Caught Red Handed

The lights flashed on. Tracy stood flabbergasted. At this hour not a soul was stirring. With the lights on every shadow vanished, as did his clean get away. The only option was to hide under the register and pray.

Which is precisely what he did. Casual footsteps were approaching. He dare not look up, the glass counter wouldn’t hide him. The stride was nonchalant, like someone who had been here many times before. To Tracy the steps were far from casual. To him they were echoing his own beats of his heart pounding faster and harder each time they drew near.

He didn’t have anything, yet. It was supposed to be easy. Pop down the air conditioning vent. Drop in from the ceiling, grab some jewels, and disappear. No locks to pick, no windows to pry open. A rambling conversation he eavesdropped on at a noisy bar provided his entrance. It was a week later, and he forgot all about it until he was short on cash and time. If the loan sharks didn’t get him, now the police would.

Frustrated at his situation, he came up with something. In a moment he found his feet stuck his finger under his shirt and yelled. “Back the fuck up!”

The storekeeper froze in shock.

“That’s right not a step closer!” Tracy demanded.

The storekeeper began to whimper which turned into words. “Uhhhh wwWwwWhhhoooo are you?”

“It doesn’t matter! Who I am. What’s good for you is if you turn around and walk back out the door you came in!” Tracy’s words also began to quiver.

“That’s not a gun though.” The shopkeeper was slowly putting the situation together.

“What do you mean it’s not a gun?! Do you really want to test it?” Tracy threatened.

“Show me then.” The shopkeeper criticized.

“You have some nerve, taunting someone with a gun pointed at you!” Tracy reached his other hand under his shirt and slid it back and forth, and pantomimed a clicking noise. “See it’s real!”

“You don’t have a gun. I am calling your bluff, just like I am calling the police!” The shopkeeper retorted back.

“Wait, wait, WAIT!!! What are you doing here? The store closed hours ago. Why did you come back?” Tracy pleaded. His words reeked of desperation and regret.

“This isn’t about me.” The shopkeeper spoke.

“It’s kind of suspicious that you are here all alone, after closing.” Tracy was building his defense.

“The thief is accusing me?! When people trust you, you can do certain things.” The shopkeeper answered.

“You can trust me. I swear I will walk out that door and never come back! Maybe we can work something out!” Tracy begged.

“So you can rob some other store? Not a chance. I am calling the police!” The shopkeeper warned.

Was prison better than the loan shark’s baseball bat? Tracy didn’t want to know either. He dashed towards the shopkeeper and tackled him into the glass cabinet behind him. The glass shattered into million of little crystals and spread across the floor.

Tracy never fought before in his life. The shopkeeper wouldn’t have known that. The two men brawled across the porcelain floor, a frenzied dance of fists, elbows, knees and teeth.

The shopkeeper held down Tracy, but a solid knee against his rib cage, Tracy was free. He crawled towards the door. The shopkeeper grabbed his ankle. Tracy was quick to put his boot against the man’s face. The shopkeeper yielded and grasped at his quickly swelling nose. Tracy was going to be a free man. He got up and bolted towards the door.

“WAIT!”

“We could both come out of this ahead! For God sake stop!”

“You could make some money!” The shopkeeper was saying the strangest things.

Yet, a lack of funds is what got Tracy into this mess. His ears perked up at the last thing he said.

Tracy’s run and stopped.

“Spit it out! What do you mean?” Tracy inquired.

“Take this!” The shopkeeper slid a dazzling diamond encrusted necklace to Tracy.

“What the hell?” Tracy was befuddled.

“I was returning the necklace. I slipped it out, while everyone was looking. I had to use it as leverage. Now with you here, you steal it, the store collects on insurance, and I look like a hero.”

“How will you look like a hero?” Tracy was cautiously curious.

“MY GOD DAMN BROKEN NOSE! THAT’S HOW! I’ll say I was doing after hours paperwork. It’s amazing what you can do when people trust you.” The Shopkeeper’s words spurted out from under a stream of blood.

“Just do me favor.” He added.

“What’s that?” Tracy wondered.

“DON’T SELL IT ANYWHERE IN THIS CITY!” The Shopkeeper demanded.

“And I am the scoundrel?” Tracy thought to himself as he disappeared into the night. Least he was honest and did his business in the dark.