Home of a Juvenile Delinquent

I slid around a corner, the bricks barely nicking my shoulder. I could feel it rip through the skin but I didn’t care, I just had to escape. The sounds of the sirens bounced off the walls, close enough to tell my body to move faster. I sprinted through the city, cautious of everything around me. I could hear the skidding of tires, the sirens were closer. My heart quickened. It felt as though it jump out of my chest, ripping through the black t-shirt that I had bought no less than two years ago. Was I scared? Of course not. I tended to do this a lot. Running through the darkness, people chasing me. I never got caught. Well, except for that one time. Dad was pissed. But after that night, I learned to never fail. To never get caught. Why should tonight be any different? But that’s the thing, it’s not different. I won’t get caught.

I could hear the cops in the surrounding blocks. The sounds of burning rubber never ceased. They know where I am. They just have to get here first. I quickly turned on my heel and ran into an alley, nearly falling on the curb. I regained my balance and pushed myself up against the wall.

Just as I began to regain my breath, a cop car whizzed past the mouth of the alley. I smiled when I didn’t hear voices. They didn’t find me. My smile disappeared when I saw the car in reverse and two people step out. I pressed up closer to the wall and held my breath. Two men in uniform pulled out flashlights and stood at the mouth of the alley. My eyes never left the flashlight.

They scanned everywhere. My lungs were about to burst, but I didn’t care. I can’t get caught. I could hear my heart slowly beating in my ears. Turn that flashlight two more inches and I’m done. One more inch…

The light shined directly into my wide, green eyes. I didn’t freeze like most people would. I ran. I bet you’re asking, “Where could you run if you’re in an alley and that very same alley has a chain-link fence in the middle of it?” Oh I could go a lot of places.

The officer glared at me. “Face it. You’re caught.” I smiled lightly and shook my head no. He tilted his head in confusion. I pushed myself off of the wall and jumped. My fingers grasped the top off the fence and I pulled myself up, laughing at the two police men. Just as I was about to jump over the fence, another car pulled up and blocked the other side of the alley. I sighed.

Someone grabbed onto my foot. Without thinking, I shot my other foot out, hitting the man in the nose. He let go and I stood on the top of the fence, and then jumped onto the roof it was connecting to. I continued running, hopping from building to building, leaving the cussing officer behind.

I stuck to the short buildings, eventually jumping off of one and continued sprinting. I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going. This was getting boring. “God, I need a new hobby.” I mumbled to myself.

Then I began to think of something that I could do. ‘I could get a job.’ I thought back to my last job. I worked at the grocery store and I got drunk on vodka. To put simply, I was fired. ‘I could babysit.’ The thought of being alone in a house with a crying child would send me over the edge of insanity. I’d probably yell at it to shut up. Either that, or blow my brains out. ‘I could knit.’ I didn’t even have to think about that one. ‘Oh god no!’

Come to think of it, this is the only thing that I’m good at. I did a few little things only ten minutes ago, and now I have the entire police force on my ass. I laughed.

20 minutes earlier

I laced up my high tops and put my hair into a messy bun. I walked over to the window and shoved it up, being greeted by the warm summer air. I took a deep breath and threw my leg out the window, careful to not let my heel bang on the house. I looked below me. Only about a fourteen foot drop. Not bad. I took a deep breath and just as I swung my other leg out the window, I was pulled back inside from my shoulder.

I landed on my back and looked up at my upside down twin brother, James. I grinned sheepishly. “Hi.” I said nervously. He raised an eyebrow. I rolled onto my feet and straightened myself out. “Hello?” I tried again. “Where are you going?” He asked, ignoring my desperate attempts at polite conversation.
“Why do you want to know?” I fired back.
“I’ll be asking the questions here.” I rolled my eyes.
“If you must know, I’m going on a date with Peter.” He didn’t buy it.
“You don’t date.”
“You know nothing of my personal life!”

He smiled lightly. “Just be careful okay?” I smiled innocently. “You know I will.”
“Don’t get caught.” He reminded, I smirked.
“I never get caught.”
“Don’t you remember that one time where dad got pissed?”
I shook my head. “Shut up!” I growled and jumped out of the window.

The air whipped past me, bringing tears to my eyes. I blinked them back and landed in a crouch, sending a stinging sensation racing through my legs. I took a deep breath, ignoring it, then sprinted off into the darkness.

I did all of the mandatory stuff. You know, jumping over fences, being chased by dogs, the usual.

After a few blocks, I reached my destination; school. I jumped into a large oak tree and grabbed my messenger bag which I had set on a lower branch merely hours ago. I looked inside and saw that the supplies were not gone.

I threw the bag over my shoulder and calmly walked up the concrete path that led to the main door. I looked from under my fringe, trying to spot a camera of some sort. Without seeing any, I dug around in my bag, grabbing my flathead screwdriver. I stuck it in the lock, moving it around a bit, and then found the lock and turn it. I heard it click and I took out the screwdriver and walked into the dark building. I looked around, cautious of my surroundings and climbed up the many flights of stairs. After reaching the fourth floor, I walked down the hall a little ways, and stopped at another door. I quickly picked the lock and pushed open the door, wincing at the loud squeak that followed suit.

I stepped inside and reached into that bag again and pulled out a soda bottle. I screwed open the lid and smiled as the scent of kerosene hit my nose. I poured the bottle around the room, grinning all the while.
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Shaking my head clear of the memories that happened just minutes ago, I began t hear the sirens once more. I pushed myself faster and ran off the road, sprinting into the depths of the shadow filled forest. The sirens were getting closer and my mind actually began to fill with panic.

I pushed it to the back of my mind and raced on forward. After what seemed like minutes, I took a turn to the left, towards the city.

I slowed my run down to a jog when a river came into view. I smirked when on the other side of the rushing water was, in fact the very thing I was trying to escape from, the cops. Many of them were lined up in front of the cars, the rest were still in the cars, probably for the fact that I would run.

The chief, I believe his name was Tom, glared at me. “This is the last time you will do this. There is no more running.” He said in a deep voice. I ignored him and observed how his mustache moved up and down when he talked. I smiled. He frowned at my reaction. His frown soon turning into a smirk. My smile was replaced with a frown.

In the midst of trying to figure out why we would have such a transaction of reactions, I was tackled from behind. I felt cold metal held to my head. I heard a click. I froze. A gun.

“He’s right. No more running.” I heard a scratching voice behind me. He pulled me up to my knees. I could feel cold metal sliding into place around my wrists as the officer went on and on about the “rights” I had for being a prisoner inside of his grasp.

When he picked me up, I turned my head slightly and got a glimpse of his face. It was the guy from the alley and his nose was bloody and distorted so bad that I don’t want to explain it. I turned away at his scowl.

We got back to the city streets the same way that I had come, although in a much shorter time. It turns out that there is a trail that seems to take half the time to walk through. I rolled my eyes at my lack of intelligence.

While ignoring the many dirty looks I was gaining from the entire police squad, I was shoved into the back of the police car by gloved hands, hitting my head on the door before falling to the sticky seat. The officer got into the front seat and glared back at me. Even in the dark I could still see the blood dripping from his nose. He caught me staring and narrowed his eyes on me causing me to return his glare with a scowl. He rolled his eyes and started the car. And in that very moment, it hit me. ‘Holy fuck. I’m caught.’ My breathing became raspy; I could feel the car morphing into something smaller each second. ‘I am so dead.’