Is It Enough

Chapter 1

"Stop right there, I have seen your schemes and your strategy, and I would just like to say..." he started to clap his hands the loudest he could and at an exponential rate, "Bravo."

Who I thought was an undercover cop was complimenting me. I turned around slowly feeling very confused. "What?"

"What's your name?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card with the name Robrick Reynolds typed on the top left corner of it.

"Carmine, Why?" I said still really confused at what was happening.

"Here is my Business card, I want to start a crime partnership with you," He said confidently.

"Thanks, I guess, but uh... I work alone," I told him still not really understanding what is going on. I moved away and pushed the business card towards him

"Oh," He moved closer to me, "Ok, just take the card and give me a call if you change your mind,"

"Ok, uh... bye," I sommer salted away and bounced off the buildings with my backpack on. I wasn't as agile and quick as I usually was because, the items, from the house I had just robbed, in my backpack was weighing me down a little.

I got to the apartment I lived in with my father, in Brooklyn. My father, James Kelly, was a optometrist. He owned his own business but it was going under. He was losing around 540 dollar per week of keeping it open but he couldn't do anything else. This all started when my mother passed on. He lost all motivation to work or do anything at all. He didn't have advertising or really any mechanism to get customers.

I climbed up the fire escape and went to the fourth window up from the ground and third apartment to the right. I opened the window with the metal coat hanger I left outside before I left the apartment. I climbed through the window and into the apartment. I saw a tall figure in the kitchen.

I hid behind the the half wall separating the kitchen and the living room. I quickly glared at who the person in the kitchen was. It was my father. I stayed behind the wall, I didn't want me to see me. I left at around 1:30 am to rob the house a few blocks over. He didn't know I was out of bed, and if he did he would go nuts. He was moping around the kitchen and seemed as if he was about to leave. I heard the tap stream water into a glass as my dad let out a huge yawn.

I waited for him to leave the kitchen so I could sneak back to room across the apartment. He left the kitchen and went into his room. I sneaked past his room and into mine and right before I closed my door I heard, "Goodnight Carmine, don't worry we will talk about this in the morning."

I quickly shut the door and thought, God dammit Carmine, you have been doing this for how long? you are basically a pro. You are 16 come on. I had been doing this for 18 months, It was kinda difficult during school months but now that it is July it became so much easier But now I might have screwed it up.

I've been doing this ever since when my dad's assistant was sick and I answered his emails for him. I stumbled across one that had his receipts on it and I got concerned and I headed off to bed and tried to sleep but my mind was just racing, What is he going to do, ground me, call the police, Carmine you are trying to get into NYU what are you doing they won't let you in with this on your record.

I slept uneasy that night. I woke up the next morning and my stomach felt terrible. I laid in my bed for a good 45 minutes avoiding my father. I didn't know my fate. I heard a sudden knock on my door. "Carmine, I know you're awake," my dad shouted through my door.

"Uh, yeah one sec," I knew I was toast. I just knew it. My heart was beating a thousand beats per second. I was never this scared of my father ever in my life. He is one of the softest people I've ever met. He has never yelled at me before but I have seen him get angry before and it is not pretty. His face gets as red as a cherry just picked off the tree. He starts sweating with rage and he starts switching. I've only seen him angry once and that was when we were fighting my mother's murder trial.