Page 55 of Collin: Episodes 4-6
The guy shook his head. “Card seemed fake or stolen, that’s all.”
Collin sighed. “I’d ask you what made you think that, but you’d probably start yelling and not give me any good answers.”
The man sputtered, but Collin turned his back on him and crossed over to Ash. “Which card did you want to use?”
Ash handed over a shiny new piece of plastic with his name printed on it.
“ID?”
Ash thumbed through his ragged wallet, held together with electrical tape, and produced it. Collin squinted at the photo.
“You need a new ID, dude. This picture sucks.”
Ash scowled. “Tell me about it. But the woman at the DMV said I wasn’t eligible until I turned eighteen. I did try.”
“You have your work badge on you?”
“Yeah.” Ash fished it out of the front pocket on his bright yellow and lime-green hoodie.
“All right, show me what you wanted to buy.”
Ash stood up, eyes darting between the man behind the counter and the police officers. He stepped closer to the counter and pointed to a large pile of stuff.
“All right, let’s do this.” Collin placed the card and the IDs down on the counter. He gestured to the cashier. “Ring it up, please.”
The guy looked between the police officers and Collin, clearly hesitating.
Collin raised both eyebrows. “I’m happy to call my boss and get a lawyer down here.”
“You don’t look any older than the kid.”
The police officer who had come to The Residency laughed derisively. “Just ring it up, okay? I know where this guy lives. Believe me, his boss would send down a lawyer.”
“That’s a story I want to hear,” his partner said.
The officer leaned forward and spoke more quietly. The second officer gave Collin an assessing look.
The guy behind the counter began ringing up the products slowly. Collin forced himself to keep his hands in his coat pockets and pretend he had all the time in the world.
The total came up to two thousand, five hundred and six dollars, plus ninety eight cents. Ash’s card ate the expense without a murmur.
“You have to sign for it,” the cashier snarled at Ash.
Collin sighed. He swiped the pen and the receipt off the counter and walked over to Ash, putting the bit of paper down on the top of a display table near him. “Sign.”
Ash left his mark and stuffed his hands back under the hoodie.
“I want to know that he’s not hiding anything in his clothes,” the cashier insisted as Collin returned with the receipt.
“You need a warrant to search people.” Collin smiled at the man and pushed the signed receipt across the counter. “So unless you have him on video putting stuff into his pockets, you’ll drop it.”
“Kids only wear those clothes to steal stuff.” The man shot a desperate look toward the officers.
Collin placed his hand on the counter and leaned in, looking the man straight in the eye. “I’m this close to finding a way to press for emotional damages, Mr.”—Collin made a point of looking down at the man’s name tag—“Kowalska.”
Kowalska narrowed his eyes and drew himself up to his full height, which was still four inches shorter than Collin. “He said himself he’s been arrested before.”
Collin laughed. “Yeah, he’s been arrested before. But not for stealing. And no one ever said he was convicted, did they? Think twice before you stereotype and profile. You’re not the only store like this around town, and believe me, after today, no one from our company will be shopping here.”
