He pulled me along as he ran. I was dragged along behind, irritated. He ran past streets, before stopping behind a column. "Ok, how do you want to do this? Cash or just take it?"
I was sick and tired of games, "Do WHAT?"
He pointed excitedly to a store opposite us. It was a supermarket actually. I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean cash or take it?"
He rolled his eyes. "I mean do you want to use cash to buy or just STEAL?"
"Steal?" The idea disgusted me. "Of course I would use cash! Who would want to steal?"
The boy smiled mischievously, as if saying me of course! "Well, do you have any cash?" He asked. His expression told me he didn't expect me to say yes.
I searched my pockets. I found a few golden coins, which I had no idea how I had gotten them. I showed it to him and he shook his head. "I haven't seen these coins before. They're probably so old." I searched further. I found a pen. It was a common ball point pen with a cap. It wasn't money, but I had a feeling I was going to need it.
The boy rolled his eyes again. If there were an eye-rolling competition, he would have been champion. "You haven't gotten any, have you?" Then, he grinned.
I watched as he walked toward a man. He was wearing a tie and suit and was carrying a suitcase, most probably going to work. The boy winked at me as he followed the man. He knocked into the man purposely, but he made it look like an accident. While the man picked up his suitcase, the boy picked his wallet which was at the man's back pocket. He hid it quickly in his own pocket, before bowing respectfully to the man and then retreating.
I gaped at him. He had just picked someone's wallet and he was grinning like it was nothing!
"See, piece of cake!" He said triumphantly, showing me the wallet.
"Are you crazy?" I managed to utter. "You just picked a guy's wallet!"
He stared at me as if I was the crazy one. "Gee, Percy. You've seen me do it a dozen times. It's the only way to survive in this world." He grinned.
I stared over his shoulder. Hopefully, the man would just walk away and realized nothing was wrong. If not, we're dead.
Turns out, my luck was bad. Or should I say our luck. The man had stopped at a roadside stall not far away. It looked as if he wanted to buy something, because he reached behind for his wallet.
I felt nervous then, "Erm, guy…."
But he wasn't listening. He kept on rattling about how cool it was and how he was so skilled at stealing stuff. The man had realized his wallet was gone. He was starting to look for it on the floor. Then, he spotted us behind the pillar. He began to yell and rushed toward us. Just our luck, a policeman was standing nearby.
"Guy!" I yelled, shaking the boy. He turned and paled at the sight of the man and police chasing him. "Run!" He yelled and fled. I followed closely. The policeman was yelling into his walkie-talkie. Calling for back-up, no doubt.
We ran and ran. I didn't dare to look behind for fear I would lose my nerve. I had a vague memory of this, like running had become my usual routine. Odd.
After running for like an hour, ok, maybe it was like a few minutes, we stopped. No one was after us, thank the gods. I leaned against the wall, panting. We had ducked into an alley. "That was super close." My friend panted, still grinning.
I had had enough. I grabbed him by his neck and pinned him the wall. "You are crazy, ok? "I didn't know where I had the strength to do that, but I didn't care. "You don't understand! I don't know you, pal! I have no idea who you are or who I am!"
The boy looked stunned, "You mean you really don't know?"
"Do I look like I'm joking?" I let him go anyway.
The boy raised an eyebrow. "But we've been staying in that alley for like what, three months? We're like brothers now! How can you not know me?"
I shrugged, "All I know is that I just appeared there yesterday. I wasn't there before, I'm sure." The boy bit his lip, as if trying to figure out whether to trust me or not.
"Ok, I'll just pretend you really don't know anything." He decided. I rolled my eyes.
"You're Percy. I'm Lionel McEvans." He put out his hand. I shook it. Finally.
"What's my last name?" I asked. He screwed his face. "I-I..." He scratched his chin.
