Contents of the Heart
He inhaled as deep as he could, savoring the burn that filled his lungs. He knew he should quit smoking; he was up to a pack a day and still felt like he didn't get enough nicotine.
He shrugged his shoulders carelessly, as though smoking was his worst habit. If any vice had to be put to an end it was the one he was planning now.
Mugging.
He had gotten a taste for it when he was twelve stealing a purse from an elderly woman who had clumsily fallen asleep on a park bench. Up to that point he had never stolen more than candy and small toys from stores and markets.
It was innocent trouble for him at that age. What had truly excited him was the amount of money he found in the purse, what fascinated him was all the personal things he acquired.
It was amazing the amount of crap people (especially woman) carried with them. He had seen dozens of photos of children, wives, and husbands. There were a dozen bottles of lotion, perfumes and make-up.
He had bus passes, student ID's, drivers licenses, concert and baseball tickets.
A few men he had mugged had old and worn photos of young girls, ex girlfriends that had left the poor saps heartbroken.
One woman left her purse in a restaurant booth to use the restroom and he had thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't tried confronting her in person when he found a knife and pepper spray in her purse.
One young high school boy he scared into giving up his phone only had his parents as contacts, no friends.
Another girl he took a phone from had dozens of male contacts as well as some racy pictures of herself naked.
He knew the people he robbed, he knew their identities, the faces of their loved ones, their interests, and the numbers in their bank accounts. That reason alone was why he did it.
Fuck the money, fancy phones and credit cards, anyone could get those.
Few people could get a truly deep and intimate glance at all the baggage people carried. He was able to steal it from them and without their permission, it made him feel powerful and unstoppable.
Duncan threw his cigarette on the ground and stubbed it out with his boot, he decided to quit smoking right then and there as his target approached him.
He rarely approached people in person unless he knew he had a fighting chance. Too many woman carried stun-guns on them and too many men tried putting up a fight to prove their manhood. It wasn't that hard to break a person's nose or get kicked in the groin.
70% of his muggings were done in the careful art of being sneaky; loose pockets, setting a wallet down to grab something, hanging a purse on the back of a chair, or just plain forgetfulness.
Normally a girl like this he would never dare approach, but today was different, today he was feeling reckless, and today the chick was smoking hot.
What first drew his attention was her demeanor. She was already pissed off which was an immediate red flag. An angry woman was going to put up a fight as soon as a man tried taking her purse, it didn't matter how small or meek she might be, an already pissed off woman was not to be messed with.
The second thing he noticed was she wasn't just carrying a purse, she was carrying several bags, she had a backpack, duffel bag, and rolling suitcase. He was betting that she just broke up with a boyfriend and was heading to a friend's place.
Whatever the case he couldn't deny that she was extremely attractive, short brown hair, cinnamon colored skin, full pouty lips, and dark smoldering eyes. She was wearing a long coat, skin tight jeans and boots that went up to her knee.
She was feminine yet intimidating, and he wanted to know her. He wanted to know what her ex-boyfriend looked like, he wanted to know how many friends she had on her phone, he wanted to know what her last name was, wanted to see if she wore perfume, wanted to see what kind of restaurants she ate at on her receipts, and if she had packed any lacy underwear and bras in her suitcase.
The street he was on was more of an alleyway, it was between the back of small retail store and a warehouse, there was bus station down the next street where his target was heading. But since the bus station was still far away enough for no one to see them and since almost no one used this back street to get there he had the perfect opportunity to confront her. Really it was her fault for not using the main road anyway.
As soon as she got closer to him she eyed him carefully and sneered. It was a small warning directed at him to not come near her, it wasn't her lucky day.
He pushed himself off the wall of the warehouse and grabbed hold of her bag before she had a chance to flee.
"Hey get the hell off me!" she immediately screamed balling up a fist and aiming for his face.
He barely caught her fist in his hand, she was fast and strong, he grabbed her firmly by her forearms and forced her to be still. "Look here princess," he said in a low dangerous voice. "Just give me your crap, and nothing bad will happen to you."
She lifted up her knee trying to get him in his groin, he managed to trap her leg between his legs but was having a hard time getting her to calm down.
"Stop!" he demanded. "Just give me your shit lady!"
Perhaps this wasn't the best idea. This girl wasn't intimidated by him at all and wasn't about to just let up and leave.
"No!" she screamed stubbornly trying to get out of his grip, "I need it, I need my stuff."
She flung her arm out of his grasp and caught the side of his head with her elbow. Duncan cursed angrily gritting his teeth. As she continued to squirm around her backpack fell from her shoulders and onto the ground, he wanted to grab just that and run but she was still trying to kill him.
He spun her around forcefully so her back was against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. "God damn, it's just stuff, let it go!" He didn't know why he was starting to argue with her, he just wanted her to stop.
"Fuck you, it's not yours, I need it." She screamed again getting angrier, he could feel her starting to lose the fight.
"No you don't," he said trying to grab her purse off her shoulder. He wanted it all, not just one bag, he should've just let it go.
A burst of adrenalin went through her as she managed to jab her elbow sharply into his side. He doubled over and lost his grip on her. She shimmied away from him and looked him directly in his face. "I'm homeless you bastard!"
Duncan looked at her disbelievingly as he crouched over in pain. "Oh please, just because some boyfriend threw you out? I'm sure you're on your way to a friend's house right now."
He thought about possibly going at her again, but the fight itself had already gone on longer than it should've and he was intrigued she hadn't fled yet.
She merely flung her backpack securely around her shoulders and looked down at him condescendingly. "For your information, it wasn't a boyfriend, it was my roommate who kicked me out, and I don't have any friends or family, so I'm headed to a hotel downtown."
Duncan finally straightened up and continued to look at her disbelievingly. "Really?"
She blinked a few times and to his amazement actually smiled at him. "Yeah really, I'm not lying to you thief."
He smirked back at her rubbing his now bruised ribs. "Sorry, just figured a girl like you would have a place to crash."
She arched an eyebrow. "A girl like me? What the hell would you know about a girl like me?"
"A lot more if you hadn't had put up such a fight."
She scoffed at him a little before letting out a gentle giggle. The warm moment between them was short lived when a police officer suddenly appeared.
"Fuck," Duncan muttered angrily under his breath. He was beyond screwed now. No doubt this girl was going to turn him in and he would be spending the next week in jail.
"Is there a problem here?" the officer asked approaching closer and closer. He had his thumb hooked in his belt as though he were getting ready to make a grab for his gun. Duncan felt a clench in his stomach and decided to make a run for it.
"No officer, my boyfriend and I were having an argument. Nothing to worry about," the girl he had just tried to mug smiled at him anxiously, telling him to play along and that she wasn't about to turn him in.
Duncan was beyond stunned as his legs suddenly froze up and kept him from running away. He didn't know what to say as the officer eyed him suspiciously. "That true sir? You her boyfriend?"
Duncan tried to say something, but his words stuck in his throat like syrup. His new fake girlfriend laughed nervously and quickly answered for him. "Sorry he's just a bit embarrassed, he hates when we fight in public."
The officer looked at her doubtfully.
Duncan continued to stand there like an idiot as his new girlfriend wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned comfortably into him. She smiled softly at him and pinched his side to snap him out of his comatose state. He wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulder and tried to put on a good smile for the officer.
He seemed to buy the act as he exhaled and removed his hand from his belt, which made Duncan relax a lot easier.
"Sorry about that folks, you two just seem… well like an unlikely couple," explained the officer humbly.
"Oh we get that all the time," she laughed back at the officer. She gripped onto Duncan's shirt hard. "Well we have a bus to catch so…"
The officer waved them away and Duncan and the woman he had just tried to mug headed towards the bus station still arm in arm.
"Keep walking till we know for sure he's gone," she whispered to him. Duncan peeked over his shoulder and saw the officer walking away.
"He's leaving," he said to her. He was surprised she didn't remove her arm from him. "What's your name?" he asked needing to know.
"What's it matter?" she replied keeping her eyes straight ahead. They were almost at the bus station, Duncan wished he could invite her back to his place.
"I just want to know," he replied trying not to sound desperate.
She finally released her grip on him pulled her belongings closer to herself. "Why? You're never going to see me again."
That statement hurt him for some reason. He wasn't sure if it was because he was really interested in her or because he was really thankful that she hadn't sold him out to the police.
They were now at the entrance. He saw a few buses pull out and a few more pull in. she could get on anyone at any moment. He had to keep her there as long as he could, at least let her know how glad he was that she had saved his ass.
"I just want to know the name of one of the craziest and coolest chicks I've ever tried to steal from."
She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. "Is that really how you make a living, ripping off women and poor defenseless people?"
He scoffed at her and rubbed his ribs tenderly. "You're far from defenseless."
She sighed looking at the buses waiting for her. She was growing tired of the conversation and looking for a way out. Duncan quickly tried to keep her there a little longer, he really wanted to hear her name.
"Look, I'm not just some criminal," she furrowed her brows at him. "Well I am, but I just do it for amusement, I don't really do it that often."
She looked at him a little disgusted before muttering, "Well aren't I lucky. I get to be your amusement for the day."
Duncan felt a bit defeated. He wasn't doing a good job of impressing her, not that he had ever tried impressing a girl before, but this girl was…different. "It was more than that. I was curious about you," he admitted shyly.
She looked at him embarrassed but interested. She loosened her grip on her purse and even stepped a little closer to him. "You know, most guys ask a girl out on a date if he wants to get to know her," she said teasingly.
He chuckled and dropped his hands in surrender. "I'm not most guys, and you're certainly not most girls."
She shrugged a shoulder and smirked at him innocently. "Guess not, most women would've turned your ass in."
"Which I'm very thankful that you didn't do by the way," he added hastily hoping he'd get an answer to his first question.
She smiled at him, shuffled her feet a bit, debating whether to tell him her name of not. Finally she answered, "My name is Courtney, what's yours?"
"Duncan," he said holding his hand out. Perhaps it was a bit late for a proper greeting but Duncan was happy when she actually shook his hand.
"Nice meeting you, and nice beating you up," Courtney said getting ready to leave and get on a bus.
He would've let her go if something she said earlier hadn't popped into his brain. "So wait are you completely homeless? You really don't have any family or friends."
She gave him a shrug and said, "Well not in state. I'm going to the university downtown and was living in an apartment with another student until she kicked me out."
He snorted at her expense. "Difficult to live with?" he asked assuming he was hitting a sore spot with her.
Sure enough, Courtney's eyes lit up with anger as she once again avoided getting on a bus to argue with him some more. "Hey! You don't have the right to make unfair assumptions about me. You think just because I wouldn't let you take my stuff that I must be difficult?"
"Well that and you must be slightly bipolar. One minute you want to kill me and then the next you're saving me from the cops."
Courtney rolled her eyes becoming annoyed. "Something I almost wish I hadn't done now."
"Why did you do it?" asked Duncan becoming even more and more intrigued by her. Perhaps he was a bit out of his mind for trying to warm up to a woman he basically assaulted, but she wasn't fighting him off anymore, and with her still getting caught up in his questions perhaps she was warming up to him as well.
She stared back at him for the longest time as though she was studying him. She seemed to struggle with an answer before saying, "I don't know…"
Another batch of buses pulled out. Courtney looked over her shoulder and sighed tiredly. It would be another twenty minutes before another bus pulled in.
The two strangers stood in complete silence before Duncan spoke up. "You could stay with me."
Courtney scoffed refusing to look at him. "Why would I do something as stupid as that?" She put her backpack on the ground to rest her back.
Duncan felt good knowing that she trusted him enough to put her things down. It made him feel comfortable with her, another odd thing to feel towards a woman he barely knew.
"Call it returning favor," he answered grabbing his pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offering her one.
She quickly turned down his offer with a grunt of disapproval and said, "How do you expect me to feel safe in the home of a stranger, let alone a criminal?"
Duncan threw the rest of his cigarettes in a trash bin and approached a little closer. "Because you know I won't try to steal from you again, you know you can beat me up, and you know I'm not about to betray someone who saves me from a night in jail."
Courtney shivered. It was getting cold.
She wished there was an actual building to this station. There was a public restroom area, a small ticket dispenser and a few guards who were obviously not doing their job since they were not even close by. She looked up at the schedule board and realized she had another fifteen minutes to wait for the downtown bus.
She looked back to the young man who had tried to mug her.
Duncan.
She wasn't sure why she had decided to spare him from arrest. Normally she would've provided the officer with the good graces of holding him down so he could cuff the criminal. But for some reason Courtney actually liked this guy.
Maybe it was bad judgment, maybe it was the shock of being homeless, maybe it was the rush of the fight and scuffle.
Or maybe… deep down… it was that he actually liked her back. In his own- very messed up way- he actually wanted to get to know her. Even after he had concluded that she was an abrasive person, he had still invited her to stay with him. He had even offered her a cigarette and tossed the rest away when it was obvious she didn't care for the habit. Someone actually willing to quit a bad vice for her.
She inhaled deeply and looked back at the teal eyes that called out wanting to her. It was nice being wanted, even by someone as unwanted as him.
"You will not steal, or smoke, or touch me in any way while I'm staying with you."
Duncan let a smile spread across his face ad he effortlessly agreed to her conditions. "Deal," he said picking up her backpack, slinging it around his back and stepping beside her.
She looked back at him once more a little dubiously before finally smiling back at him and walking in step with him as though they had done it a dozen times before, or as though they were meant to do it.
Her parents were going to kill her, her ex-roommate was going to laugh, she herself was going to wake up the next morning wondering what she had done, but the more and more she walked with Duncan, the more and she was glad he had actually tried to mug her.
As they continued to walk towards Duncan's small apartment, he couldn't help but be ok with the fact that he wouldn't be allowed to steal anymore, so long as Courtney chose to stay.
"Also," she said abruptly as they finally reached his door. "Nothing will come out of this. You're just returning a favor, nothing more."
Again he only agreed with her. "Of course."
Duncan opened the door for Courtney like a gentlemen, wondering how long she would stay. He was surprised when she stayed for the entire night, followed by a week, followed by a month, followed by her finally agreeing to be his girlfriend.
Who knew you could learn so much about someone without having to steal their wallet?
A/N: Kind of rushed this story. Really it was inspired by a dream I had of some guy trying to mug me and me actually saving him from being arrested. Thought it was a cool dream and decided to make it into a story. I have about a dozen stories I'm working on and haven't been able to work on due to double shifts at work and two hour workouts in between. Also admittedly I've been having some writers block and a bit of creative laziness, so sorry if this story was lacking. Anyway… review and be kind!