Shattered Sight

The Theif

Within the next couple of weeks, Joey adjusted to his new position. He had begun to wear a leather jacket and sunglasses, slicking back his brown hair. It was as if a new meaning in life had sprung up in him; how was I to know he hadn't changed at all, but just found a new way to reach his goal?

At first the job looked quite promising. People at school would start to give him pats on the back or high fives, but Joey would just leave them hanging. Soon they all just gave up and returned to their normal lives. But Joey enjoyed his job; it was the first time that I had seen him grin in years. He didn't do much besides answer phone calls or organize information, but even then he would stay up past midnight to get the job done. In fact, he had put so much effort into his work he got a promotion two months later!

I often visited him at his outpost at the mall. He would gaze like a hawk across the food court with narrowed eyes. There was never really much trouble besides the occasional lost child or elderlies who had trouble climbing the stairs to the upper level, but he took his job with more pride than I have ever seen. And every once in a while, girls who had come from out of out of town handed him their numbers. However, I noticed that these slips of paper would usually end up in the trash (and I admit to digging out a few). But my eyes saw nothing to worry about with Joey and I continued on with my life.

One day, while I was hanging out with Joey on the job, we spotted Gregory and his group of friends in the far corner of the room. Without any hesitation, Joey marched over towards them and I followed. To my surprise, Joey hugged him and patted him on the back like they were old pals.

"What are-" Gregory began.

"I just wanted to catch up with an old friend. Hilarious times in the past." Joey gave a jolly chuckle and Gregory faked one in response. Then Joey's eyes peered down upon a Macy's bag at Gregory's feet. "What's in the bag?"

In a boastful tone, Gregory stated, "I just got the brand new Xbox; saved up the money from washing cars all summer. Girls can't get enough of me with a wet shirt." He then winked at a girl in the group and she had stars fill her eyes.

"Congrats. That's actually pretty hilarious- I heard the security alarm go off at Macy's earlier today. They didn't catch the guy though, but then again elderly Myrtle is too close to the grave to stop anyone." He laughed and Gregory followed. Then, Joey's face turned dead serious. "This is just store policy, but I will actually have to see your receipt. I know that you didn't do it though, but I am really wanting another promotion -I hope that this time I will get a gun- and that means that I have to be extra cautions. One slip up and it will all be gone."

"Sure, no big deal." Gregory reached inside of his back pocket, but found it empty. "Hold on, it must be in my jacket." He reached in those pockets, but found them empty. He frantically searched the floor, his bag, practically every corner, but came up with the same results.

"But-but, I bought it. I swear! Come on guys, you remember, right?" All of the members of his squad nodded their heads, but one girl began to speak.

"They're lying. We all went to get Starbucks while he got his Xbox."

"But!" Gregory started. However, he started yelling when Joey began to put him in cuffs. "I swear I didn't do it! You know it, don't you! You will pay for this! Your social life will be in the toilet you-" That was the point where Gregory began to swear. I plugged my ears to hide from the awful things coming out of his mouth, but Joey ignored him. Soon the cops took Gregory for processing. He never actually went to jail, but I was pleased to hear that his fines surpassed his car wash money, and that he would have to work at the sloppy joe restaurant to pay for it. I always laughed at the thought of him covered in some sort of 'meat' sauce.