Lost (Parrlyn)

Chapter 9

Check out blixxrr! They turned my book into a meme. It's amazing.

We all stepped into the house in silence. But it was a silence I wanted to maintain. I didn't feel like speaking as I was in a state of shock. I didn't expect any of it. My heart didn't want to believe they were thieves but yet again... I had just witnessed it with my two eyes.

Thieving never really was in my nature, even though I had been sleeping rough for five months. I begged with pleading eyes and a persuasive nature and it got me going through life, not enough to be living comfortably, but it kept me alive. Just.

'So, you got the money?' Jane's voice called out from the far corner of the room. The second she had said that, Mary and Edward ran towards the cash box and took it excitably from Anne's grasp.

'Does that mean I'll be able to get a new biro?' Mary asked, her eyes alit with joy, 'I really want to be able to start writing stories!'

'Maybe I'll be able to get some new shoes!' Edward exclaimed, 'Mine are falling apart.'

Both of the children looked eagerly at the box and shoved it open, seizing the contents inside. They ran back over to Jane and handed her the coins to count.

It made me smile slightly, at seeing how happy both of the children were. They didn't know how serious thieving was, they didn't know that we had to fight just to make a living, they were naive, innocent and carefree. I wish I could turn back the clock to be just like them again.

Jane's face was creased in concentration as she casually started adding up all of the coins while we all watched in baited silence. I felt sick to the stomach, as I felt so grateful that they were taking me in, but yet again, I hated the fact that they were stealing money from other people that might've been struggling too.

She casually dropped the gold pound coins onto the table and moved onto the silver, and then onto the bronze and then onto the notes. When she had finished, she looked up with a distraught expression.

'There was only twenty three pounds and seventeen pence in that cashbox.'

We all fell silent. Twenty three pounds and seventeen pence wouldn't be enough for all us to live comfortably, or even pay the rent alone in that matter. Anne's shoulders beside me slumped and she put her head in her hands.

'I'm so sorry guys,' She whimpered, 'I thought I had gotten more...'

Even though I was still sore about Anne stealing the cash box, I put an arm around her shoulders.

'You tried and that's all that matters Anne.' I whispered calmly, gently raking my hand through her hair, 'It's alright..'

'What must you all think of me,' She laughed feebly, 'I'm a grown woman and I can't even keep my family afloat.'

'No! Don't say that.....'

I gently seized both of her shoulders and led her over to the sleeping bags, aware that every single pair of eyes were on me. I helped her sit down and I decided to test out a skill Henry had taught me, meditation. I started off with her steading her breathing, and then eventually we were doing all sorts of stupid yoga poses while having immense fun at the same time. The three kids joined in behind us, with smiles itched all over their faces.

I took one look at everybody's relaxed and happy faces and I knew right away that they didn't deserve any of this. They shouldn't be living in these poor conditions. And if they had to steal...so be it. I wasn't going to remain a nuisance anymore to any of them, and I was going to be apart of the family, even if it meant stealing from children and old ladies.

After we all were breathless from a mixture of mediation and yoga, I stood up, determined to do my bit for the family. I slyly reached into Anne's pocket and I snatched the black mask from her pocket along with the gun and I shoved it hastily into my pocket. I didn't want to tell anybody what I was going to do, because they'll stop me and use the fact that I was underweight as an excuse.

I didn't like people making excuses up for me, and Henry used to do that all the time. Whenever somebody was point out how miserable I looked beside him, or how upset I was whenever he leaned in to kiss me, he would worm his way out of it with a bundle of thick lies and over the top smiles. He always spoke for me, brushing aside any feeble explanation I would attempt to bring up.

You NEVER speak or act for a woman, and Henry outraged me by doing so.

'Can I go for a quick walk alone?' I asked everybody, looking around the room with an innocent expression plastered over my face.

'Sure...' Jane answered me, biting her lip with suspicion. I pretended to ignore the look as I stepped out onto the streets, shivering. It was only March, but March in the UK was extremely cold. Trust me.

The cold was nothing though. Five months ago, I lived 24/7 in the cold, and after a few months, I didn't seem to notice it as bad. Every night I would be there, shivering away in a hoodie, praying that I didn't catch pneumonia or frostbite or anything that. It was nice to not have to worry about that anymore.

I slipped through the streets of London, recalling where I used to sleep and where I used to live. It was an interesting walk, as I strolled past my old home.

I turned around the corner to a much more quieter road when I saw a homeless person. He was sat there, shivering from the bitter cold, with a pleading expression on his face.

His eyes were white and worn out, as he looked at me desperately, trying to remove the smudges of dirt off his chin. His hair was flattened and greasy, a bit like a dried up pile of hay. He looked exactly like all the other homeless people I had met out on the streets, they all looked just as lost, just as hopeless.

'Have you g-g-ot any change?' He begged, looking up at me unhappily. I stared at him, biting my lip. Is this what I looked like when I begged?

I just stared at him, as tears sprang to my eyelids. I shook my head, and I turned away, feeling another knot of anxiety form in my stomach. Then I screwed up my courage and I undid my coat that I was wearing and I handed it to him, despite my better will. The second my coat touched his hand, his empty lost look was gone, and was replaced with a happy, grateful and guilty look. I coughed away my emotions and I crouched beside him.

'Don't give up hope, you can do this.' I whispered, meeting him dead in the eye. 'I used to be homeless, but hope gave me a home. And I hope it can give you one too.'

He smiled warmly up at me.

'Thanks so much...' He murmured, giving me a warm smile. He reached into my pocket and pushed a small piece of paper into it before he scrambled to his feet. He tore down the streets away from me without looking back.

I waved the back of his head goodbye as I turned around the corner to continue strolling through London.

As I casually walked through the streets, I retrieved the piece of paper that was lodged hastily in my pocket and I began to read the message. It was not what I expected at all....

LEAVE CATHY OR IT'LL BE WORSE FOR YOU

I bit my lip with anxiety. What did he mean?