:| Honor Among Thieves |: {Kaplan}

I didn’t really think the boy would give me such a chase but man, do these rich boys like to stick up for their friends. I couldn’t really fault them—Alex and I looked out for each other—but when you lived in the dirt poor area of District 7, it was harder to protect anyone other than family. No one looked out for each other when we were all in need of food. I had tucked the necklace into my pocket, but not before examining the necklace for a hot second to determine its worth. It was a child’s necklace so it was much smaller, but it was made of precious metal and I knew it would feed my family for at least a week. Rich boys.

Perhaps I would have felt guiltier if I hadn’t seen the other boy stealing from vulnerable people. You were considered a weak thief, a thief who just did it for fun, when you targeted the elderly and the infirmed. A true thief was smart and had to take whatever they needed no matter who was holding it. Still, no matter how justified I felt, I was hauling ass with the sound of shouts and heavy footsteps following me. I was fast but so was this guy and it was going to be just a matter of time before one of us stopped from fatigue.

Knowing there was no other option, I knew I would have to confront him. Taking off the cap I was wearing and swapping it with another, I made a sharp turn into an alley, away from prying eyes and stood there, aware that he could be there in just a matter of seconds. I prepared myself with a grin, wondering his next move would be as I kept the necklace in my hand. How far was he willing to go for that dishonest thief?

I wanted to laugh. I wanted to so badly laugh in his face for thinking he could tell me what to do. All rich boys were the same: entitled, ready to pick a fight, believing that they commanded the situation. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m helping the less fortunate,” I responded with a silly grin. Holding the necklace up, I give it a more detailed look. The other boy could give him as many stern looks as he wanted, but the truth was that if I wanted Ekky to have a full stomach for once, I was going to have to keep and sell the necklace.

“Pretty little thing like this could feed a family in the poor areas of District 7.” Saying the words reminded me of something Alex would say, but deep in my heart, I knew I was never as good as him and that most of the earnings I made with the steal would go to my family only. Maybe I could find somewhere in my soul a good part that would give part of the earnings to Alex to give away, but instinct told me that I was a liar. “And how do you know that this is even your friend’s?” I had watched the weak thief for a while, watching him swipe luxury items like the necklace I held in my hand. His technique was poor and it was a miracle that he hadn’t been caught yet, but it didn’t deny the fact that the necklace in my hand might have been part of his loot.

“I don’t think I will give it back. Even if this necklace was really your ‘friend’s’, he needs to be taught a lesson.” I pocketed the item and gave it a solid pat, before daring the boy to stand aside. If he was smart, if he could understand why I did it, then he was going to step aside.

There were few things I were ever sure about, certainty being a sure way to get myself caught or worse killed, yet I was starting to understand that the boy who stood in front of me had more honor than his friend did. The thief had a good friend, perhaps too good for the likes of him. That didn’t deny the fact that the boy had a temper and looked like he was willing to fight for it. I could tell from the way he looked at the necklace to that lingering glare that he was not going to let this go, and I prepared my mind for the fight that would come.

He even tried to barter with me, offering a gold ring for the necklace. Yes, the ring would also be able to feed my family for days, but that wasn’t how we thieves did things. We didn’t steal items only to barter them for something else. And more importantly, we did not allow our friends to make deals for us. “You can keep your ring,” I responded before looking at him straight in the eyes. “No deal.”

I relaxed my stance a little bit as I kept the communication going. “I didn’t steal this just to feed other people. Your friend needs to be taught a lesson. He needs to understand what it means to have honor among thieves.” A smile stretched across my face as I wondered if this boy could wrap his head around the concept. “Plus, now that he understands what it’s like to have a thief steal from him, maybe he’ll understand how to properly do it or even better, stop completely.” My face hardened as I looked at the boy in the eye again. “Go back to your friend. Ask him about the necklace. If he looks frantic, come back to me and we’ll talk. If you don’t see that fear—and I imagine you’re quite good at detecting that—then let me do something good with this. Maybe a little girl in the slums would appreciate beautiful jewelry around her neck. Or maybe a family of four will finally sleep with their stomachs full.”