“Thief!” Josh hears his boss yell and as he looks up he sees his boss pointing out the culprit. The thief’s eyes widen in shock at being caught, and he springs into action, taking off quickly through the front door of the supermarket.
Josh doesn’t hesitate for a second and gives chase.
The kid is fast, but so is Josh. “Hey!” he yells, but the kid doesn’t look back, and Josh pushes himself harder to speed up.
Skidding around a corner in pursuit of the thief, he smiles when he sees the kid has turned into an alley, and a long stretch of asphalt lays before him so he can gain speed. Josh is on the track team for a reason, the 100 is his specialty, and the distance between him and the kid is quickly shrinking.
A little extra energy and he hurls himself forward, throwing his arms around the thief’s waist and pulling him to the ground. The kid startles from the force and the stolen object flies through the air.
As they roll over the asphalt, Josh holds on tight and wrestles himself on top, pinning the kid to the ground as he tries to squirm out of Josh’s grip. While Josh pants for breath, the fight slowly leaves the kid until he’s laying still underneath him.
Frightened, baby blue eyes meet his, “Please.”
Too captivated by the boy’s eyes, he misses the soft plea, “What?”
“Please mister,” the kid repeats, a tremble to his lip.
Josh frowns and as he continues to hold the thief’s wrists firmly to the ground, finally realizing this is not just some punk kid who got bored and decided to steal from the local grocery store for kicks.
“Please, I was just hungry,” the boy adds, seeming to realize that he’s completely dependent on this guy. He’s only getting out of this if the guy releases the strong grip he’s got on his wrists.
Josh looks to his right, to see what exactly the boy had stolen, noticing after a quick check a small bag of rolls. Shaking his head, he finally releases the kid’s wrists and moves off of him.
As Josh sinks onto his heels, the boy scrambles up and pushes himself against the wall, looking back and forth between Josh and his prize laying only ten feet away. However, he doesn’t move a muscle.
Reaching behind him, Josh picks up the bag and holds it out to the boy, but he doesn’t reach for it. Instead the kid continues to eye him suspiciously.
“Here, take it.”
The boy doesn’t react right away and he never takes his eyes off Josh.
“I thought you were hungry?” Josh questions with a frown.
After a moment, a careful single nod is his answer.
“Here,” Josh offers again, and this time, even though the suspicious eyes never break from his not even for a second, the kid slowly reaches forward and accepts the bag.
He leaves it unopened, hesitates then softly asks, “You’re not gonna turn me in?”
“For a bag of rolls?” Josh responds as if it’s ludicrous, it is actually.
The kid nods.
Josh shakes his head in reassurance, “No.”
“Thank you,” he whispers before he lowers his eyes and finally breaks his stare, even though he has no reason to take Josh’s word for it.
As the kid loosens the twist tie and reaches inside for the first roll, Josh watches him. Looks closer and studies him. He takes in the matted curls, the dirty streaks on his face, and the worn clothes. The way he’s wolfing down the roll alone tells him all he needs to know.
“What’s your name?” he asks carefully.
Eyes snap up immediately and the suspicion in them is back. He pauses in mid-bite and asks, “Why?”
“I’m Josh,” he says instead of answering the boy’s question.
The kid frowns, but as he looks at the roll in his hand, he slumps against the wall and sighs almost in defeat, responding as if he’s obligated to do so, “Justin.”
Josh nods, but doesn’t know how else to respond, or if he should ask another question. As he hesitates, silence settles between them, and the longer the silence stretches on, the harder it is to break it.
“If you’re not gonna turn me in then why did you chase me?” Justin asks, and even though his tone is soft, it startles Josh who’s lost in his own thoughts.
“I um,” he starts, scrapes his throat before continuing, “I didn’t know all you stole was a bag of rolls, and if I hadn’t at least made an effort my boss would have been pissed at me.”
Justin swallows another bite carefully before he asks, “Is he not gonna be angry that you didn’t catch me?”
Josh shrugs, “Probably, but what else is he gonna do?” he smiles and Justin smiles as well, if only a little.
Another silence settles and Josh realizes he should probably get back to the store, and make up a story to explain why he hadn’t caught the thief along the way. Getting to his feet, he tells Justin, “I should go,”
Justin looks up, nods, “Okay,”
Josh waits but Justin doesn’t say anything, he’s bent his head and Josh wonders if that’s it.
He guesses it is, and starts to walk away.
“Josh?” Justin calls, voice hesitant.
Josh freezes, a little startled at hearing his name being called he turns back slowly, “Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Josh can’t help but smile, Justin’s tone is grateful, meaningful and he responds reassuringly, “You’re welcome.”
Before he walks away, he can’t help but add, “I’ll see you around.”
He doesn’t look back to see Justin’s reaction, nor does he wait to hear his response. He doesn’t have to. He has a feeling he will see Justin again.
