea on what they were into now. The five of them were scam artists. Gus merely acted as a gofer, a chauffeur, a personal assistant who worked the day-to-day trivialities.
“You’re probably thinking, ‘what’s in it for me?’”, Frank continued. “That is easy to answer. All of your needs will be taken care of. Food, shelter, money, whatever you want, it’s yours. All that we ask for in return is your devotion to us in moving us along, helping us create safe passage as we move from city to city. You give up whatever life you had in the outside world and live for us. Of course, you won’t be a prisoner. You’ll still be able to enjoy the same things you had before, and you’ll hardly be chained to us. But we do insist on a strong loyalty to us. In return, we will protect you. We will make sure no physical harm ever comes to you. All of your needs will be taken care of.” He locked those steely gray eyes on Sammy’s. “You get me?”
Sammy nodded. “Yeah.” This was actually sounding pretty good.
“Of course, one of the most important things to consider is you will get to live.” Frank said this with a rather sarcastic tone, the inflection in his voice suggesting that it wasn’t beyond their means to snuff him out of. This brought the feeling of dread back to Sammy’s gut again, but it dwindled a moment later when Frank nodded toward Olivia, who rose from her seat and moved across to join Sammy. “And then again, you will also have the pleasure of knowing our company.” He smiled.
Olivia began undoing his bonds. She was smiling at him, and Sammy was suddenly thrust into her sensuality, into her very being. He tried to smile at her and was immediately drawn to her. He could barely hear Frank as he said, “For now, why don’t you relax. Let Olivia entertain you.” He thought he heard laughter after that. If there was, he wasn’t aware of it. All he was aware of was Olivia.
Everything was like a dream then. Olivia untied him and led him toward the rear of the RV to a bedchamber. She drew the curtains, closing them off from the rest of the vehicle and gently pushed him onto the large king size mattress that rested there. Sammy fell into the depths of her eyes, her touch, her caress, as she joined him in bed.
She was everything he had hoped she’d be.
When he woke up the first thing he noticed was that the RV had stopped. For a moment Sammy almost didn’t know where he was, but then he turned and saw Olivia lying beside him, her creamy skin flush, her black hair spread out behind her head like a fan. Sammy’s body felt weak with fatigue. He looked down at his nude body, trying to remember the events of last night. It had all become blurry when Olivia seduced him, but the pleasure of being with her last night was a distant memory. He smiled. Frank’s invitation loomed in his mind. If one of the benefits of joining up with this clan was more of what transpired with Olivia, then he’d be a fool to pass it up. Last night was simply too wonderful!
Olivia stirred and opened her eyes. She smiled as she rose. “How you feeling?” she asked.
“Great,” Sammy said, yawning. Actually he felt like shit, like he had just jogged five miles, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. What mattered was last night and how great that had been.
A rapping on the wall outside the bedchamber snapped his attention away from Olivia. Frank’s voice issued from behind the curtain. “Rise and shine, guys. The Vegas Strip beckons!”
“We’re in Las Vegas?” Sammy asked bewilderedly as he grabbed his jeans and pulled them up his legs. Olivia covered her gorgeous body with a towel and exited the sleeping chamber, heading toward the bathroom in the middle of the RV. Sammy poked his head out of the bedchamber and down the RV where the others were exiting their sleeping chambers. Melissa was already dressed and ready to go, looking like she had last night. Ditto for Jason and Robert. Frank himself was ready to go as well.
“If you’re hungry there are a ton of restaurants along the strip,” Frank told him. “Have yourself a bite to eat. We’ll be back in a few hours.”
Sammy nodded, still trying to move past the murkiness of his mind. Olivia exited the bathroom looking as radiant as she had last night. How did she get ready so fast? Sammy smiled at her as she exited the RV with the others and she returned it.
And then he was alone.
It took him awhile to get dressed and look halfway presentable. He exited the RV and closed the door behind him, automatically reaching for his pockets and stopping the door before it latched with his other hand. His hand touched a key and he brought it out, looking at it. It wasn’t his own; Frank must have slipped it into his pockets last night. But how could he have when he had been—
He didn’t want to think about it. He fit the key in the lock of the RV and it slid through effortlessly. He locked the door and pocketed the key, his mind a whirling chain of thoughts. Leaving him with the key to the RV was an incredible effort in building trust in him. Was this a test?
He looked up at the sky. The grayness that he at first assumed were clouds was now giving way to darkness. Sammy glanced at his watch and with a rising sense of alarm saw that it was now five-thirty p.m.—the following day! Christ, had he really slept that long?
The rumbling in his stomach snapped him to attention. First things first. Get some food in his stomach. Then a walk was in order to clear his head.
After having a hearty meal at a steak house, he took a walk along the strip, not paying attention to the people as they wove their way around him. The Vegas evening was cool, and he hunched his shoulders against the cold. He tried to think about the events of last night and for the life of him couldn’t come up with a plausible explanation. Maybe they had stopped somewhere last night so Gus could sleep, and then they had continued on until they reached Las Vegas. But Olivia was sti
ll asleep beside him when he woke up. Surely she couldn’t have slept for that long?
Sammy reached the RV and let himself back in.
The first thing he did was go into the bathroom. He washed his face and then looked at his reflection in the mirror. He noted his pallor, his sunken eyes. He looked at himself closely, paying close attention to his mirror image for the first time in years. And then when he found what he was looking for he looked at himself in the mirror some more, then let himself out into the main living quarters of the RV.
He sat down on one of the front bunks and thought long and hard. He was still thinking about things when they returned, talking and laughing as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
Sammy looked up at them as they entered and noticed Gus seemed a little different; he was more loose and relaxed. Melissa had her arm around him, and his was around her waist as they entered the RV. Frank cast him a baleful glance as they piled in the RV. Only Olivia made any lasting eye contact with him as they gathered around, taking seats in the RV. They all looked flush and healthy. Sammy took a deep breath, psyching himself up to ask them what had been turning over in his mind.
“I just have a few questions for you before I make my decision,” Sammy said, the sound of his voice getting their attention.
“Of course,” Frank said, speaking slowly. “Go ahead.”
Sammy nodded and swallowed a lump in his throat. “You said that the other…servants, you called them…didn’t want to go to the higher level, yet they remained faithful, lifelong servants. How long did they stay with you?”
Frank and Melissa glanced at each other. Robert and Jason grinned and Olivia merely looked at him. Sammy tried his best to resist her gaze, but it was hard. Finally Frank answered him. He frowned, as if trying to remember. “Well, Gus has been with us for, how long now?” He looked at Gus. “Fifteen years?” Gus nodded. Frank turned back to Sammy. “And before Gus there was Carlos Espinoza, a nice gentleman that was our friend and servant for about forty years. Before him it was a couple, Marion and Lemuel Jones. They were with us for thirty-seven years.”