What The Fudge Just Happened

The Little Canary

Two days had passed in the blink of an eye. Lexi had been numb and silent the whole time. She sat across from the shop that Jonathan wanted her to steal from. Her knee bobbed up and down and she bit her fingernail in nervous habit. Her heart was racing and she could hear the blood pumping in her ears. She had contemplated the idea of not doing Jonathan's bidding, but the idea of him spreading those pictures around changed her mind. She glanced at her watch for the twentieth time in the past five minutes, the hands were nearly reading six o'clock. She had never been into the store before, but she had shoplifted before, and this was no different. She was scared that the she wouldn't get caught, she almost wished to get caught, so then she would have to tell the King brothers what was going on. She also prayed wouldn't get caught so that they wouldn't know, if they found out, it wouldn't just be the pictures that Jonathan showed them, it would be every infraction she had committed in the past few years. Some of those were enough to get her sent to jail. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts, she didn't see Jonathan pick a table near hers and order a coffee from the little cafe. He paid her no mind, but she knew better. Her watch read 6:02 already, and Jonathan played with his phone tauntingly, and she knew exactly what it meant. She stood up and headed for the shop. She wasn't wearing anything fancy, clothes that she wouldn't mind discarding. As she entered the store a little bell jingled, announcing her presence. There were a few women and girls roaming around, and she quickly began looking for cameras. She didn't know if it was sheer luck that there weren't any, but she wasted no time in looking for a dress that would suit Jonathan. She picked a pink dress that was quite bland and made her way to the dressing room, she had picked a size up in the dress when she realized she didn't want to have to hand over the dress and have nothing on underneath. She slipped it on over her clothes, her tennis shoes sticking out like a sore thumb. She checked herself over and walked out. Once she did, she caught the eye of an employee. "Hi ma'am, can I help you?" The young woman asked.
"Uh, um, yes actually. I wanted a second opinion on this dress." The woman looked her over and circled her. "Well, I think you got a size too big, and are your clothes under the dress?"
"Yes, I do apologize, I'm kind of a germaphobe."
"Oh I see. Well in my opinion, it's a kind of boring dress."
"That's what I was going for, because I need a necklace. One that stands out, and I didn't want the dress to get in the way of a stunning neck piece."
"I see. Well, come over here and and let's looks at some necklaces."
Lexi followed, her stomach churning. She stopped at the counter and waited as the woman chose several different gemed necklaces. Lexi glanced over the price tag and her heart sank when they were all priced over two hundred dollars. She had wanted something that would just slip by Jonathan's standards. She caught the price tag by on the dress and nearly passed out when the dress was north of five hundred dollars, no wonder why she never shopped here. The woman displayed a lovely green emerald stone necklace and even clasped it around Lexi's neck. Lexi checked herself in the mirror and was stunned at how the necklace really pulled the outfit together. "Do you mind if I try in another dress with this necklace. I really want to look stunning for my banquet." She lied through her teeth. "No problem." The woman answered and Lexi wished she would suspect something, but the woman just turned back to the counter. Lexi hastily chose another dress and went to the back. She found the fire alarm and pulled. The siren went off immediately and she quickly made her way to the front of the shop where everyone was piling out. Once outside she glanced around and took off like a bullet down the next street. The only thing she heard was the woman from the store yelling at her to stop.

Lexi stopped only when she was sure that she was far away enough to relax. She ripped the dress from her body and the necklace alike and threw them to the ground. She had told Jonathan to meet her there and she didn't have to wait long before he arrived. She purposefully stamped her feet all over the pink dress.
"You've ruined it." Jonathan stated as he approached.
"I wouldn't have worn it anyway. It was too big."
"I was hoping you'd pick something tight and I'd get to watch you shimmy out of it." Lexi wanted to gag herself. "You knew that was a higher end store. I stole almost a thousand dollars worth of stuff."
"Wasn't it fun though? I loved watching you run afterward. The fire alarm was a nice touch."
"Can I go now?" Lexi asked, itching to be anywhere but there.
"One last thing."
"What?" Lexi demanded, growing irritated. He brought a handmade purse into view. It was a crossbody purse with a canary on the front. The rest was a soft material. He handed it to her and she looked at it. "I don't want it."
"I doesn't matter if you want it, you will take it. And every Wednesday I will give you a backpack to deliver directly to the little Italian Cafe we ate it and drop it off. Someone will hand you another backpack identical to the one you'll have and you'll leave after the switch."
"Why?"
"Because business is booming and I need someone who won't raise suspicion."
"For what?"
"You my darling will be delivering some of the best drugs in the world."
"You think a backpack full of drugs is going to get you anywhere?"
"That's just the business for the cafe. There's someone else who delivers during the week by different methods. I don't want you to get caught now."
"And the purse?"
"That's for my people to know who you are."
"Great, is that all? Can I go now?"
"A kiss first."
"Over my dead body."
"Oh I do love these games we play."
Lexi didn't stay to hear the rest of what he was going to say. She just took off towards her house, yellow canary purse in hand.