Delinquent

3

There was nothing green about Greenwood, not even when it wasn't late fall; the forsaken side of the city, with its grimy windows, graffitied walls, and tiny little corner stores that people rarely entered. It's most prominent and definitely its best-kept feature was the mall, adequately named Greenwood Mall, and it was, perhaps, the only reason these outskirts had not yet been abandoned.

Jett found the two siblings at the gas station outside of the mall, sitting side by side on a rusting metal bench, hoods flipped up against the wind. Lyte waved her over and she slid in between the two of them. Trey passed her an unsealed, unaddressed white envelope, and upon inspection, Jett discovered three twenty dollar bills inside. It was almost comical how Lyte and Trey took this so seriously, even more so that this petty crime reel they ran was a real thing. But, she did not complain or mock them.

The three discovered a reasonably cheap place to eat inside the mall, and having discussed close to nothing the entire time, Jett was beginning to wish she'd stayed home. These meager friendships and mediocre burgers brought a yearning for something, really anything, real and untainted. Caught up in disappointment and dreariness, she nearly overlooked Trey handling a wallet that was not her own. But it was not until the three left the diminutive business and entered the malls bustling hall, that Jett stopped her. She glanced from Trey's face, down to her pocket—Trey wasn't a stupid girl, she would know what Jett was implying, and she was doing it discreetly in this way so not to cause a potentially dangerous scene in this public place.

Trey grinned slyly, tapping the bump in her denim pants that betrayed the pockets contents. "Pretty slick, huh? Took even you a while to notice."

There was a fine line of difference here. Acting out revenge upon someone who had wronged another, or vandalizing the property of a hateable person somehow seemed more justified than the theft of something so valuable and necessary from an innocent passerby. Especially since, as far as she knew, the siblings were faring just fine financially, and weren't in need of extra cash, aside from the sole purpose of possessing petty cash to squander as they pleased on fruitless activities and meaningless memorabilia.

"Oh, cheer up you hopeless humdrum." Lyte said lightly, in response to Jett's look of concern, his eyes casting up toward the high ceiling in a sort of loose annoyance.

"Cheer up?" Jett snapped at Lyte, then threw a scowl at Trey as she added, "I think it's you who doesn't know what the hell they're doing."

She knew she should not have spoken out and provoked Trey, as angering the volatile girl never ended in happily-ever-after, but she was frustrated with the pair of them and their relentless criminality.

As if she found the need to directly contradict Jett's outburst, Trey turned her back to them. For a moment, Jett thought it was merely a spirited pout, in reaction to being rudely disproved, but she soon realized it was not. Jett recognized what was happening only mere seconds before it did. Trey's agile well-trained fingers reached for the dangling coat pocket of an older man idling by a shop window. The contents were deftly lifted, and before anyone could react to the situation, the orange-haired girl replaced the green leather wallet into Jett's jacket pocket, where it protruded; an unwelcome intruder.

"And now who is it?" Trey inquired coolly, her grey eyes promising danger. She gave the man's jacket a sharp tug, and shoved Jett's shoulder, causing her to stumble into him.

Jett recovered herself physically, regaining her balance and preparing to dash from the scene before he could come to terms with what had just happened (mind you Jett hadn't even come to terms with it yet), but his rugged hand seized her by the arm and it was too late. She struggled and squirmed but his hold on her arm was firm and didn't promise to lessen. She was shocked, her mind suddenly blank, save for the pounding of confusion and perhaps betrayal.

Passersby soon became onlookers, their faces all seeming to wear the same expressions of bewilderment and concern. Among the enclosing arena of bodies, Jett spotted locks of artificially orange hair and yelled out, but the color slipped away like a dream, and she was left abandoned in the sea of unfriendly and unfamiliar faces, under the most unfortunate of circumstances.