Three weeks earlier…

“Come on Josh let’s go” Henry, his step dad said standing in the doorway, impatiently waiting for him to get up. It was just barely summer vacation and Henry made use of that whenever he could.

“No I don’t want to” Josh blurted, fear immediately paralyzing him once he remembered who he was talking to.

“Joshua!” he warned and Josh shuddered at the tone in his voice. Whenever he used that tone of voice he was running low on patience and you better not push it unless you volunteered for a beating.

“Where are we going?” he asked submissively, ducking his head while he walked towards the man he feared the most.

“We’re going to take a nice trip to the mall, I want to buy my step-son some new clothes” he said with a grin.

Great Josh thought, while he slowly walked after him to the door.

Any other kid would be thrilled when they’d hear this particular destination but not Josh. This didn’t mean he would get the clothes, this meant he’d have to work for them. Stealing clothes was out of the question, it was way too risky, with all the high tech protection stores got these days, not to mention the video cameras. No, Josh never stole clothes; he’d steal money so they could buy the clothes.

The mall was Josh’s working place as you could call it, while he gave the people he was robbing a tempting smile, his snatching hand went into their bags and took out their wallets without them ever noticing. Yes, Henry had trained his kid well, but he had no clue how it made Josh feel. He betrayed every single one of those people who he robbed and especially when they first started his stomach ached from guilt. He never knew who he robbed, maybe he just robbed someone who was barely making it as it was and he just stole the last bit of their money to get them through the month. Of course he never thought that maybe he stole the wallet of some rich guy who had plenty of money and could spare it. His mind never let him think that, it was as if his mind was punishing him for the acts that he did, he knew the cops wouldn’t get the chance to punish him. They’d have to catch him first and Henry trained him too well to get caught.

He considered taking a job many times to satisfy Henry but he just demanded too much money for him to earn the honest way. So he had no choice but to continue stealing from innocent people in the mall.

“What do we say Josh?” Henry asked, mocking him and Josh cringed.

“Thank you” he whispered, he wanted to say screw you but he knew that would be the wrong move. Henry made it seem like he was doing his step-son a favor when he had no idea what he put him through. He grabbed the young boy harshly.

“You forgot something son” he snarled. Josh ducked his head even lower and a painful moan escaped his lips, he tried to cover it but Henry heard it and pressed harder into his skin. Josh was sure another bruise was appearing so he quickly said what the man was waiting to hear, hoping he would loosen his grip,

“Thank you sir”

“Good, now get in the car” Henry said as he released him, Josh couldn’t help but sigh in relief. Henry shoved him towards the front door and Josh quickly shuffled out in front of him, praying he’d make his step dad happy and that he wouldn’t steal from people who were poor, he prayed he’d steal from people who could miss it. He knew what a lousy prayer that was but he still prayed every time they went out to get their income.

“Good job, Josh” Henry beamed as he finished counting the bills in his lap.

“We had a good catch today” he said still smiling; Josh forced a smile on his face as well. His step dad was happy; he didn’t want to ruin that by not being happy although he was feeling all but happy.

His step dad stood up and walked to the other end of the room, Josh knew what he was doing; he was hiding the bills as he always did. Josh knew better than to turn around and take a peek, he’d regretted it when he did that the first time and that made him to never do it again as Henry had intended. Josh didn’t even know why he hid it, it never came to his mind to use the money; he just stole it and Henry could live off of it. Spending just the minimum amount of money to keep Josh alive and the rest went into his pockets. That’s how it always went, he was angry at first that he was at risk when he stole it and he didn’t get to enjoy it but he also knew he didn’t want to enjoy it. It wasn’t his money and he wasn’t supposed to enjoy it so he made peace with it. Every time Henry went to hide the money he patiently waited till he was done and left it at that, at least it would save him from another beating and that was good enough for him.

“I think it’s time for something more fun” Henry announced as he sat back in his chair. Josh watched him wearily.

“What do you mean?” he asked cautiously not wanting making him upset.

“I mean it’s time for something bigger” Josh was afraid what would come next, it had been quiet for awhile. They just went to the mall every now and then when the money would run out but other than that, Josh seemed like a normal teenager; going to school and doing his homework. There were only two things different; Josh had no friends like a normal teenager would have and the second, not to mention biggest difference, was that he stole to eat.

“I’d like to buy something” Henry said more to himself than to his step-son, but he heard it anyway and frowned, didn’t he just spend the whole afternoon stealing money for him?

“You got the money right?” Josh said cautiously, not wanting to sound accusingly.

“Yeah wise guy, I just want to buy something bigger, besides I’m bored” he shrugged and Josh got a little angry, he bit the inside of his cheek to prevent him from saying anything but inside he was fuming, this guy was bored? Dammit! He cursed inwardly; he didn’t have a right to be bored! He was too lazy to get a job and he had the nerve to say he was bored? Henry pulled him out of his thoughts.

“I just want to do something bigger” he added while he looked briefly at Josh. Josh didn’t like what he saw when he looked at his stepfather but he kept his mouth shut. Not daring to ask what the hell that was supposed to mean; if Henry wanted him to know he would inform him. Apparently Henry didn’t want Josh to know what he was thinking about just yet since Henry waved him off. Josh silently left the room going into his small bedroom and curling up under the covers, trying to escape his life, his stepfather; basically everything he knew.