Icy cold air filled Tyler's ancient beaten down truck. Smoke from Daisy's cigarette swirled up toward the roof to crawl out of the cracked car window and meld with the blue-black sky. Her body shivered when she threw the butt of her cigarette out the window.
"I know for a fact they're out of town." Tyler began leaning over to place his hand on Daisy's thigh. "I've been watching them for a week, I saw them putting their luggage and shit in their Mercedes."
She stared down at her feet ignoring Tyler's touch. Her stomach churned and sank every time she thought of what they were about to do. She'd held up stores before, shoplifted, dealt drugs, but had never broken into a home. Of all the things she's done, it felt wrong to her. She wouldn't just be hurting big companies or druggies, she'd be invading one of the most personal and comforting things someone had.
"No one's going to catch us." Tyler promised, completely misunderstanding Daisy's fear. He grabbed the side of her face, pulling her close to him and kissing the top of her head. Taking a deep shaky breath, Daisy looked into his eyes finally.
"I'm just not sure about this Ty. I think we should just leave."
Tyler's expression turned cold. He turned to look out the front windshield, biting his cheek. Daisy instantly regretted her words. The icy cold air seemed to get colder, and the inky black sky seemed to darken.
Her easily angered boyfriend slammed his fist against the steering wheel.
"So you're telling me all my work was for nothing?" Tyler yelled.
"No I…"
"I'm doing this for you! You know who I had to go to that would buy stolen goods?"
"I'm sorry."
Tyler grabbed the back of Daisy's black hair, twisting her head to look at him. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, from the pain and the fear she felt.
"I try to help you and you do this to me. Why do you always want to hurt me? Do you want to get me killed?"
"No!" she finally yelled out. Tyler threw her away from him, her cheekbone and temple hitting the door hard.
Grabbing his backpack Tyler opened the door and flung himself from the car. He began storming toward the house without saying a word. Daisy took a deep breath. She knew if she stayed Tyler would be even angrier than before. Her face was already throbbing and she didn't think she could take the beating he would have for her when he came back. She opened her door slowly and followed him onto the back porch of the home where he began picking the lock.
Daisy crossed her fingers, foolishly wishing that Tyler wouldn't be able to pick the lock for the first time in his whole life. The door clicked, they were in.
The home was large and beautiful. High ceilings, white furniture, rich brown wooden floors, and everywhere she looked she saw lush green plants. Warm air wrapped around her shivering body like a fluffy blanket, melting away her nervousness if only for a moment.
It had to be nicest home Daisy had ever been in. Her eyes surveyed the rooms in amazement, then, she caught sight of a long dining table with a short stack of bills. Her mind snapped back to the plan. Get in, get out. She grabbed the money and shoved it into her pocket.
"I'll start upstairs." Daisy's voice was barely able to squeak out. She gently and quietly pulled herself up each step as if she was avoiding bombs that may be hidden beneath the shiny hard wood. The master bedroom was situated directly across from the stairwell. The established criminal knew that had to be her first stop.
Her cheap black leather boot stepped gently upon a fluffy white rug leaving behind a muddy footprint as she slowly creeped into the master bedroom. A canopy bed sat right in middle of the luxurious room and upon it's pillowy comforter carefully lie a silk nightgown with the price tag still sown in. Daisy rubbed the silk sleeve over in her hand imagining what a piece of clothing that expensive would feel like against her skin. She moved on to inspect the wooden jewelry box that had been watching her from the corner of the room calling out for her to come explore what it held inside.
She cautiously ran her fingers across the boxes corners and read what was engraved into a small medal plate secured to the top: For My Loving Wife. Daisy scoffed under her breath imaging what it must be like to receive such extravagant presents. Her fingers slipped under the lid, lifting it to expose what beauties it held inside.
The box was filled with pearl necklaces, gold bracelets, and diamond earrings among other small treasures. Daisy's heart pounded with excitement as she quickly emptied the contents of the box into her backpack and moved on to the walk in closet.
Her imagination began to soar. She imagined what the woman who wore these jewels must look like covered head to toe in sparkling accessories. She dreamed of what it would be like to own a house this size, to wear a silk nightgown, have Tyler buy her extravagant gifts, or to even own a single gold necklace. She wouldn't have to worry about Dominic being able to afford college so he wouldn't end up a criminal like her. She wouldn't have to rob stores just to feed herself, or sell drugs to pay her rent. Life would be easy.
Daisy stepped on top of a stool in the closet pulling boxes of shoes off a shelf and dumping them onto the floor. Suddenly, her gleeful imagination turned to anger. She was angry that her mother died. Angry that her father left her on the street when she was only 15 with her 11 year old brother. Angry that this family owned 100 pairs of shoes when she couldn't even afford to buy clothes that fit her. She had begun pulling the boxes violently off the shelve, flinging them into the floor below her.
Why is my life this way?
A pair of heels hit the floor,
Why don't I ever get a break?
Two boxes of men's oxfords flew off the shelf and landed with a bang.
This isn't fair!
A shoe box hit the floor silently, green paper bills hit the floor, spilling from the box and mixing with the shoes. Daisy jumped down from the stool finding what she had hoped she might find. A secret box of money. An "emergency fund" some families called it. She began scoping the bills into her backpack without bothering to count it.
Bare feet appeared in the doorway. Daisy's heavy breathing stopped as her eyes slowly drifted up the body until she was looking directly into the teenage boys eyes.
She could tell even kneeling on the floor that the boy was much larger than her. He had long legs, broad shoulders, and a protruding gut. His meaty hands were grasping around a shiny medal baseball bat.
"W-who are you?" the boy stuttered. Daisy could see now in the low glow of the fluorescent light that the boy was shaking. She slowly began to stand her hands stretched out, not fearing that the boy would actually use the bat against her.
"Look, I'm not going to hurt you. Let's just put this down okay?" She softly suggested inching toward the bat.
"Don't come any closer! Wh-who are you!"
Daisy stopped moving and stared directly into the teenager's eyes. He couldn't have been any more than 15 years old, a bit younger than Dominic. His parents had probably decided he was finally old enough to stay home alone while they went out on some type of trip. She looked down at his shaking hands holding the baseball bat. He was terrified.
What if this was Dominic? She couldn't help but think. She wanted to grab the boy and hug him. Apologize for scaring him and put back everything she stole.
"I'm calling the cops." he finally said, more stern than before.
A loud clicking noise came from behind the teen, causing the boy to whip around.
"Yeah kid you need to put that thing down." Tyler was standing an arms length away pointing his revolver at the shocked kids head.
The kid muttered under his breath begging Tyler not to shoot him as he laid the bat on the floor. Daisy rushed from the closet to stand in between the two. She feared what Tyler might do to him.
"Thank you T. Let's go." His girlfriend dared to say placing her hand on the barrel of his gun. Tyler ignored her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her behind him.
"Turn around buddy." He said shaking his gun with one hand and holding Daisy back with the other.
"Please don't hurt me!" the boy begged as tears formed in his eyes.
"You don't have to do this. Let's just leave!" Daisy yelled grabbing his shoulders and spinning him around to face him. Tyler's dark brown eyes started lifelessly back at her. He was emotionless, as if he wasn't just about to murder someone's child.
"He saw our faces D. As soon as we walk out of here he's just going to rat on us to the cops."
"I won't! I swear! Please just let me go and I'll go back to bed and pretend I slept through the whole thing." The boy bellowed. Tears and snot were streaming down his face at this point. Just by looking at him you could tell he thought he wouldn't be making it out of the walk in closet. "I'll say I saw you and describe someone who looks nothing like either of you. I'll send them on a goose chase just-"
"Shut the fuck up!" Tyler yelled spinning around to place the barrel of his gun to the boy's temple and pushing him to his knees. His dead eyes stared at the boy who was shaking so severely he was moments from collapsing.
"Leave him alone! He's just a kid!" Daisy screamed.
"I could shoot you right now and feel absolutely nothing." Tyler snapped, digging the barrel into the boy's sensitive skin. "Why should I let you live? Your life means nothing to me."
Daisy began to cry. She knew Tyler was a loose cannon, and she knew Tyler had killed people in the past, but seeing him willing to steal someone's life right in front of her was horrifying. There was nothing she could do but beg.
"Please T-" she began, careful not to say his name and give Tyler yet another reason to end the witness's life. "Please just let him go. He's only a teenager. He's almost my brother's age. I- I couldn't live with myself if he died."
Tyler stared at the boy for what seemed like hours not a single one of them moving a muscle. Then, he pulled the gun away from the teen's head and shoved it in the waist of his jeans. "I'm going to give you a chance, cause I'm such a nice guy. But look, I promise you they won't find us if you rat us out, but I'll find you. I won't hesitate to blow your brains out if we cross paths again."
"Yes. I promise." he whimpered. Tyler grabbed the back of the teen's shirt, pulled him out of the closet, and dragged him into his own room. Throwing him on the bed he reminded him, "I know where you live", then slammed the door.
As the duo headed their way back down the stairs on their way out the door, Daisy pulled from her pocket the small stack of bills she had taken off the table when she first arrived. Realizing it may be the only thing she could do, she left it back in its place with a note she quickly scrawled on one of the bills: I'm sorry.