Running Numbers

Lowell, Massachusetts. 1958.

The eight year old boy looks around the store. Coffee, Milk, Bread, and Cigarettes. That’s what this store has to sell. Coffee, Milk, Bread, and Cigarettes. Only it’s not for sale. This store never sells anything. This is where the boy works now.

A couple of months from now, the boy’s mother will stop by the store to see where her son works. Her son has several jobs to help support the family. She brings coffee, milk, bread, and cigarettes to the cash register. The store owner has no idea what to charge her. This store never sells anything. He charges her 10 cents for the lot. The boy’s mother shops there for the next several months. It’s a steal.

Here’s the bag you’ll carry, the store owner tells the boy. These are the places you’ll go. This is how the operation works.

He hands the boy a revolver.

“If anyone ever tries to take this bag from you,” the store owner says, “shoot them. Don’t worry about killing them. Just make sure you hit them, so that we know who they are.”

“Then what?” the boy asks.

“Then we’ll kill them,” the store owner says, “and their entire family.”


In case someone doesn't know what Running Numbers is:
http://ask.yahoo.com/20040105.html

MOVIE LINE OF THE DAY:
"Charlie...where's my cheesecake?" -Carlito's Way