‘Ok, but why would all that matter over here?’ I pressed further. ‘There are financial rewards for turning people in, and if he were to figure ...ut who I am he could try to bribe my parents in exchange for not turning me in,’ she explained, looking down nervously. ‘But Orkideh, I still don’t understand how he could possibly figure out who you are?’ ‘There was a camera in his cab — many New York taxis have them mounted behind the glass on the driver’s side these days. I think when he started. I could taste the sweet afterglow of hot chocolate in my mouth; the empty cups were on the deck next to us.We watched seagulls hanging nearly stationary before us as they faced directly into the steady breeze off the ocean, like airplane models in a wind tunnel, flying but going nowhere. The wind's constant force had made all the trees and bushes near the beach list away from the ocean, conceding to the wind the sculpture of their shape as the price of their survival.Jen gently shifted her. ”He reached into his back pocket, pulled out an envelope, and handed it to me. It was thick and heavy. When I opened it, I found it stuffed with twenty-dollar bills.“Come on, Jim, that’s not necessary,” I protested. I had already made my mind up to leave the girl to herself unless the house was burning down. We were both too old for babysitting.“Take it,” Jim said, pushing the envelope. “There’s three hundred there, just in case she needs anything. She’s got some money, too, and the house is. He struggled for the ball but opportunities to score were not coming. Both sides were evenly matched even though their style of play was completely different. By half-time nothing had changed and when he came back on he could see a substitute starting to warm up that Coach would no doubt put on and take him off for. Almost as if in slow motion he saw the ball heading his way in a pass back from the opposition. He moved quickly, using the skills he built up, he wrested it away from the opponent.