What starts out as harmless fun – nipping little things from shops – leads two friends in different directions.
WE need to stop this,” said Kang, panting heavily. The boys peered round the corner. “Thank God. I thought they’d got us this time.”
At this, Chris burst out laughing. “Did you see the look on the fat guy’s face? He looked like he was about to explode!”
“I’m serious. We need to stop this.”
Chris straightened up. “Since when did you start having a conscience?”
“We’ve just come too close.”
“Huh?” Taking a mobile phone from his backpack, Chris threw it in the air and caught it neatly in his palm. “This,” he said, pointing the phone at his friend, “is the reason we can come too close.”
When they first started stealing, they didn’t really consider themselves thieves. They were just 13, and barely old enough to date girls. And reaching their hands just a bit further to grab that chocolate bar or that Hercules figurine was more of a dare than a crime.
But as they grew older, they moved on to bigger and more expensive items. And Kang began to feel uncomfortable about their criminal activities.
Then Chris’ mother – the sole breadwinner of the family – fell sick, and his father fled with a younger woman. And everything started to fall apart.
“Books? What for?” Kang asked when Chris told him what their next target was. “We could get food if you need it. It’s probably better.”
Chris looked annoyed. “Did we need that toy car a few years ago? But we took it all the same, didn’t we?”
“That was different.”
“It’s exactly the same, and you know it.”
So Kang went along, even though he couldn’t help feeling guilty.
“Nick the things we can sell,” Chris had always told him. ‘Nick the pricey stuff. Otherwise we’ll never make any profit.” Looking at Kang’s worried face, he’d add, “My mother needs this money.”
Chris’ mother had been ill for a year now. He assured Kang that what they got from their stealing sprees went towards her hospital bills. But Kang began to see through Chris’ excuses; only a quarter of their “spoils” were used for her medical treatment. The remainder were splurged on drinks, cinema tickets, fancy watches and dinners for the girls Chris met.
As Kang lay on his bed, he suddenly felt his throat constrict and his fingers clench. He got out of his house and walked three blocks away, where he found Chris on a park bench, his arm over a pretty girl.
“I need to talk to you. In private.”
“Whatever,” Chris said, giving the girl a shrug before walking towards Kang.
“The next one. To get those DVDs ...” Kang paced up and down. “I’m not doing it anymore.”
Chris folded his arms. “Why?”
“Why?” Kang stopped in front of his friend. “Because you’re taking me for a ride, that’s why. You don’t even use the money for what you said you would. Maybe, instead of taking some girl to some fancy restaurant, you could try being a waiter and earn some money for yourself.”
Chris’ eyes flashed fire. “Is it so wrong if I want to take a break every now and then?”
“You still don’t get it, do you? We’re being hunted. The police really want us. We’ve crossed the line, we’re 18 now. If we’re caught, it’s jail for us.”
Chris looked at Kang with anger, disappointment and contempt stamped on his face.
“Jail, Chris,” Kang stressed. “A prison for adults, where they beat you up and the inmates are completely crazy. What we’re doing now is not just picking pockets. It’s plain robbery.”
“You know,” Chris started slowly. “Even if I continue this alone, even if only I get caught, they’d still know about you. There’s really no point quitting now.”
“It’s got to stop.”
“For you, maybe,” Chris said, as he turned to go. “We’re done.”
As Kang watched his best friend walk away, he wondered if going through thick and thin with someone really came to nothing in the end.
When you think about it, two years isn’t really a long time. But Kang felt as if he had last seen Chris in another lifetime. When his old pal walked through the barred door and sat down in front of him, he was utterly speechless.
“Cat got your tongue?” Chris said, easing the tension.
Kang laughed nervously. “‘You haven’t changed.”
“Not unless you count this jumpsuit.”
Kang sobered up. “How is it?”
“What, jail? It’s great, exactly like you said it would be.”
“Listen, Chris ...”
“Don’t!” Chris squeezed his eyes shut. “Don’t apologise. You got out of it two years ago. You were never like me anyway. You never took any of that money.”
They both fell quiet.
“‘My mother … it’s my fault she never got better. I spared only enough to keep her from getting worse.
“‘I know. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Chris bit his lip as he stared at the man Kang had become. The prison guard came up behind him, saying gruffly, “Twenty minutes up.”
The friends looked at each other, silent.
Chris cocked his head towards the guard. “I told them it was a one-man play all along.”
As Kang made to go, he added, “Open your windows when you sleep at night. Feel the freedom, for me.”
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