[ WP ] Stockholm syndrome , but the other way around .

Christopher checked the order again before he left the store. One double cheeseburger, one large fries, and a coke. Perfect, everything she had asked for. Scrunching the top of the bag closed he stepped out into the frigid wind flowing in off the river. Shrugging his coat high around his neck Christopher hurried on his way. Buildings hunched around him, past their prime, huddled together like old men protecting each other from the cold wind of the evening and the indifference of a world that had moved on. 
 
 
 
 Once this area had bustled with light, loud shouts, and accusations ringing through the air as ships were unloaded by strong limbed youths and stoic stevedores. Money had flown into the city then, over a dozen ships a day, docking and unloading, bringing endless fuel for the bright burning furnace of the city. Televisions, Cars, Whitegoods, all of it had moved through the docks, leaving a slick of good fortune on the ground, a layer of wealth anyone with a strong back and willingness had been able to harvest. Now with the ships gone the money had retreated uptown, leaving the waterfront bare, those same workers grizzled old men hunched around oil barrels for warmth. 
 
 
 
 That was how Christopher had found himself in this mess. Third generation dock worker, born to decline. Stamped from an outdated mold, tough men and tougher women, learning at the knees of their fathers to drive an industry forward that no longer wanted them. An outdated piece of machinery, a horse drawn buggy in a world of Cadillacs and Pickup trucks, useless before his time. What option did a kid like him have? No wonder he kept doing such stupid shit like this. 
 
 
 
 As Christopher, mounted the rusted creaking steps to the loft he looked left to right, ensuring no one would see him. Jimmy would kill him if he was caught, not a haha, I ’ m going to kill you caper. No, more a bullet in the back of the head and a quick drop in the river kind of thing. Jimmy didn ’ t mess around, with his brutal justice and whispered commands, you listened to Jimmy if you knew what was good for you. Jimmy ran the whole damn gang, from whippet like Nick with his sandy blond bowl cut and nervous laugh to hunched shouldered Jack, with his protruding gut and endlessly repeated meandering stories, everyone listened to Jimmy. Their own marching little Napolean, short, round and scary as all hell. 
 
 
 
 Jimmy was the guy with the plan, the mastermind, the dictator, the CEO of the whole fucking venture. One quick snatch, a growled phone call and then to wait. It was a perfect plan said Jimmy, no chance it could fail. Grab the only daughter of the richest family in the goddamn city and you better believe you were going to get paid. Christopher wasn ’ t so sure, he had seen to many movies end with cracking gunfire and blood-spattered brick to feel truly comfortable, but Jimmy ’ s immediate threat scared him worse than any imagined fate, so he did what he was told. So they waited. All of them crammed in this abandoned office, waiting a call that just had to come. 
 
 
 
 She waited with them. That softly spoken girl with her wispy blonde hair and sad frightened eyes. She sat hunched on a chair in the corner, knees drawn to her chest and watched them watch her, watched this pacing pack of gorillas strut around like they had a plan. Pretty little Jessica, 12 years old if she was a day, kind, gentle, what a sweet kid. So different from the clamoring brats Christopher was used to, loud brash girls like his own sister Kim, with her stringy brown hair and shrill little voice. Nah, Jessica was different, something more pure, a delicate bird caught in their coarse filthy trap. 
 
 
 
 Entering the loft once more Christopher nodded at Jack, sat leant against the wall on guard duty. He moved over to where Jessica waited, that same huddled pose in that same chair, waiting his return. They shared a little smile at his approach, her nose wrinkling as she could smell the crisp potatoes and melted fat of the meal. Poor kid, if only there was some way he could help her.
