Page 8 of Believe
“There are some good ones,” said Trak looking at the stacks of binders filled with baseball, football, basketball, and hockey cards. There were others that had cards from popular games and movies.
“I’m sorry, son. I can’t give you that much money for those.” The man at the booth was looking at a young boy, giving him news he didn’t want to hear.
“Please, mister. I need at least six-hundred for them.”
“Kid, I’m sorry but I need to make a profit. I can’t give more than four-hundred for them.” Angel looked over the boy’s shoulder at the cards and back up at the man.
“At least five of those cards are worth more than a hundred a piece,” said Angel. “You’re screwing the kid over.”
“Hey, get lost!” said the vendor. “I don’t need your help.”
“You don’t but the kid obviously does. Either you’re trying to cheat him or you don’t really know the value of these cards at all. I’ll buy them from you,” said Angel.
“You will?” he said excitedly. “Will you give me six-hundred?”
“No,” said Angel. “I’ll give you a thousand.”
“A thousand!”
“Yes,” laughed Miller. “They’re worth that. I’m going to look at the rest so we can be sure we’re giving you a fair price.”
“Hey, if you’re not a vendor you need to leave,” said the man.
“Hey, if you offered a fair price I wouldn’t be here,” said Trak. “Now back off or I’ll report you to the operators.”
The man said nothing, walking back to his booth, realizing that he wouldn’t be able to overpower these men.
“These are worth more than a thousand,” said Angel. “I’ll give you fifteen-hundred.”
“Oh, man,” said the boy crying. “Thank you, mister. Thank you!”
“Why are you selling them? Don’t you like sports any longer or are you not into them anymore?” asked Gabriel.
“No, sir. I love them but my mom needs new appliances. All of them. Nothing is working in the house. The oven and the refrigerator went out yesterday. The washer and dryer haven’t worked in almost a year. The microwave barely works. She works hard but she can’t afford that stuff.”
“Damn,” muttered Miller.
“That’s a very admirable thing you’re doing, son,” said Gabriel.
“She’s my mom. I’d do anything for her. Will this much money buy all that?” he asked. “Mr. Garfield at the appliance place down the street said he’d work with me and deliver whatever I could afford.”
“Let’s walk down there with you,” said Miller. “We know Mr. Garfield and we’ll see what we can do.”
The four men and the little boy walked the three blocks to the appliance store together, as he chattered incessantly the entire way there. As they stepped inside, Mr. Garfield waved.
“Andy! You’re back with some old friends of mine,” he smiled.
“Yes, sir. They bought my cards from me. I hope it’s enough.” Miller gave the older man a look that told him what he needed to know.
“I’m going to bet it’s more than enough,” said the man. “Come on over here. How much do you have?”
“Fifteen hundred dollars!” he said excitedly.
“Well, that is a good bit of money, isn’t it? You know, we can upgrade those appliances for your mom. I have this washer and dryer, this refrigerator, this microwave and this oven and I think we have enough for a dishwasher.”
“Really? Mom’s never had a dishwasher. That would be amazing for her. I want to surprise her.”
“Well, we could deliver this tomorrow morning while your mom is at morning mass. We’ll have it all installed before she comes home. How does that sound?”