Chapter
2
“I have another job for you”
“Like what?”
“Here” his step dad said throwing a stack of papers
in his lap; apparently Henry was ready to share his thoughts.
“Pictures of the house, map, address, a list of
possible valuable things…” he summed up while pointing at the stack of papers.
Josh carefully picked up the first sheet of paper. It were photographs of the
house, taking from the outside as well as the inside.
This was how it always went; Henry picked out the
houses, he made sure they had background information on the place and then he
handed it all over to Josh who would pay the house a visit and take everything
he could carry. Josh was there for the dirty work. Mostly Josh would only steal
at the mall; more than enough to get by but once in a while Henry got bored or
restless and he’d want to do something bigger. That something bigger was usually Josh robbing a house. He would steal
the things Henry had listed for him and Henry would pass the stolen objects on
to his buddies; usually worth about the amount of money Josh stole in one or
two weeks of pick pocketing, depending on the week of course.
Henry wasn’t stupid; he didn’t overdo it. He wasn’t
greedy since he was convinced that that was every thief’s mistake. They always
wanted more and of course Henry did too but he planned it, wouldn’t let Josh
rob too many houses since the chance of him getting caught robbing some place
was higher than getting caught pick pocketing.
Despite Henry’s training; he’d taught Josh
everything about picking locks, alarm systems and everything else he needed to
know to successfully break in somewhere, there was always a risk and Henry just
didn’t want to take too many risks. He liked his life right now and he wouldn’t
let anyone take it away. If Josh by some chance did get caught, Henry knew he
would get a less severe punishment because he was under age and he would never
think about selling Henry out. He’d made sure that thought wouldn’t even enter
Josh’s mind….
“Aww!”
Josh groaned, as the fist made contact with his stomach. He fell to the floor
when another punch hit him in the face. He couldn’t stay on his feet, thrown
off balance he tumbled to the floor and immediately curled himself into a ball
to protect himself, but Henry found his weak spot and kicked the young man in
the ribs. Over and over again. “Don’t even think about reporting me to the
cops, it won’t end nice. At least not for you” he threatened kicking him once
more before he left the aching young man alone, crumbled on the floor….
No reporting him wasn’t an option. Henry hadn’t
left Josh many options but it was the only way if he wanted to contain this
life and as for Josh, Josh should just be glad he’d been so kind as to allow
him to live here. Henry knew he was the only person Josh had left and he was
sure to take advantage of that.
“It’s a big house” Josh commented.
“They got an alarm?”
“Nope” Henry smirked.
“A safe?” Josh asked, knowing where to look for.
“I don’t know” Henry said carelessly. Josh’s
eyebrows turned down in confusion.
“I didn’t get that far, at least I couldn’t find
it. If they have one it’s securely tugged away but you just see if they have
one, however don’t waste too much time on it. There are more than enough
valuable things laying around the house” Henry said smirking satisfied, this
house was a gold mine and he couldn’t wait for the money it would get him.
He’d pretended to be an engineer, he knew exactly
how to plan a robbery and pretending to be an engineer still worked like a
charm. It gave him the time to look around without raising suspicions and it
was the same for the questions he would ask, they wouldn’t even raise an
eyebrow at the questions. They thought it was his job and he had to know;
stupid rich people, so easy to fool.
“That’s it?” Josh asked a little suspicious, sure
they would have an alarm if they had valuable stuff laying around the house.
“Yup that’s it, shouldn’t be too difficult I
imagine”
“No silent alarm or hidden cameras?” Josh
questioned, just to be sure, those were mean little things, it could have been
possible Henry overlooked them.
“Are you questioning me boy?!” Henry asked angrily
all of a sudden. Josh quickly shook his head no, his eyes wide.
“No… sir”
“I was already stealing when you weren’t even born
fella so don’t you dare to question me!” Henry warned, how dared this kid to
insinuate he’d done a lousy job, he wouldn’t stand for it.
Josh continued to shake his head frantically, that
had not been his intention; the last thing he wanted was to have Henry angry with
him. He just wanted to be sure.
“Good, it shouldn’t be hard then”
“No sir” Josh shook his head, it didn’t seem to be
difficult but with every break in came a risk, it didn’t matter whether or not
it seemed difficult.
“Tomorrow night is the night. They go to diner
every Thursday evening and leave the house empty and unprotected, perfect
opportunity” Henry said with a smug smile that he came up with all this. Josh
reluctantly nodded, the corners of his mouth barely forming a smile.
***
The next night he came home late. The break in
hadn’t gone well at all. He’d been caught, the boy Henry had said wouldn’t be
home was home and he’d caught him. And worse; he hadn’t had the time to get to
the safe and get the really valuable things. Instead he had a few
candle-sticks, they were pure silver but they wouldn’t be enough to satisfy his
step dad if you thought about all the really valuable things that house really
had in store.
The green eyes of the teenager haunted him on the
way home and he could still see the gun trained on him. He’d been terrified;
he’d never been caught like that before. To say he was nervous to go home would
be the understatement of the century. He knew he had to face his step dad some
time but he just didn’t want it to be now….
He was petrified of his reaction and just prayed
Henry would go easy on him. He knew it was just wishful thinking and that he
was wasting his time, praying for something like that but he had to do
something. He didn’t have any other options. Actually he was lucky for not
really getting caught, by the police that was, the boy that did catch him had
been generous; letting him go and Josh knew it.
It didn’t make it better though, not as far as his
step dad was concerned. He knew he had it coming, a beating and maybe with a
belt if he was really unlucky….
***
“Ah! You’re home” Henry exclaimed happily, it was
the only time Henry was happy to see his step-son. Josh nodded timidly before
closing the door.
“So what did you get?” Henry asked, rubbing his
hands together in anticipation.
“Um…” Josh started slowly as he dropped his gaze to
the floor. Henry’s smile fell off his face and turned into a scowl.
“Well!” he demanded. Josh was silent, he looked
everywhere but at his step father.
“Give it to me!” Henry ordered really angry now, as
he motioned for the bag in Josh’s hand.
Josh looked up fearfully, his eyes wide as he
stepped a little closer to Henry and gave him the bag. Henry snatched the bag
out of Josh’s hands and opened it. He found the four candle-sticks it
contained. He took one out and weighed it in his right hand.
“Where is the rest Josh?” Henry asked through
gritted teeth. Josh looked away as he shuffled from foot to foot nervously.
“THIS IS IT?!” he yelled as he threw the candle
holder in Josh’s direction. Josh ducked just in time, hearing the loud thud
when the candle-stick hit the wall as he shrunk to the floor, hoping Henry
would leave him alone now. Henry was there in three angry strides. He grabbed
Josh’s T-shirt and hauled him up, walking backwards a few feet with Josh
stumbling along.
“Where is the rest Josh?”
“I… couldn’t…. I …. I … couldn’t…. get…. anymore”
Josh told him frantically, twisting in his grip.
“Please…. I couldn’t… help it…. I got out … just…
in… time…. please” he whispered as his hands went up to Henry who still held
onto him.
“You got caught?!” Henry exclaimed, frightened.
Josh shook his head.
“No… well… yes… I mean… not really” he stuttered,
whenever he was this close to his stepfather he couldn’t think clear. The fear
paralyzed him and he couldn’t express himself properly.
“Well!” Henry demanded as he shoved Josh away, he
tripped over his own feet and landed against the living room wall. Josh cringed
as the pain shot through his back, he closed his eyes tightly and slid to the
floor, landing on his knees in front of his step father.
“You better start talking boy” Henry said severely.
Josh looked up wearily but his eyes were wide with fear.
“I… I… the boy… someone was home… and… and he
caught me… but… but I escaped…” Josh breathed through the pain as it hurt to
breathe. He deliberately left out the part where the boy had let him go because
he knew that would mean trouble, now Henry thought Josh had escaped and that
would satisfy him, he hoped. Escaping was again something Josh had learned from
Henry and so it would be good for Henry’s ego.
“Did he see you? Would he recognize you?” Henry
inquired, maybe it wasn’t too bad. At least Josh hadn’t been arrested and when
the boy wouldn’t be able to recognize Josh they’d be safe. Josh shook his head
carefully but determined.
“Nnno… he didn’t …. see me” Josh reassured.
“Are you sure?”
“Yyyes… sir” Josh reassured him.
“You better be…” Henry said eyeing Josh. He sighed,
pulling his hand through his hair, making Josh cringe as he expected a blow.
Henry paced a little in frustration; he’d anticipated a lot more from this.
This was a big house, Josh should have gotten a lot more.
Henry suddenly stopped pacing, he grabbed down and
hauled Josh up who hissed from the pain in his back. Henry pushed him against
the wall harshly and Josh screamed, not able to hold it in. Henry’s fist
connected with his stomach and Josh doubled over slightly; not completely from
the grip Henry had on him.
“Please…” he whispered.
“We’ll go to the mall tomorrow” Henry informed his
step-son of his plan.
“All day” Henry stressed his words, an evil smile
on his lips.
“And you’ll get me every wallet… every single one
of them till I’m satisfied” Henry told him and Josh cringed at his words,
closing his eyes tightly as Henry breathed the words in his face, he could
smell the liquor in his breath telling him what he’d been doing all night.
“Till… I’m… satisfied” Henry stressed as he bounced
Josh against the wall after each word. Josh’s eyes were now screwed shut in
pain but he didn’t dare to make a sound.
“You screwed up today Josh… this will never happen
again understood?”
Josh nodded frantically, “Y… yess.. sir”
“You screwed up….” Henry said letting his sentence
trail as he slapped Josh’s cheeks in between his words. Josh’s head moved from
left to right with Henry’s slaps. He had no energy to fight it, he was drained
and still petrified.
“You fucking shit!” Henry yelled in his face and
Josh flinched.
“You screwed up” he whispered in Josh’s ear,
intimidating him. It was working.
“I…. I’m s..sorry” Josh whispered through gritted
teeth, hoping it would stop the verbal and at the same time physical assault on
him. Henry smiled evilly, leaning in close.
“Oh you’ll make up for it, trust me” he whispered
in his ear, he was satisfied for now, the rest would come tomorrow.
Josh shuddered all over before he was roughly
shoved to the floor. The bedroom door slammed shut and Josh curled into a ball
on the floor, unable to get himself up and to his room he stayed where he was,
hugging his knees to his chest. His last thought was of that boy with the gun.
The question, why?
Why did that boy let me go?
He could still see the boy’s compassionate green
eyes and he tried to think of some kind of answer as to why that boy had felt
compassion towards him, but the dull pain prevented him from thinking clear. He
tried to let it go, he’d never find out why….
