"It was 'bout ten years ago, before the damn millennium bug was supposed to show up." The man leaned forward. "Damn bug never showed up anyway."
Kamal and Brad chuckled. Paul glanced at both boys quizzically as did Sandy. Ariel smiled.
"Anyway," the old man continued, "the Jacobson brothers one day walked into Dobson Trading Goldsmiths - don't bother looking up the classifieds. Dobson's was where Miss Megamall is right now. No trace of Dobson's left, not even the foundation. When they built Miss Megamall, they dug up everything."
Old Man Jake widened an eye. "I always wondered, what kind of name is Miss Megamall? Makes you wonder what a mall in a skirt looks like."
The teenagers laughed.
Old Man Jake pointed at the boys. "And don't you boys go looking under Miss Megamall's skirt! Don't go into the Lower Ground levels where a lady's secrets are!"
The boys laughed harder.
Once the laughter had died, Old Man Jake continued, "Anyway, back to the Jacobson brothers. One day, the Jacobson brothers walked into Dobson Trading Goldsmiths... ah, my burger!"
The waitress had arrived at that moment with food. She placed a beefburger (on a plate, of course) in front of the old man, which he bit into immediately. She placed a tiny glass filled with a gassy drink in front of Sandy and a gigantic bowl of ice cream, decorated with the mandatory syrup, nuts and a cherry, in front of Ariel.
(The adjectives 'tiny' and 'gigantic' were just additions by Sandy's greedy imagination. The glass and the ice cream really appeared ordinary in size to everyone else at the table.)
After the waitress had arranged drinks and fries before the boys, she left with her tray.
"This burger's very good," the old man commented when he was halfway through his burger, "Reminds me of the time I hunted for bear in the mountains near..."
"What happened to the brothers?" Sandy interrupted.
The old man's eyes widened. "Oh, yes. The Jacobsons." He took a quick bite of his burger. "One day, the Jacobson brothers walked into Dobson Trading Goldsmiths. It was just like any other day, and they looked like any other customer. That was until Bob Jacobson, the elder brother, pulled a shotgun out of his bag and shot the security guard, right in the chest."
Ariel gasped.
"Drew Jacobson got out a tiny pistol - little brother gets the small gun." Old man Jake smirked briefly at his own joke, an expression that was mirrored by the boys. "He fired a couple of shots and ordered the staff and customers into the corner."
Old Man Jake continued telling of how displays were shattered and jewelry were collected. He told of how the hostages cowered in the corner while the security guard bled. He made the robbery sound like it lasted an eternity for the hostages.
"Then they were gone with their loot, all in five minutes, long before the cops arrived." The old man took another bite of his burger.
"The cops did catch them, right?" the brown-haired Paul asked.
"That they did," Old Man Jake confirmed, "Found them in an old house right in Henderson suburb. Yes, that Henderson near here. The cops came and had the place surrounded. They demanded the brothers surrender."
"So that's it?" Paul asked again. He bit into some fries.
The old man shook his head. "Instead of giving up, the brothers shot at the cops." He proceeded to tell a tale of the firefight between the Jacobson brothers and the authorities. It was a confrontation that lasted an afternoon, for the brothers had an arsenal of ammunition.
"In the end, cops called in the snipers. They had to shoot the brothers. Both of them died that day," the old man concluded.
"That's quite a story," Brad commented.
"That's not all," Old Man Jake said, "The stolen goods, the jewelry, were never recovered."
That statement caught Sandy's attention.
"What do you mean?" Kamal the dark-skinned boy asked, "Wasn't it with the brothers?"
Old Man Jake shook his head. "No. The cops searched the house high and low but never found the loot."
Kamal whistled.
"So where's the loot now?" Sandy asked.
Old Man Jake looked closely at the brown-haired girl seated beside him. "Some say it's still in that house," he whispered, "waiting there for anyone to claim."
"You're not thinking of going after the jewelry, are you?" Ariel whispered to Sandy.
Old Man Jake raised a finger. "Ah, but some also say that the ghosts of the brothers are still there in that house, guarding their stolen loot."
Ariel's eyes behind her glasses grew wide. "Really?"
Brad snorted. "Come on, it's just a story."
"Maybe it's just a story," the old man said, "Maybe it's real. Who knows?" He popped the last piece of his burger in his mouth.
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