Scarface Pedro didn’t get his nickname from a knife fight or a bullet. He got it from a rusty box cutter while opening a shipment of counterfeit handbags. The gash ran from his temple to his jaw, healing into a pale, wormy trench that made children stare and adults look away. His pawn shop, El Depositario , sat on the corner of Flats and Fletcher, a grimy jewel box of other people’s broken lives.
A nervous man in a cheap suit placed a small, antique radio on the counter. “Needs repair. Family heirloom.”
On Thursday night, the pawn shop’s back door was jimmied open. Three men in black ski masks swept through, flashlights slicing the dark. Pedro watched from the mezzanine, a sawed-off resting on the railing. They tore apart the fire extinguisher. Found nothing. They tore apart the cash register. Nothing.
Scarface Pedro didn’t get his nickname from a knife fight or a bullet. He got it from a rusty box cutter while opening a shipment of counterfeit handbags. The gash ran from his temple to his jaw, healing into a pale, wormy trench that made children stare and adults look away. His pawn shop, El Depositario , sat on the corner of Flats and Fletcher, a grimy jewel box of other people’s broken lives.
A nervous man in a cheap suit placed a small, antique radio on the counter. “Needs repair. Family heirloom.”
On Thursday night, the pawn shop’s back door was jimmied open. Three men in black ski masks swept through, flashlights slicing the dark. Pedro watched from the mezzanine, a sawed-off resting on the railing. They tore apart the fire extinguisher. Found nothing. They tore apart the cash register. Nothing.