Somewhere

Prologue

 Prologue

 The bell of Doc's Drug Store rang faintly over the general hum of the shop. It was busier than normal, and I was caught between the urge to celebrate and the urge to turn and leave. It'd be easier to fade into the background, blend in with the other kids dotted around the place at the first sign of trouble. But it would be just as hard to grab something completely unnoticed.

I wandered in as casually as I could, keeping an eye out for Doc or Valentina. I had already been caught once, and trying again was risky. I'd planned on avoiding the store all together. Only last week, Valentina had caught me by the wrist, Milky Way bar still in hand. Luckily, she let me off with a warning and a stern lecture, but the whole debacle had shaken me. Valentina was kind usually, but was always disappointed when she saw me getting into trouble. And I hated when she was disappointed or upset with me.

"You're better than this." She'd said, after confiscating the stolen chocolate, and it bothered me that she even cared.

However, after several failed attempts at finding something to steal elsewhere, I found myself back at the candy counter to at least compensate for the misery I would face after returning home empty handed.

Other kids, much older than I, sat on the high stools, talking loudly and laughing at a joke one of the girls had made. I looked around, making sure there was no one watching, when my eyes fell upon two kids hovering by the comics. They seemed to be about my age, somewhere between eight and ten. The taller, better groomed one fluttered through the pages of a Superman comic; while the other leaned against the wall and watched the shop with a skeptical eye, almost like a hawk.

I made eye contact with the boy leaned against the wall, eyes sharp and bright. I suddenly felt as if I were intruding, and I shifted my weight slightly. My stomach reeled. Someone had noticed me, and I was running out of time. As quickly as we'd looked at each other, we'd looked away, and I was reaching out for the Milky Way. There was some sort of commotion by the comics, but I was too focused to investigate. I hastily shoved the candy into my jacket pocket and made for the door.

"Riff! Tony!" Valentina's voice cut through the noise of the shop, startling everyone into silence. I continued toward the exit with steady strides, glad for the distraction and feeling slightly sorry for whoever Riff and Tony happened to be. But I didn't make it much farther before I froze in my tracks at the sound of my name. "Laces!" The tone Valentina used made my heart drop. Surely I'd be in trouble now. This was the second time I'd been caught red handed in the span of a week.

Slowly, I turned, feet shuffling on the ground. Valentina stood with her hands on her hips, the boys that had been loitering around the comic books standing next to her. The taller boy had his hands tucked behind his back, eyes glued to the checkered tile beneath them. His friend stared at her, comic book in hand, a hint of annoyance on his face; like the whole ordeal that had just begun was an inconvenience to him. Valentina gestured for me to come, a hard frown on her face. Reluctantly, I trudged over, acutely aware of the people straing.

Before Valentina could order me to empty my pockets, I huffed and shoved the chocolate into her outstretched hand. The boy rolled his eyes and followed suit, returning the rolled up comic. It was a Batman comic, different than the one his friend had been reading. I glanced at them, wondering which was Riff and which was Tony. In the long run it wouldn't matter. I didn't plan on knowing them for long. The moment Valentina was done with her spiel, I would run home and try to forget about it.

Only it wasn't Valentina's usual spiel that came. "Did you three seriously team up to try and steal this?" She held up the items with one hand, placing the other on her hip. I was jarred by the sudden accusation.