The night was gut wrenching and seemingly endless. I spent the hours too nervous to hold still yet too afraid to move. I was forced to sit, hands shaking and legs cramping as anxiety coursed through every vein. Roan and I somehow managed to fall asleep in the alley, neither one of us thought it was safe to go home. We can't risk the police finding our little family. I wake to the first warm rays of sunlight on my face. After what seems like five minutes of rest my eyelids creak open like a long undisturbed door rusting from it's hinges. My neck has never felt this sore, my sleep brought no sense of feeling recharged. I am still exhausted. A flurry of crunching and cracking echoes from every bone as I stand, turning to wake Roan. I look around for danger and find no signs of it, no sign of anything really. This part of the city is like a barren wasteland at dawn, even the infamous city rat offers no sign of it's presence. I don't move to restart the power, I can't until blind okays it. The only thing to do now is to go home. We use back ways and side streets in a confusing maze that takes twice as long as we want but we have to make sure neither of our two foes are watching. Only a few minutes into the walk I give up fighting the ache in my neck with various twists, stretches and pops and light a cigarette to distract myself. I inhale and hold it in longer than usual, stopping in place to do so. I blow a ring of smoke, muttering: "Oh thank fuck that's better." I catch up to Roan with the roll of paper in my teeth.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're going to get cancer?"
"Everyone, including you..at nauseum." I retort too tired to be nice and playful today.
"Well don't come crying to me when you get cancer and die." That stung, though she wouldn't know why.
"I plan on dying young anyway and don't act so high and mighty, you're going to get cancer from all the second hand smoke you breath between me, Aiden, Cameron, Blind, Bullet, Max, Tony-" I had at least two more names but she cuts me off.
"Alright! I get it. God why does half of the gang smoke?"
"Well Greg and R.J just chew tobacco and Max does both, but that's because they want to be toothless and disgusting." I continue, choosing to prioritize being a nuisance over answering her question.
"So smoking is okay but that isn't? It's all bad for you." She says in disbelief.
"No, there are just levels of bad and that is like five levels higher. To answer your question we do it because we're messed up. Smoking is for the messed up and depressed, unless you learned from a parent then it's just a bad habit. Even then I don't blame them, some people just need stress relief."
"How can you be so passive about something that kills you?"
"Because something was going to kill me eventually, it might as well be something that helps my anxiety.''
"Or because you're addicted to it."
"Now you're gettin it!" I smile, she glares maliciously.
"Gross." Is the only typical teenage response she offers. I take a long drag and blow it at her as we walk, making her sputter and fan it away. When she catches up to me she punches my arm roughly.
"Ow! Easy, it's too early for a fight." I did that to be playful but her expression causes my poor demeanor to shine through again. I decide to change the subject to business. "I spent all of yesterday scouting and I didn't see or hear anything about the murder."
"It happened over in Cam and Joan's scouting range. On the complete other end of the city. They found Aiden on the very end of his range and had him send a message to Tess and I, since our ranges overlapped in the middle of section thirteen. It was hard to find you guys since you guys were covering twice as many sections as everyone else." That one was my fault, I signed up to do the work of two teams to test Noah. "Aiden ran back into his range to try and get more information. When we got back Blind sent Roland, Tess and I, to signal everyone back because he had about a dozen scouts and half as many thieves scattered all over the city. So then we were all climbing on damn rooftops with whistles. Joan and Cam had a hell of a time finding you guys so with all that no one had the time to share any real information." I groaned.
YOU ARE READING
Shoplifter: E.O.W Series, Book 1
ActionGuns, gangs, thieves, junkyards. This life isn't what Kaius had in mind when he left behind his small town home. He finds himself living in an abandoned factory on the edge of Philadelphia with a gang of lovable yet reclusive miscreants. These trai...
