The Millionaires

80

With a mechanical crank, the turnstile somersaulted as Joey rushed through the main entrance of the Magic Kingdom. This late in the day, the lines were shorter than usual, but there were still plenty of tourists to get in the way.

“How’s it look?” Noreen asked through the earpiece.

“Like a haystack,” Joey said as she thrust herself into the center of the slowly meandering crowd. Surrounded by a group of overtalkative high school kids on one side, and crying baby twins on the other, Joey pushed her way through the insanity, ran under the overpass that housed the railroad station, and found herself face-to-face with the sixty-foot Christmas tree and colorful storefronts of Main Street, U.S.A. “Are you sure it’s here?” she asked Noreen.

“I’m looking at their online map right now,” Noreen answered. “It should be directly on your l-”

“Got it,” Joey said, pulling a sharp left and running upstream against the exiting crowd. Straight ahead, next to the bright red firehouse, was the main entrance for City Hall. With a quick check of the surrounding area, Joey hit the brakes, tucked away her earpiece, and forced her best panicked look onto her face. “Oh, no…” she began, starting out soft. “Please don’t tell me… Help!” she shouted. “Please, someone… help me!” Within seconds, she heard the rumbling of footsteps from inside City Hall, which was not only the home for Guest Relations, but also happened to be one of the closest places patrolled by Walt Disney World Security. “Why go to them,” Joey had asked Noreen, “when they’ll come right to you?”

Joey counted to herself. Three… two… one…

“What is it, ma’am? What’s wrong?” a tall guard with a crewcut and a silver badge quickly asked.

“Are you okay?” a black man in a matching blue shirt followed.

“My wallet!” Joey shouted to both men. “I opened my purse and my wallet was gone! It had all my money… my three-day pass…!”

“Don’t worry – it’s okay,” the tall guard said, putting his hand on her wrist.

“Do you know where you had it last?” the second one followed. As the two guards calmed her down, Joey noticed the way they watched the gawking crowd. The show, clearly, must go on.

“She’s fine, folks,” the tall guard announced to the onlookers. “Just misplaced her wallet.”

As the crowd broke up and continued on its way, the guards huddled around Joey and helped her to a nearby wooden bench.

“Did it fall out on a ride?” the black guard asked.

“Or maybe in one of the restaurants?” the other added.

“Are you sure this isn’t it right here?” the first one asked, pointing to the wallet that stuck out from Joey’s purse.

Joey stopped and looked down. “Oh, God,” she said, forcing a laugh. “I’m so embarrassed… I could’ve sworn it wasn’t there when I-”

“No worries,” the tall guard said. “I do the same thing with my keys all the time.”

Standing from the bench, Joey thanked the two men and once again apologized. “I really am sorry – next time I’ll be sure to… uh… to check my purse.”

“Have a nice night, ma’am,” the tall guard said.

Stumbling backwards up the block, Joey stepped into the crowd and let the guards disappear. The instant they were gone, she spun around, shoved her earpiece back in place, and plowed with a determined gait directly up Main Street.

“Well?” Noreen asked.

“It’s like I always tell you…” Joey began. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a black police radio with the word Security written on it. “Whenever you’re on vacation, you gotta watch out for those pickpockets.”

She turned up the volume and held the radio up to her ear. All she had to do was listen.