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Chapter 7 : My First Heist

"The man with the scar on his face is your father? The real father? You aren't trying to trick me, right?"

The man exhaled lazily, "Hey, listen. I'm a thief. Not a scammer. Those are two different types of crimes. I steal, but that doesn't mean I scam people either." , he explained.

"But I still don't understand," I said still in confusion but the bread thief walked away so I was forced to follow him, "Why doesn't he treat you as his son? Well, you know, usually fathers would favor their children. Especially if it's a son."

"What if there are two sons? Would a father favor both of them?"

I tapped my chin as I thought about her question, "It's possible."

"No," , he retorted, "Other people's fathers might be like that. But not with my family, not with my father. Not with mine. He only loves his strong, great, and accomplished son, like my brother. Even though he's just an adopted son."

I was wide-eyed at that statement, "Your brother is an adopted son? And your father loves him more? Are you serious? Are you sure you weren't the one who was adopted?", I asked curiously.

He stopped his steps and turned to me, "Are you done digging into my family history? How long are you going to follow me?"

I gasped. He was right. Instead of thinking about other people's family relationships, I should think about my current situation. I had no place to go or place to sleep. I didn't even have money to eat. The remaining bread I had eaten for breakfast this morning and now I was starting to feel my stomach growling.

"How to steal?", I asked while holding my rumbling stomach.

I saw that he was holding back his smile, "What is this? You changed your job from chasing thieves to being a thief?", he teased.

I shrugged my shoulders in sync, "Being a thief sure gets you food, doesn't it? When I was a thief chaser I only got dirt thrown at my face and you wouldn't want to know how painful your eyes were back then."

Both corners of his lips twitched then he laughed.

"What's so funny? I was just trying to survive." I said again but he didn't stop laughing.

I got carried away and laughed along with him, and the more we laughed, the more our laughter grew. I didn't know laughing at myself could be this much fun.

"I'm Sam. Sam Holland. And that horrible person was Wymond Holland." , he said introducing himself as he extended his hand, inviting me to have a shake.

"I'm Anne. Just Anne." I extended my hand and welcomed his handshake. Now we were officially friends.

From a thief and his chaser, now we were friends. Or maybe I can call it a relationship between a teacher and a student. Because I asked him to teach me how to steal.

"Are you ready for your first lesson?" , suddenly his tone sounded serious.

I immediately straightened my position then quickly placed my hands parallel and against my temples, saluting like a soldier, " Yes, sir!" , I said loudly.

Unexpectedly, he did the same thing back. Except he didn't say a word and just imitated my gesture. After a few seconds we laughed again.


Thirty minutes later, we were in front of a big house that was right on an uphill slope. The house was huge and surrounded by a two-meter high wall as a fence with iron arrows sticking up at the top of the wall.

Quite unlike what I expected, the front of the house had no guards, just a large closed wooden gate. We passed through without a hitch and arrived at the end of a ramp that immediately turned into a dead end. The top of the ramp was like a ladder to get over the fence of the big house. Because the height of the wall is flat with the part below. So that when we stand at the top of the ramp, the fence wall is only one meter high.

I peeked inside and was mesmerized by the spacious yard full of flowers. It was like having a mini flower garden at home. And the big house was made of brick as well as marble. I shifted slightly to look inside near the fence and saw two guards sitting opposite each other smoking their cigars. I knew the guards must be inside. Because there's no way a house of this size wouldn't have guards.

"You wait here. Watch and pay close attention to every movement and step I take. Don't make a sound or you'll make them release ten guard dogs and that will definitely make it difficult for me to get out. I get caught and you get no food. Do you understand?" he whispered as he crouched behind the wall just under the umbrella of a tabebuya tree that had several branches sticking out over the fence.

I nodded quickly. I was so nervous that I could hear my heart beating.

Sam peeked inside and when he felt it was safe he started to take a leap over the wall. Before he jumped, I held his hand, "Promise me you will come back safely. Because I'm hungry." I said.

He nodded and I let go of his hand. Quickly, still shirtless, he managed to jump onto the trunk of a tabebuya tree without making a sound and moved from branch to branch until he finally landed on grass that was thick enough to muffle the sound of his footsteps as he landed. After that, I couldn't see her movements anymore because my vision was blocked by the shady tabebuya trees.

I noticed the dog who was enjoying his nap near the guard. It held its head up like it was on alert as Sam jumped onto the grass. My nervousness increased as anxiety spread throughout my body. This was my first time learning to be a thief, but why didn't it seem as easy as when I first learned to recognize letters before learning to read?

Time continued to pass and there was still no sign of Sam leaving the house. I wasn't sure how long Sam had been in there, but I hoped he hadn't caught the owner or the guards. My mind was getting frantic at the thought of a dozen guards pacing around in there.

My worries were bolstered by the loud sound of a falling object. I guessed it was a large ceramic vase that fell from a height of approximately one meter. I, who had been standing and hiding behind the leaves of the tabebuya tree, immediately lowered my position when I heard the loud sound, hiding myself from the view of the guards outside and also the sniffing of the guard dogs.

Following the sound, the barking of the dogs joined in and one of the guards grabbed a long stick and brought his dog along with him into the house.

"Shit! How's this? Sam, you're okay, right?" I started jerking my legs, unable to keep still because of my nerves.

In less than a minute, the guard who had entered the house returned to his place and seemed to be having a conversation with the other guard and then they both entered the house in a hurry. I became even more uneasy and was about to cry.

"Damn you Sam! Hurry up and come out!", I muttered anxiously.

Suddenly someone tapped on my shoulder and I was very surprised by it. I immediately turned around alertly and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that it was Sam who was already wearing clothes and carrying something that he wrapped in a cloth.

"Let's get out of here." , he said as he rushed down the road.

I followed behind him and we continued to run a little until we were finally far enough away from the big house. Right near the train tracks, we decided to stop and sit there, on the dried up grass.

My mouth dropped when I saw Sam open his luggage. A whole chicken along with a big bowl, toast, and fruit. He literally took everything on the dining table.

"Can I eat it now?", I asked.

He pulled out one chicken thigh and nodded, "Go ahead."

This was the most delicious lunch I had ever tasted since the last time I ate my mom's cooking. Unconsciously my tears flowed as I chewed on the chicken. Now I realize how miserable my life has been lately. My mom in the sky must be crying seeing how I live.

"What's wrong?", Sam asked, looking worried.

I shook my head and wiped my tears, "Nothing. This is so good. Reminds me of my mom's cooking. I just realized how much I miss her."

"Your mom's not here anymore?", he asked again and I nodded as I continued eating, "Eat a lot. Your mom would be happy if she saw her daughter eating a lot."

I was touched to hear that. I hadn't talked about my family to anyone in a long time and now I realized how much I needed someone to talk to. My sadness and my loss, but I wasn't ready and wasn't sure I could do it casually without the drama of crying and trembling lips.

"Where did you show up from, by the way? I didn't see you come out?", I asked curiously.

"There's a secret door that can only be opened from the inside at the dead end. I went through there." , he said as he broke off a chicken wing from its body.

"How did you know there was a secret door there? Have you ever been in that house before?" , I asked again and Sam nodded.

It seemed like the more I got to know Sam, the more things amazed me about him.

"Well, how come? You're lucky you still have a chance to get out! Do you know who owns that big house? It looks like an influential person in town."

"That's Mr. Wymond's house." Sam said calmly.

"Mr. Wymond? Who is he? I think I've heard that name before? The mayor?"

Sam shook his head without taking his attention away from the chicken wing he was gnawing on, "The top brass at The Vigilante Union. The one with the scar on his face."

I, who had just sucked the water from the pineapple, immediately choked upon hearing that, "What?! The person with the scar?! You mean the house that your father owned? Ah no, no. I mean, it's your house?! And these clothes you're wearing are your clothes?!"

He casually nodded and broke off the one remaining wing, " Do you want a chicken wing?"

I shook my head while watching how Sam ate. Once again, Sam was full of surprises.

As if it wasn't enough to surprise me with anything related to Sam, the universe surprised me again with an arrow that suddenly fell right into the chicken's breast, just a few centimeters away from my hand. If only my hand had moved faster to grab the chicken, maybe now my hand would have been stabbed along with the chicken.

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