Chapter One: The Jewelry Box
Roxas did not like to think that he was a thief. Thief, he said, was a derogatory word used to describe people who stole things, because for some reason people seemed to think that people who stole things were bad. Roxas disagreed with this. People who stole things weren't necessarily bad, he said. People steal for different reasons. And not everyone who steals is looking to break into a cash register or hold up a bank or hi-jack a car. Some people just steal to feed themselves or someone else, and some people steal for other people to save their own skin and some people just steal for fun. These people weren't necessarily bad, Roxas said, but misunderstood, because society never gave them a chance.
Therefore, when people accused Roxas of being thief, Roxas would calmly reply that he was not a thief, but a kleptomaniac.
Generally, being a kleptomaniac and being a thief are considered the same thing, but Roxas argued that they were different. A kleptomaniac was a universal word that could be used to nicely describe anybody who stole and he insisted that people ought to be called this instead of thieves, because it made much more sense. A thief was someone looking for unnecessary personal gain; that was why they held up convenience stores and gas stations for money. Kleptomaniacs shouldn't have to be grouped in the same category as thieves, because kleptomaniacs didn't steal for unnecessary personal gain, which was why the term thief was derogatory term and ought to be corrected.
"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard," Hayner snorted as the other blonde finished telling him his theory. "You're a fucking thief, Roxas. Just admit it, and cut the kleptomaniac bullshit."
Roxas frowned. "Hayner, I told you, I'm not a thief."
"You steal for personal gain, don't you?"
"Yes, but not unnecessary personal gain."
"Then why the hell did you steal that lava lap from that one guy's trunk yesterday? What do you need a lava lamp for?" Hayner asked.
"I need a lamp so I can have a light source in my bedroom at night," Roxas explained.
"But did it have to be a lava lamp?"
"No, but that was the first lamp I saw. So you see, it wasn't for unnecessary personal gain," the blonde said patiently, as though explaining it to a child. "I'm not a thief. I'm a kleptomaniac."
"Yeah, well as long as the world thinks they mean the same thing you're fucking screwed," Hayner said flatly. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket. "So you'd better get used to being called a thief, Roxas, 'cause that's what everyone here thinks you are."
Roxas frowned, crossing his arms. "Well, they shouldn't."
"But the do so shut the fuck up and deal." The brown-eyed boy exhaled a mouth full of smoke into the blonde's face. He coughed, gagging.
"What the hell was that for?!"
"For being a whiner and making my head hurt with your fancy words. Seriously, kleptomaniac? It's a stupid word." He took another drag and exhaled slowly. "You may be smart Roxas, but no one else around here even graduated high school. So try not to confuse us with your fancy vocabulary."
"I didn't graduate high school either," Roxas pointed out.
"Well then how the hell do you know all those big words?"
"I read."
"Readings for suckers."
"Reading is a key aspect of life and anyone who doesn't do enough of it is doomed to a miserable fate," Roxas said.
"Bullshit."
"It's true. You should really try picking up a book sometimes, Hayner; you'd be surprised at how good they can be."
"The only book I'm ever going to pick up is the mechanical handbook of my car," Hayner said flatly, throwing the cigarette onto the ground and stomping it out with his foot. "Now c'mon, Seifer's offering a forty percent share to whoever can steal the jewelry box from that one old lady on Brooklyn Street."
"So?"
"So I wanna get that money and I need your help," Hayner said. "It's a two-man job."
The blonde groaned. "Hayner, you know I don't like stealing from people for other people."
"Like I give a flying fuck. Listen, if you help me bag this one I'll buy you dinner every Saturday for the next month." He began fishing through his pockets for something. "So you gonna help me or am I gonna have to convince you?"
Half an hour and a bloody nose later Roxas found himself standing on the corner of Brooklyn and Parmenter, watching the small house with pristine white siding and baby blue shutters. He didn't like this; the neighborhood was too clean. The chances of them being able to pull off stealing this old lady's jewelry box were very slim, and Roxas didn't like slim chances like this. They could get caught and they wouldn't be able to get away, surrounded on all sides by these little houses with their perfect lawns and perfect gardens and pastel window shutters. He wanted to leave.
"You can leave as soon as we get the fucking jewelry box," Hayner hissed as he dragged Roxas towards the house. "Come on, it's the middle of the fucking night and it's one little old lady against the two of us. How hard can it be?" He looked around to see if there were any cars coming, or people outside. When he saw nothing, Hayner stepped onto the lawn and began heading for the back door, Roxas in tow."
"Why is this a two person job?" Roxas asked quietly.
"Because one of us needs to keep a lookout while the other gets the box."
"Who's standing guard?"
"You are. I don't trust you with the box?"
"You think I want to steal some old lady's jewelry?"
"Hey, that jewelry is worth a fucking fortune. Pence checked it out last week when he was pretending to be the TV repairman." They arrived at the back door, and Hayner took a key out of his pocket. "That's how he got this too." He grinned, pushing the key into the lock.
"He stole her house key?"
"It was the spare hidden under a rock in the garden," Hayner said, turning the key. The lock clicked, and he slowly pushed the door open. It opened into a pristine kitchen, complete with spotless counters and girlish pink decorations. There were even some decorative plates with blue-eyed kittens on a ledge above the sink. Roxas resisted the urge to gag. "Okay," Hayner whispered. "You stay here and make sure that no one's coming, and I'll go get the box."
"Hayner, what if she wakes up in the middle of this?"
"Then we knock her out. What else would we do?"
"And you don't think that's going to look suspicious?"
"Look, Roxas, if all goes as planned, she won't even know the box was taken for a few days. I've got an exact copy right here, see?" He opened his vest and Roxas saw a large blue satin box in the inside pocket. "We'll be fine." And, not wanting to deal with anymore of Roxas's stupid questions, he quietly snuck through the kitchen to the hallway and out of sight.
Roxas sighed and stepped into the kitchen, making sure the door was almost closed so as not to look suspicious. He didn't like this at all. It was too risky, and Hayner wasn't the brightest person in the world, he was bound to do something stupid like break a vase. He groaned. Why had he agreed to do this? They were going to get caught, and arrested and thrown in jail and then raped by inmates, he just knew it.
Something creaked. He started wildly and looked around. Hayner was walking towards him, a grin on his face and blue satin box under his arm. "Done," he said. "See? Nothing went wrong." He opened the door carefully, stepping out onto the back step. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Roxas nodded and followed him, closing and locking the door behind him. They slinked quietly across the lawn, turning their heads in all directions and making sure that no one was coming. All the lights were out in the houses, there were no cars, and as far as they could tell no people anywhere. Roxas began to relax a little bit. Maybe they would pull this off without a hitch after all. They had already reached the street corner, now all they needed to do was walk a couple blocks to the place where Hayner had parked his car and then—
"Help! Police! Police! Someone's taken my jewelry box!" a woman screamed very suddenly and as loud as a foghorn. Roxas's brain froze.
Shit.
"SHIT! Roxas, come on!" Hayner swore. He grabbed the other blonde's wrist and they broke into a run as the lights in the houses around them began to turn on. "Goddamnit how the fuck did she know?!"
"The key," Roxas panted as the pounded along the sidewalk. "She must have… Checked it… After Pence came and… Saw that it was… Gone!"
"So?"
"So she knew someone was going to come to her house and try and rob her!" Roxas cried. There were only two blocks left until Hayner's car, he could almost make it out now. "She probably pretended… to be asleep when you came in the room!"
"FUCK!" Hayner yelled. "What the fuck are we gonna to now?"
"Get in the fucking care and drive like hell!" Roxas gasped as they reached the black vehicle and jumped in. Hayner jammed the keys into the ignition and started it before he was even fully in his seat. "What the fuck are you waiting for, drive!" Roxas yelled.
Hayner slammed his foot onto the accelerator and they took off at fifty files per hour down a suburban street. "Fuck," he said. "Fuck, we're fucking screwed, Seifer's gonna fucking kill us if the cops don't, we're completely fucked!"
"Just shut up and keep driving!" Roxas yelled. The blonde made a sharp turn onto a main road and shot down it like a bullet, paying almost no attention to the other cars. They almost ran into one on several occasions until they reached another main road. Hayner turned left onto it and kept driving for about five blocks before turning sharply into an open garage tucked into an alleyway. Roxas heard the sides of the car scrapping against the brick wall; there wasn't much room to maneuver and Hayner hadn't taken the time to make sure he had space on both sides.
"FUCK!" he yelled again. "Great, just fucking great, now my car's fucking scratched—"
"Forget about the car, we gotta hide!" Roxas said, jumping out as soon Hayner had stopped in the garage. "Where the hell are we going to go?"
"Well where the hell should we go?" Hayner said, turning off the car and getting out. "Seifer's sure as hell not gonna let us crash with him—"
"Olette," Roxas cut him off. "Olette will hide us, nobody would ever expect her to be involved in crime, they won't come looking for a while." He sprinted out of the garage and down the street. He heard Hayner behind him, panting as they ran several blocks, turned a corner, ran some more, then turned onto the street Olette lived.
"Which one is hers?" Hayner asked, running along side him now.
"The one at the end of the street, next to the woods!" Roxas answered. "I can see it from here!" It was a dark house with a front porch and a one car garage. Roxas could just barely make it out against the darkness of the trees standing next to it. They ran until they reached it and then skidded to a halt. Hayner doubled over, wheezing.
"Shit, I've never had to run so much in my fucking life," he panted. "Olette better have some fucking be— SHIT!"
He felt the objects hit his temple with a horribly loud thump, and the next second Hayner crumpled to the ground, out cold. Roxas stood still for a moment, waiting to make sure he wouldn't wake up. When he didn't move, the blonde bent down and took the jewelry box from under his arm. He opened it; inside were necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings that might have belonged to queen. He smiled, and pulled a plastic bag out of his pocket.
"Thank for your hard work, Hayner," he addressed the unconscious body, smirking. He poured the contents of the box into the bag, then closed it and slipped it back under his arm. "Even if you did almost get us caught, you stupid fucker." He stood up, looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching, then he took off at a sprint as disappeared into the woods.
It was almost three in the morning by the time Roxas reached the shabby motel in the small town of Goldfield, about thirty minutes away from Twilight Town. He gave one thousand munny to the truck driver who had given him a ride, then quickly made his way to room 24.
"You're late," a female voice said as he opened the door. A small blonde girl was sitting on the left side of the bed; her large blue eyes locked on him as he entered the room and closed the door. "What took you so long?"
"Hayner almost got us caught, so we had to run to Olette's before I could take the jewelry," he explained, throwing his jacket carelessly on the floor and taking a seat next to his sister.
"Where is it?" she asked.
"Right here." He held up the bag, which glinted even in the dim light of the motel room. "One full box of Aurorian jewels, courtesy of Merryweather Blue." He dumped the contents onto the bit of mattress between them. "You think you'd look pretty with this in your hair, Naminé?" he asked, picking up a bejeweled hairpin and examining it.
She made a face. "Too extravagant," she said, sifting her way through the pile, picking up a piece to examine it every now and then. "All this is too much. Why would anybody want to wear a mouse-sized jewel around their neck?"
"To show off how wealthy they are?" Roxas suggested, moving up the bed and lying down. "It doesn't matter anyway; it's all going to Maleficent." He yawned hugely. He was exhausted from all the running he had done. Silently cursing Hayner, he kicked off his shoes and said, "You can finish looking at them later; I want to sleep."
"Okay." Naminé reached under the bed and pulled out a metallic box with a coded lock to protect it. She put the jewelry inside and closed it gently. "They'll be safe here," she said quietly, pushing it back under the bed. She moved up the bed to join her brother, reached over to turn off the light and settled down under the covers.
"Roxas?" she whispered.
"Mm?"
"Are we… Are we thieves?"
He cracked a dark blue eye open and gazed at her worried face. "Don't be silly, Naminé," he said softly. "We're just kleptomaniacs."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
She smiled at him, and he smiled back. He reached over and took her hand in his, squeezing it gently.
"Don't worry," he whispered. "We will never, ever be thieves, no matter what anyone else says."
"Promise?" she asked childishly, but with sincerity.
"I promise."
She squeezed his hand back. "Goodnight, Roxas."
"Goodnight, Naminé."
The noise of the wind, and the crickets and the distant traffic on the highway drifted through the thin walls, making them feel calm and sleepy. Roxas's eyes slipped shut, and within minutes he had fallen into a deep sleep.
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