“ I didn ' t think you had that in you , to actually do something like that .” “ Does it always feel like that ?” I asked curiously , “ That exhilaration , the rise of adrenaline .” “ Sometimes it does , especially the first time . But I don ' t think you should do that again ,” he said . “ Why not ?” I frowned slightly , “ We didn ' t get caught .”
“ We almost got and caught ”, he pointed out , “ Also , please don ' t just ask me why not , you ' re making me feel like I ' ve corrupted the innocent .”
I shot him a small smile . I knew he was right and I wouldn ' t ever steal again . What I had just done was reckless and I clearly hadn ' t thought about it before I did it .
“ I won ' t steal again , but you shouldn ' t either ,” I turned to walk back home and he fell into step beside me . “ I don ' t have a choice , I don ' t have any money to pay for any food .”
“ What about your parents ?” I glanced at him from the side . He walked with confidence as if he hadn ’ t a care in the world . It wasn ' t unusual that he didn ' t have a lot of meat on his bones ; no one could even afford enough food to eat in this neighborhood , let alone gain weight .
“ Dead ”, he didn ' t offer up any explanation . Staring straight ahead , he continued down the road with me . “ Why didn ' t you tell anyone that you saw me steal the bread ?”
I racked my brain for an answer . In truth , I didn ' t know why I kept it to myself , so I told him , “ I really don ' t know actually . I ' ve never seen someone steal anything .”
“ And here you are , having stolen something yourself .”
“ You are a horrible influence on me ! In the span of a few hours , you ' ve managed to pull me to the dark side ”, I gasped , realizing how much he had changed me in such a short time .
“ The dark side ? Yes , that is bad , very bad . There is no coming back from the dark side ”, sarcasm lacing his voice until he couldn ' t keep himself from laughing any longer .
“ Go ahead , laugh at me ! But I ’ m blaming you for the start of my descent into crime .” “ Don ' t be so dramatic ! Just because you do one bad thing doesn ' t mean it will stay with you forever .”
At the time I just huffed at him and crossed my arms over my chest . This time he was wrong , it has stayed with me forever , but not in a bad way . It ' s become a fond memory now and I haven ' t had the urge to steal anything .
“ But you steal all the time .”
“ That ' s only because I have to , how else would I survive ?”, he squeezed my hand in reassurance , “ You ' re not able to become a criminal mastermind , alright ? Stop worrying .” He smiled so warmly , it felt like the sun was out , even though it was just setting .
We continued to walk in silence and I continued to mull over the things he had said . I realized that he had not let go of my hand and that I don ' t mind that he was still holding it . I smiled at the ground shyly , not knowing how that simple action was making my heart beat so quickly .
Soon we had reached my home , too soon . I found myself not wanting to let go of his hand . All of a sudden , I remembered why I had actually left the house in the first place .
“ Oh no , my mother is going to kill me .” “ Why ?”
“ Because while we were caught up with robbing someone , I completely forgot to actually buy buns for dinner !” I looked up and down the now abandoned street . There wasn ' t a stall in sight anymore ; they had all closed down for the evening . The street was almost dark now , only the faint beams from the dying sun lighting up an occasional cobblestone . All the stalls were closed and doors shut , the street was empty of its usual aromas and noise . “ My mother is going to be furious when I come home .”
“ Then don ' t go home yet ”, he said it like it was the simplest thing in the world , “ Come with me , I want to show you something .”
He slipped into a narrow alleyway away from the main road and walked towards a ladder that was leaning against the wall . He swiftly repositioned it and began to climb up .
I gulped . “ That is a very tall ladder .” He paused and looked down at me .