Juliana Daniels watched the crowd from her perch on the rooftop. Her long blonde hair lifted in the light breeze and she brushed it from her tanned face. The Jazz fest was in full swing and she was enjoying the music and the sights. People watching was a hobby in the light of day when she did not have an assignment. A family caught her eyes. A mother father and what looked like their son. She followed them as they walked through the crowd. She could tell that they were not from the area nor had they ever been to the city of New Orleans. They were too easy a target. Sometimes Juli stole if the target was a challenge just for the practice, but if they were an easy mark such as these, then she left them alone or too the less experienced guild members.

The boy held her interest the most. He had an open face and hair the color of chocolate. His build was slight, but he wasn't skinny. His skin showed that he spent a great deal of time outside as she did. She looked away for a moment and heard the woman shout "STOP THIEF!" She saw one of her guild members take off. {Why did he do dat? Dey were too easy.. He bettah den dat.} She took off after the man following him via the rooftops.

Bobby Drake loves going to the jazz fests, all the bands, the people, and most of all the music. He's quite engrossed with the latest song being played by Rhythm and Blues when his mom screams "STOP THIEF!", and pulls him back into reality. {Great. First time to New Orleans and we get pickpocketed.}

He turns and looks behind them, his chocolate hair shifting, and watches the thief disappear into the crowd. He is in mid-leap to chase after him when his dad pulls him back. "Do you have a death wish or somethin'!?" He dad says in a loud whisper, "New Orleans is nowhere to go running off in, especially after a thief!" Had Bobby been paying attention, William Drake's words would have scared him, but his attention was on something else, something on the roof.

{It's a girl, probably my age,} he thinks to himself. {But what could she be doing up there?} He watches her clear the rooftops with lithe and accuracy and then disappears.

Juli followed her fellow guild member through the streets. When the roofs no longer allowed her to follow him, she went to the streets. He was easy to follow. Coty was a good thief, but he was lazy and had no honor. People like the ones he had just stolen from were his favorites simply because it was easy. She grabbed him in an alleyway as he was rifling the wallet and threw him against the wall. "You lazy rotten swamp suckin low life. Dey was too easy. Ya got no honor. Thieves like ya give de rest of us a bad name Coty. Now get outta here before I turn assassin."

Coty glared. He hated Juliana..daughter of the king of thieves. She thought she was so high and mighty. "You wait Juliana!! I'll take you down." He threw the words over his shoulder as he ran.

Juli shook her head and went back to the festival to find the people Coty had taken the wallet from.

His dad is totally ticked off, but he's quiet since there's not much he can do about it. It never fails to amaze him how far out on his dad's face the veins stick out when he's ticked. But it doesn't fascinate him as much as the young woman he saw scaling the rooftops earlier. {What was she doing up there? Was she after that thief? Could she have been a thief to? Nah, not the way she was dressed.}

Bobby is lost in his thoughts and like everyone else doesn't notice the young woman who comes up to William Drake and taps him on the shoulder. "What do you..?" He turns to find a young woman standing before him. Her long blonde hair cascading down to her rear, a pair of calm sea green eyes, dressed in black leggings and sneakers, an oversized T-shirt that fell to about mid-thigh. "Can I help you?" he asks.

"Actually monseuir.. I can help you." Her voice held a thick cajun accent and tone was quiet and respectful. She simply held out the wallet to Bobby's father. "I believe dis is yours monseuir. I apologize.. my.. associate was very rude in takin dis from you. I asure you.. he will be dealt wit'. Dat was no way t'be welcomed to de wonderful city a Nawlins. Please accept my apology, an I hope everythin is dere dat should be."

She watched as William Drake all but ripped his wallet out of her outstretched hand. He immediately opened it and began counting the contents. She looked at the boy out of the corner of her eye. { Not bad.. but he an outsider. Too bad. Not like his parents gonna let him near someone like me anyway. Ah well. soon I be outta dis place an on my own. As long as I don gotta marry Julien..i'm happy.} "A piece of advice sir.. traveler checks. Dat way if you do get robbed, ya can get dem back. Jus keep an eye on you wallet."

Bobby is startled back to reality when he hears her voice, and looks her way as his dad all but rips his wallet from the lady's hand. {That's dad, all action and no thought} He watches the lady and listens to her words. {So what if she's a thief. She's lovely and cared enough to bring my dad's wallet back. Maybe I should talk to her, at least learn her name..} His thoughts are interrupted when he hears his dad tell her to leave.

She turns around and is about to leave when she hears the young man address her. "Wait! Don't go yet!" he yells and she turns around to see what he wants. "I..um..I'd like to know you name.." "Juliana," she says with a teasing smile. He smiles. "Juliana, that's a beautiful name. Mine's Robert, but everyone just calls me Bobby. I..hey!" He feels to strong hands lift him up and over his dad's shoulder, he's being carried away.

"Look dad, I all for father-son bonding as the next kid, but.." he starts. "Stow it Bobby, we're leaving, now. Now son of mine is going to be friends with a thief." His dad pins Bobby's knees to his chest, making it almost impossible for him to escape. Bobby figures this out and looks back at Juliana. Before he disappears into the crowd he mouths three words in her direction; I love you.

Juli grinned at Bobby as his father threw him over his shoulder. She liked this kid.. he was a charmer but not obvious. She waved her fingers at him and disappeared into the crowd. As she turned away, her smile faded. He loved her. {Yeah right. If he knew I really was a thief and that it was one of my brothers that took the wallet he would be singing a different tune.} She had taken one thing from the man's wallet.. a business card that gave the address. Why she had taken it, she didn't know. She just felt a need to know where they were from and now she knew.

Later that night after dinner, she was in her room thinking. Her parents had just told her that the wedding was set for 6 months from now. She hated Julien. He was the son of the leader of the assassins guild and he was one of those men that thought he was a gift to women. In reality, he was a bully and nothing more. She had been sent upstairs and was on restriction as a result of making a scene about the whole mess. She became restless and silently snuck out of the house and went to wander among the crowds to think. She realized later that Julien had heard about her refusal (probably from Coty the rat) because she looked up from her thoughts to find him and two of his assassin buddies waiting for her. They wasted no time in showing her what would happen if she continued to refuse. Most of the bruises and injuries were in places that could be hidden. The only obvious mark was her black eye and that could have come from anything.

Two hours later, her parents found a note that described what had happened and that she was on her way to find her own future. She would call when she found out where she would be, but that she was not coming back..ever.

The next day

He heads down the stairs, dressed in a pair of light-blue overalls, still drying his hair. {Damn. It's not even 6am yet and my sis wakes me for a construct, sheesh!} He gets to the bottom of the stairs, throws the towel on the nearest piece of furniture, and finds his sister at the front door. She's a little taller than Bobby, her long red hair pulled back into a pony-tail and slung over her left shoulder. She shifts slightly when she sees Bobby, her green eyes showing amusement. "Morning Jester Drake, good to see your up," she says with a snicker. Bobby mutters something about 'rude awakenings' and she continues. "Contrary to what you thought, I won't need you for this job. Just thought you'd need practice getting up."

Bobby yawns, too tired to be outraged. He watches his sister get into her pick-up. She leans her head out the window, "By the way, your cute when you're frowzy, keep that in mind." She smiles and drives away. Bobby stands there leaning against the doorway, brushes his chocolate brown hair back, and heads inside.

Juli studied the diner menu. One good thing about being a thief, she always had access to money. She had been allowed to keep part of what she had taken and had quite a considerable amount saved. She had enjoyed things that were free such as poling in the swamps and people watching. Her only real vice was an occasional baguette and her daily coffee that she got on her way to school. Books, she got from sused book stores as were most of her clothes. Those she didn't buy were made by herself. Right now she was wearing jeans and a mans flannel shirt and her sneakers. Her biggest expense had been her leather jacket which was currently on her chair.

She had taken the bus up north after her run in with Julien and his brothers. Her eye looked worse than it felt. it was a purplish black and swollen almost shut. She sighed and sipped at the coffee the waitress bought. She had taken a bus to Penn station and was now waiting for her connection to Long Island. She had gotten out of the station and walked around a corner. Her connection wasn't for an hour and she was bored in the station. {Dis is stupid..I'm chasin aftah a stranger..an why? Den again.. after Julien..I'm not goin back..evah.}

The waitress bought her breakfast and Juli pulled out the paper that she had gotten. She had asked a cop for the Long island local and was now looking through the classifieds. The problem about getting a job was going to be not having an address. And getting an address would be difficult without a job. She looked at her man style watch.. a gift from her father on her 12th birthday.. and paid her bill. 20 minutes later she was on her way to Long island and her new life.

"Down..1..down..2..down..3.." He's doing push-ups for lack of something better to do, not that he doesn't need to keep in shape anyway, but he doesn't enjoy it. When his finishes he starts some other more strenuous exercises, lost in thought. He hasn't been able to get Juliana out of his head since they "met" in New Orleans. {She probably thinks I'm some kid because of what my dad did, 16 is a teenager dammit, and my dad has to embarrass me by slinging me over his shoulder!}

He wonders if he'll ever see her again, the girl he confessed his love for before he disappeared into the crowd. {I have such lousy luck sometimes} he finishes the last set of pull-ups in the reinforced bar in his closet, and heads back to the shower, thinking how he can kill some time since he wasn't allowed to sleep in.

Juli stepped off the train and sighed. {Well.. I'm here. Now what? For someone so smart yer sure stupid. Ya came all dis way..an why? would it really have been so bad?} She hefted her duffel bag onto her shoulder and threaded her jacket through the handles. Her flannel shirt was stuffed in the bag leaving her in a white tank top.. She walked away from the station not knowing where she was really going. She walked along looking at the houses. What a difference from New Orleans. The cool breeze lifted her bangs and cooled her bared shoulders.

She had no idea where she had walked to, but she came to a construction site. She stopped to look up at the building and considered. Her father had taught her how to use a hammer and other tools. She had helped renovate the thieve's club when it had been wrecked. Maybe they could use a set of hands. Then she could see about getting a place to sleep. She walked up to the nearest worker and tapped their shoulder. "Pardon me.. but.. can you tell me who in charge on dis project?"

The worker turned to face Juli, the look of annoyance quickly turns to a polite smile, since it was a lady who addressed him. "Normally that would be Mike Apples, but this project is headed by Sarah Drake." Points to a shack a couple of feet away. "She's probably on the phone, so be prepared to wait."

Juli thanks the worker for his help and heads for Supervisor's Office. {I hope I can get dis job, besides the fact I have no address, I'm runnin' outta options} She pulls the duffel bag up on her shoulder, and enters the office. At the desk is a red-headed woman who slams the phone down as Juli enters. She looks up, her green eyes showing her surprise when she sees Juli. "Have a seat. What can I do for you?"

"I was walkin by an I saw you site here. I jus arrived here in NY an I need a job. I have some construction experience back home. I give you a good day's work. I jus need a chance. An a job."

Juli faced the woman and hoped her voice didn't shake. She really needed this job. She was tired of thieving and wanted to see what it would be like to not have to watch her back all the time. {Waitaminute.. Drake? wondah if she related t'dat by i met at de jazz fest.. Bobby?}

"What you say?"

"I said you've got the job, I'm short a worker since Walker just quit on me and you've got a honest face, so you've got the job." She extends her hand, "The name's Sarah Drake, but you probably learned that from one of the worker outside."

Juli shakes Sarah's hand, and follows her around the construction site. "That's the Trapeze Trio up there, no better 'beam jumpers' in all of Long Island." She hold her hand to her brow, blocking the sun from her eyes. "And you'll need some overalls when you're on the work site, I'll get you some until you have some of you're own. What's you're name by the way?"

"Juliana Daniels. I'm.. a carpenter by experience. I can get some tonight Jus tell me where ta start an when An I am dere. Do ya know of any good places ta stay? I cant be haulin dis bag all ovah de job site." Her blue green eyes settled on Sarah's face. {Hmmm.. total opposite appearance wise. Nah.. coincidental. Drake probably a common name. Jus glad de job mine.} "I was thinkin.. dere a YMCA or somethin like datt up here?

Sarah watched and listened curiously as she spoke. {Why does she seem so familiar to me? Is her face? The accent? That's it.} She looks at her, her long blonde hair, her sea green eyes..it's her! "Um..this is gonna sound crazy..but I have a little brother named Bobby..and he was talk to this girl in New Orleans..my mom described her..and well..could you be her?"

{Oh crud.. dis must be his sistah or somethin. Can't let her know I followed him up here..in a way. Dat would look really good. Me followin a stranger up de east coast.} "Ummm.. dunno anyone named Bobby. An ya see so many in Nawlins..I meet a lot of people..talk to a lot of people. An I don remember names real well. Besides..I'm sure dere other girls you brothah would have talked wit'. Maybe she mistaken neh? So.. about a room ta rent. Any suggestions? An when do I start work?"

She laughs openly, failing miserably to hide it. "My brother is too shy for that, I was surprised when my mom described the girl he was flirting with." She regains most of her composure, and starts again. "And with when you'll start, I'll get you some overalls from my office, since you look about my size. And as for a place to stay. I wouldn't recommend the YWCA, they tend to get *really* protective of the ladies that walk in with black eyes." She turns her head with a gloved hand to get a better look. "Yup, you've got quite a shiner. What say you stay in the guest room at my house and get you cleaned up?"

"Dat askin too much. I walked inta a door. Dats where de bruisin from. An as i say.. talked ta a lot a people in Nawlins..specially durin events like jazz fest an all. i don wanna be a bother." {Dis one not at all like her brothah.. she as pushy as hell where he seemed.. quieter.. more reserved.} "I cant impose on ya.. I pay my own way an de eye will heal. 'sides.. had a lot worse an walked away. look.. i jus needd ta get a place ta stay.. don wanna be a bother.

"When you've worked with guys as long as I have, you know the difference between a doorknob black eye and a fist black eye. But it's up to you whether you want to tell me who or not." They hear a crash, and Sarah yells at the worker who dropped a pile of 2X4s from the 3rd floor. She turns back to Juliana. "As for being a bother to me, it's not a problem. Company is always welcome at my house. In fact, I insist on it," she says with a smile.

Juli could see there was no arguing with Sarah. "Fine. I accept. But not free. I pay rent or do somethin round de house. As for de black eye..It nothin. Ya should see de othah guy." She grinned at Sarah. She couldn't help like this woman. "In fact.. I start tonight. You like chicken?"

Sarah smiled, she definitely liked Juli. "Sounds good to me, just clear it with my mom the cook," she said with a grin. She leads Juli back to her office and pulls a pair of overalls out of a closet. She gestures to an adjacent room, "Try them on in there, and we'll see how well they fit. Then we'll head out. My shift ends soon, and so I'll start you tomorrow." She hands the overalls to Juli.

Juli took the overalls and walked into the small closet Sarah had indicated. The overalls were a perfect fit. As she changed, she suddenly got a case of the nervous butterflies. {Oh god.. if she is Bobby's sister.. how do i explain why I'm here?} A few moments later, she came back out in her own clothes the overalls over an arm. "Ok.. so what she say?"

"She's all for it," Sarah says as they walk out to her Pick-up. "I just barely got off the phone with her. She'll be waiting for us so we'd better hurry." She tosses her toolbox into the back of her pick-up and climbs in, Juli climbs into the passenger side, and the duo head for the house.

Easy Index - Back to to the Index