greatly.
“You are now entering the planning phase of a job at the Armstrad Hotel.”
There was a collective gasp in the room. The Armstrad was known as the fanciest, most expensive, most lavish hotel in all of Boston. It had been in operation for more than a hundred and fifty years. It was also known as the hotel with the best security in town. For this reason—as explained many times by Mrs. D. herself—the boys had never attempted a job at the Armstrad. Just the mention of its name made some of them fear the assignment before they even heard it.
Taddler swelled with pride as he received the cell phone. But there was something else going on inside him as well: curiosity. This wasn’t the Mrs. D. the boys had come to love and fear. She never passed out such rewards—some money here and there, yes, but never anything that could be pawned; poverty, it seemed, was one of the ways she kept the boys beholden to her. Even her tone of voice was different. The hard edge was gone. She was almost motherly to them. Taddler didn’t know what to make of it, but he suspected it was intentional. She was sending them a signal that this job was different. Very different.
“Now listen up,” she said, as if the boys were not already hanging on her every word. “I have secured an incredible opportunity for two of you. Only two.” She looked right at Taddler, then Johnny. “The two boys who please me most on the Armstrad job will be given a real chance at something big.”
She surveyed the group, one young face at a time. “You boys mean the world to me. And yet you must understand I would never hesitate to expel you for bad behavior. I’ve done so many times. But now I’m offering you a way to get out of here . Do not take this lightly. I will select my two choices at the end of the Armstrad project. I expect you all to keep that in mind as you go forward with your assignments. We will start with general surveillance. This will be coordinated by Taddler. Johnny will plan the entrance and exit strategy. As you are all aware, the Armstrad represents a formidable challenge. Made more so by the fact that now, following the Haymarket incident, hotel security across the city has intensified even more, and there is a high alert for boys your age. You must be vigilant, extra careful in your surveillance. Whatever you do, be extremely cautious about how you return to the Corinthians, in case you’re being followed. Johnny, I expect you to make a different route for each boy, one that provides opportunity to check for tails. We can’t be too careful, gentlemen. Your futures are literally at stake.”
Brian Taddler heard mention of his future and hardly knew what to do. It caught in his throat like a fish bone. If he’d ever considered his future—and he couldn’t remember having done so—it had only been to fear it: prison, a gang, drugs, the street. What Mrs. D. was talking about was none of that, but something different altogether. He rolled the word around in his mouth like a piece of candy. The future. It tasted sweet.
It began as what should have been a simple ga-ga tryout. Steel had progressed under Hinchman’s coaching. He’d studied both solo play and team strategy, where the five players on either side attempted to avoid striking each other with the ball while also defending each other from the opponents’ attacks. As a game of elimination, one by one, a team member was eventually struck with the ball and forced to leave the game. The idea was to strike first and strike fast, quickly turning the numbers to your team’s advantage. If you could get up five–three or four–two, the odds put the win in your favor. For this reason, teams worked on passing and defensive drills that required lightning-quick reflexes and split-second timing. With proper movement within the octagon, and passing between players, a team could surround an opponent and strike on the back of the legs, a difficult, if not impossible area to
“You are now entering the planning phase of a job at the Armstrad Hotel.”
There was a collective gasp in the room. The Armstrad was known as the fanciest, most expensive, most lavish hotel in all of Boston. It had been in operation for more than a hundred and fifty years. It was also known as the hotel with the best security in town. For this reason—as explained many times by Mrs. D. herself—the boys had never attempted a job at the Armstrad. Just the mention of its name made some of them fear the assignment before they even heard it.
Taddler swelled with pride as he received the cell phone. But there was something else going on inside him as well: curiosity. This wasn’t the Mrs. D. the boys had come to love and fear. She never passed out such rewards—some money here and there, yes, but never anything that could be pawned; poverty, it seemed, was one of the ways she kept the boys beholden to her. Even her tone of voice was different. The hard edge was gone. She was almost motherly to them. Taddler didn’t know what to make of it, but he suspected it was intentional. She was sending them a signal that this job was different. Very different.
“Now listen up,” she said, as if the boys were not already hanging on her every word. “I have secured an incredible opportunity for two of you. Only two.” She looked right at Taddler, then Johnny. “The two boys who please me most on the Armstrad job will be given a real chance at something big.”
She surveyed the group, one young face at a time. “You boys mean the world to me. And yet you must understand I would never hesitate to expel you for bad behavior. I’ve done so many times. But now I’m offering you a way to get out of here . Do not take this lightly. I will select my two choices at the end of the Armstrad project. I expect you all to keep that in mind as you go forward with your assignments. We will start with general surveillance. This will be coordinated by Taddler. Johnny will plan the entrance and exit strategy. As you are all aware, the Armstrad represents a formidable challenge. Made more so by the fact that now, following the Haymarket incident, hotel security across the city has intensified even more, and there is a high alert for boys your age. You must be vigilant, extra careful in your surveillance. Whatever you do, be extremely cautious about how you return to the Corinthians, in case you’re being followed. Johnny, I expect you to make a different route for each boy, one that provides opportunity to check for tails. We can’t be too careful, gentlemen. Your futures are literally at stake.”
Brian Taddler heard mention of his future and hardly knew what to do. It caught in his throat like a fish bone. If he’d ever considered his future—and he couldn’t remember having done so—it had only been to fear it: prison, a gang, drugs, the street. What Mrs. D. was talking about was none of that, but something different altogether. He rolled the word around in his mouth like a piece of candy. The future. It tasted sweet.
It began as what should have been a simple ga-ga tryout. Steel had progressed under Hinchman’s coaching. He’d studied both solo play and team strategy, where the five players on either side attempted to avoid striking each other with the ball while also defending each other from the opponents’ attacks. As a game of elimination, one by one, a team member was eventually struck with the ball and forced to leave the game. The idea was to strike first and strike fast, quickly turning the numbers to your team’s advantage. If you could get up five–three or four–two, the odds put the win in your favor. For this reason, teams worked on passing and defensive drills that required lightning-quick reflexes and split-second timing. With proper movement within the octagon, and passing between players, a team could surround an opponent and strike on the back of the legs, a difficult, if not impossible area to
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