Jimmy discovered that he was admirably suited to the business of
spotting. The "job turnover" was high because the spotter must be young
enough to be allowed the freedom of the preschool age, yet be mature
enough to follow orders.
The job consisted of meandering through the streets of the city, in
the aimless patterns of youth, while keeping an eye open for parked
automobiles with the ignition keys still in their locks.
Only a very young child can go whooping through the streets bumping
pedestrians, running wildly, or walking from car to car twiggling each
door handle and peering inside as if he were imitating a door-to-door
salesman, occasionally making a minor excursion in one shop door and out
the other.
He takes little risk. He merely spots the target. He reports that there
is such-and-such a car parked so-and-so, after which he goes on to spot
the next target. The rest of the business is up to the men who do the
actual stealing.
Jimmy's job-training program took only one morning. That same afternoon
he went to work for Jake's crew.
Jake's experience with kids had been no more than so-so promising. He
used them because they were better than nothing. He did not expect them
to stay long; they were gobbled up by the rules of compulsory education
just about the age when they could be counted upon to follow orders.
He felt about the same with Jimmy Holden; the "missing person" report
stated that one of the most prominent factors in the lad's positive
identification was his high quality of speech and his superior
intelligence. (This far Paul Brennan had to go, and he had divulged
the information with great reluctance.)
But though Jake needed a preschool child with intelligence, he did not
realize the height of Jimmy Holden's.
It was obvious to Jimmy on the second day that Jake's crew was not taking
advantage of every car spotted. One of them had been a "natural" to
Jimmy's way of thinking. He asked Jake about it: "Why didn't you take the
sea-green Ford in front of the corner store?"
"Too risky."
"Risky?"
Jake nodded. "Spotting isn't risky, Jimmy. But picking the car up is.
There is a very dangerous time when the driver is a sitting duck. From
the moment he opens the car door he is in danger. Sitting in the chance
of getting caught, he must start the car, move it out of the parking
space into traffic, and get under way and gone before he is safe."
"But the sea-green Ford was sitting there with its engine running!"
"Meaning," nodded Jake, "that the driver pulled in and made a fast dash
into the store for a newspaper or a pack of cigarettes."
"I understand. Your man could get caught. Or," added Jimmy thoughtfully,
"the owner might even take his car away before we got there."
Jake nodded. This one was going to make it easy for him.
As the days wore on, Jimmy became more selective. He saw no point in
reporting a car that wasn't going to be used. An easy mark wedged between
two other cars couldn't be removed with ease. A car parked in front of a
parking meter with a red flag was dangerous, it meant that the time was
up and the driver should be getting nervous about it. A man who came
shopping along the street to find a meter with some time left by the
former driver was obviously looking for a quick-stop place--whereas the
man who fed the meter to its limit was a much better bet.
Jake, thankful for what Fate had brought him, now added refinements of
education. Cars parked in front of supermarkets weren't safe; the owner
might be standing just inside the big plate glass window. The car parked
hurriedly just before the opening of business was likely to be a good bet
because people are careless about details when they are hurrying to punch
the old time clock.
Jake even closed down his operations during the calculated danger
periods, but he made sure to tell Jimmy Holden why.
From school-closing to dinnertime Jimmy was allowed to do as he pleased.
He found it hard to enjoy playing with his contemporaries, and Jake's
explanation about dangerous times warned Jimmy against joining Moe and
his little crew of thieves. Jimmy would have enjoyed helping in the
stripping yard, but he had not the heft for it. They gave him little
messy jobs to do that grimed his hands and made Jake's stern rule of
cleanliness hard to achieve. Jimmy found it easier to avoid such jobs
than to scrub his skin raw.
One activity he found to his ability was the cooking business.
Jake was a stew-man, a soup-man, a slum-gullion man. The fellows who
roamed in and out of Jake's Place dipped their plate of slum from the
pot and their chunk of bread from the loaf and talked all through this
never-started and never-ended lunch. With the delicacy of his "inside"
life, Jake knew the value of herbs and spices and he was a hard
taskmaster. But inevitably, Jimmy learned the routine of brewing a bucket
of slum that suited Jake's taste, after which Jimmy was now and then
permitted to take on the more demanding job of cooking the steaks and
chops that made their final evening meal.
Jimmy applied himself well, for the knowledge was going to be handy. More
important, it kept him from the jobs that grimed his hands.
He sought other pursuits, but Jake had never had a resident spotter
before and the play-facilities provided were few. Jimmy took to
reading--necessarily, the books that Jake read, that is, approximately
equal parts of science fiction and girlie-girlie books. The science
fiction he enjoyed; but he was not able to understand why he wasn't
interested in the girlie books. So Jimmy read. Jake even went out of his
way to find more science fiction for the lad.
Ultimately, Jimmy located a potential source of pleasure.
He spotted a car with a portable typewriter on the back seat. The car was
locked and therefore no target, but it stirred his fancy. Thereafter he
added a contingent requirement to his spotting. A car with a typewriter
was more desirable than one without.
Jimmy went on to further astound Jake by making a list of what the
customers were buying. After that he concentrated on spotting those cars
that would provide the fastest sale for their parts.
It was only a matter of time; Jimmy spotted a car with a portable
typewriter. It was not as safe a take as his others, but he reported it.
Jake's driver picked it up and got it out in a squeak; the car itself
turned up to be no great find.
Jimmy claimed the typewriter at once.