Brandon Terrell - The Undercover Cheerleader

The man in the trench coat strolled into the dead-end alley without a care in theworld. It was the middle of the afternoon in the city. There wasnt a cloud in thesky. The man in the coat looked a little suspicious. But he was playing it cool.He didnt act like he had thousands of dollars of stolen watches hidden in his coat.

The alley was the perfect spot to meet. There were no windows, just brick walls onthree sides and a single dumpster against one wall. The man sipped coffee from afoam cup. As he passed the dumpster, he lifted the lid and tossed in the nearly emptycup. He set the lid back down, careful not to slam it, just as he heard footstepsbehind him.

A second man, this one skinny and more nervous, had entered the alley. His hair wasruffled. Sweat stains bloomed under the armpits of his button-down shirt. He carrieda briefcase and strode quickly over to the first man.

Do you have them? the second man asked. His eyes flicked over to the alley entrance,as if expecting someone to appear.

The first man smiled. Relax, he said. Everythings here. Is that the money? Henodded at the briefcase.

Yeah.

Then its a pleasure doing business with you.

The two men were unaware that they were being watched from the unlikeliest of places.

Inside the pitch-black dumpster, which was thankfully almost empty, sat two verypatient young detectives. Twelve-year-old Jaden Williams removed his baseball capand wiped the dregs of the mans coffee from it. Phew, that was a close call, hewhispered. Dude almost saw us when he threw away his... he sniffed his hat,mocha latte.

Keisha Turner, a year older than Jaden, pressed a finger to her lips to shush him.

Jaden ignored her. What? he whispered, his voice nasally. This is the stinkiest ever. We smell like old takeout food and rotten burps.

Keisha pressed her eye to a tiny hole the kid detectives had drilled into the sideof the dumpster. The two men making their illegal deal were about ten feet away.

How are we supposed to see anything stuck in here? Jaden asked.

Watch and learn. Keisha grabbed a white cardboard pizza box from Zippy Za. Itwas a little crumpled, with dried out flakes of crusty cheese stuck on one side.Hayden, Jadens twin sister, had shown her this trick, and it had blown her mind.

Keisha held up the piece of cardboard the side not stained with grease and tomatosauce in front of the hole. A pinprick of light gleamed onto the cardboard. Sheslowly backed the pizza box up. The light grew brighter. Miraculously, an upside-downimage began to appear on it!

Whoa, Jaden whispered.

Its like a pinhole camera, Keisha said, remembering what Hayden had told her.The light from outside comes in through the tiny hole, like the lens of a camera.

Good thing its a sunny day outside, Jaden replied.

Keisha adjusted the pizza box. The image showed the two men outside. They were inthe process of exchanging the briefcase of money for the stolen watches. Quick,she instructed Jaden. Snap a photo.

Jaden used his phone to take a picture of the image on the pizza box. Despite thelow quality of the image, the mens faces were plainly visible. He tapped the sendbutton on his phone and waited.

* * *

Three blocks away, fourteen-year-old Carlos Diaz sat perched on a bus stop bench.Traffic zipped past on the street in front of him. On the opposite sidewalk, twopolice officers stood next to their squad car, sipping coffee and chatting.

We got em! Hayden Williams, who sat on the bench beside Carlos, piped up. Oneof her favorite grape suckers was wedged in her mouth. She held out an old electronictablet. On the screen was the grainy photo Jaden had sent her.

Carlos leapt off the bench. Awesome! he exclaimed. Keisha and Jaden really camethrough in the clutch. Then he quickly strode across the street with Hayden at hisheels. From his back pocket, he withdrew a folded piece of paper.

Excuse me, Carlos said, waving at the two police officers and flashing his widestsmile.

Everything okay, kid? one officer asked.

Carlos unfolded the paper and held it out. It was a printout of a wanted poster fromthe police departments website. On it was the man who was selling stolen watchesin the alley.

Hayden held up the tablet next to Carlos printout. The resemblance was uncanny.

Looking for this guy? Carlos asked.

Thats Barney Marsh, the jewelry store robber, the second cop said.

Whered you get that photo? the first cop asked, putting down his coffee.

* * *

In the alley, the two men were finishing their deal. The first man double-checkedthe briefcase to make sure the money was in it while the other placed the stolenwatches in a bag.

As they did, a loud screech erupted from the end of the alley. A police cruiser cameto a stop, blocking the entrance completely.

Oh no! the second man shouted. He dropped the watches and thrust his arms intothe sky.

The first man froze. Two officers entered the alley, followed by a pair of kids.

Long time, no see Barney Marsh, the first officer said.

The thief placed the briefcase on the ground and raised his hands. The two officersslapped handcuffs on both men.

Its okay now, Carlos said loudly. You can come out!

WHAM!

Jaden shouldered open the dumpster lid, and it banged against the brick wall. Hetook a deep breath, as if hed been holding his breath. Finally! he said.

The pinhole camera worked, Hayden said, bumping fists with Keisha.

Like a charm, Keisha said.

The two stunned thieves stood with jaws open as the officers led them to the waitingcruiser.

Congratulations, Carlos said to them.

Youve just been busted... Keisha added.

by the super-stinky... Jaden said, wrinkling his nose.

Snoops, Incorporated! Hayden finished.

Over here! Im open!

Keisha waved her hand in the air and Hayden fired a bounce pass to her. She quicklyput up an arcing jump shot just out of the reach of Jadens outstretched arms. Thebasketball rattled on the rim, and then fell through the hoop.

Count it! Keisha gloated.

Yeah, yeah, Jaden grumbled. Lucky shot.

Keisha and Hayden slapped a high-five while Carlos and Jaden took the ball on offense.

The young detectives were enjoying a pick-up game of b-ball in the gym at FleischmanMiddle School. The gyms old hardwood floors and brick walls bounced sound in everydirection. A set of wooden bleachers sat against one side of the gym. At its topwas a balcony area.

Come on, man, lets do this. Jaden spun his baseball cap backward like he was gettingserious. Keisha could still see the coffee stain on it from the stakeout in the dumpster.

In fact, she could still smell the old takeout food and rotten burps on herself.Shed even showered twice to try to get rid of the smell. Still... garbage.

Oh well, she thought, you do what it takes to bust a criminal.

Jaden put up a hook shot, but the ball bounced off the rim and sailed across thegym. Keisha easily beat Carlos to the ball. She snatched it up and dribbled pasthim. She glided by Jaden and finished the play with an easy lay-up shot.

Nice moves! Hayden shouted.