He needed a way to flip the cash in this account into more cash. If he could do that successfully, maybe he could help Jo get enough to buy a stake in the bookstore.
There had to be another way to flip the money.
Maybe gambling?
There was online poker, but it was difficult to wire the cash now that gambling online was illegal. There was no good way to funnel the bookstore’s funds into the online accounts.
Not good enough.
Maybe he could buy into some kind of cryptocurrency. But it would take days to figure out how to transfer the cash, then another few weeks at least of growth, if it even went up at all.
Eli didn’t have that kind of time.
Friday. He had until Friday.
It was nearly 1:00 A.M. when Eli found the inventory of Jordans.
They were older and more rare, the kind that could really go for something. The photos looked good. Eli noticed a couple of potentially super-unique items—a retro Air Jordan IV and a pair of kicks that looked like they could have been those Nike Mags—the Back to the Future II ones.
The price was low enough to account for the fact that the seller wanted to off-load them, but not so low as to ring alarm bells. And the total inventory was priced around the nine-thousand-dollar mark. The sale of the individual items all together was worth at least eighteen to twenty-one thousand, though. That was what Eli had gotten from googling all the shoes he could ID and seeing what they were going for.
Eli was interested but still cautious. He messaged the seller. Whats up with the Jordans
nothing, man, the seller wrote back pretty quickly. I just need to move into a smaller storefront and I’ve got to let this older merchandise go.
That made sense. Eli cracked his knuckles again. There were two paths forward.
1. Do something for someone else for once in his life.
2. Sit back and watch the bookstore close and enjoy the rest of his vape.
This was it. He either did something, here and now. Or he gave up. Went back to tallying the day’s totals. Went back to accepting the status quo. Went back to being the kind of person who rebelled against the system when it was most convenient to himself but sat by and watched when shit was really hitting the fan. Let Jo lose her job and let the bookstore close without doing a damned thing about it.
Eli made a decision.
alright lets do it, and Eli put the payment through on the vendor website—because he knew better than to give away a billing address and a bank account to a stranger on the internet—and watched as the available funds drained out of the account.
He’d done it. Or at least, half of it.
Eli took the photos that were already on the seller page and asked for copies, double-checking that those were images of the actual product. The seller assured Eli that they were and sent along the photos as a measure of good faith. The overnight tracking number arrived quickly in Jo’s inbox after that. The merchandise would arrive tomorrow. The timing was perfect.
Eli had his first pair of Jordans listed by 2:00 A.M.
Ping. He had a hit. Already. Eli let out a sigh of relief. He was really doing it. He was really saving the bookstore.
These photos of the actual merchandise? That was from the buyer.
Eli assured the buyer that they were.
no good
But that didn’t make any sense to Eli. Having photos of the actual merchandise was always helpful. No good?
The response was almost immediate. Nah, man. these are fake af.
Fake??? Eli had trouble breathing. He’d been managing just fine before. But he struggled to inhale now. There was no way—no way—these were fake. They were real. They had to be real.
Didn’t you know?
No, typed Eli. Because this wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening.
But the person on the other end was relentless. The lightning bolt in the back isn’t right. The tongue doesn’t say Be Like Mike. dont mess with me man. you gotta know they’re fake.
Eli felt a pang in his chest. But now was not the time to panic. Sure, the money was out of the account. But he could message the original seller and see what was up. He could definitely get a refund. Definitely. He had not made the problem worse. He would check in with the original seller and he would fix this. And then get back to saving the bookstore.
yo someone said these are fake. i’d like a refund if they are
The original seller messaged back immediately. You buy the merchandise it’s yours. I already shipped it out, man.
Eli typed so that he hit every key with precision. He hit a hard return. I. want. my. money. back.
You snooze you lose, kid. And then the original seller logged off.
Eli went back, trying to use the buyer protection plan on the vendor website. But it was too late. The money was gone. The banks could possibly work it out, but the account wasn’t his. If he reported this to real authorities, Eli would be the one on the hook for stealing the bookstore’s money to begin with. Especially since Eli had wanted to use the money to help Jo buy a stake in the store from its actual owner, Archer Hunt Junior.
It looked like fraud. Eli didn’t have to be good at math to know that.
Eli logged out of the bank account. He logged out of the vendor website. He scrubbed any email evidence of the purchases out of Jo’s inbox. Eli scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, so that there was nothing left. No trace of what he’d done.
Of course, there was nine thousand dollars missing. So that was a trace.
But Eli kept scrubbing anyway, as best he could for as long as he was able. He couldn’t look at any of it anymore. Couldn’t clear his mind of what he’d done. He’d lost more than nine grand. Over a bunch of fake Air Jordans. The store would be lucky if it could operate past tomorrow. The petty cash was gone.
Gone.
Eli closed Jo’s laptop. Put it back exactly in the spot where he’d found it.
And then he finished closing, as though nothing had happened. He tallied the totals on the calculator. He input them into the account ledger, just like Danny had shown him. Then he stood, locked up Wild Nights Bookstore, and went out into the muggy, early Chicago morning. He started walking, not sure of where he was headed. He heard the vape fall out of his pocket, but he didn’t stop to pick it up. He had to keep moving, keep going.
Then he got out his phone and he messaged Danny. Wild Nights is closing down. Top secret. Cover for me until I get to work tomorrow.
She’d understand. If he could explain in person, at least Danny would get it. And even if she didn’t, she was probably out tonight and wouldn’t see the message until the morning anyway. Eli had at least six more hours to magically come up with nine thousand dollars.
Sure, he’d read fantasy books with less fantastical premises. But Eli wasn’t giving up yet.
Eventually, the hammer would come down on Eli. But right now, he’d go for a walk and he’d figure this out. He had six hours and he could do this—he could.
Because Eli knew that eventually wasn’t some undefined date in the future.
Eventually was very likely tomorrow morning.
WEDNESDAY MORNING
8:00 a.m.—11:59 a.m.
1
A Variety of Beginnings
8:17 A.M., Wednesday
Daniella
Daniella pulled up to the parking lot of Wild Nights Bookstore and Emporium with her music as loud as she could possibly take before nine in the morning.