Hiding Sparrows

4. The Dust Still on Your Shoes

I once heard a saying that goes like this;

Sell what you have bought while the dust is still on your shoes.

I don't know where I heard it, or in what context it was said, but in the days after my heist, I decided that it probably applied to stolen goods as much as it does to legal purchases. It felt as though that old lady's jewellery was burning a hole in my pocket, filling me with shame in each waking moment of the day.

I'd told Heath that I had taken the earrings to the police station, and that there had been a woman who'd already reported having lost them, so the case was closed and there was no harm done. He bought it, thankfully.

However, as far as I could tell, no one even had noticed the jewellery was missing. For a week, I consistently checked the news and the local 'Crimestoppers' Facebook group, but there were no reports of a burglary in the area. I knew that it wasn't a lot to go off, but my gut feeling was that my generous benefactor was blissfully unaware she'd been taken advantage of.

So, after about a week of waiting out, I packed the stolen goods into a worn leather knapsack, looked up pawn shops nearby, then made the trek to the train station to venture towards the city. I had to change train lines twice, and once I finally got out, the walk to the shop had me walking over two hills. By the time I actually got there, I was seriously regretting not driving. However, I did make it, and was very much relieved when the inside of the store was air conditioned.

It was a random store, as all pawn shops are, and the boy behind the counter seemed pretty bored. When I walked in, he gave me a small wave but that was as far as the enthusiasm went. I took a deep breath in then walked across to the counter and put my bag down. Trying to act as non-suspicious as possible, I pulled out the boxes and placed them in front of him

"I want to sell these," I told him.

He looked down at the boxes then back up at me, frowning. "What, you rob a jewellery store?"

I let out a dry laugh. "God, I wish I was that badass. But no, I wouldn't do that, I don't really need jewellery. All these people dropping mad bank to buy little rocks and impress their friends, it's so empty, you know? Meanwhile real people are out there working at grocery stores and doing actual work, and it's just like, capitalism sucks, right?"

He looked uncomfortable but nodded anyway, pulling the boxes closer and picking one up. His eyes went wide, and he looked back up at me, raising an eyebrow. "Why'd you get these, then?"

I scoffed. "I didn't get them, that's for sure. They were from my dick of an ex-boyfriend. Two years and all that could show for it was his cheating ass sleeping with my sister. The nerve, you know? And he thinks he can buy me back with all this expensive crap, just because he makes a shit-tonne of money. What an absolute crapbag, right?"

The boy nodded, but still looked uneasy, having looked at each of the boxes. He let out a nervous breath. "There's a lot here..." He muttered, "I'm not sure what I can do for you."

"Yeah, I know," I said, trying to sound dejected. "I mean, I just want to get rid of them, you know? It just- it hurts too much to have them around, right? I don't want to keep getting reminded of him."

He bit his lip. "Yes, of course... I just need to check with my manager."

I forced an exhasperated sigh. "Alright, whatever."

The boy turned and walked through a curtain of beads behind the counter. After a second, I heard him talking in hushed mandarin to someone out the back. They had a short conversation back and forth, then a few moments later, the boy reemerged, this time with a grey-haired old man at his tail.

The man smiled at me and bowed his head.

"Hello miss," He said, in a heavy accent. "You have your boyfriend's jewellery, yes?"

"Ex-boyfriend," I said curtly. Then I shook my head. "I would very much like to sell it but your employee here is being a hard-ass. If there's a problem, I can take them somewhere else?"

The old man shook his head and let out a laugh. "No, no, no problem miss, no problem. May I look?"

I pursed my lips, and gestured to the boxes. "By all means."

The old man picked up each item in turn, opened it, and investigated the jewellery inside. Piece by piece, he went through the pile, making noises of hmmm, and, ah. Once he was done, he nodded at me and smiled. "We will buy, of course. I can give you prices?"

I let out a breath of frustration and rolled my eyes. "Please," I muttered.

He nodded nervously, and started going through the boxes and listing prices. He was totally lowballing me, but I let him finish, before I shook my head and began picking up the boxes. "This is a fucking joke. What, you think I'm just some gullible bitch you can throw a loaf of bread and appease? I'll be taking my business elsewhere, and you guys better watch your google reviews because I'll be leaving a very finely worded message."

I turned to leave and heard the boy mutter something in mandarin. Just as I put my hand on the door, the old man called out, "Wait!"

I turned, and looked back at them, raising an eyebrow. "I'm only staying if you pay me in full."

He nodded quickly. "I'm sorry, miss. I will give you more favorable prices, yes?"

"You better," I muttered, returning to the counter.

So, we went through again, and this time, I didn't bother holding back my reactions. By the time we were done, I was feeling rather confident in my abilities of manipulation. Through the whole time, not a single other customer came into the store. The old man finalised the tally and made me fill out a form with my details, of which I faked, claiming my name was Sarah Hill, and citing my address as a random street I'd passed on the walk there. Once I signed the contract, the old man took away the jewellery and began counting cash. I watched with a keen eye, but he didn't miss a cent. After it was all dished out, he placed it in a taupe money bag and handed it across to me.

"Pleasure doing business, miss," He said, with a smile. "We'll be in contact if there are any issues, yes?"

I nodded, placing the bag inside my knapsack and shutting it. "Hopefully there won't be."

Without so much as a have a nice day, I spun on my heel and strut out of the store. I passed in front of a black sedan parked out front and jaywalked across the road to the path, then began the walk back to the train station. It wasn't until I was well and truly away from the store that I finally let myself breathe. A grin found it's way to my face, and I couldn't help but feel a jolt of excitement.

I was confident, cool and collected, and close to $30k richer than I was that morning. Sure, I didn't know what I was going to do for the other $70k, but I wasn't thinking about that in that moment. In that moment, all I could think about was my glee.

I think that was at least in part what led to my undoing.

Authors Note

Hey again lovelies,

It's nice to see you again.

What did you think of the chapter? Pick up on anything familiar?  Anything dodgy?

It's really great to see people reading this, because I know it can be daunting to take a chance on a new story (and no, I don't know if that makes any sense.)

Anyways, I just want you earlybirds to know that I'm very grateful for you, and I couldn't do this without you.

With love,

Alex