To Become A Con Artist

Chapter Thirty

Sorry for the wait! But I promise this chapter is worth it!
Also, I always felt Steven Chevrin was how I picture Leo so here's a picture of him in a suit :)

The melon drop had been the hardest technique I ever had to learn, even harder than learning how to sew when I was six years old and learning how to shave a mans face when I was eight years old. But after four hours, Tony approved of my progress and dismissed me.

However, this morning my shoulder was quite sore from all the purposeful shoulder bumps that I'd had to initiate yesterday. I groaned from the pain and Mary looked up at me from her miniature puzzle.

"Are you okay?" She asked. I nodded and stood up.

"Yes, just a bit of pain in my shoulder."

"Eat some tomatoes. Remember papa use to tell us to eat them when we were in pain." I cocked an eyebrow at Mary then began to laugh aloud.

She looked back up at me and narrowed her eyes.
"What?"

"Mary, papa would say that to get you and Peter to eat vegetables since you hated them."

"He did?!" She frowned but maybe my laughs were contagious because seconds later she joined in and we were both holding our stomachs from the rich memory.

"Geez, I miss him." She finally said with a sigh.

"So do I." I gave her a tight smile.

"He was always doing things with our best interest in mind." She said in a low tone, joining me on the bed.

I thought of the time when my father had told me why our last name was Manor after I began to question the culture of our family and my parents journey from Italy to America.

When he'd come to the country his last name had been Maggio, but while at Ellis Island he had decided to change it in the spur of the moment because he wanted our assimilation to be fluid.
When he met my mother he told her the reason and she understood because, as Mary had said, he did everything with the best intentions. He knew he would have children and thus, cared for us before we even entered the world.

Would I care for the people I encountered through life? I already was careless to my marks. Hell, conning was a careless practice and I was guilty.

"Yes he was." I agreed, turning to my sister who had her eyes cast downward.

"What if mama marries Mr. Jameson? It won't be the same." She sniffled and I knew she was fighting back tears. I smiled and grabbed her in for a hug.

"If mama marries Mr. Jameson then he'll have some big shoes to fill." I released her. "But it'll be okay because change is-good." I kissed her cheek and she gave a weak smile.

Maybe she believed me and maybe she didn't but I was a con artist, and if I couldn't be entirely convincing then the least I could be was entirely confident.
                                         ••••••
"Is it normal to feel sorry for a mark after you con them?" I asked both Tony and Leo later that afternoon.

I'd met them both at the Copper Bull and we'd decided a stroll back to the Gramercy Park house would give me time to talk through the Clemenza con with two experts.

Both men wore three piece suits but Tony adorned a gray herringbone pattern while Leo stuck with a classic olive colored tweed pattern with a beautiful cream colored linen pocket square.

"Sure," Tony began, "didn't you ever feel sorry for the saps whose pockets you picked?"

"At first I did, then after a while-I didn't." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Because they have what you want and it isn't fair. That's how conning is. You'll find it more enjoyable after your-fourth mark."

"Or you'll never find it enjoyable." Leo interjected. I turned to him but was distracted my Tony's deep chuckle.

"Way to advocate for us buddy." Leo chuckled as well then looked ahead.

"Claire, speaking of pick pocketing, how did you get involved?" Tony asked. Now it was my turn to be interrogated. However, there wasn't much of a story behind my criminal past especially since I'd never been asked about it.

"A couple of years ago my friend Jean and I wanted to try makeup so we picket it off classmates for fun. Then I got more serious when I realized anything could be re sold. But Jean didn't agree so she stopped while I continued to try and get better." I finished.

"Well I guess you never got better." Leo partially teased. I gaped at him playfully.

"I was better, you just outsmarted me."

We stopped and Leo's arrogant expression was entirely evident through a single smirk.
"I always will Claire." We looked at each other for a moment before Tony cleared his throat.

"Leo perhaps a visual display is the proof we need for Claire's braggart disposition." He moved his eyes to the side and then back to us. Leo followed the quick glance and nodded. I was lost and it only got worse because Leo turned away and walked in the opposite direction while Tony grabbed my hand and tugged me to walk.

I knew not to ask questions but once I saw an older man approaching us I had a slight clue. We slowed as he got closer to the Players Club.

"Um, excuse me sir." Tony said, holding his hand out to the man. "I'm sorry to bother you but would you mind telling me the time?" The man reached into his pocket and revealed a silver pocket watch.

Wow! Were they truly trying to show me the correct way to get a watch.

"It's half past four." Just then I noticed Leo come from behind a house as the man tucked his watch away.

"Thank you." Tony said but before the man could head inside the Players Club Tony spoke, "while I have you would you mind telling us how to get to Bryant Park?" Bryant Park? Oh he was good.

"It would be quite the walk since..."

"Excuse me." Leo came behind the man as he was pointing beyond us. Leo made an exaggerated gesture to walk around us as the man glance back. I didn't catch a single slip of either hand. Had he even gotten what he wanted?

"...then you'll make a right and Bryant Park should be ahead." The man finished the directions that Tony and I had not been listening to.

"Again, thank you sir." Tony tipped his hat. "Come dear, lets go feed the ducks." We both walked away briskly, not turning back.

Leo joined us as we turned a corner, dangling the watch as if it were a yo-yo.

"I do enjoy a successfully picked pocket." He grinned, glancing down right at me in a mocking manner. I decided to stroke his ego and threw my arms around him in a flamboyant embrace.

"Thank you so much for teaching me the ways of a confidence artist, Master of all Con Artists. How can I ever repay you?" I exaggerated with an eye roll as I released him. Leo shook his head.

"Your sarcasm is one of your best qualities gorgeous." He replied which almost caused me to blush.

"Okay, so what, you both proved a point." We stopped at the house and I turned. "But I do hope he shows up sporadically tomorrow and demands it back in return for something of yours." I walked up the steps recalling Leo's arrival into my life by the same means.

"Something like a broach?" Leo asked with a smile as he leaned on the rail. I turned on my heels and cocked my head sideways.

"No. I was thinking more like a pocket square." I grabbed the cream pocket square from behind my back with a sly smirk and waved it like a flag. "I guess you won't always outsmart me Leo."

Tony started in a fit of laughter as he stood witness to his best friend getting bested. Leo stared me down in amusement since even he knew I'd gotten one over on him.

"Touché Claire Manor." He walked up the steps and stood in front of me sliding his pocket square out of my pinched fingers slowly while holding my gaze. "Touché." He winked at me but nothing could remove the satisfied expression from my face. I was good but more importantly, I was ready.