“So you two sweetie pies were gambling down at the casino? Little boys aren’t supposed to gamble, now hand over the money you won!” sneered one of the two grubby workers. Justin turned and looked at Zack. Zack was scared, and clearly wasn’t sure what to do. Justin sized up the two thugs. They weren’t very big, about 5’9 and 5’11 neither weighing more than about 170 pounds, Justin guessed. Without the knife, he and Zack could have easily overpowered them.

“Zack, you’d better give them the money. We don’t want any trouble.” Justin said, never taking his eyes off the two crooks. Justin could see Zack in the mirrors on the elevator car walls. He could see that Zack was ready to hand over the money. Zack reached into his pocket and pulled out the roll of bills. Justin watched as the two crooks both immediately looked at the wad of cash. That was all he needed. Justin’s left leg flew up kicking the knife out of the hand of the shorter guy. The two stunned assailants were momentarily paralyzed as they tried to figure out what was going on. Justin grabbed one hand of each of the thugs then flipped in mid air, landing on his feet and twisting their arms in the process. He bent their hands back and the pathetic losers immediately fell to their knees.

Zack stared wide-eyed as Justin bested the two thugs without even breaking a sweat. “Grab the knife, Zack – and get us back to the lobby.” Justin commanded. Without a word, Zack turned the key back to operate and hit the button for the lobby. He picked up the knife and stuck the bills back in his pocket. The car started back down toward the lobby. When it reached the ground floor, the doors opened. There was a guard immediately outside the elevator doors. He was posted there to make certain that only hotel guests used the elevators. As the two crooks saw the guard, they started yelling for help. They claimed that it was Justin and Zack who were robbing them, and that Zack had their money in his pocket.

“No way!” yelled Justin. “It was these two who tried to rip us off!” Zack nodded in agreement. The guard saw Justin almost break one arm of each of the men and Zack standing with the knife in his hand.

“Yeah, right kid,” said the taller of the two losers, “then I suppose you can explain how your friend got all that money.” The security guard looked at Zack. “OK, son. Let’s see what’s in your pocket.” Zack pulled out the roll of bills and showed it to the security guard. The guard’s eyes popped a bit as he saw the wad of bills. He picked up his radio and called for help. Within seconds a half dozen guards were on the scene. They told Justin to release the two bad guys, and reluctantly he did. They each rubbed their arms as they tried to get some feeling back after Justin’s effortless control of them.

“We can’t sort this out here,” said one guard who was apparently the most senior, “you’ll all have to come with us.” The guards led Justin, Zack and the two thugs into a holding area behind the main desk. They put Zack and Justin in one room and the two workers in another. Eventually, a man wearing a suit came in and talked to the boys asking for their story. They told him everything, and as they finished, Justin added: “We’re really sorry. Geno told us not to gamble in the casino – we know we shouldn’t have been there.” The man’s eyebrows raised as heard Geno’s name.

“You two know Geno?” The man asked.

“Yessir, he met us when we came in. He gave us our room and told us we could do whatever we wanted at the hotel as long as we stayed out of the casino.” Zack explained. The man immediately picked up the phone and dialed a few numbers. He said only a few words to whomever answered the phone. “Sir, we need you in holding room four.” Less than a minute later, Geno walked into the room.

“Boys!?! What’s going on here?” He said as he entered the room. Zack and Justin told him the story. “Get me the video on elevator six” Geno instructed the man in the suit. “Also, call up their room and get Eric Houston down here.”

“Eric Houstin!?!” the man in the suit replied, almost jumping out of his skin.

“Relax!” Geno laughed. “It’s Eric Houstin, Jr. Just get him.”

Zack and Justin looked at each other. How was it that Eric got such respect? Then Justin thought about it. That name… he’d heard it before, but he’d never put two and two together. Then it came to him! Suddenly Justin knew who Eric’s Dad was.

“Video coming up on the left monitor, Sir” the man told Geno. Everyone in the room watched the jerky frame-by-frame scene in the elevator. It clearly showed that Justin and Zack had told the truth. “Get me the file on the two workers.” Geno ordered, “and where is Houston?” A few minutes later, another man poked his head through the door and handed Geno two files. He looked through the papers shaking his head as did. “Just as I thought, rap sheets a mile long. Fire ‘em, and tell ‘em if we ever see them again here, I’ll let this kid really go to town ‘em.”

The man left the room, leaving only Geno and the boys. “So kid, looks like you’re more than able to take care of yourself, huh?” Geno laughed as he looked at Justin.

Justin smiled, “My name is Justin, and I can take care of myself. I’m a third degree black belt and I’m into bodybuilding. I can handle a couple of morons with a knife.”

“I guess you can,” Geno smiled. “So do you work for Houston?”

“Not yet, Sir. But maybe some day.” Justin laughed. Zack had been looking at Geno, but after hearing Justin’s last comment, his head spun around and he frowned at Justin. He had no idea what Justin was talking about. Zack’s expression relayed his confusion to Justin. “I’ll tell you later.” Justin said softly.

Another man popped his head in the door. “I’m sorry sir. There’s no answer at Mr. Houstin’s room.” With that, the man closed the door. Geno looked at the two boys. “You two had a good scare today, didn’t you?” Geno asked. The boys nodded. “Look guys, when I tell you to stay out of the casino, it isn’t because I don’t want you to have fun. If you want to play cards or something, I’ll send a dealer to your room – I just don’t want things like this to happen to you.” He paused a bit and studied the boys. “Mr. Houston… Sr.” he paused to emphasize the senior, “asked me to keep an eye out for you boys, now I’d appreciate it if you’d keep your noses clean for the rest of your stay.”

“You mean we can keep the money?!?” Zack grinned in amazement. Geno nodded, “Now get out of here before I change my mind.” With that the two boys got up and left the room and headed back for the elevator. “Oh my god, Justin!” Zack said as they reached the lobby. “I didn’t know you had a black belt! You’re fucking Jackie Chan with muscles!” Justin basked in the admiration of his adorable new friend. “So what do you think we should do with the money?” Zack asked. Before Justin could say a word, Zack saw a poster for Cirque du Soleil. “Justin! Have you ever seen this?!?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen them on TV. It’s too amazing!” Justin beemed.

“How about we take this money and get four tickets to the show?” Zack said smiling his million dollar smile.

“Really?” Justin couldn’t believe his friend was going to spend his winnings to take them all to a show. He was starting to think about Zack in a whole new light. Zack seemed cocky and never backed away from a challenge, and Justin loved that, but now he was seeing that Zack had a pretty generous heart, and he liked that even more. “I know Eric and Mike would love to see it!”

The two of them walked over to the concierge’s desk and asked about the show. A somewhat snotty woman asked them if they were guests of the hotel. Zack showed the woman his key and her tone immediately changed. She picked up the phone and made the reservations. “Will there be anything else, sir?” She asked after arranging for the tickets.

“Yes ma’am.” Zack smiled. “I’d like to pay for them now, if I could.” The woman nodded, and told Zack the tickets were $80 a piece.

Justin looked at Zack with a frown. “Are you sure you want to spend almost all of your money on this?”

“Easy come, easy go!” Zack smiled as he handed the woman the money. “Now let’s go get your brother and Mike and tell them what happened! And you still haven’t told me who Eric’s Dad is!” •