The Thiefmaker

Tonight, one hundred words on: falsehoods we maintain for the benefit of someone close to us.

She wouldn't tell them; she knew that now. It was best to just do it, and face the consequences if she was still around to do so when the time came. She had a job to do, they didn't need to know the specifics. One of them would just try and talk her out of it -- or, heaven forbid, try to help her. Dodger, especially.

It wasn't that she cared, and it was never going to be because she cared about them. It was to make sure the job was done right. That's what she'd keep telling herself, anyway.

"Have you heard the expression 'two sides of the same coin'?
Tell us about two sides to a current issue in your life."

There's a job that needs doing -- a big job. The kind of job that only comes along once in a blue moon, that'll bring in money to last for months. It'll give my reputation a much needed boost within the confines of the Underground, too, and it certainly has taken a beating lately . . . My, ahem, client promises me that provided I acquire that which he has requested from me I can take my pick of whatever else I find lying aroud, which is always a nice bonus.

This job is dangerous as hell, though. It'd work better with a group, and I know Dodge is eager to play his part in this -- as he always is, he's the kind of boy who would ask "how high?" if I were to tell him to jump. Irritatingly, the small amount of conscience that I have has a problem with me involving him and the rest of my boys in this. I've taught them well, but I'm just not sure I'm willing to risk a job of this magnitude on one of them messing up . . . Or risk one of them, not that I'd ever bloody tell them that. They'd accuse me of going soft and I'd never hear the end of it.

If I go it alone I run the somewhat unlikely risk of getting myself into a situation I can't handle, because nothing is ever certain. If I involve the boys, I run the risk of one of them ruining it, or one of them getting hurt. And what good is an injured pickpocket to my enterprise? Sometimes I wish I didn't care. That I was as heartless as everyone seems to think I am these days. But, alas, I am not. I'll work it out eventually. I just hope I make the right decision in the end.