Running for Money

Running For Money

As Fay trudged down the alley, passing a rusted water pipe, she saw a small pile of orange poker

chips. She stood there staring at the chips, calculating how much they were worth. There were

six orange chips, which were worth a thousand each. She knew this because her mother gambled

away their savings. An excited grin spread across her face. Finding these chips could change her

life! She was tired of working at the crappy burlesque lounge as a waitress. All the dancers made

quick money there; even the women at the Red Light District made just as much. She couldn't

bring herself to dance or even set foot in the District as a worker. She looked around; the alley

was dimly lit and quiet, nothing but the hiss of pipes expelling steam. Fay decided to change her

finances for the better. She bent down, picked up the chips, and tossed them in her knapsack; as

she closed the knapsack, one of the doors in the alley burst open.

A man came flying out with a look of panic and fear. He was wearing green corduroy pants, a

plaid shirt, and a newsboy cap. From the satchel that he was carrying, a steady flow of chips and

money was falling out. He was holding his arm, screaming, "He took my hand! Run! He's

coming!" Without even thinking, she ran beside him. She looked back to see a few angry, short

men waiving Kitana blades at them. When she turned around, she ran right into a jogger. Their

heads collided on impact, and they both fell, screaming and rubbing their heads; "Oww, didn't

you see me?!" Fay asked. "I could ask you the same thing!" the jogger replied. "Who runs down

an alley at night anyway!?" Fay asked. "I wasn't running down the alley! I was running past it,

and you rammed into me!" the jogger answered. The man interjected, "Ladies, please, we must

keep moving and find a place to hide."

"Hide!? I'm not hiding from anyone! I didn't do anything!" the jogger yelled out. "Yeah, well,

those angry men chased me too, and I wasn't even with him," Fay replied.

The man looked nervously and pointed behind him. The jogger's eyes grew wide with fear. She

leaped to her feet, "Follow me! I passed a ferry about to leave half a mile back!" They followed

the jogger's lead. They felt like fools, trying to keep up with the jogger. Fay was wheezing as her

lungs started to burn. The man was trailing behind her, and she could hear chips falling, hitting

the cobblestone road. As they neared the ferry, they all could hear the ferry's horn for the last call

for boarding in the distance. The jogger jumped on first, then turned around and shouted, "Let's

go! Hurry!" She was holding out her hand to Fay. Fay lunged forward and grabbed onto it, and

the jogger pulled her onto the ferry in one swift move. They both turned to help the man onto the

ferry, but shock covered their faces. There was a trail of orange poker chips and blood droplets

leading to the ferry.

After they helped him up, the ferry pulled off. The jogger started interrogating him. "Do you see

what you've done!? You've left a trail straight to us! Get rid of this stupid satchel!" The jogger

tried to take it off from around his shoulder, but he blocked her hands and hurried to the rail.

"No! Do you know how much these chips are worth!?" He yelled. The jogger stood there with

her hands on her hips, eyeing the man. She looked over to Fay and asked, "Aren't you going to

say anything!? Two angry men carrying Kitana blades are probably waiting for us at the other port already!" she screamed. Fay looked at the jogger and shook her head. She dug into her

knapsack and pulled out one orange poker chip, and held it up.

"You see this? One of these is worth one thousand each! I found six, and lefty over there

managed to get a whole satchel full. All we have to do is dodge the Kitana blade-wielding

maniacs we saw back there, head to a casino and cash them in." Fay replied. "My name is not

lefty; it's Mosi.", the man chimed in between the women while shaking and leaning on the rail,

holding his handless arm. Fay looked at Mosi, then looked to the jogger and said, "Hey, give me

your sports jacket so I can wrap it around his arm."

"My name is not hey, it's Jina with a J," she answered, taking off her sports jacket and handing it

to Fay. "Thanks," she replied, taking the jacket. She walked over to Mosi and wrapped it around

his arm, applying pressure. Fay leaned back on the rail and looked at Jina. "We need to get lefty

here to the hospital," Fay said as Mosi shot her a stern look. "How are we supposed to do that?

We're about a few minutes away from approaching the dock!" Jina shouted with panic in her

voice. "Nobody saw our faces. They only saw lefty over here running with two people. It was too

dark for anyone to make us out. Now disguising him will be the real problem." Fay answered,

shaking her head at Mosi.