Kat

Kat, Chapter Eighteen

 She never did finish college. Dropping out at the age of twenty, she had ended up working in retail for a time, before moving to fast food, and then back to retail. Minimum wage was a standard for her, and were it not for Aria, her sister, she'd never have been able to make it in this world.

Psychology. She'd wanted to go into psychology. Only, she'd never gotten the chance. Whether or not she was smart enough wasn't relevant. She'd just never made it. It was as her parents had always said: she would never amount to anything if she kept on her path. Which she did. And now, it was too late to diverge from it. Her loans loomed overhead like an angry ghost of her past, dragging her down, eating her monthly pay. A hungry beast, they were never satisfied.

Aria worked as a consultant, and was the only reason Kat - no, Katherine - Katherine could make it. They would have their sleepless nights, for sure, where they stayed awake, sipping coffee, struggling to understand where to go from here. Their finances were in a wreck and the future seemed bleak.

So, Katherine did what anybody in circumstance would do, she thought. She stole. From stores, mostly. Petty shoplifting of various items, and she was pretty good at it too. She'd not been caught once, and Aria never asked her where the food was coming from; she was just relieved to have it. Katherine felt proud, in a way, to finally be throwing in her support for the house. Especially since her parents had disavowed her like the bastards they were.

She would curse their name every time she had to steal. It wasn't that she wanted to. There was no thrill involved, only the anxiety of being caught, the fear that sat within her like a stone. And still, it wasn't proving to be worth it. Her sister was facing more and more debt everyday, simply trying to put up for both of them. Rent was pricey in the city, and food for two just compounded their problems. Katherine needed more, needed to pitch in her support somehow. She could see the stress in Aria's eyes, the black circles that formed beneath them a testament to those sleepless nights of stress.

That was when she'd met John. A thief, he was. He'd noticed her stealing from the store and stopped her on her way out, giving her the worst panic attack of her life. At the time, anyway. She thought she'd been caught by a store employee, or an off duty police officer, but when John asked her if she was interested in getting more, it'd all flipped like a dime. Suddenly, he had her interest, and she was in the palm of his hands.

He'd taken her aside, off to an alleyway. Not the smartest thing, she knew, but times were desperate. He'd mentioned that he was planning to rob a house, steal some jewelry and dip. And she'd be paid beforehand for just keeping guard outside. An easy job, and the cash sounded nice. Four hundred dollars to just look both ways before crossing the street? Perfect.

She took the job. It'd been her first mistake of many. He'd chosen the house, a small one in a suburban area, a little upbeat and out a ways from the city. A nice place in a nice neighborhood. Apparently, the people were out of town, so it should've been an easy target, according to him. All Katherine had to do was sit in the car and wait for him to return. Easy as pie.

Only, it wasn't so easy. He'd made it in alright, but within minutes, police were on the scene. He'd apparently forgotten about the alarm. They were both swiftly arrested and tossed in jail. That was the first time Kat had ever been in a cell, but it certainly wouldn't be the last. Oh no. If only she'd known what was in store, she would've learned her lesson there. She would've stopped.

The judge she went before was Judge Wayne A. Gaddet the Honorable. He wasn't too old for a judge; she guessed he was in his late thirties at most. His short black hair had just a tinge of gray in it, but he was clean shaven and had strong features. The look in his eye when he looked upon Kat was one of pity, almost. Certainly a strange sadness.