Nothing But Thieves {Fransykes}

2: Josh

Josh is hungry.

He doesn't let himself get hungry often. If he needs food, he picks someone's pocket for cash, grabs food from outdoor displays, or dips into his small savings account. He can't remember the last time he ate a meal acquired entirely legally, but he doesn't actually care all that much. Legal does not mean moral, and illegal does not mean immoral.

The reason that he is hungry right now is that he has smoked a rather considerable amount of weed, and now nothing of the regular food in his cupboard seems as appetizing as some convenience store junk food.

Josh groans, rolling off of his mattress on the floor and landing on the cheap laminate wood. His tiny apartment is a mess, to put it lightly. Pillows, posters, and various objects that he stole because they look cool are scattered all over the place. Hell, he doesn't even have any furniture besides his mattress, beanbag chair, and two creaky vintage chairs that he snagged from a yard sale a few years back. It's an eclectic mess, but it feels like home to him. That's all that truly matters.

He puts out his blunt in his (stolen) novelty museum ashtray and stumbles to his feet, rubbing his eyes at the sunlight streaming through his half boarded up window. "Fuck." He mumbles, digging through a pile of clothes until he finds a twenty dollar bill.

On the surface, it seems that Josh is just another man with a messy, pointless life. The messy part might be true, but Josh has a purpose in life. He likes to steal, and he is damn good at it. Mostly Josh steals to get by, but he tries to keep it ethical. He steals from the rich, and has a habit of giving people on the street asking for money hundreds if not thousands of dollars when he can spare it. He keeps what he needs, or things that just look cool to him.

Josh makes it to the crappy local convenience store without much incident. He selects as much junk food as he can carry, as well as a pack of cigarettes, paying for it all and putting the change in the tip jar.

He lights a cigarette on his way out of the store, his bag of snacks swinging from the hand that doesn't hold the cigarette. On his way home, Josh looks in the window of a store where a TV is on. On the television a reporter is speaking in front of a blurred out painting. The headline reads 'Erotic lesbian painting belonging to notorious homophobe put on display by unknown intruder'.

Josh takes a drag from his cigarette and grins. He would love to meet the person who did that. He even has a suspicion that he knows who it is. Well, in a sense he does.

There is a legend amongst thieves. They don't really have a name, but Josh privately calls them Robin Hood. Steals from the rich, gives to the poor, exposes corruption and hypocrisy. This particular job seems like it was right up their alley, exposing the fact that a homophobe gets off on lesbian sex.

Josh continues his route home, lost in thought. He really wants to meet the person behind all of these iconic jobs, and he just wishes he could figure out who they are. The most he can think to do is keep an eye on the news cycle for any potential targets for this thief, this Robin Hood. If he finds their next job, maybe Josh can 'accidentally' bump into them there. Maybe they'll even be hot.

Josh is both romantically and sexually frustrated, in case that hasn't become clear by this point. Dating is extremely difficult, because of the one inevitable question, the question about what he does for a living.

Some people hear that he is a thief and get the hell out of there. Some seem a little too interested, like they get off on it but will flip to the cops within a second of being interrogated. Some don't believe him. He doesn't tell the truth about his occupation anymore, not to anyone. It's too dangerous, and not a risk that he is willing to take.

He sighs and unlocks his apartment door, shoving it open. Thinking about his dating life has left him in a foul mood, no longer stoned. Muttering to himself about his own worthlessness, Josh grabs the blunt from the ashtray and sparks it up again. He inhales deeply, sinking down into his beanbag chair and taking a swig from his newly acquired iced tea.

Josh is in a slump. This is nothing new. In fact, it happens all of them time, slumps in his education, his work, his social life. As a teenager, he was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. There were different routes he could have taken to deal with it, but he has his own formula to manage it, a combination of the doctor's recommendation and his own technique.

Josh is on medication that keeps the lows of his mood from getting too low, dangerously low. That is helpful, but it isn't enough, so he uses high-risk behaviour, the kind that gives adrenaline rushes, to keep his head above the metaphorical water of his depression. Or maybe it's to escape his growing sense of numbness.

So there is a clear way to end this depressive episode; he can end it with an adrenaline high. He loves a good smash and grab job, and he is damn good at them, but he needs something different. Josh needs variety, and he is in danger of getting bored by the repetitive jobs. Maybe something more dangerous will do the trick this time, if he is lucky.

Josh takes out his phone, an untraceable cell, and sends a quick text.

bored. got any jobs for me?

His sister Elissa, equally if not more involved in the life of crime than Josh, replies to his message immediately. That's not a good reason to ask for a job, but I do have one. It's a little high-class for you. Sure you can handle it?

rude, you know I can. what is it?

There's an art installation opening tomorrow night. All fancy stuff. One of the paintings was acquired by force, gun to the head of the penniless owner. She contacted a friend with connections, and now they're offering ten grand for it's safe return. I don't know anyone else dumb enough to steal a five million dollar painting for ten grand, so the job is yours.

His very own Robin Hood style job, just dropped into his lap out of nowhere. Josh smiles widely to himself at the prospect of this job. Besides, ten grand may not be much to many high-class thieves, but that will mean Josh not having to work for months, even after he donates a sizable portion of it. It also sounds like the kind of job that the person he calls Robin Hood would take, meaning that Josh might even get to run into them. He has no idea how that would end, but he wants it to happen anyway.

i'll do it, i got this

Great! Elissa texts back, I'll send you the info. Don't get caught, cause I'm not visiting your dumb ass in jail.

Josh keeps smiling, because that message is the equivalent of his sister telling him to stay safe and that she loves him. She has a strange communication style, but Josh is used to that and he loves her anyway.

Love you too

Josh open a bag of Doritos and settles back in his beanbag chair, excited by the prospect of what is to come. He's gonna steal something because it is the right thing to do, and the very thought of it has thrills coursing through his body. He can't wait.

~

I attached a song by nothing but thieves because it slaps and I love it

my mom and I bop to their music all the time lmao

plus they're the namesake for this story so it feels right to attach their music

start to dream and remember to create and destroy as you see fit

-Samira