Dance with Me

It was an accident,
Kasey thought. But was it really? The girl wouldn’t
have gotten cut if Kasey hadn’t been lunging at her with the scissors. Kasey
hadn’t meant to cut her, but she couldn’t exactly claim to be innocent.
Kasey beat the other guys back to the warehouse. She grabbed a
flashlight and sat down on her sleeping bag to see what she’d scored. She
opened the pink purse and dumped out its contents: a driver’s license, a
lipstick, and a single twenty-dollar bill which, according to Thieves’ Den
rules, would have to be split three ways.
Kasey put the items back into the purse and sighed. It hadn’t been worth
the effort or the bloodshed. She settled down in her sleeping bag, but it was
a long time until she fell asleep.
The next day, Kasey and Jack and AJ walked downtown, casing possible
places for a job. They walked past the park where Kasey had seen Ballora.
Kasey glanced into a grove of trees and saw the leaves rise and swirl just
like they had around the dancing doll. She put on her glasses, and there
Ballora was, closer than before. She was getting closer every day. If Kasey
could just get the guys to see the doll, she would feel a lot better. Kasey
took off the glasses and hurried to catch up to Jack and AJ.
“Wait, you guys,” Kasey said. She held out the glasses. “Put these on and
look over there, right in the middle of those trees.”
“Again?” AJ said. “Not me. I love you like a sister, Kasey, but I’m done
with this weirdness.”
Jack rolled his eyes but said, “All right. Give ’em here.” He put them on
and looked where Kasey was pointing. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Kasey’s heart sank.
“Zilch. Zip. Nada,” Jack said. “The way I see it, there are two solutions
to this problem. One is locking you up in a soft room, and other is … this.”

---

He dropped the glasses in a nearby trash can. “There. Problem solved.
Okay?”
Kasey felt a wave of relief wash over her. Jack was right. No glasses, no
problem. “Okay.” She even felt herself smiling a little. “Thanks, Jack.”
“You’re welcome,” Jack said. “Now you need to pull it together. The
Thieves’ Den needs your quick wits and nimble fingers. No more freaking
out over weird stuff.”
Kasey nodded. She couldn’t believe she’d let herself fall apart because
of a cheap toy. “Quick wits and nimble fingers. You’ve got ’em,” Kasey
said, waggling her fingers. “Why don’t we take the bus to the All-Mart and
see if we can get that lady’s credit card to work?”
“Excellent idea,” Jack said. “See? You’re better already.”
The guys headed on toward the bus stop, but Kasey hesitated. The
glasses were what made her see Ballora. Being rid of them, she wouldn’t
see Ballora. But that didn’t mean Ballora wouldn’t be there. She could still
be following Kasey—getting closer to her every day—but Kasey would
have no way of knowing where she was. The thought of an invisible Ballora
was scarier than the thought of a visible one. Kasey reached into the trash
can, retrieved the glasses, and put them back in her pocket before she ran to
the bus stop.
At the big box store, Kasey picked out a new pair of boots—heavy,
comfortable, and practical. They all grabbed packages of socks and
underwear and T-shirts. Buying too much stuff would arouse suspicion, so
they tried to limit themselves to the things they needed the most.
As always, Kasey was the one to make the purchase because of her
honest face. Her face didn’t matter much, though, because the cashier rang
up the items without looking at her, then asked robotically, “Debit, credit, or
cash?”
“Credit,” Kasey said, holding out the stolen card.
The woman scanned the card in the machine, frowned, then tried it
again. “I’m sorry, ma’am. This card has been declined. Do you have another
card you’d like to use today?”
“No thank you.” Kasey grabbed the useless card, abandoned her
attempted purchases, and walked quickly to the front door where Jack and
AJ were waiting. “Declined,” she said.
“Well, that sucks,” Jack said as they walked out the door.

---

AJ shook his head. “The lady must’ve reported it stolen. Too bad. I was
kind of looking forward to my new socks and undies.”
“Only one thing to do,” Kasey said. She took out her big scissors, cut the
card into tiny pieces, and scattered the confetti into the nearest trash can.
On the way back to the warehouse, they passed the park. Kasey heard
the rustling of leaves and glanced over to see them swirling, but that didn’t
mean Ballora was there, she told herself. She clenched her hands into fists
to stop herself from getting the glasses out of her pocket. The swirling
leaves meant only that it was a windy fall day. That was all.
Tonight’s job had to make up for their run of bad luck. They sat huddled in
the warehouse, eating canned ravioli with their hands and trying to figure
out their next move.
“We could try the pizza place again,” Jack said. “People do take cash to
those places.”
“No.” Kasey’s response was automatic and forceful.
“Why not?” Jack said. “Afraid you might end up with some scary
possessed toy?”
“It’s not that,” Kasey said. She probably deserved the mockery. She had
let the thing with the glasses get out of control. “I just don’t like to get kids
involved, okay?”
“We’ve not done the train station in a while,” AJ said. “It’s real easy to
mix in with the crowd there and pick some pockets. It might be a good way
to get your confidence back, Kasey.”
“Yeah, let’s do that,” Kasey said. That was what she needed. An easy
job.
They didn’t even have to go inside the station, just wait until rush hour
when a bunch of people came spilling out of the station’s exit, then slip into
the crowd unseen. Kasey eased her way into the mass of people, scoping for
prosperous-looking businessmen with wallet-shaped bulges in their back
pockets. She had just found one and was reaching for it when someone
grabbed her arm. She startled, then saw it was Jack. He mouthed the words