The empty plastic ice cream container was tossed carelessly onto the street. Scott strode into a house and headed straight upstairs.
All sorts of people lived in this house. Scott squeezed past a group of hippies swaying in the hallway to music blasting from a large speaker, took two deep breaths of fresh air, and finally pushed open the door.
Luis was working on his pizza dough with a stirring stick. He looked up at Scott in confusion.
"What's up, man? Aren't you supposed to be at work right now?"
Scott couldn't hide his dejection. This was already the third job he'd lost in just two days.
"Yeah, I got fired again."
Luis stopped what he was doing, unsurprised. "Damn. They found out who you were."
"Baskin-Robbins doesn't mess around. That ice cream shop is basically China's Chaoyang District. The people there have some serious investigative skills."
Scott raised his eyebrows. He didn't want to continue that conversation.
He took off his jacket and dropped onto the couch. Looking at the two extra people in the room, he tilted his head and asked Luis, "Who are these two?"
As though he'd only just remembered, Luis put down his things and came over to introduce them. "This is Kurt. He spent five years in Folsom Prison. He's a computer genius."
The bespectacled nerd waved at Scott.
"The other guy is Dave. He's really good with electrical circuits."
The bald Black man in the camouflage jacket flashed Scott a grin.
"I know you. That Vista job was beautiful!"
Scott was about to speak when Kurt perked up beside him. "I remember that Vista job. Those capitalists were gouging their customers, right? It made quite a bit of news back then."
Now that was something Luis could talk about. Without giving Scott a