Previously: Zack and Sydney find themselves without a vehicle in Calgary. In desperate need of cash, Zack leaves a clue with a currency exchange in order to secure funds to buy a new car…
Sydney closed her laptop with an audible snap as Zack marched back into Tim’s. The coffee shop was getting busier as the lunch rush began, and the tables around Sydney had filled up.
“Did you get it?” Sydney whispered.
Zack smiled and nodded. “We are good for a little while longer. But…I had to give out my ID.”
“What! Did they make you do a FinTRAC?”
Zack gulped. “Yes.”
“God dammit, Zack!” Sydney cried. She threw a donut hole at Zack. He peered down at the sugary coating that stuck to his jacket and the half-eaten treat on the floor. People in the coffee shop stopped talking and stared at Sydney. She noticed and brought her voice down. “I told you not to fuck up. Do you think you could do that? Even one time? Just one time, Zack.”
Zack’s face flushed and he felt the heat in his cheeks. “We needed it. I did what I had to do.”
Sydney shook her head. “I have a plan. We’ve got somewhere to be. Let’s go,” she growled.
“Alright,” Zack replied. He sheepishly picked up the donut hole and took Sydney’s tray to the trash.
Sydney started piling the bags on her back and Zack grabbed as much as he could carry and they lumbered out of the Tim’s. They turned a corner and struggled back towards the C-train. Different police officers walked by, and Zack hurried in front of Sydney to block their view of Sydney’s face as they passed. He twisted to make sure they didn’t do a double take. “Where are we going?”
Sydney grunted and hefted the bags she held to a more comfortable position on her shoulder. “We are meeting a guy at the library and he is bringing us a car to test drive.”
Zack grinned so large that he felt like he split his dry bottom lip. “Really? Sydney, you are incredible. Nice work.”
Sydney mirrored Zack’s smile and then turned and trudged up the ramp and boarded the C-train. There was a free zone, where you didn’t have to pay any fare to ride, and they rode the train as close as they could get to the Calgary Public Library and then they disembarked.
The library was a huge building, an architectural feat, Zack thought, that looked gorgeous. It loomed over the road beside it with a cool streamlined wood design and an intricate metal higher up on the side of the building. It reminded Zack of some kind of hive.
“We are meeting in the library?” Zack huffed. They cut across the front of the library that looked like a park. He was looking forward to not having to lug all of their shit everywhere.
“There,” Sydney pointed. “He told me about this spot.”
Zack saw what she was pointing out, a small gravel parking lot stuffed in between more huge buildings. There was a gray Toyota Corolla parked there and an older man leaned against the side of the car. He wore a white shirt and a tie, tucked under a purple windbreaker jacket. A black messenger bag was slung around his shoulder.
When they were close enough together, the man raised a hand. His loafers crunched on the gravel. “Hi, are you Pam?”
Sydney’s demeanour immediately shifted and she smiled and stuck out her hand to greet the man. “Yep, that’s me. Thank you so much for meeting with us here.”
“I’m Chris,” he said. He turned and gestured to the car. “This is the Corolla.”
Zack stepped up and shook Chris’s hand. “I’m…Mark. Thanks for meeting us. How much is the car?”
Chris smiled. “I have it listed for $2500. It’s been a great car, honestly. I bought it from an old lady a few years back. All of the routine maintenance was done—I have the proof, if you need.”
“Why are you selling?” Sydney asked. She circled the car and kicked at the tires.
Chris pointed at the purple windbreaker. It had an energy logo embroidered on it. “Company car. I got a raise and a promotion. It’s just sitting now and I don’t need it.”
“Okay,” Zack said. “Do you mind if we take it for a ride?”
Chris smiled. He looked over all of their bags and their slightly disheveled state. “I’ll tag along if that is okay. What are you going to do with the bags?”
Sydney flashed a smile. “What a perfect opportunity to test out the trunk space, don’t you think?”
Chris shrugged. “I suppose so.”
They piled into the car and Zack dumped their bags and luggage into the trunk, which proved to have plenty of space. Sydney drove with Zack in the passenger seat. Chris provided some directions, and they drove all around the downtown core. Huge grey buildings and amazing architecture surprised Zack as they drove around. He had to admit that Calgary was a pretty nice place.
Sydney pulled the car back into the gravel parking lot and put the car in park. “I like it. We’ll take it.”
Chris clapped his hands. “Excellent! I have the registration and transfer paperwork in my bag.”
Chris unzipped his black messenger bag and ruffled around inside. Zack looked over to Sydney, whose face had gone white and pale.
“Uh…Chris, we are still just arranging for a ride to get the registry. Do you think that we could sign the paperwork here and come back for the car?”
Chris stopped for a minute. “We have to go to the registry to transfer the ownership. That’s how it works here.”
Sydney gulped. Zack looked over at her and rubbed his chin. “I know, I know. I’m sorry about this. We actually have just moved here and we don’t have an address yet. Can we sign the paperwork and then we can fill out our portion, including our address, later?”
Chris frowned and tapped on the centre console. “I don’t know…”
Zack smiled. “It’s $2500, right? What are you going to do with the cash?” He dug in the bag and pulled out the wad of Canadian money that he had just received from CurrencyX. Zack counted it out and held it in the air.
Chris eyed the money. He tapped the centre console some more. A tense moment passed as Chris considered. Zack had no idea if it was breaking the law to buy a car this way. It was definitely a morally grey zone for Chris. “My wife has been talking about the Dominican...”
Zack held the cash out. “So…do we have a deal?”
“Make it $2800 and we are good.”
Zack didn’t hesitate. “Done.”
Chris clicked a pen and signed the paperwork on the centre console. He passed the paperwork to Zack and accepted the money when Zack held it out. “Pleasure doin’ business with you.”
“Thanks,” Zack said.
Chris shuffled out of the car. He took the plates off of the car and strode off. Zack watched him type on his phone and then a few minutes later an Uber stopped by and picked him up. It zipped away, swept back into the busy city.
“Well. We have a car now,” Zack said. Sydney and Zack sat there for a moment in their new ride.
Zack hopped out of the car and pulled the stolen plates he had kept from the Subaru and attached them. Sydney was sitting in the driver’s seat when Zack returned.
“Where to, cap’n?” Sydney asked. She squealed and turned the radio up and an upbeat song pumped through the Corolla’s meagre sound system.