Ame Perdue

Chapter One

If life worked out the way we wanted to, most of us would be dead. Especially all the pricks who can't follow simple orders. You know, like closing a book and deciding to not pry into someone's life. Unfortunately for me, life doesn't work out that way. You're still breathing, still reading and I still hate your guts for it. Just like this guy hates my guts.

Not, that he knows it's me he hates. He just hates that jerk who managed to slide his wedding ring right off his finger without him noticing. I rolled the small object in my palm, feeling the many slight dings in the metal. I knew that the ring had slid off his finger far easier than it should have, alerting me to one of two things, he had either lost weight very recently or, more likely, he was constantly taking it off. No happily married man allowed their wedding ring to slide off so easily if they were proud of their marriage. I doubted that he would notice that the unwanted object was missing anytime soon. His wife would probably notice before him.

It fell from my palm and hit the other objects in my pocket with a small ping, joining some loose change, a shoelace, a lighter, and all of the other random objects people should keep a closer eye on. There wasn't a less observant crowd than the one that roamed the streets at five in the evening. Everyone was tired after their eight-hour shift, they hardly paid attention to the world around them as they shoved past people in their rush to get back to the wasteland they called home. A place where they'll pretend as if their family isn't just as much work as the job they just left. They would be returning to their boring lives, stuck in the same rut they had been in since they moved to this crappy city. I was just making their day slightly more interesting.

I held no fear of being caught, the people in this city were far too stupid to even realize that there was a pickpocketer among them. It would likely be hours before the first person even realized that they were missing some 'oh-so-valuable priceless heirloom'. I scoffed. Yeah, I'm sure the knock-off earring I took from you was worth millions. That it was so important to you that you didn't even notice that it was gone. I never took anything of real value, I knew how to tell a fake diamond from a real one, or if the bastard wearing the jewelry was rich enough to afford to replace what I took. All the people I saw ranting on the news about being pickpocketed were just embarrassed that someone managed to steal their crap without them noticing. I would be embarrassed too if some random street thug stole my belt buckle.

It was sad, really. As I stretched out in a fake yawn, my fingertips venturing into the angry businessman's personal space, slipping away with the cool metal of the clip holding his tie in place. Not an item that was missed until your tie was blowing around on a windy day, nor would he realize that it had been stolen, probably assuming that it had simply fallen. The man didn't even blink as I slid the item into my pocket. It was amusing how if one walked slightly slower than the evening crowd, people brushed by you, not noticing whether or not your hands rummaged through their pockets. They assumed any touch was simply the result of them shoving by you. By the time they realized what had happened, they would be too far ahead of me to realize that it was me. I couldn't even blame their stupidy on their tiredness, even the people rushing to begin their shifts failed to notice my wandering hands.

It had only been ten minutes since I had taken the security guard's walkie-talkie's batteries. I had seen him a few times, standing outside the same club every night, kicking some prick out on his bum. He was a big burly dude, full of muscles with a face that was locked in a permanent scowl. A scowl that would probably deepen when he realized that his walkie-talkie was broken right before his shift. It was near unbelievable. Here was a dude who made his money guarding some crappy nightclub, kicking out losers, the kind of person you trusted to guard you, and even he failed to notice the weight of his device unclipping from his holster before returning, just a few grams lighter. I smirked.