Show Me What You've Got

What did Sherry plan to do with that wallet? She had taken it with such precision that the guy in the alley didn't even seem to notice yet either. He was too busy writhing in pain. Even after he got up, he didn't seem to realize it was gone.

So she had pickpocketing skills. That wasn't something kids her age usually knew how to do. Who had taught that to her? One of her parents?

Scott made sure the creep went in the opposite direction before following Sherry to see what she did next. She ended up going to a local pizza joint he knew was delicious from personal experience and walked out carrying a large pizza, a bag of breadsticks, and a two-liter bottle of soda.

He also noticed she was limping. That kick must have hurt her but she acted like it didn't faze her at all at first. Maybe it was the adrenaline. That was known for delaying responses to pain.

Should he see if she was alright or not? He didn't know how he would confront her about the wallet stealing and, while he tried to make up his mind, she disappeared into the crowd. Great. Who knew when he would see her again without specifically seeking her out at the arcade?

That would be super creepy. Showing up somewhere he knew she would be and confronting her about stealing from a pedophile.

Scott couldn't do that. He wanted to say something to her but didn't know what, even when he got the chance seeing her struggle with a bunch of grocery bags about a week later.

He was beginning to think something was going on with her at home more than he already had. If she knew how to pick pockets and was in charge of the groceries…was she living on her own?

She was wary of him approaching her but ultimately let him help when he promised not to go all the way to her apartment building. That sort of caution was deeply engrained. But by who? The granny she mentioned? She said nothing about either of her parents.

Scott couldn't deny he was worried about her. She was way too young to be involved in a life of crime, even if the crime was as simple as stealing a wallet from someone who deserved it from her perspective.

Sherry deserved better than what he had. There had to be something he could do to help her…but what?

Richie was right. He was a softy. He had more than enough of his own problems to deal with so why was he getting himself involved in someone else's?

He supposed it was a distraction because there was nothing he could do about his problems right now. He was no closer to catching those vigilante women than he had been before.

The only thing he could do was try to figure out what was going on with Sherry and potentially steering her straight before she made a mistake that would ruin her future. He wasn't going to confront her about it just yet. He was going to win her trust first.

The best way to do that was to hang around her more often. He was going to have to go back to the arcade and pretend it was a coincidence they ran into each other.

Which was exactly what he did. Rather than seeking her out, he was going to lure her to him. The best way he could think of to do that was by trying to teach her how to win another game.

Scott ended up playing a lot of Galaga over the next few days before he finally hooked her. She came up behind him and demanded, "How are you so good at this too?!"

"I'm good at a lot of games. How far have you gotten?"

"Not nearly as far as on Ms. Pac-Man. Let me guess…you've beaten this one too."

"Yep. It starts over back at zero after you beat the last level so you can technically play indefinitely," Scott told her.

Sherry's eyes widened. "That's crazy!"

"Yeah, I ended up dying on purpose after that because I didn't want to play anymore."

"Can't really blame you at that point. You must have been playing for hours. How far are you right now?"

"Level 137. There are 255 total. Want to watch? I can give you some pointers," Scott offered, desperately hoping she would take the bait.

She agreed easily enough and her eyes were transfixed on the game. Just as he hoped, he got her! Now all he had to do was keep her attention long enough for her to trust him so he could figure out what was going on and potentially find a way to help keep her from ending up like him.

Sherry kept watching him until he beat the game and she looked at him with something akin to awe once he did and it started over from zero. "Ooh, let me try! Can you help me like you did with Ms. Pac-Man?"

That was exactly what he had wanted. "Sure. Show me what you've got."

She really wasn't as good as she was at Ms. Pac-Man on this one. She died on level 51 even with his help. This was going to take a while but that was a good thing.

If Sherry wanted his help on Galaga, it would probably take longer than it had before. Time was what he needed in order to build trust. He really didn't have anything more pressing to do so he didn't mind coming to the arcade every day for a while if it meant keeping a kid from ending up in jail.