A disturbance broke out. People looked around. Shouts rang out. Screams. The girl lay on the floor, crying. Pathetic, Gronk thought. But he kept his eye on Steve Nobody. Go on, you idiot. Do something, Gronk urged in his head. Then it happened. Steve Nobody ran after Groate. And there it is, Gronk smirked. Groate probably would not get caught as Gronk had told him to empty the bag’s contents and throw it away on a path so it would be easily found, jump inside a classroom through a strategically opened window and discard the coat. But it did not really matter. The important thing was Gronk saw Steve Nobody’s backpack unattended. This was his chance. He created the opening with a masterfully executed plan. He made his own luck in life. He was the master of subterfuge.
Ever so casually, Gronk walked along the corridor while everyone either focussed on the chase or the crying girl. He neared Steve’s backpack without attracting attention. In one swift movement, Gronk took it and made for an empty classroom. He shut the door and unzipped the main compartment. There were no notes, but some expensive text books. Taking them out, he pulled open another zip.
“Bingo!!! This is what I need,” he said.
Gronk slid out a laptop computer and smiled. He had to act now. Putting the books back inside, he zipped the backpack back up. His heart was thumping with all the excitement. A spy in the making, he thought. Calm in the face of danger. Gronk left the classroom and saw Steve kneeling down in front of the girl. Her bag was back and she managed a smile, hugging Steve. Gronk snorted and dropped the backpack close to where he had taken it from. It looked like Groate had got away with it. Whatever, Gronk mused. He turned and hurried down the corridor, concealing the laptop under his coat. Now it was time for some codebreaking and destruction.
Gronk got home and rummaged around the garage. In his father’s tool box, he saw what was needed and put a hammer on the work bench. Slowly, he took the laptop from his satchel and placed it on the bench. He opened it and pressed the power button. It chimed on and a box opened for the password. Gronk stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth and tapped away. He assumed all of Steve Nobody’s college work was on the computer, but he would like to check. Wrong password. And again. Gronk tried his best to get into the laptop, but it was no good.
Frustration set in as he tried again and again to input the correct password. He screamed aloud and hit the keyboard and then the screen. It cracked, which brought a smile to his thin lips. He reached over and gripped the shiny metal hammer and swished it through the air. Gronk smashed it onto the keyboard, which dented. Swinging the hammer down repeatedly, he imagined some classical music as the keyboard came away revealing circuit boards and the hard drive. The tool banged down and broke up the internal components. The screen was in pieces, so he wrenched it away from the main computer casing. It snapped and the hammer finished the job. Computer bits were all over the place, so Gronk was careful to pick the pieces up and put them into a black bin bag. Satisfied with a good job well done, he invested in a mental session of back-slapping. Gronk sauntered outside and placed the bag in a plastic bin.
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