Precious Gems - Sierra Hill Page 0,2
without my father’s consent.
But how much can you ever really trust the word of a con man?
The only purpose I have ever served in my father’s life was to use my innocence, model looks and my skills in pickpocketing to find an easy mark, create a distraction and take them for all I could. I worked those cons in hopes that one day, he would approve of me. That one day he would finally say, “Gemma, I love you. You’re such a good girl and I’m so glad you’re my daughter.”
But that’s just me romanticizing and dreaming of a fairytale family-life that doesn’t exist.
I was raised by a heartless man whose only goal in life is the next con. The next game. He used people and used me for profit.
Love was never something he taught me, demonstrated or bestowed upon me. All the attention he directed toward me was borne of hostility and some deep-rooted hatred, probably manifesting from my mother’s betrayal. Maybe, had she not left us when I was a baby, things would’ve been different. Maybe he loved my mother, and she took all that love with her when she left.
But I’ll never know, and it’s too late to try and forge a relationship with him. I’ve tried and only been beaten for it in the past.
The line inches forward, as Dorian receives a phone call. “What?” she answers rudely, a severe contradiction from her sweet tone with me.
Trying to offer her some privacy, I pull out my phone from my purse and text my dad.
Landed safely. Going through customs.
The three dots appear.
Don’t fuck up.
I laugh, because honestly, what did I expect?
As we move closer and closer to the customs agent, my nerves begin to knot and fray inside my belly, and I’m suddenly fearful about entering Belgium. Beads of sweat have congregated on my palms, and I wipe the moisture on my pants, swallowing down the dusty lump in my throat, trying desperately to regulate my breathing.
What if the customs agents badger me about my visit? What if they want to check my bag? What if I prove my father right and wind up fucking this all up because my fear wins and I’m an unconvincing liar?
This is exactly what Mudd was worried about when he walked me through this assignment.
“If they ask you, just tell them you’re here to see your grandmother and cousins in Antwerp,” he said during the lengthy list of instructions he threw at me the day before I left. “And if they check the bag and ask about the stone, just say it’s a family heirloom you’re returning to your grandmother.”
What seemed plausible at the time now seems like too big of a lie. One that I fear I’ll trip over if I’m asked to provide any sort of substantial detail. While I can steal and lie for a con on the streets, I might very well crumble under the direct scrutiny of the uniformed agents, whose sole purpose is to flush out criminals and drug dealers coming into their country.
An idea comes to mind as Dorian ends her call and shakes her head, throwing her phone back into her big leather satchel, hanging on an elbow.
“Excuse me, Dorian. But do you happen to know where I can catch a city bus from here?”
I ask this in the sweetest, Bambi-eyed tone I can muster, trying to appear bewildered and inept, hoping she’ll take the bait.
And she does.
She waves a hand in the air to indicate it’s the dumbest thing she’s heard today. “Oh honey, a young girl like you shouldn’t be taking a bus alone. I have a driver waiting at baggage claim, and I can drop you off anywhere in the city you need to go.”
Perfect.
Now to turn it on full volume.
“Oh, I’m not sure about that. I mean, I don’t know you. You could be one of those sex trafficking madams, luring young women into your business.”
She looks genuinely shocked, her eyes widening and hand clutching at her throat. “Oh, dear heavens. That’s… that’s horrible that we live in a world where strangers can’t be kind and helpful. But I promise you, I’m only looking out for you.”
And now for the grand finale.
Cause a diversion. A distraction to draw attention away from the con.
My performance is played out flawlessly, as I begin to tear up, the moisture flooding my eyes and down my cheeks as I reach around Dorian to embrace her in a hug.
As I do, I swiftly drop