"We can always knock over a 711", Adam said.

"A 711", repeated Frank.

"Yea".

"A 711?", Ernie said.

"Yea! A 711!"

"What'll that get us. A hundred dollars, if we're lucky?", asked Frank.

"Well, okay, it's not a lot but it's something".

"Yea", Ernie said, "it's a hundred dollars".

"Twenty-five after we divvy it up. We do that every night and...I can't pay my rent on twenty-five a day, you jackass!!", screamed Frank.

Dooley had been quiet up to this point. "Seems I recall that the last time you knocked over a 711 you got caught ".

"Seem as I recall you got shot too", Ernie added.

"Well, who'd a thought some old lady would have a gun and shoot me?", Adam said in his defense.

"Well, the old lady for openers", Frank told him.

"Good thing for you she didn't know how to shoot or you'd be dead", Dooley added on.

"Well, anyone got any better ideas? I need money for my lawyer. I don't want some kid who'll get me found guilty and get me put away", Adam asked, getting thoroughly pissed off.

"Maybe none a the rest of us need any ideas right now. Maybe only you throw your money away", Ernie said.

"So I like to play poker", Adam replied.

"Hey, I've gone with you a couple a times. You don't play. You never win unless you're dealt a pat hand. Then you start grinnin' and gigglin' like some retard or little girl and everyone knows you got a pat hand and folds. All you ever get is the ante", Cooley said.

"Yea, well, yea-"

Adam was a thief. He was a great shoplifter, a pretty good burglar and a decent fence whenever Ernie helped some things fall off a truck. Adam was a firm believer in non-violence especially if it was aimed at him, like that old lady aimed at him. He wasn't too smart or too dumb, either of which would have gotten him killed long ago with his personality.

Ernie shoplifted by the truck load. He didn’t fool around with stores much. He got his goods before the store did and then undersold them. No warranty and no return policy but a great price. He was a cool customer and well-liked by most people, although not by Adam.

Dooley was "in" for whatever the guys came up with. He had a good head on his shoulders and never panicked. He could always be depended on to do his part of a job well and completely.

Frank was the leader in a sense. He was clever and cold-blooded about being a thief. He figured if he got caught and the cops could make a case he deserved to go to jail for stupidity. He was married once but, as he put it, "She had this honesty thing and thought I should too."

Adam did end up with some kid fresh from taking the bar exam. Adam was his first case and he was all exited, like some kid on his first real date.

"Mr. Obrowski, a pleasure, sir. I promise to do my best for you. Are you open to a deal?", he started .

"I hope to God you'll do your best being as that's your job! Deal? Sure, if it includes no jail time", Adam said.

"Come now, sir, you'll have to do some prison time".

"Prison? No. No way, man. I'll take my chances with a trial".

That was a mistake.

"Trial? Man, they have you dead cold. They have you on tape, you goof", Frank told him.

"So? I was wearing a hood. I could have been anybody. That don’t prove nothing".

Cooley piped in with, "Maybe not. Thing is, you were found at the scene; you were shot up; you admitted the old lady shot you".

"It was you alright", Ernie said.

"Ain’t pleading guilty", Adam told them.

The trial started in the usual way. The first witness was the arresting officer. He testified as to what happened and was going along smoothly until the DA asked if the perpetrator was in the courtroom and would he please identify him.

"Sure. It's that goof at the defense table".

"Objection, your Honor! That's an opinion. I ask that you instruct the jury to disregard that", Adam's lawyer yelled out.

The judge sustained the objection but a little slowly.

"The jury will disregard the defendant being called an idiot", she told the jury.

"Objection, your Honor! He was referred to as a 'goof' not an idiot", Adam's lawyer yelled out.

"Okay, whatever, The jury will disregard that, too", she told them.

Then things got lively when the old lady was called to the stand.

"Why, that darn fool tried to hold me up with a finger in his pocket. I may be old, I ain’t stupid. So, I grabs the gun I keep under the counter an’ shot ‘em. If I’d a had my glasses on, we wouldn’t be needin’ this trial, I’ll tell you that".

"You mean, you knew he didn’t have a weapon and you shot him anyway", Adam’s attorney asked.

"Yea, would a shot em’ a couple a more times if the gun hadn’a jammed".

The lawyer whispered to Adam, "That’s one tough old lady".

"Yea, I know. I’m the one she shot. Look, let’s cut a deal with the DA", dam told him.

"Don’t trust me to win this?", his lawyer asked.

"Well, no, but that’s not why I want to cut a deal".

"Why, then?"

"Look at the jury. There’s three old ladies on it".