The Thieves Of Our Time

Flush ;

TW: Mentions of SA

DIANA copied off of Alice's math homework. The thing was, Alice was pretty sure she was wrong, too.

At lunch, Diana talked a lot. Today's topic: Mr. Gregory.

"We get three passes for the whole semester. Doesn't he know girls bleed. And I have to go from algebra 2 to his stupid physics class." Both classes in which she'd failed years before. "Those classes are on the opposite sides of the school and I don't have time to change my fucking pad. I was about to rub my blood all over his fucking face."

Alice popped a fry in her mouth. "He's so old, is he even qualified to teach at this point."

Diana sighed. "That's my point. They should just fire him or something." Diana rested her face on her fist. "So unfair," she spoke more to herself than anything.

A girl came behind Diana and hughed her. "Christopher's on the soccer team, right? I really like Michael, can you get him to say a few good things about me?" She was basically begging for this guys attention. Doesn't she know Michael was a man-whore? He went through girls worse than Elizabeth and her boys.

"Sure thing, Krista," Diana said before turning to Alice. "Alice, God, I think Chris is black-out high in his apartment or something. He didn't come to school today. Wanna come with me after school?"

"Sure, why not?" Alice said. She didn't really have any other plans. Helping a likely murderer get into a high-class ball to be a thief - that could wait.

When Alice and Diana walked up the concrete steps towards Christopher's apartment room; they heard a crash. Alice readjusted her bag and followed Diana's quickened pace.

Diana shakily put her keys into the hole and opened the door. She was ready to fight, a determined look on her face.

Christopher wasn't anywhere to be seen - or anything for that matter. It was too dark to see anything. Then they heard a groan coming from the back and walked towards him. They ran into a few things here and there but went back on track.

"Chris? Baby, where are you?" Diana said. Alice could barely make out his hand, sticking up in the corner of the room. Alice pointed it out to Diana, and she made her way over.

"Oh, what happened to you?" Diana said with worry. Chris was wedged behind furniture and high. He couldn't get back out. Diana, with all five feet of her strength, pulled at his arms until he yanked out and fell on top of her.

She ordered Alice to find a light switch. Alice grazed her fingers against the wall until it hit against a switch, and she flicked it on.

Christopher's apartment was nothing nice. Two sofas, a TV, and drugs and ash trays everywhere. He had old Raman on his coffee table along with other old foods, and cans.

Diana examined his face - all damage done to his stumbling. His eyes were bright red, and he had a bruise on his left cheekbone. Diana caressed it with her thumb and kissed him. Alice felt awkward and looked away, but before she knew it, Diana had pulled Christopher onto the couch. Alice helped bring his legs up.

"Alice, can you get some water?"

Alice went into the small kitchen. Even though she had grown up rich, with a kitchen the size of his whole apartment, she wasn't stupid. Alice opened an off-tone green cabinet that didn't close just right. She grabbed a class and filled it with faucet water. She made her way back into the living room, where Diana tried to get him to drink the water.

Alice sat on the couch, looking at the stained, cracking ceilings. It reminded me of the abandoned house. But he lived here - full time.

"Alice, what do I do? He's going to die this time, I swear to god," she said Turning to him, "if you die ill fucking kill you!"

"Hey, don't worry. He'll be fine."

"I thought I flushed all those drugs," she said, scratching her head, looking around.

"They're easy to aquire, sadly." Alice looked at her. "Diana, I'll look around and flush any drugs I find."

Diana nodded with tired and worried eyes.

Alice searched through all the nooks and cracks in the house. She found a bunch under his bed and between couch cushions. She opened the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. She took any and all medicine out. She flushed it all. Over and over again.

She walked through his room, flush.

She looked under the carpet, flush.

Flush.

Flush.

Flush.

Alice washed her hands. Top many times. And when she was done, she sat next to Diana.

"He didn't overdose, Di." Alice put her hand on her shoulder. That wasn't the right to say, was it?

"He could've," she sniffled. "You know he does drugs cause his dad touched him when he was a little boy. I told him it didn't make him any less worthy of love. I just don't know how to help him, Alice."

Alice knew, but it was nothing good. He needed to stop the drugs, and the only way he was getting that was by getting arrested or put in rehab.

They sat in silence. Except the silence ate into their thoughts, intensifying and horrifying them with what they could come up with.