Foresight Read Free

pair quickly bolted across the street in the direction of the old lady.
    'Here', bellowed Mckenzie at the woman, 'let me get that for you'. He grabbed hold of the paper bag, just seconds before the contents would have emptied out onto the sidewalk. He cradled her groceries in his arms like a young child, almost hugging them, and looked at Clara. Clara turned to face the old woman, holding eye contact with her for a couple of silent seconds. 'Where to?', she asked?
    'Oh bless you both', replied the lady. 'I was sure I'd be able to carry them but they were just too much. Are you sure you wouldn't mind?'
    'Of course not', replied Clara. 'This way?' She pointed up the street in front of the woman. 'Of course it was this way', thought McKenzie.
    'Just a couple of blocks, I promise it's not far', insisted the lady. 'Bless you both.'

    The trio walked, Clara and Mckenzie being sure to keep the lady engrossed in conversation the entire time. They talked about how they weren't from around here, that they were in town on their honeymoon and had gotten married in Chicago the weekend before. They told her that they'd always wanted to see New York, and that he had family who lived out here so it just made perfect sense for them to visit before his career took off and she would focus on raising their family. It was all nonsense of course, but they needed a good cover story, something that painted them as the sweet and thoughtful couple long enough for Clara to be able to slip her hand inside the woman's bag and remove the $87 she had in her purse, which she did with startling efficiency. When they arrived at her building, even walking up to her apartment and dropping the groceries off on her kitchen counter for her, the old lady couldn't have been more grateful.
    'Bless you both', she beamed, reaching into her bag and removing her purse. 'Here, I feel as though I ought to give you...'
    Clara reached out and gently gripped the purse, still in the lady's hand, clasping it shut again.
    'Please', Clara pleaded. 'We couldn't possibly. Besides, you remind me so much of my Grandmother.' She stared into the old lady's eyes for a moment, pausing, thinking, before trying another approach. 'I'd be insulted if you offered me money.'
    'Oh', said the old lady in a defeated tone. She stared a moment longer into Clara's eyes, before looking back down at her purse, removing it from Clara's hand, and placing it gently back into her bag. 'Then at least take some of these', she said as she reached into one of the grocery bags and pulled out a box of Dunkin' Donuts, handing them to Clara. 'I don't know why I buy the damn things, I never eat them all.'
    Clara took the box as Mckenzie let out a quiet chuckle, Clara fully aware of the irony. Still, anything to keep the old woman out of her purse long enough for them to leave, something they needed to do quickly before she got much of a better look at them and realised they'd just robbed her.
    'Thank you', Clara responded. 'We'll let ourselves out.' And with that, the pair left, hearing the old lady close her apartment door behind them. They exited onto the street, and moved quickly in the direction they'd just arrived, back toward Neptune Avenue.

    The next few hours seemed to drag. Clara had long felt that her luck generally came in waves, rather than random pockets of good fortune here and there. If she had a decent score in the morning, that luck would usually carry her through to lunchtime and the afternoon, and on a good day it wasn't unheard of for her to pocket anything up to $1000. Then there were the days where, try as she might, nothing seemed to come together, and she would leave at the end of the day with the same amount that she started with; zero. Clara called it luck, but she suspected there may have been an element of confidence in there too. A decent pocket in the morning got the adrenaline going and made her more alert for the rest of the day. It had been the same ever since she was a kid, always