Thief's Theme: A Love Story

Two small children sit together in the open field section of the park, where there’s green for as far as the eye can see and even a small creek for children to play in. The first of the two children is a little boy with black cornrowed hair, dark brown skin, a red shirt with childish designs, and white and black sneakers. The second of the two children is a little girl with red-brown hair done up in pig tails, a blue dress with a white belt, and white shoes. The two children are resting, visibly breathing hard from playing one of their many games together. The little girl is the first to speak in between her breaths.

“Not…fair…Ji…you’re…too…fast.” She manages to get out, pouting a bit as she does. Ji gives a small grin at the compliment before responding.

“No one ever catches me!” He exclaims loudly. He then looks over her pouting form. “You’re…pretty fast too.” He says, breathing less than her and thus only pausing once in his speech to gain some air. This brightens her mood some.

“Really?” She asks, unsure of the statement.

“Yeah, no one ever catches me, but you got this close!” He says, putting his pointer finger and his thumb only an inch away from each other, nodding in reassurance as he does. She smiles and responds.

“I did? Next time I’m gonna catch you for sure!” She exclaims, having gotten most of her breath back. He nods silently, not wanting to disagree with his new friend but not able to consent to simply losing.

“You ready for another game?” He asks, looking over at her. She nods.

“Yeah let’s go!” She says as she gets up from her seated position. At the moment, Ji remembers the gift he got for his newest friend. He’d been meeting her in the park for some time now and wanted to make sure she liked him, so he got her a gift.

“Wait, I got you this.” He says, holding out a piece of candy he stole earlier. Her eyes widen and lighten up when she sees.

“Thank You!” She says as she takes the candy and hugs him, causing him to blush. For the rest of the day, Ji was distracted, only thinking about the thanks that the candy got him.

A few years later the same two children are again at the same field in the same park. This time the boy child has an afro and is significantly taller than the girl child. The boy child is also wearing something different, blue jeans, sneakers, and a black t-shirt. The girl child now has long braided hair and is wearing a purple shirt-skirt combination with dark purple shoes. The two sit down on the grass next to each other, hanging out as they take in the beautiful view that the park provides. This time the boy child is the first to speak.

“Shar…” He begins, trailing off as he prepares himself for some difficult words.

“Yeah?” She asks, looking at him as he speaks. He swallows and tries again.

“Shar, have you ever seen anything at like a store and said to yourself, ‘I want that?’” He asks timidly and hesitantly. She looks confused but answers.

“Yeah, all the time. Why?” He takes a deep breath and then clarifies.

“OK, not like ‘I want that’, but more like ‘that should be mine’, like…you know stealing it?” He asks quietly. Sharia almost barks out a laugh as she playfully hits him on the arm.

“Of course not silly. I don’t like stealing.” He remains quiet, unable to speak without feeling bad or putting his foot in his mouth. All the time he eyes a necklace he got her a few months back. It was sparkling in the sunlight and was a beautiful shade of red that matched her hair. It likely wasn’t real diamonds or anything, but still it was pretty enough that he had to get it. He had to give it to her. He wanted her to thank him as she had for the candy he gave her those few years ago and nearly every day after. He wanted her to thank him as she had for little random toys he used to steal for her. Her hug, her smile, those were what he craved. At least in the beginning. Now, there was something else to it.

Several more years pass and now both children are in middle school, meeting at the park on a weekend when class is out. The boy child is tall now, nearly the size of a normal man in height, though he’s very skinny and still identifiable as a young child. He wears a blue hoody with black jeans and black and white sneakers, and his hair is even larger and puffier than before, still in the shape of an afro. The girl child has grown as well. She’s a little shorter than the average woman in height, and has yet to truly fill out though she was budding. Her attire was a simple red shirt with butterfly designs and tight black jeans with dark red sandals. She also wore two bracelets on her left wrist, one on her right, and the necklace she received so long ago, and her hair was now puffy in the shape of an afro as his was. Again the two are hanging out and again the boy child breaks the silence.

“So Shar, you don’t like stealing right? You hate it?” He asks, still looking ahead at the sky and the view. She looks at him quizzically and answers.

“Hate’s a strong word, but yeah I guess my feelings of dislike for stealing are strong too. Why? Where are you going with this?” She asks, suspicious of his conversation.

“So then you’d mind if the things I gave you were stolen. Angry probably?” He says in almost a whisper. She has to lean in to hear what he says, before she visibly recoils in shock and a bit of disgust.

“What!?” She asks, alarmed at his words as she holds her necklace with an iron grip. Hesitantly she asks her next question. “Is that what your gifts were Ji? What they are? Stolen Property? Illegal…objects that belong to other people?” He sighs and looks her way now, having dreaded this conversation for a long time.

“So I take that as a yes then.” He says simply, reading her outrage. “I take it you don’t want any more gifts from me either.” He speaks in a deflated, almost depressed tone.

“No, I don’t.” She replies in a stern manner. Subconsciously she looks down at her bracelets and wonders if she should take them off. Ji notices.

“Don’t worry about the stuff you’ve already got. It’s…it’s good. You won’t get in trouble for it. I made sure of it.” He says quietly, looking down. She sees his sadness and lightens up a bit.

“That’s not the point Ohiji.” She talks with a softened tone. “But thank you.” She finishes as they both sit there in silence, looking down and contemplating what just happened. For Ji, he knew she’d look at him differently from now on and for Sharia, well she didn’t know what to think at the moment. Ji was still her best friend and a good person as far as she knew, but he was also a thief, something she hated. It’s Sharia who breaks the silence this time.

“I meant what I said Ji. No more gifts, not if they’re stolen. I can’t…I just can’t.” She states. Ji only nods and remains silent. The silence remains for the rest of the time they’re at the park.

Days later Ji is walking around in a black hoody with black pants and black boots, scouting out the area near the biggest bank in the city. He takes note of all the cameras as well as the guards and their shifts. More importantly he notices the small things, the nearly nonexistent moments of vulnerability, the openings he can exploit. Ji had been craving this for some time now and had subtly been watching the bank for months, even as he stole from other stores: food from grocery stores, necklaces, rings, watches, and bracelets from jewelry stores, and damn near everything from department stores, he always kept an eye on the bank.

By now he’s learned the traps they had, the combinations to their safes, and how much time he has to be in and out before anyone saw him. And if an alarm is rang, he knows how much time he had before the cops would come too. Nothing is left to chance. It’s tough, but he’s a thief and proud of it. He’d be damned if he’s stopped just because of some security or the size of his target. His blood boils in excitement and his heart pounds just thinking about the thrill, about the accomplishment he would soon hold. It was good to get this out now as he’ll have to be completely calm and extremely silent when it all went down. He knew from experience. That night he suits up with a black shirt, grey jeans, and black running shoes and is on his way. He reaches the entrance of the bank, takes a deep breath and goes in.

Sneaking quietly through the bank, Ji escapes from the back room and the safe, with copious amounts of money in hand. He’d already disposed of the marked bills inside of the bank and now just had to avoid the cameras and the guards on the way out. His excitement almost surfaces as he takes one step too many around a corner, only to see a guard still making his rounds. Calming back down, Ji steps back and waits for the guard to pass before promptly exiting the bank with his score in his hands.

As Ji exits the bank and gets to his safe spot, he can’t help but to smile, completely happy with his accomplishment. This was big, this was huge! He can’t wait to tell…oh right. His mood completely deflates as he remembers that his best friend hates stealing. She wouldn’t celebrate with him; she’d just berate him and scold him. While she’d never turn him in, she’d make him feel bad about it, like he was scum for doing it. He didn’t need that right now. He then smiles again. At least he can brag about it to his other friends, J.R., Marshon, and Bruce. And maybe a few of the prettier girls too. Girls love bad boys after all. Now to get them to believe him…

A couple of years later, Ji and Sharia, now both in high school, both sit down at the park, next to each other. It’s been so long that they’ve now dubbed this ‘their spot’ and are again hanging out on the weekends when class is out. Ji has cornrowed hair, the first signs of a mustache, a red button up shirt, black jeans, and black construction boots on and is easily a head taller than Sharia if not more. Sharia has filled out and has on a black skirt with a blue top, and black boots. Her hair is still styled in the form of an afro. This time it is Sharia who breaks the silence.

“Ji.” She starts, getting his attention as he was staring off into the distance, likely daydreaming about further thievery.

“Huh? Yeah?” He says, a bit startled as his trance is disturbed.

“How would you feel if you worked your whole life for something? If you dreamed to one day have something? You work at it, and you work at it, and you work at it, and finally after all that hard work, you got it?” She asks. He looks at her with a bewildered stare, thinking the question to be odd, but regardless he answers her.

“I’d be happy of course.” He answers truthfully, allowing her to continue.

“Now imagine some thug, some brute taking all of that away from you. All of your blood, sweat, and tears just snatched from you. You’re left with nothing, not even your former feelings of happiness.” She speaks with a cold and pointed tone, clearly trying to make a point. A point Ji understands, nodding as she speaks.

“Look I get it, but I don’t steal from people, just establishments, stores, businesses–“

“Banks?” She inquires, cutting him off. He pauses for a moment, caught off guard, telling her all she needs to know. “Yeah I know it’s you Ji. Everything’s been you hasn’t it? All of these strings of robberies that the cops can’t figure out? The stores, the banks, the…” She trails off, going silent for a moment, looking down and shaking her head. “I…I’m disappointed really. I thought you were better than that.” She finishes.

‘Better than that?’ Thinks Ji. ‘Oh great, she thinks I’m a lowlife then.’ He takes a small breath and speaks after letting the silence reign for about a minute.

“So…we cool still?” He asks, testing dangerous waters. At his words, Sharia looks at him sharply in scrutiny but nods nonetheless.

“We’re still friends Ji, I just…don’t support your thievery. And one day…I’m going to put a stop to it. Mark my words.” She exclaims. He looks at her questioningly. ‘Is she going to tell? Or does she mean something else?’ He wonders. He continues to wonder for a long time, unable to bring himself to voice his thoughts and ask her.

More time passes and both Ji and Sharia have graduated from high school. Despite that, the two still meet in their spot, hanging out as they always have. Ji now has short hair with waves brushed into it, a mustache and beard combination, and has on a black jacket with a white shirt underneath as well as black pants and black white construction boots. Sharia now has her afro split into two separate puffs and is wearing a white and black dress with white flats on her feet. Her wrists no longer bear the bracelets Ji gave her, but the necklace remains. As she did last time, Sharia breaks the silence.

“I have good news Ji.” She says, catching his attention.

“Hm?”

“Your days of thievery are over!” She conveys excitedly.

“Really?” He asks amused by her declaration. “And why is that?” He inquires. She smiles at the question and answers enthusiastically.

“Because I’ve just been enrolled into the police academy!” She replies. Ji can only stare at her in shock. Internally he is upset, very upset and it all starts to dawn on him. ‘She wouldn’t…S-She did! So this is what she meant by putting a stop to it?’

“That’s right, soon officer Sharia will be on the case. And I WILL catch you Ji. Bet.” She declares with a smile on her face. He nods silently, still thinking. ‘How can we remain friends like this?’ He wonders. ‘Won’t she be hounding me at all times?’ Sharia seems to read his thoughts as she answers his internal questions, looking at him softly.

“Big dummy, we’ll still be friends. It’s just when it’s time to work, we’re on opposite sides.” She explains. He nods and then lets a grin form on his face.

“Sounds like fun.” He says.

“Hmm?” She almost questions.

“What?” He asks, unsure of why she made that sound.

“Oh I just didn’t know you liked losing so much.” She states with a playful smile. ‘What?’ He thinks. ‘Oh…oh! She’s saying she’s going to catch me all the time! Well…probably.’

“It’s not the end result Shar, but the chase.” He replies with a smile. “Besides who could resist being arrested by such beautiful specimen?” This causes her to blush and smack his arm.

“Flattery will get you nowhere thief.” He laughs at her proclamation.

“You say that now…” He trails off, mischief filling his mind as he gets a sparkle in his eye. “Thinking on it, I need to get back to work. I owe you a celebratory gift for getting into the police academy.” He speaks, with a grin, the irony of the situation not lost on him. Sharia responds to the set up just as he planned.

“Oh you! You better not! No stolen gifts, remember?” She retorts, flustered by the idea. Ji shrugs and waves it off.

“I remember.” He states. ‘But what I do with the stolen money however…’ He thinks with a sinister internal grin.