“Thanks, I think,” said Danny. “Hey, sorry about your dad, by the way.”
“What about him?”
“He didn’t walk out on you?”
“If he did, then I’ve got no idea whose basement I’m living in. By the way,” he said, pointing over Danny’s shoulder, “you might want to keep your son away from El Magnifico.”
“Shit!” said Danny, noticing Will in the crowd. “Thanks again, I owe you one!”
“This guy’s really good,” said Will as Danny ran over.
“Yeah,” said Danny, trying to hide behind the people in front of him. “Come on, we should probably make a move.”
“For my next trick,” El Magnifico addressed the crowd, “I’m going to need two volunteers.”
Danny hunched his shoulders and stared at his feet, totally unaware that Will’s arm was twitching in the air beside him.
“It looks like we’ve found ourselves some victims!” said the magician, pointing to Will. Everybody laughed. “Make way, ladies and gentlemen!”
“Come on!” said Will, grabbing Danny’s hand.
“Will, stop!” whispered Danny, trying to resist without making a scene.
“Well, well, well,” said El Magnifico when he saw Danny reluctantly emerge from the crowd. “Who do we have here, then?”
“I’m Will, and this is my dad.”
“Let’s hear it for Will and his dad, everybody!”
A gentle patter of applause rose from the crowd.
“Now, before we begin, Will, do you have a mobile phone?”
“Yes,” said Will, removing his phone from his pocket.
“Excellent. Would you mind holding it up so everyone can see?”
Will held out his phone and swept it across the crowd as if taking a panorama.
“Very good,” said El Magnifico. He turned to Danny and grinned like he’d just stuck a KICK ME sign on his back. “And you, sir. What’s your name?”
“Danny.”
“Do you have a wallet, Danny?”
“I do,” he said, removing his wallet from his pocket.
“And could you also show it to the crowd?” said El Magnifico. Danny did as requested. “Pay attention to the finer details, everybody. The clearly fake leather. The cheap stitching. The distinct lack of money inside. Thank you very much, Danny, you can put the wallet away now. Do you mind telling us what you do for a living?”
“He’s a builder,” said Will.
“A builder?” said the magician with pantomime exaggeration. “Really?”
“Really,” said Danny, trying to murder El Magnifico with his eyes.
“Isn’t that interesting,” said El Magnifico, pretending to twizzle his drawn-on mustache. “And do you do anything else? A second job maybe? Bartender? Postman? Dancing panda, perhaps?”
“Nope,” said Danny through his teeth. “I’m just a builder.”
“If you say so.” El Magnifico turned to Will. “Tell me, Will, do you trust your dad?”
Will nodded with more confidence than Danny would have expected.
“And you, Danny, do you trust your son?”
“Of course.”
“Isn’t that precious, ladies and gentlemen?” said El Magnifico. The crowd murmured in agreement. “But, Will, what would you say if I told you that your father was actually… a thief!”
“Seriously?” whispered Danny, thinking the magician was still upset about his missing robe.
“I’d say you were a liar,” said Will.
“Well, your loyalty is admirable, Will, but if I’m a liar, why does your dad have your phone in his pocket?”
“He doesn’t.”
“Are you absolutely sure about that?”
“Yes,” said Will. He patted his trousers, but the pockets were suddenly empty. “Wait, no. Where’s my phone?”
“Danny, could you check your pockets please?”
Danny halfheartedly patted his trousers, sure that he’d find nothing out of the ordinary. Instead he found something bulky that hadn’t been there a minute ago. He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out Will’s phone.
“Will, is that your phone?” said El Magnifico.
“How did you do that?” said Will, taking his phone and staring at it as if his whole life had been a lie. A few people clapped. Others checked their pockets to make sure their phones were still there.
“Don’t ask me. Ask your dad. What do you have to say for yourself, Danny?”
“You got me,” said Danny, holding his hands up in mock surrender.
“Still trust your dad, Will?”
“Yeah,” said Will. “Like, eighty percent.” The crowd laughed.
“Well, he might not trust you when he realizes you’ve stolen his wallet.”
“I haven’t,” said Will, turning out his pockets. “See?”
“Danny, do you have your wallet?”
“No,” said Danny, frowning as he checked and rechecked his trousers.
“Will, could you show us what’s in your schoolbag?”
Will slipped his bag from his shoulder and began to root around in it. “It’s just books,” he said. “And a pencil case. And an old sock I didn’t know was in there. And an even older apple.” He held up the withered fruit to the sound of laughter. “But nothing— Oh, wait.”
Will’s hand slowly emerged holding Danny’s wallet. The crowd applauded. Will looked stunned. Even Danny was impressed.
“Will, can you do me a favor and go through the wallet to confirm that it is in fact your dad’s? Look for an ID card, something like that.”
“Yep, it’s mine all right,” said Danny, laughing nervously as he finally understood what El Magnifico was up to. “No need to verify it.”
“I found a bank card,” said Will as he rummaged through the wallet.
“Anything else?” said El Magnifico.
“You’ve made your point!” hissed Danny, but El Magnifico just grinned.
“And a Nectar card,” said Will.
“Keep looking,” said El Magnifico.
“Oh yeah, here’s something,” said Will. He held up Danny’s street performer’s permit.
“What is it?” said the magician, literally rubbing his hands with glee. “Read it to me.”
“It’s—”
Before Will could finish his sentence, Milton leapt onto the table and attached himself to El Magnifico’s face. The man screamed and dropped to the floor while the crowd, believing the assault to be part of the performance, began to film the event on their phones. Taking advantage of the chaos, Danny grabbed both the wallet and the permit and stuffed them into his pocket. Then, noticing Tim on the fringe of the crowd, he flashed a grateful thumbs-up before ushering Will away from the scene.
* * *
It was late by the time they got home that night. As promised, Danny had taken Will to Burger King where, also as promised, Will had been treated to a triple Whopper with cheese, a purchase that effectively answered the question of whether or not he could eat one by himself (he could, much to Danny’s amazement, and also his disappointment, having not bought anything for himself assuming that the leftovers would be more plentiful than the solitary slice of gherkin he ended up with). Afterwards, on their way past the cinema, Will had dropped several not-so-subtle hints about how much he wanted to see the latest installment of the seemingly never-ending The Fast and the Furious franchise and how it was going to be gone from the cinema soon and how it was so much better to watch a film like that on the big screen and how he couldn’t watch it on his own because he didn’t have the money and it was a 12A anyway so he couldn’t see it unless he was accompanied by an adult or unless he looked old enough to sneak in (which they both knew he didn’t) until Danny had eventually capitulated.