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“Are you ready?” Mozzie shouts up the stairs.
Two pair of bouncing footsteps come thundering down the stairs. “Yeah, Yeah, we are ready.”
“OK, let´s get your coats on and then we can go out. Where do you want to go. The museum of American gangster, MoMa, the library?”
“The playground.” Two voices squeal.
Mozzie rolls his eyes but smiles, “OK, let´s go, so we can get ice cream on our way back.”
The trio walks down the street towards the park where Mozzie knows is a ‘semi safe’ playground. He checked it out first before introducing it to the two boys.
“What is in your backpack, uncle Mozz?” Neal asks, eyeing the bag curiously.
“Just stuff.” Mozzie evades the question.
“Stuff for us, did you bring snacks?” Theo asks hopefully?
“No, silly, Mozzie needs spy gear for his next heist.” Neal explains to Theo with a serious face.
“Where did you get that?” Mozzie asks a bit offended.
“Dad says that you used to pull heists with Neal.”
Mozzie gives them a bright smile, remembering, “Yeah, I used to, but I didn´t bring spy gear. There are indeed snacks and drinks in the bag and a book for me.”
“Oh goodie, snacks.” Theo cries out.
They arrive at the playground and the boys run off before Mozzie can tell them to be careful. They have heard that speech one too many times. There is nobody else in the playground and after having check the vicinity, Mozzie sits down on one of the benches and takes out his book.
When it suddenly goes silent, Mozzie looks up. Quiet is never good, especially with Neal… The little one is way too noisy and playful to be silent.
“NEAL?”
Mozzie listens, but he doesn´t hear the boys.
“THEO?”
When both boys don´t respond to his calling out, he opens the backpack and takes out a tablet. He starts it up and opens the tracking program. Smiling, he walks towards the two little bleeps on the screen. Now he understands Peter´s obsession with Neal´s anklet.
The two little boys are hunched over something and definitely not paying attention to their surroundings. He stops behind them.
“What are you doing?”
Both boys startle and look like fawns caught in the headlights.
“Nothing.” Neal answers a bit too quick.
“You were trying to set a fire, weren´t you.”
“Why would we start a fire?” Neal answers.
Mozzie glares at him, “You know, you have that same evasive tone as your namesake. Remember that I mastered that tactic even before you were born. So, please…”
“I found this box of matches in the bushes.” Theo blurts out.
“Come on boys, how many times do I have to tell you not to pick up stuff you find in the bushes. You can get hurt. You can even get more hurt when you burn yourself. And don´t even get me started on what happens if these bushes catch fire and someone gets hurt. Before you do anything, always think what can be the consequences. Always perform a cost-benefit analysis.”
“What is a cost-benefit analysis, uncle Mozz?
“Ah young Padawan, I will explain this over icecream, along with the proper way to set a fire. Let´s go.”
While they are walking in front of him, Mozzie can hear Theo ask Neal, “How did he know where we were?”
“I don´t know, but I will find out.”