It was true that Guzma had never really done anything like this before. He might have caused occasional trouble around Po Town and he could certainly get on his father's nerves in the mansion, but breaking into someplace and stealing? More new territory. All five of them are around the corner from the store now. It's the middle of the night and he's wondering if his father has noticed he's missing yet. There's no one about but them and no lights but the streetlights. Inside the clothing store is completely dark.
Despite denying it, he is a bit nervous. This wasn't so much due to being afraid of getting caught, but more so worry that he'd do something wrong here; that he'd mess up their plans somehow. For the first time in a while, he feels as if he's actually having... fun. Being in a group with them almost feels like having friends and it eases some of the loneliness he's held. Plus, Liam's effervescence is infectious. He's a very strange kid, but Guzma can't help but want to get to know him more; to get to know all of them more. He wants to be part of this group and he's hoping this little adventure will be his way in.
"I told you that I'm not really a hacker. I'm more of a coder? I program things, I don't break into them," Sweets tells Liam.
"But, you have before. You could!" He tells her, giving her what is clearly supposed to be puppy-dog eyes.
She smiles and shakes her head, her purple waves swaying with the movement. "Yeah, yeah, alright Liam, I'll see what I can do." She pulls Plumeria off to the side with her, where they both work on a laptop.
Jeremy's leaning against the wall below the skull he and Liam had placed. He still hasn't said anything else to Guzma and he seems to be avoiding eye contact with everyone. Since his mother's passing, Guzma had grown more quiet, but it wasn't due to shyness like it obviously was with Jeremy. Why was this guy always so anxious?
Liam gives Guzma a grin. "You ready for this, boss?"
"Depends." Guzma rubs at the back of this neck. "What's the plan?"
"Plumes and Sweets are working on taking out the security cameras. Once that's done, we pick the lock, get inside, take what we want, and get out. Jeremy will stand guard."
"That's it?" Guzma feels a little surprised. When they'd said "revenge" he thought they maybe meant to mess the place up a bit. There was the possibility that he was even hoping for that.
Liam shrugs. "Plumes just got fired, you know? They'd probably suspect her if we did anythin' more. Nah, this is more about peace o' mind." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a square of black cloth. "Here, I have an extra," he says, handing it to Guzma.
Guzma takes it and unfolds it. It's a black bandanna. He looks up at Liam.
He's already tying his own bandanna around his nose and mouth. "Just in case."
He follows Liam's lead and ties the bandanna around his head, feeling some kind of tingle from the novelty of it all. Now wearing this would certainly make him look like a delinquent. That thought gives him pause. Why exactly was he doing this? Was he just some rich kid playing tourist to these poor kids lives? He didn't want to be that, but that doesn't mean he isn't. It feels impossible to say for sure, but his own denial almost seems like confirmation. Still, the sense of belonging he feels with this group of misfits is something he can't ignore. Besides, what else could he do now? Nothing to do but to press forward and figure it out later.
"We got it!" Sweets says. She and Plumeria come back over to them. "Plumeria was familiar with their camera systems, which made things a little easier. But yeah! The next hour on all the cameras is just going to be a loop of the previous hour. They'll never see us here!"
Liam crosses his arms and nods. "Hacker."
Plumeria gives Guzma an icy stare when she notices the bandanna. "Well, you're sure taking to this."
For as welcoming as Liam is, Plumeria's coldness makes him doubt himself even more. Maybe he didn't belong with them either. Did he belong anywhere? Time to find out. "Did you really think I was gonna be that chickenshit about this?" He fires back at her.
She takes her own bandanna out of her pants pocket. "We'll see how you feel once we're inside, rich boy."
She was definitely the challenge here. Sweets and Jeremy didn't seem to care one way or another if Guzma was there or not. But Plumeria? She would have to be won over. It was just a matter of figuring out how.
Around the corner Jeremy is playing lookout as Liam works at the door lock. He seems frustrated, with a string of curses coming from his mouth as he bends over the mechanism, two different tools in his hands.
"Hey, lemme try?" Guzma asks.
All four of them turn and look at him. Liam's hands fall from the lock. "You ever done this before?"
"Yeah, plenty of times." Which was true, but he wasn't sure how much it would help to tell them that this had mostly been picking the locks of doors around the mansion. Figuring out lock picking to get to your Wimpod, whom your dad had hidden away as punishment doesn't sound as badass as learning to pick locks on the streets. Still, it was a skill he'd used to survive his father's tirades, and yes, to occasionally raise a little hell.
Liam and Plumeria exchange looks. Then Liam shrugs and offers the tools in his hands to Guzma. He takes them and stares down at them for a moment a little amazed. These were actual lock picking tools - far better than using whatever he could find in the mansion to get the job done. He'd relied on things like paperclips and hangers, among other things. Not only had it taken forever, he'd cut his hands a few times doing it. This would be different, but possibly easier.
Luckily the lock here was similar to the one at the entrance to the mansion. He'd picked that one before to get back inside after sneaking out a couple times. He carefully inserts the tools, listening and feeling for the ways in which they should be turned and jabbed. A bit to the right, right again, the left, and nothing. Guzma fails a couple times with the unfamiliar tools. Then on the third try, he feels all the tumblers fall smoothly into place. There's a small "click" sound and the front door to the store is unlocked. Guzma grins under the bandanna, relieved that he'd been able to do it.
Liam claps him on the back. "Hey! Not bad, boss."
Sweets gives him a bright smile before pulling her bandanna over her nose. Jeremy just continues to watch the street, and Plumeria, of course, still looks unimpressed. She slowly opens the door and they all quietly make their way inside, leaving Jeremy to stand guard.
They spread out within the store. Guzma watches as Liam begins sifting through racks, occasionally pulling off an item of clothing and adding it to the small pile he's got slung over his arm. Sweets immediately went for the makeup counter, placing containers and tubes in a bag she'd brought with her. Plumeria so far only has one thing in her hands - a dress that's light gray and purple. There's the pattern of a Wimpod tail along the bottom of it.
Liam laughs when he sees her holding it. "That's what you're taking?"
Plumeria puts a hand on her hip. "Hey! I think it's kinda cute. Besides, you never know when you'll need something that's not black."
"It is cute!" Sweets adds from behind the makeup counter.
"Yeah, yeah ok." Liam turns to Guzma. "You not takin' anything?"
So far Guzma had only watched as the others rummaged about for things they wanted. Truthfully, it wasn't like he needed to take anything here. After all, he didn't live in an abandoned warehouse like they did. And though his father was often unkind, he didn't deny him new clothes. If anything, forcing Guzma to maintain a certain appearance helped his dad maintain a certain appearance of his own within the town and beyond. In fact, that his son was such a misfit in the town often seemed to be a source of embarrassment for him. Still, clothes were not something Guzma needed. But he figures that what they're doing right now wasn't about necessity.
He begins to root through some sunglasses on a nearby spinning rack. There's a pair that are perfectly round that he's considering, but when he picks them up, the ones behind them catch his eye. One lens is circular like the other pairs on that particular rack, but the other is lopsided, with one side flat where it shouldn't be. Almost like a sun and half moon. He huffs. "What's up with these?"
Plumeria comes toward him and takes them from his hands, looking them over. "Strange. Just a defect I suppose." She hands them back to Guzma. "Plenty of others there anyway."
Guzma holds the sunglasses so that the lenses are looking back at him. Different, yeah, but maybe not quite defective. At the very least they were unique compared to the rest. He kinda liked them. He puts them over his eyes.
"Really?" Plumeria says, a hand back on her hip.
Guzma pushes the glasses up onto his forehead until they're resting in his hair. "Yeah, really," he says with as much sarcasm as he can muster.
She rolls her eyes at him and leaves to join Sweets in makeup looting.
"Eyy don't worry about Plumes!" He turns to find Liam with his arms full of clothes. "She'll come around. You just gotta-"
The front door opens and Jeremy yells, "There's a someone coming! Think it's a cop!"
"Shit! Fucking hide!" Liam says, running with his bundle of clothes to a circular rack and slipping between the hanging garments.
Plumeria and Sweets duck down behind the counter. Jeremy hides behind the front desk and register. Guzma stands, panic rising within him for a moment, before tucking himself in a small space between two racks of shoes near the makeup counter.
Everyone is silent. He looks over and sees Plumeria huddled together with Sweets. Sweets looks frightened, clutching to Plumeria, who looks more exasperated than anything. She's just staring straight ahead at nothing, a hand placed comfortingly around Sweets. He can only imagine what it must feel like to be so close to getting caught robbing the store that just fired you.
There's the sound of the front door opening and closing behind whoever's just come in. Then there's slow footsteps that sound so heavy in the quiet tension of the dark store. A beam from a flashlight darts across the clothing racks. "Hello?" asks a voice - a familiar voice. Why does he know that voice?
The steps continue. "Look, you'd better just come out. Door was unlocked so someone's clearly in here. I won't be leaving until you do."
He knows this voice. As quietly as he can Guzma shifts so that he can get a look at whoever's come in.
It's a man in a police uniform. He takes a few more careful steps around the store, his footsteps impossibly and terrifyingly loud. Then he turns, and Guzma recognizes him as the cop who lives outside Po Town and a family friend: Nanu.
Guzma feels the pinprick of fear along his spine as Nanu walks toward the makeup counter. He twists back around in his position and looks over to the two girls hiding there. Plumeria is staring right back at him. They hold each other's gaze. Her expression is one of sadness and resignation. She's going to get caught and she knows it. Sweets is shaking. Plumeria continues to look into his eyes.
Guzma's mind races. Would Nanu arrest him? Would he really do that while being on such good terms with his father? He can't imagine he would. Getting caught here like this has far different implications for him than it does for these other kids. They don't have the father he does.
Nanu's almost to the makeup counter now. Any second he'll find the girls hiding there. Guzma sighs, steeling himself, then he scoots out of the space he's wedged himself into. "Over here!" he says, standing.
Nanu whips around, shining the light towards him, causing Guzma to raise an arm in front of his face at the brightness. "What are you doing here, kid?" Nanu asks angrily.
Guzma pulls the bandanna down, revealing the rest of his face.
Nanu drops the light from him in surprise. "Guzma?"
"Yeah." Guzma avoids Nanu's eyes. "Yeah, it's me."
"What in the hell are you doing? Does your dad know you're out?"
Guzma rolls his eyes. "Didn't know I needed his permission to be out and about."
"This looks like a little more than out and about." Nanu starts walking towards him. "You know how lucky you are right now?"
Guzma shrugs. "Got caught, didn't I? Sure don't seem lucky."
Nanu points at him. "If you or I were anyone else, this would be playing out a little differently. Now come on, let's get you home. Dad's probably wondering where you are anyway."
Guzma glares at Nanu. He gives one last quick glance to Plumeria, who looks back at him wide-eyed, and reluctantly drags his feet toward the officer. They both exit the store, Nanu telling him, "Can't you keep your trouble making to Po Town, huh?"
Guzma doesn't return to the abandoned warehouse for three days. Of course, showing up back home in the middle of the night with Nanu had gone about as well as could be expected with his dad. But, now that he was away on a business trip, slipping out of the mansion suddenly became a lot easier.
He stops in front of the warehouse doors and looks around until he spots what must be a camera taped to a window ledge. He really did need to ask them a few things about this place. How did they have electricity? Did they have running water? He waves to the camera, hoping Sweets will see that he's there. Sure enough, the door opens. But this time it's not Jeremy ready to drag him inside; instead it's Liam and Plumeria.
Liam's all smiles as usual, and Plumeria's as stoic as ever, but it was a nice change from the glares she'd given him previously. The cheerfulness falls from Liam's face and Plumeria's eyes bulge when they see him.
After Nanu had gone, his dad had spent the next hour screaming at him. By the end of it, Guzma had been left with a split lip and a black eye. Three days hadn't been much time for either injury to heal, and he knows that this is what Liam and Plumeria are staring at now.
Liam pulls him inside the warehouse saying, "Dude, boss, what happened?"
"It's - don't worry about it." Guzma says, looking away from their concerned faces and rubbing awkwardly at the back of his neck.
"Your dad did this?" Plumeria asks. When Liam turns to her she adds, "What? He said his dad's an asshole."
Guzma can't bring himself to look at either of them. "I mean, yeah, but, at least no one got arrested or anything." He finally gives them a sideways glance.
Liam puts a hand on his arm. "Look, you ever need a place to come, you can always come here, ok?"
Guzma just nods, wanting to move past the subject of his dad, but also unable to articulate how much such a sentence means to him. Did he finally have a place to belong? A friend group? They were really ok with him then? Even-
"So listen," Plumeria says. "Thank you, for that."
"Don't - don't mention it."
She gives him a small half-smile - the warmest expression she's shown him thus far. "You're alright, G."
He returns the smile, relieved. Maybe even the two of them could be on friendly terms after all.
"Yeah, yeah, ok. Enough mushiness." Liam interrupts. Boss, you've gotta see what Jeremy's doing. He's just crushing cans on his forehead. Like it's nothin'! You ever tried to do that? I mean, they're empty cans, but still."
Guzma laughs at Liam's enthusiasm and follows them back towards where Jeremy and Sweets are waiting, feeling the most at home he's felt anywhere in over a year.