POV Shift

Brendan McMorrow

Mr. Barnes

+ English III

11 March 2013

POV Shift

“What’s the matter? Wuddaya want?”

“Nothin’ much. Just five bucks.” The nerve of this kid, trnya steal the dough me and Sunny rightfully earned. I looked over at the poor gal. Well mostly my dough. After all I was the one doin’ mosta the work, all she had to do was show up.

A weak little voice comes from behind dat door, all cracking and stuff like them kids nowadays. “I paid her already. I gave her five bucks. Ask her.”

“It’s ten bucks, chief. I tole you that. Ten bucks for a throw, fifteen bucks till noon. I told ya that.” I was feelin’ kinda sickly about the whole thing, doing it with a kid this young an all, but I had done younger. I was almost tempted to let him off easy, but his squeaky little voice kept convincing me otherwise.

“Why should I give her another five bucks? You’re trying to chisel me.”

Chisel him? My, whatta thing to say. Ya don’t just go round accusing people of chiseling, ‘specially when you’re only a little kid. Clearly I was gunna have to timidate the kid. Naturally I unbuttoned my shirt, letting the muscle fall out and flop over my waistband. His face got all twisted up in a sorta disgusted look, the kind kids get when they see a real man. I knew he could tell I ain’t nobody to be messin’ with. “Let’s have it chief.”

“No.”

“Chief, you’re gonna force me inna roughin‘ ya up a little but. I don’t wanna do it, but that’s the way it looks. You owe us five bucks.” I was getting mighty tired of this, a man of my statue has more important things to be dealing with. Who did this kid think he was, that he knew the price for my girl better than I did? It just ain’t right to order little Sonny all the way up here and only pay half. Just ain’t the right thing to do.

“Want me to get his wallet?” Sonny was bright for a gal, eying’ out that wallet from the all the way across the room. “It’s right on the wutchamacallit.”

I thoughta just getting the bread and saying my goodbyes and all, putting an end to the business, but that little face and squeaky voice were just beggin’ to be taught a thing or two. It was criminal of him to try to steal my money like that. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, its criminals. I ain’t proud of it or nothing, but I hit the kid right where it hurts. Probably don’t matters anyway, Sunny told me he ain’t old enough to use it. I guess this logic don’t matter to the kid, he got upset and all, callin’ me a dirty moron and some other unpleasant names an such.

Now, I just couldn’ walk away without teachin him a lesson. You can’t just say things like that to a person, it just ain’t right. Specially a kid saying that stuff to a respected man like me. I figure he needed to learn. Some might say I’m a sort of hero, teachin the kid respect an all that, but I was only trying to keep the kid from becoming one of them criminals. I almost felt bad for the kid, he surely didn’t a proper man to look up to such as myself.

Well I gave him a good ole slap to correct him and all, can’t say if it’ll help the guy but at least I did my part. He wasn’t getting up or nothing, probably contemplatin’ what I taught him, so I took my girl and we went back to the elevator.