OK class, please turn to page 56 in your textbooks. Today
we're going to talk about...

My basement is known for its late activity. If I'm not
there, my brother Jimmy is. It's pretty big; it has a
bedroom , a shower, a little living room that we like to
call "the operation base", and a back door that leads
straight into my back yard. Why operation base? Because
that's where the guys and me hang out. All of our most
creative ideas come up in that 25 year-old basement.
Let me introduce the guys: there's Matt, the most
intelligent person I've ever met. Michael, or Mickey, he's
the youngest, only 16. Sam, she's my best friend, a
crazy-minded girl. Jimmy, my twin brother. And then there's
me; Jackie.
My father always wanted three boys, and after Jimmy and I
were born, not only did he not want any more kids, he also
decided to give me a boys' name. I don't mind, I kind of
like this name. It has a really sophisticated tone to it,
Jackie.  
So anyway, one afternoon Matt came in the base and told us
(Jimmy, Sam and I) that he has a great idea for New Year's
Eve. Usually when he says "great idea" it means trouble.  
"Doll-face, do me a favor and bring me something to eat.
I've had a crazy day... Ms. Jones decided to make my life a
living hell. God, I hate that bitch... Jimmy, you got any
smokes on you?" And that was how it began, the afternoon
that turned us from nobodies into some bodies.
15 minutes after Matt arrived, Mickey showed his face.
"Hey guys... so, Matt, did you tell 'em yet?"
"Tell us what?" Sam and I asked together. Sometimes it seems
like she's supposed to be my twin...
"Hold on, not yet. I wanna show you guys something first"
Matt took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and pulled
something out of a red bag. Then he took everything off the
little coffee table that was in the middle of the base,
placed it on the floor and unfolded the piece of paper.
"OK, look here. Sam - hit the lights" said Matt.
"We've got ourselves a map here... what are we up to this
time?" said Jimmy.
"Very clever, Jimmy. Yes, this is a map. A map of a building
we're going to pay a little visit on New Year's eve." An
evil smile appeared on his face when he said that. I was a
little scared... what was he up to? The he continued;
"This is a three level building. Ten entrances, or exits,
whatever you wanna call it. The main entrance is full with
cameras, so are the two next to it. There's one security
camera in five other entrances and two backdoors that don't
have cameras at all. Instead, there's a steal door, which
we'll have a key to. Everyone with me so far?"  
What the hell was he talking about? I was really lost... we
didn't know what building he was talking about, what were we
supposed to do there on New Year's Eve, and how in the world
would he get a key to a secured building like that...
"Matt?" I said, "What are you talking about? Are you into
new adventures?"
"Jack, do me a favor, just pay attention, so I don't have to
repeat everything 80 times! I'll explain everything, don't
worry. So, after we study this building from head to toe, we
should be covered."
"Matt, would you stop playing around and just tell us what
the hell is this building?? And why New Year's? I finally
got a date to Brad's party..." said Jimmy.
"Jimmy, I'll let you kiss me. Don't worry, this New Year's
you'll definitely kiss someone..." Mickey and Sam were
laughing. Jimmy was more interested than any of us to know
what was up, cause he wasn't going to cancel his date with
Amy Stevens just so Matt could get a rush, he needed a good
reason. He was trying to convince Amy to go out with him
from day one in high school. Now that we're seniors, and
she's been through three years of torture, she just said yes
to get it over with.  
"A little after 1a.m. that night, all the workers should be
on their way home. That's when we go in.  This building is a
history museum."
"What????? A history museum?!?! You mean you've wasted our
time now for this?!" said Jimmy.
"Cool down, let me explain. Back in middle days, in ancient
Rome, there was an important figure named Julies Seizer. You
all know him, right dumb-asses? Anyway, they had a belief
that a female wolf gave birth to one of the Gods. An artist
from that time sculptured an image of that pregnant wolf
from gold. Shinny, pure gold. Seizer kept it in his home.
This sculpture was brought into the museum last week.
Apparently, a rich American bought it in an auction-sale and
decided to bring it here."
This was defiantly out of our league... but no one said
anything, we were all shocked and concentrating on Matt's
words.
"If we get a hand on this golden wolf, consider yourselves
one of the richest teenagers in the world. Now I know this
is way too much information for you guys at once, but think
about this. Nobody's gonna be there at New Year's. The
museum hasn't even announced yet that the wolf had arrived.
We're the only people in the public who know about this."
"No offense, Matt, but if you got a hold of this
information, it's probably not that confidential..." Sam
said, and she had a point.
"I didn't read it in the paper, I found out about it from
someone that has something to do with this information."
"Then if it gets stolen, someone's gonna know you had
something to do with it".
"No, because no one's going to care. Besides, there's lots
of valuable shit in there, everyone knows that. A burglar
may have wanted something in it, then saw the wolf and
changed his mind".
"A burglar that robs a History museum on New Year's Eve must
have had something specific in there that brought him. What
kind of a thief goes to rob a museum without knowing exactly
what he wants? What kind of a thief just goes in for
something, then sees something better, changes his mind and
takes a golden wolf? He doesn't have that much time... I
mean, you just said we'd have to study for this, which means
it's not going to be very easy. So it doesn't make any
sense."
"Kids!! I'm home!" my mother loves to interfere in the
middle of things. But at least we were doing something
educational, talking about a history museum is not a
regular thing at our house.
"But don't worry, I'm going shopping, you need anything?"
she continued. God heard our prayers.
"Yeah, can we order some pizza?"
"Sure... I'll be home in an hour. Please keep the house
standing... bye!"
Jimmy heard my mom's footsteps move toward the door. After a
short wait, he asked;
"Who'd you hear it from, Matt?"
"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that there is
absolutely no chance that I, we will be in anyway dragged to
this... If this thing was so important, I wouldn't have
known about it. And the person who informed me, doesn't
really care. Besides, who remembers stuff they said three
months ago to someone they barely know? People who
desperately want something, can always find a way of getting
it.  And what business do five 17 year-olds have in a
history museum on New Year's Eve? This kind of work would
have to be credited to a pro."
"It's not three months, though... it's one week. And how
heavy is the damn thing? If we want to 'run' away with it,
we better make sure we can actually run". Jimmy said.
"Wait, you're really thinking about this?" Sam couldn't
believe her ears.
"Why wouldn't he? Don't you trust me? It's all good, Sam.
Really" said Matt.
I decided at that point to go order the pizza. Even if this
argument turned out to be ugly, I had took the chance of
missing it.
When I got back Matt was sitting down, trying to collect his
thoughts.
"OK, here's what we'll do. We'll go over the building; you
idiots have never even been there, so that's defiantly
necessary. And we'll see how it goes, how we feel
about it. We have about one week to prepare, New Year's is
ten days from now."
"Hey Matt, let's say we go for it. How do we get rid of it?
Just go to the market and shout 'who wants a golden wolf?
Only today, special price!' This is art, not street
drugs..."
"I know. I'll take care of that. I'll take care of
everything, don't worry."
"How much is it worth?" This was Jimmy's way to let us know
he was going to go along with the plan. But this was nothing
like anything we've done before; the beer stealing, the
vandalism, the drugs we got... it was big, it was really
big. Screwing this up meant jail, and will probably ruin our
lives completely.
"12 million dollars" said Matt.
"Wow..." Mickey said, the first word, I must add.
"And what are we supposed to do with it? Put it in our piggy
bank? I mean, 2.4 million dollars isn't something you just
carry around, or deposit in the bank. And if we do put it in
the bank, we'd have to explain how the hell we got our hands
on that fortune" said Sam.
Matt smiled his sexy smile, "When we reach the bridge..."
"I'll keep it for you, Sam, if you don't wanna cash it or
put it in deposit..."
"That's so sweet, Jimmy... thanks. I'll be fine."
Ding-dong.
"Pizza's here!" I said.
We sat and ate the pizza like a bunch of zombies. After 15
minutes of chewing and sipping, Matt got up.
"Alright, I'm gonna head home. Anybody need a ride?"
"Where do you think you're going?"
"It's almost 9p.m. and I have to put Colleen to sleep".
Colleen is his sister. Matt doesn't love anyone in this
world like that four year-old, not ever himself. And that's
a hard thing to understand...
Normally when Sam says she has to go home and help out, we
all know she had enough of us, but Matt means it. He won't
let her go to sleep without saying good night. And she won't
go to sleep without pretending to read along with him. It's
a really cute picture, because Matt's this big muscular guy,
with an attitude.
We decided to end the night at that point. We were all tired
and really needed to sleep on things. We had a lot on our
minds, and more than the excitement of being rich, maybe
even famous (it's not everyday that a bunch of teenagers
steal a peace of art!), we were all trying to figure out how
to make it work. Did we trust Matt unconditionally? Did we
trust him so much that we could just go for it without
looking back? Well, I told you I had a lot to think about...

               
The next morning we all got together at lunch. Matt was
flirting as always, so we had time for ourselves; just Sam,
Jimmy and I.
"Anybody get any sleep last night?" Jimmy asked.
"Nope. And something tells me that this is how it's going to
be for a while... where do his ideas come from?"
"We don't have to go through with it, you know... I'm still
trying to figure out whether he was serious..." I had to
show some lack of confidence, something didn't feel right.
How could everything feel right when you're planning
something as big as this?
"Good morning, sunshine!" Matt appeared out of nowhere and
gave Sam a big kiss.
"So, how are my co-workers today?" he said.
"Fine. We have a lot to talk about, you know" said Sam.
"Yeah. Bring me a cigarette."
He lit it up and looked across the street, not really
looking at anything, just staring.
We decided to go home after that. I think we all wanted to
go back to the base and plan everything out. None of us was
poor, but we all had hard working parents and we needed the
money.
Matt said he'd put the money in his parents account bit by
bit and save a little for himself.  Jimmy was dreaming of a
motorbike ever since I can remember. Sam wanted to take the
money and disappear.  Mickey didn't talk much, so I never
really knew what he wanted.  And I wanted the money to pay
for college. Sounds unreal, but I really wanna go to a good
college, and this way I could maybe study in New York City.

We got in his car and drove to the base. We were
surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) really quiet.
Even Matt wasn't lecturing about anything.
"Where's the map?" Sam decided to break the silence with the
question we were all wondering about.
"I left it here last night. Jimmy, where'd you put it?"
Jimmy got up and disappeared in his room for a few minutes.
I think he was trying to decide whether to throw the map
away and stop us from ruining our lives, or bring it to Matt
and be a part of the scheme.
He brought the map.
We sat there for three long hours, going over everything.
Matt knew so much about the damn building, you'd think he
was born in it...
"I'll call Mickey tonight and go over this stuff with him. I
know it's needless to say, but keep your mouths shut about
this. And I'm sorry I have to say this too, I trust you more
than anyone, but just remember that it's not a road trip
we're talking about..."
               
Christmas vacation began the next day. Matt was right about
us not being in the museum before, so we spent the first
afternoon just walking around, trying to imagine how it
would be like a week from that day. Of course nothing came
to mind. I tried to keep my thoughts positive, but I wasn't
naive. I knew the risks, I feared the risks.  
               
New Year's eve, 7:30 PM.
We went over the plan fifty times last night and during the
day. I know the building like the palm of my hand.
We had a really big New Year's Eve dinner at home. Jimmy and
I knew we couldn't get out of it at least until 10p.m.  Matt
asked us to be at Washington Square at 11. The square was
five minutes away from the museum.
Sam met Matt there half an hour earlier.
"Hey".
"Hey".
"Nervous?" said Matt.
"Yeah, damn right. Aren't you, Mr. Tough guy?" said Sam.
"Yeah, a little bit. But no second thoughts, right?"
"I just really want it to be over... where'd the van come
from?"
"Didn't I tell you I'd take care of everything?"
"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to answer a question
with a question??"
"She's in the hospital, she's dying."
"What? Why didn't you say anything? What's wrong?"
"Cancer, Sam. She's on the waiting list for a liver
transplant... Can you believe it?? She's wasting away, just
because some rich guy had the money to pay for his
mother."
"Oh, Matt... I'm so sorry. I had no idea... why didn't you
say anything?"
"And what good would that do? You would have found a
solution? Magically find her a new liver? Just forget about
it".
"Matt, come on... I know it's hard, but..."
"We got ten minutes 'till everyone gets here. Let's just try
to forget about this, OK?"
"OK".
I wasn't present when that conversation took place, but Sam
told me all about it when I got there. Matt looked like he'd
cried, but I didn't wanna ask. I gave him what he asked for
- trust.
We were standing behind a big garbage ban, watching the
employees leave in their cars one by one.
"OK, that was the last car. It's 1:22a.m., set your watches
please. I wanted to say a few things before we go along with
this. First of all, none of you is forced to do this. I mean
it. Second of all, remember that we're a team. We split the
fortune, we share the responsibility. This is your baby as
much as it is mine" Matt paused for a second, and then
said;
"So... Take a deep breath. And slowly follow me. As from
this second, there will be complete silence".
We came close to the back entrance. Like planned, Matt had a
key. No one asked how he got it, no one checked if he had it
at all. We were hypnotized. That was my most convenient
argument.
Matt opened the door. Jimmy went in first, then Mickey, then
me. Sam was behind me, I heard her give Matt a kiss and the
door closed. There was a red dim light everywhere; in the
halls, above the exit doors, and scattered all over the
room. The first room we were in, was some kind of a
janitor's room, only cleaner. We slowly walked behind Matt,
silently like he asked, but with heartbeats that could break
windows.
We walked out of the room, and there we were. Standing
nervous, scared and lost in the history museum. Jimmy stood
next to Matt, whispering something in his ear. Matt signaled
us to move forward.
We walked around the museum for a few minutes, recognizing
the building from the map Matt brought in ten days ago.  Sam
saw something Big rapped in paper.
"Psssst! Over here, look!" she whispered, but it was loud
enough for all of us to hear. She pointed at a wolf shaped
brown blanket.
Matt got a little closer and took the blanket off.  There it
was. The most beautiful, shiny, perfect (and the only) wolf
I've ever seen.
We looked at it for a few seconds, trying to figure out what
next. We all grabbed the wolf and carried it to the
janitor's room. Mickey's hands were sweaty, the wolf's head
slipped off his hands, and we all dropped it. The heavy wolf
made an excruciating sound, that quickly became a rhythmic
scream.
The alarm came off. Everything was perfect up until we
dropped the thing... Quickly, and slightly panicking, we
lifted it up again toward the room.  The alarm just got
louder, I felt like crying...
               
We finally got to the parking lot; the van was waiting
patiently for us. We got the wolf in the van and drove away.

Matt was driving so fast, I couldn't even buckle up...
Suddenly, we noticed blue and red lights flashing behind us.
The police was on our tail. We felt our hearts go down to
our underwear. Matt just kept speeding up.
"Matt!! Hey Matt!!! Stop the car, what are you, an idiot?"
Sam gave it a try, but Matt didn't even look in the mirror.

"Stop the car, Sir! Pull over immediately!" The police
officer announced.  
But Matt wouldn't stop. He lost it completely; not only his
sanity, but also the control over the car.
The car managed to reach a stop, eventually. That was half a
mile off the highway.
"Shit! Shit!!" Matt shouted with so much pain, I wanted to
give him a hug.
The officer seemed really upset. He put a flashlight in the
van, but there was no driver.
"Step out of the car, all of you".
We did as he asked.
"Who's the driver?"
"I am, sir." Sam said.
He kept on asking question, and only Sam was talking. Matt
managed to run away, with the wolf.  I don't know how he did
it... he must have been so hysterical, that his body was
capable of anything.
We were held in the police station for the rest of that New
Year's night. No one knew what happened to Matt, and we
couldn't ask.
               
We were wondering for some time what happened to him. His
older brother was working as a janitor in the museum. We
found that out later on. We had no idea his brother dropped
college, which he got a scholarship for, just so he could
help pay for his dying mother's new liver. He was the one to
give Matt the map and the key, obviously.
I couldn't stop asking myself why he let Matt do the dirty
work... Maybe because he had a lot more to lose, and he
didn't trust anybody like he trusted Matt.
               
One bright afternoon, Sam got a letter from Brazil. It had
five checks in it: one for each of us (as planned, 2.4
million each), and one for Matt's brother.  He got all the
way to South America because of that stupid golden wolf.
Where did he get rid of it?  There was also a postcard with
a sunrise photo on the back, and it said:
"You're still my sunshine... Love, Matt."
               
OK, I'm reminding you to DO your homework for tomorrow!  I
will check.

I really need to start listening in math lessons. Even
though it's Ms. Jones, I really hate her...