The man laughs. "My name is Piet," he says. "Some call me Zwarte Piet. I serve as Sinterklaas' bodyguard."

"I don't know that name, mister," says the shoplifter kid.

Piet just shakes his head a little. "You should. It was what the people of this city called him, first, before the English came and called him Santa Claus."