Starring:
Date: September 21st, 2009
Summary:
Central Park is the setting of a scam going on while old acquaintances reunite. It's a small world, even more so in New York.
"Re-meet and Greet"
Uptown, NYC - Central Park
Kevin has a TV table set up next to one of the paths, and he is very enthusedly saying, with a big charming smile, "Don't crowd me, don't crowd me, don't push on the box, you can't turn the card until the money's on the table. Show the money, show the money, you got no money man, get outta here, lose on the twos, win on the queen, understand the game? Lose on the twos, lose on the twos. I got a wife and sixteen kids, more every day, you know? Turn the card, sir. Ten, there you go. Leave the money on the table. Step back, step back. How much was that, twenty? You bet the twos, you gonna lose." Three card monte with an eye out for the cops. Just a happy afternoon in Central Park.
Monte is for suckers. You don't live in Vegas as long as Quinn did and not know that. She's on the other side of the path, a brow raised and a hint of a smirk showing as she watches the co..mm.. entrepreneur makes his pitch. She has an apple she juggles idly between both hands as she leans against a tree.
Not….quite a cop, anymore. But Fel still has John Law more or less stamped on his forehead, in those invisible letters that are yet obvious to either his fellow pigs or the mopes they prey upon. Fel's jogging along a path, in sweats and a t-shirt, not at any great pace. More for relaxation than anything else, to enjoy the fall afternoon - he's not even flushed with exertion. He slows when he spots Kevin, expression turning a little predatory, despite the slow grin that appears.
Peter had just left her office. Then she decided to take the rest of the day off. Now just strolling through the park. Strappy heels clicking on the ground. The businesswoman wears a short black shirt and a white blouse. A shoulder purse dangles near her thigh.
"No, Liu Mi. I said I will be in Hong Kong by Thursday." Kitty nods her head and taps the end of her sunglasses. "Ok, see you then. And please.. do not kill each other before I get there."
Click.
Walking down the path Hunter wasn't even able to escape the bustle of the city here. Stands set up at different points with people out to win some easy cash, Hunter would have fallen for it if he actually knew how to play one of the games. Giving up on his search for seclusion the teenager took a seat beside the man juggling an apple. He didn't even really notice the man as he was too caught up in his own thoughts.
The good news is, George has a new gig. The bad news is, now he has to actually do it, and the hours are worse than ever. He'll be fine once he gets the hang of delegating, but for now, he's only out in the park because one of his bolder staffers politely kicked him out. "Mind if I give that a try?" he asks of Kevin, giving the table a once-over. "Think I need to buy the girlfriend some more flowers this month."
Walking leisurely along the path on this fine New York day, Sierra LeBlanc is out of the office herself. The Queens Gazette has been working her overtime the last couple weeks and she hasn't had much time for a break. So without further adieu, she told her boss that she was taking most of the day off for personal time.
Kevin's shills move aside a little and let George in. Another shill moves in behind him and starts quietly coaching him, see, this Black Irish asshole won't let me bet because I have his number, lay this bet for me, I'll tell you right where the card is. Kevin is distracted by Kitty going by, he grins at her with the rough charm of someone who is seriously considering wolf-whistling. All the while the shill offers George money to bet for him. "No no, none of your own, I want it to just be me kicking this dirty punk in the ass. Watch how it works, I'll show ya, this guy is terrible." hisses the man conspiratorially while Kevin is 'distracted'.
Quinn glances over at the new arrivals. She shakes her head, tilting her head as she tries to figure who's roping in whom, in this game. Looks like something interesting to 'wait and see'.
Maybe it's sheer laziness. Maybe it's that Kevin is clearly a local problem and he's federal. But Fel does not swoop in to bust up the show and chase Kevin off. Rather, he settles close by on a bench to watch, coincidentally right at the other end of Hunter's. His expression is drily amused.
"That voice.." Kitty says as she turns around, cell phone put into her purse. "George?" she asks with a tilt of her head. Sunglasses are pushed up on top of her head to reveal doe brown eyes. A light smile crosses her lips and she puts a hand on her hip.
"Or should I say Congressman?" she raises an eyebrow and walks closer to give George a hug. "Been a while."
For some reason Hunter began to get quite interested in the card game's outcome even though he had no idea what the rules were for it. He'd watch the two men at the stand having no idea what was going on. Feeling annoyed by this the boy would sit back and let out a frustrated sign. That is when he'd notice the man sitting on the other end of the bench. "Hey." The boy greeted with a wave before looking back off to the stand. He wasn't the most social person and felt stupid for even acknowledging the man. 'That guy has to think I'm an idiot.' Hunter thought as he got a bit anxious.
George glances over, taking a moment to spot Kitty amidst the crowd of onlookers. "Oh, hey," he replies, returning the hug briefly - especially after he spots someone else heading the same way. It may be Central Park but it feels more like Grand Central on days like this. "Hey, who am I to say no, huh?" he adds, taking the shill's money and immediately slapping it down on the table without looking.
Sierra whistles lightly as she begins to spot the man with the table set up. "Oh, a game. How merveilleux. Un jeu de carte at that!!" Isn't it just wonderful, a person who slips between two different languages without knowing it? It's only when she sees George, however, that her eyes light up with happiness. "George, mon amour. Comment allez-vous?" She gives Kitty a bow of her head and a soft smile. "Bonjour!" Though there's a glint of recognition. She recognizes her, certainly.
Kevin says, "Hey, is this piece your girlfriend? No wonder you want to get her some flowers. Stand back now sugar, let the man work." He completely missed the 'Congressman' thing. "Come on, let's see your money. So simple a kid could do it, just put your money on the queen, watch the queen, watch the lady." He's kinda bad at throwing the cards around and it seems obvious where the queen is, the shill guides George's money to the right place, and hoorah, he wins. Kevin is annoyed at the development, apparently. "You can't put down money for someone else, it's against the rules, isn't it? And I already told you Darrell I ain't taking your bets so piss off." Darrell sneers at Kevin and flips him off, coaching George even more. "It's on the right, bet on the one on the right. What have you got, do you have twenty? Put it on the right." Someone else in the crowd says, "Are you really a Congressman?" without exactly looking at George in the face. Kevin is grinning charmingly at Kitty like that would be enough to get her to dump George on the spot, and still apparently paying no attention.
Quinn shakes her head at the card sharp. Hearing 'Congressman', she takes a quick glance around. Well, if the guy wants to continue his shtick with this crowd, more power to him. With just a hint of a chuckle, she takes a bite of her apple, pushing herself off of the tree she was leaning against, heading back to the club. There's practices awaiting.
"Come up in the world," Felix notes to George, absently. It's been a year since he's seen the man, more, but his voice has the familiarity of old acquaintance, assumed if not factual. He nods politely to Hunter, eyes flicking over him in absent-minded assessment. Not that he seems much of a threat.
Kit looks at George strangely, "Ok.. not the reaction I was expecting.." she says softly and looks down at her phone. The young woman puts her cell phone into her purse and looks around the area and spots another familiar face. This one.. "Wow." She says as she spots Felix. The man is given a nod and she smiles faintly. Reunion day!
When she sees Sierra and the woman speaks to her, "Bonjour, Votre nom est Sierra, non?" she says, French being a language she does understand. A smile is given to the woman and she looks at George and Sierra. "Mon amour? You two?" she flicks her finger between the two with a raised eyebrow.
Then the twenty-two year old looks at Kevin with a equally charming smile. "Aw, aren't you sweet." The smile doesn't reach her eyes though. "Got a name?"
Congressman? The guy playing was a congressman? Hunter's heart would race with shock; he wasn't used to seeing public figures out and about on the streets where he came from. Standing up now the teenage would pull on his oversized blue shirt before making sure his blue jeans didn't have anything on them. You wouldn't believe how much gum people leave on benches. Walking over to sit down in front a tree closer to the stand so he could get a better look Hunter would notice Kitty for what felt like the first time. She was stunning. The teenager would proceed to look her over in a very less than secretive manner before moving his eyes back to the game at hand.
George inclines his head toward Felix. "I could say the same, I'm sure." Similarly distant, on the assumption that the man might still be on duty. Besides, he's got someone else to react to. "Sierra, hey!" Time is taken out for a quick kiss - well, that's that question of Kitty's answered - then he takes out his wallet and fishes through it. He's no dummy, but if Kevin wants to think otherwise, more power to him; he takes out a crisply folded Benjamin, setting it down on the right just like he was told to.
Meanwhile, several blocks away, a man in a black turtleneck is still handing out ads for a new nightclub with half a picture of a $100 bill printed on the side. The cops will eventually shut them down for creating a wave of petty crime, but by then, their 15 minutes will be up anyway.
Sierra grins at Kitty, nodding. "Oui, je suis Sierra." She says brightly. "And you are…Kitty? Oui?" She gives George a little smooch before looking back at the game. "Interesting. How does this game work, exactly. Il semble intrigant."
Kevin says, "Everyone's got a name, I…" Another guy slams two Benjamins down on the middle card. "I can't lay off two bets, come on now, don't crowd me, don't crowd me, one at a time, one at a time." Kevin says, pushing back George's money with a flick of his fingers and…ta da! Turning over the cards, it's revealed George would have won. Kevin pockets the larger bet from the other fellow. "That guy's in it with this little jerkass." George's new best friend accuses quietly. "You have to bet big so that he can't outbet you on a wrong card…" he begins to explain.
But finally someone has a Blackberry out and is looking at a Wikipedia page and saying: "He is a Congressman." "Fold!" yells someone who didn't even seem to be part of the game. Just like that, the cards and the money are gone, and so is much of the crowd, so that by the time passersby look around to see who yelled 'fold', it's just Kevin is folding up the TV tray like it was perfectly natural, though he looks disappointed. "You lugs are afraid of a few TV cameras?!" he calls to nobody in particular. "No such thing as bad publicity?! Goddamn geeks!" But street monte is a two man con minimum and Kevin is now all alone. "Sorry, Mr. Congressman sir. You'll have to take all my money on April 15 like usual." he quips.
And from the man in the sweats and sneakers, there's a mocking golf-clap. Fel's grinning like this is the end of a very good play. And then Kitty greets him, and he looks over in surprise. "It's been a long time. I fear…..I don't remember your name," he says, apologetically.
"Yes the name is Kitty." She says with a grin towards Sierra. George is given an particular look and then Kitty's attention moves on. "Witty response." She says to Kevin and looks away back towards Fel.
"Kitty. Kitty Hanner." She says and grins, "Last time I saw you.. you were with Misha. In this park." Kitty remembers that day because that's the day she had her vision from the very dark future.
As all the commotion happens around Kevin and the game. Kitty shakes her head and walks over closer to Fel. "How you been?"
Not again, yup it was the headaches. Hunter quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of Tylenol. Opening it up he sighed as there were just two pills left. Taking one and gulping it down without the help of water the teenager would proceed to rub his temples. Hopefully he had caught the headache just in time to prevent it. Then hearing someone yell fold Hunter turned to see who it was before turning back to see the table folded up. Wow that was quick. Knowing nothing good would come of being forced into a crowd of people thanks to the commotion Hunter stood up and before heading back over toward the bench. More or less looking like a lost puppy with nowhere to go the teenager would take a seat on the bench once again but not before giving another nod to Felix.
George smiles faintly at Kevin. "Actually, we're working to lower the top bracket to ninety-five percent. But I would like my hundred dollars back." He's not seriously pushing it that far, is he? "Or— tell you what, I've been running up a tab with the hot dog vendor over there, give it to him and we'll call it even." With that, he heads back over toward Sierra to see how she and Kitty are doing with intros.
Sierra wraps an arm around George. "This park…it seems to bring people together, non? It's un endroit mystique." She says happily. "A paradise in the middle of a city. Marvellous and magical. More major metropolitan areas should do something similar. It would add to the appear of other such cities. Like Toronto or Montreal, in Canada. Or Los Angeles or Washington, DC." She comments lightly.
Kevin says, "Oh, uh, sure." He had kinda flicked it back and assumed George's hands were as quick as his, and seems genuinely surprised to find the hundred bucks in his pocket. "Kevin Reilly." he says to Kitty now that the chance that he might be arrested if he mentioned it has disappeared with his chance of making a big score this afternoon, and to Sierra, "Why don't you come down to my bar and I'll show ya sometime? I got a job tending at this place called Rudy's." he says, like it's a major accomplishment which all associated should be suitably impressed with.
"Beautifully," Fel says, with a grin. "Married life agrees with me, my daughter is healthy and doing well, work at the Bureau goes well enough. I may never make Director, but we bring in enough cases." Down in thebasement in Organized Crime. What a glamourous job.
"Glad to hear it." Kitty says with a smile at the law man. With a shake of her hair, "I've only seen your daughter in a photo. She is very beautiful." She comments and looks back at Kevin. "Nice to meet you Kevin, name's Kitty." She says before looking back at Felix.
"Any interesting cases lately?" Being polite in asking of this. Her eyes flick back over to Hunter for a moment.
Realizing that he wouldn't find peace even out in the little bit of nature New York offered, Hunter let out a heavy sigh. He had class in an hour anyhow so he my as well get back home. Standing up once again the boy would head off on his long walk to NYU's campus but not before giving a weak smile to Kitty. Anticipating and fearing the emotional swings he knew he would have to battle on the way there the boy wondered why in the world he decided to come here all along. Hopefully the college education would be worth it. He wanted to beat his anxiety if nothing else came from this experience at least.
George glances down at the bill - yup, same one he handed over - and pockets it without further comment. He's needled the con man enough for one day. "Well, DC's got Rock Creek, but it's not the same, really. Anyway—" Another quick squeeze of the arm round Sierra's waist. "I should go crash for a few hours, I'll call you about dinner, all right?" Either to set it up or to excuse himself from it, depending.
Sierra smiles slightly, landing a light kiss on George's cheek. "I'll talk to you later, amour." She says softly before looking over to the rest of the group.
Kevin says, "Right, so, great ta meet ya all." But the mention of 'The Bureau' has made him ready to scoot, hot chicks or no. "See ya around, I'm sure!" Exit! Stage left!
Gets 'em every time. Felix gives Kevin a little wave, as the scammer bails. Like garlic and vampires.
Kit watches all of this with a light grin on her face. The woman takes her ringing phone out of her purse and looks down at the caller id. Putting her sunglasses on, she smiles at Felix. "I'll catch you later." She says and accepts the call.
"Hello Astrid. Yes I am on my way home right now. Turkey sounds great for dinner, will Dale be joining us?" And off the woman goes, her heels clicking on the path as she walks away.
Sierra looks around. "Well, I suppose…I should continue on my walk." She says quietly. "Well, it was pleasant seeing you, Miss Kitty." She grins. "I hope we run into each other again soon." As their paths diverge.
(END)