Walking Contradictions

Anna smiled to herself as she gazed out the living room window, feeling tall and powerful. Today was her 15th birthday. She looked down on the people walking below, the grubby neighborhood they lived in, the shady characters that skulked around, the drug deal going on across the street, and game of pick up taking place at the basketball court down the street. She took a hit off of her cigarette and blew a pencil of smoke out of the corner of her mouth with a smirk. Her brother was at work and her father was still asleep, so no one would reprimand her for smoking; not that they had room to talk.
Brad worked at a convenience store a few blocks away. He hated it there; his boss was a dick and he felt like a servant to everyone who came in. The only perk was it was easier to steal stuff and then resell them for twice the price. Today he was stealing Anna’s present: the whole line of Sally Hansen HD nail polishes in every color. A new shipment was coming in tomorrow so no one would notice and he could restock before anyone did. ‘You’re out of green.’ ‘Come back tomorrow.’
Anna put out her cigarette as someone knocked on the door. She sprayed herself with Axe Body Spray and went to open the door. “Oh, hey Oz. Dad’s still knocked out.”
“Hey precious,” Oz smiled, holding out a small box. “happy birthday.”
“Oh you didn’t have to get me anything.” She smiled, taking the box and hugging the drug dealer. “But thank you. Come on in.”
Oz nodded and stepped inside the small apartment. “So how are you spending the day, kiddo?” He sat on the beat up couch and kicked his shoes off, one of his habits no one quiet understood.
“Eh, I don’t know. Probably just hang out. Make any interesting deals recently?” She sat beside the 31 year old and made sure he didn’t try to take anything. That was another one of his habits; he’d rob you blind with a smile.
“Yeah man, there was this one guy last week who rolled up in this nice ass Beamer and bought a whole damn pot plant.”
“Shit.”
“Paid in straight cash, too. That fucker had some money, man. Looked like some million dollar mogul or something. I didn’t meet him on the street either, he showed up at my door. So apparently the word is spreading about me and my magic stuff.” A sly grinned crossed his face and Anna could tell his mind started to drift. Probably to fantasies of making a great deal, getting rich off of it and retiring early.
Anna looked at the box in her hands and pulled the lid off. “Oh sweet! The new P!nk CD! Thanks Oz, I’ve been meaning to get this.”
“No problem kid. Sorry it’s just the CD, I was in a rush and didn’t feel like fooling with the case. You can just Google the track listing.”
“I thought I heard your voice.” Thomas said, emerging from his bedroom. He smirked at Oz and then looked at Anna. “Happy birthday, baby girl.”
Anna smiled, got up and hugged her father. He held her longer and closer than usual, like he did every year on her birthday. It was the one symptom of the post traumatic stress syndrome that she liked.
The knock on the door shattered the silence of the early morning. The knocks were heavy and loud, the producer meant business, which made Thomas afraid they were getting evicted. He was hesitant to peek around once the door was open, afraid he was about to get sucker punched or slapped with a notice. Instead, he saw cops, which made him almost piss himself.
“Thomas Anderson?” The first cop spoke in a firm but hushed tone, so as not to wake the neighbors. He took his hat off and a professional looked crossed his face.
“Y-yes?” Thomas squeaked, 1,000 alibis running through his mind. He couldn’t get arrested for gambling, could he? Did they know about the drugs Oz had given him to sell cheap? Had someone made up a story of child neglect? Did they finally figure out he was illegally getting cable?
“I don’t know how to phrase this,” The second cop said, trying to figure out how to put his next words easily, “but your ex wife passed away early this morning.”
This had to be a joke; and not a funny one. Thomas hated his Kendra with a passion but as soon as he heard those words, everything good that happened between them flashed in his mind. His eyes burned but he forced it down. There was no crying for the bitch she had become and he had already grieved for the death of who she had been while they were getting the divorce. “How…what happened?”
“Suicide. She shot herself.” The second cop said flatly. “Her boyfriend woke up and found her in the bathtub.”
“We’re sorry for your loss, sir.” The second cop added, eyeing his partner with a hint of annoyance for his lack of sympathy.
“It’s not my loss.” Thomas said. “It’s her parents. She wanted nothing to do with any of us so why should we feel sorry for her?” A noise from the living room made all three look. There stood Brad, tears in his eyes, his chest heaving.
“Mom’s dead?” He asked, his voice cracking.
Thomas stooped down and opened his arms, his son running into them and clinging tightly to him as he sobbed his four year old heart out over the loss of his mother for a second time.
“Flashbacks again?” Anna asked once she pulled free from her father’s vice like grip.
“Yeah, sorry.” Thomas replied, shaking the memory out of his head and forcing a smile. “How old are you? Ten? That’s what I thought.”
“Har, har, har.” Anna smirked. “You’re so funny I forgot to laugh. So you got any plans today?”
“Living.” Thomas replied with a smirk. “I don’t know, if you wanna have bonding time with your old man, I’d be more than happy to spend the day with you.”
Anna’s eyes lit up and she hugged her father tight. “That’d be awesome.”
Thomas, Anna, and Oz spent the majority of the day together. That was another thing about Oz; if he didn’t have anything to do, he would follow you around like a puppy. He wouldn’t say much, but he’d keep you entertained none the less. The trio made their way across the city to LAX to play their favorite game: See What You Can Find That’s Awesome. This game was very tricky. You needed to know how to blend in, move quickly, and spot under covers.
Thomas eyed the giant luggage return, casually checking tags and pretending he had just returned from some big trip. For all they know he was home from a business meeting; nothing unusual about that in LAX. He checked the large arrival board and smiled as a flight from Hawaii had just landed. That was where the good stuff was.
While her father was out robbing people of their luggage, Anna was scoping out the ladies rooms. Women were often in a hurry and would leave their purses lying around, but if they would return to find the purse it would be there, just not with any money left in it. It’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it, and why should she not improve her life a bit if someone gives her the opportunity? They had bills to pay and this was an easy way of doing that. She had gotten a lot of money this way, makeup she could sell, occasionally jewelry, but she never messed with anything that had a serial number that could be traced. Sure jewelry did, but that was easy to pass off as, ‘I found it in the hallway.’ Nothing that was expensive, anyway.
While the father daughter duo was doing this, Oz just sat and waited patiently, flipping through magazines and broachers in the lobby, trying not to look guilty. He hadn’t done this before, he was just the tag along. And blending in wasn’t really his specialty. If anything, he was the fall guy. But he was ok with that, because what’s the worst that can happen?
Thomas spied a bag that he liked: plain black leather that seemed stuffed. Anything could be in there, and it looked so plain that he saw two more just like it. So that was the one that he casually checked the tag on and grabbed. He spied Anna, who gave him a reassuring smile and they started to head towards the exit.
“Excuse me!” A voice called behind Thomas, causing him to freeze. “I think we had a mix up.”
He turned and there stood a woman about his age, holding the same bag that he had just stolen. “Huh?” He checked the tag and played along. “Oh, yeah you’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Oh don’t worry man, these things happen.” She smiled casually as they swapped bags. “So you’re Thomas Miller?”
“Yeah.” He forced a smile. It wasn’t a total lie, the first name was right. He did math in his head quickly, estimating that the bag in his hand was about three fourths of the way full and couldn’t be more than ten pounds. “Well sorry again.” He said, turning and heading out the door, meeting Anna and Oz outside. “Just keep moving, don’t look back and don’t fucking stop, no matter what.”
They made it to the bus stop in record time and quickly boarded the next bus, leaving behind any chance of being caught.
“Find anything?” Thomas asked his daughter.
“Eh nothing really, about $30 but that’s about it. You can put it towards rent.”
“Nah, it’s your birthday, keep it.” Thomas smiled, hugging her. “What about you?” He asked Oz.
“A round ticket with Southwest Airlines to Fortworth Texas is $500 if you use a gold card.” He mumbled, deep in thought.
“Helpful.” Anna added, looking around. No one looked like an undercover agent or sketchier than the normal tourist or hobo making their way around LA. “What about you, Daddy’o?”
“I had a good one,” Thomas said softly. “then that chick fucked it up. This one’s about 15 pounds max. Probably full of bibles or some shit.”
But his mind was far away for the stranger’s luggage that he had just stolen from the busiest airport in the country. He was thinking about when Anna was seven and she and Brad had been taken from him. That was the point of outings like this: bonding to make up for the year they lost. Kendra’s parents one day decided they wanted to toy with him, so they cooked up a story of child neglect and substance abuse. His apartment was raided and his children were taken from him and sent to live with their lying Grandparents. When he did finally prove that he was sober and it was a perfectly fine environment to raise his children, he got them back battered and broken. The accusers had been the ones handing out abuse. But as bad as Thomas wanted to storm up there, break the door down, and kill both of those lying fiends, now the state of California was watching his every move. After two years they finally backed off and dropped the case against him, but the damage had been done. His daughter was now extremely clingy and his son was distant.
“You had us sent off, didn’t you?” Brad snarled at him one day out of nowhere.
“What? No! I would never do that to you guys! I love you both too much to-“ Thomas would start to saying, knowing it was hopeless. The eleven year old had made up his mind and his father had betrayed him and his sister.
“No! We spent a year with them and you never came to help us!”
“Brad, there was nothing I could do. If I went anywhere near you guys, I would have been put in jail.”
Thomas shook the memory off, looked out the bus window, reached up, and pulled the cord. The trio made their way off the bus and parted, Oz deciding he needed to go make more sales for the day. Anna and her father walked the five blocks home, watching people who were watching them, eyeing each other suspiciously. Nobody messed with them or tried to steal the giant piece of luggage they were lugging behind them. They returned the apartment and put the suitcase away before Brad could get home and start asking questions. “I’ll open it tonight.” Thomas said, closing the closet door.