"Get on the ground now you thieving scumbag!"

I gave the cops perusing me the finger and kept running with a smile on my face. Those words had been screamed at me too many times in the past for them to have any effect. The small messenger bag that I had slung over my shoulder bounced up and down against my back. It was packed full with the various items that I had lifted today. None of it was worth much, in fact most of it could have been described as useless tourist shop trash. Okay, maybe not all of it was junk to me. Tucked safely in a pocket of the bag was a delicate gold necklace with my name on it. I never had the chance to ask my parents why they had named me Chloe, they died when I was three, but for as long as I can remember I have loved my name. Over the past couple of years, I have accumulated everything that I could find that had my name on it, from keychains to coffee cups, most of it I had stolen.

It's not like I do not have any money, quite the contrary, my parents left me an obscene amount of money when they died. Enough that I will probably never have to work. Stealing things just gives me this insane rush that I cannot even begin to explain. The same can be said of running from the police, which is exactly why I am where I am right now, running from two cops that look like they have wolfed down one too many donuts three dozen donuts ago.

"You're going the wrong way pigs," I yelled over my shoulder. "The donut shop is a mile east of here."

One of them cursed at me and I laughed speeding up. A hundred yards ahead of me I saw what I was looking for. A small back ally that was quite easy to miss if you did not know that it was there.

I turned the corner into the ally and was forced to come to a quick stop as I found myself face to face with two cops blocking my exit. The sound of heavy footsteps told me that the two cops that had been chasing me had caught up and were now blocking the entrance.

"Well fuck," I muttered to myself.

The close confines of the alleyway must have caused my voice to carry because I saw one of the cops in front of me smile and nod his head. "That's right missy," he said drawing a stun gun from a belt holster, "you gave us a nice little chase, but now it's over. Drop the bag and get on the ground."

My face flushed red with anger but I didn't move. I hated being called missy. My aunt used to call me that whenever she would bust me for doing something that she deemed wrong. That was before she gave up on me completely and sent me to a group home for troubled kids. I never did care that she sent me away, I always hated her anyway.

The cop raised his stun gun and pointed it directly at my chest. "I don't want to hurt you," he said in a low threatening voice, "but I will if you force my hand. Just make this easy on all of us. Drop the bag and come quietly."

"Fine," I said, quickly formulating a plan. I had one shot at this and if it didn't work I would find myself locked up in a jail cell with absolutely no one to bail me out. "Fine, I guess you guys got me." I slowly and carefully lifted the bag over my head before dropping it to the ground. It hit the concrete with a dull thud and I put my hands in the air.

"Good girl," the cop with the stun gun said stepping forward. The three other cops eyed me with suspicion as he continued towards me. I could feel my heart trying to beat itself out of my chest and had to fight the urge to smile as the cop did exactly what I was hoping he would do when he slipped the stun gun back into its holster. He withdrew a pair of shiny handcuffs and I knew that the moment was almost here.

The moment that I felt the cops hand clamp down on my wrist to cuff me I made my move. In one swift fluid motion I brought my leg up as hard and fast as I could. My aim was true and with great satisfaction I felt my kneecap connect solidly with his balls. He released me and immediately collapsed to the ground screaming in agony. I quickly scooped up my bag and made a mad dash to the end of the ally that was now only guarded by one cop. He made a desperate grab at me, but I managed to slip around him and shove him hard in the direction of his partner who was still writhing on the ground.

The two cops that I had originally been running from started down the alleyway, but by the time that they reached the end I had already slipped down another ally and ascended a small ladder that was bolted to the side of an old abandoned building. I ducked down low on the roof to try to avoid being seen. I could hear the heavy footsteps of a couple of cops running and I sighed in relief as I realized that they were headed in the wrong direction.

"That was too close," I whispered to myself as thoughts of going to jail plagued my thoughts. I don't have any friends that could have bailed me out and my aunt would not even think about wasting the money. I knew deep down that I had just gotten extremely lucky, but I was not out of the fire just yet. No matter how I tried to spin it the simple fact was that I had just assaulted a cop. That was a major felony. They would be looking for me hard now and I knew that I would have to lay low for quite some time. I had serious doubts that I would even be able to leave my house for a couple of weeks.

When I was sure that all of the cops had left the area, I came down from the building and started the all too familiar trek to my house.

It was a short walk, just over a mile, and I smiled as I walked up the stone path to my front door. I lived in a modest two story brick house that had belonged to my parents when they were alive. It was kind of big considering that I was the only person that lived in it now. I loved the house and everything inside of it. It was all that I had left of my parents.

I unlocked the door and quickly slipped inside before my nosy old neighbor could come outside and accuse me of being a lazy good for nothing bitch. I hated the old woman with a passion and she felt the exact same way about me. The cold air that greeted me inside was a welcome blessing. It may have been January, but it was still in the mid-seventies outside and I had just had one hell of a workout.

My hamster Ginger was running on his wheel and when he noticed me he started trying to shove his nose through the bars of his cage. "Hey buddy," I said greeting my one and only friend in the world. "Have a good workout?"

Ginger answered me by taking a drink out of his water bottle and nosing at his empty food dish. I dropped a handful of pellets into the dish and flopped down on my couch before turning on the Television.

I wasted the rest of the day watching reruns of old sitcoms before finally deciding to check out the evening news. The weatherman was talking about a cold front that was due to move in by the middle of the week. When the screen cut back to the anchors my heart skipped a beat. A black and white photo of my face from a security camera took up one quarter of the screen.

"The Biloxi police department are asking for the public's help this in identifying this woman," the news anchor said in a deep clear voice. "She is wanted for the theft of several hundred dollars' worth of merchandise as well as assaulting a police officer. Biloxi PD asks anyone with any information on this woman to please contact the police department."

"Would you look at that Ginger," I said glancing at my now sleeping hamster. "I actually made the news this time." He didn't budge and I just sighed. I had known that this was coming. There was nothing that I could do right now except hope that my bitchy old neighbor kept her mouth shut. I changed the channel from the news to an old science fiction movie. Within twenty minutes my eyes started to feel heavy and I drifted off into an uneasy nightmare fueled sleep.