Page 7 of The Thief
“That was a bit harsh, wasn’t it?” Devon said as we came to stand in front of them.
“You wouldn’t be saying that if you’d been here five minutes earlier and saw how he pushed a little girl off her bike,”the dark-haired lad spat back. “He laughed right in her face, taunting her while she fucking cried.”
“What an asshole,” Devon stated, then shrugged. “He is just a kid though.”
The dark-haired lad jerked his chin to the left. “You’d better keep walking then. The last fuck I gave went that way.”
“Funny,” Devon replied without a hint of humour.
“I know.” The lad grinned back. “Can’t you see the ‘fuck you’ in my smile, or do I need to raise my middle finger too?”
I was beginning to question the term ‘friends’ for what these lads were to each other.
“Be careful,” Adam butted in. “Your crazy is starting to show, Colton.”
“Starting?” Devon murmured with sarcasm.
“Might want to tuck that back in before you put off our new recruit,” Adam added, ignoring Devon’s jibe.
New recruit?
What did he think this was, a test for the army?
“I like my crazy,” the kid called Colton replied. “Why would I want to hide it? You know”—he flicked his cigarette away and stood with his legs at ease, his arms folded over his chest and a thoughtful expression on his face—“sometimes, you need to lose your shit. If you don’t, shit gets worse. It builds up. Then you become full of shit. And... shit eventually hits the fan. It explodes. And then you have a shit storm. Nobody wants a shit storm, do they? You need to feel that shit. Release it.”
“That’s a whole lot of shit,” the other lad who was next to him said, laughing.
“He’s full of shit,” Devon added.
“I’m really not.” Colton quirked his brow. “I told you. Irelease it. Let it go. You should do the same, Devon. You’re looking a little constipated.”
Devon looked like he was ready to pounce, with the way he furrowed his brow and huffed a breath through his nose. But Colton was oblivious, and instead turned his attention to me.
“Best your new friend sees us for what we really are.” Colton cocked his head to the side. “Why is he here, though? Who the fuck is he?”
“He’s one of us,” Adam stated drily. “He’s here to see what we do. I think he’ll fit in. He could help us.”
Colton shrugged. “If you say so.”
The other lad with lighter brown hair leaned forward and put his arm out for me to shake his hand. “I’m Will.”
I shook it, saying, “I’m Tyler. Tyler Evans. I’ve just started at the unit.”
Will nodded in recognition, but Colton didn’t offer his hand for me to shake. He just stood back, watching me. Then he grinned. “I’ll look forward to seeing what you can do later,Tyler Evans.”
“Likewise,” I shot back, and he snorted a laugh.
“I don’t mean to suck my own dick or anything,” Colton announced, then gesturing to himself, he went on, “But this man right here, standing in front of you, is the best. The GOAT. You won’t find anyone else around here like me. I’m unique.”
“You’re right about that,” Devon muttered with an eye roll, and I suppressed the smile that threatened to break free.
“You’d better tell me why I’m here then,” I said, raising my brow as I stared at the four of them.
“I think it’ll be better if we just show you,” Adam replied, walking off, and all four of us followed.
As we made our way through the park and out the other side, I began to realise that sarcastic comments and taking the piss was just how these lads talked to each other.
I’d never really had friends before. Not like this. At my last school, I tended to keep to myself. I liked to impress the other kids, show off, if you like, but I never let anyone close enough to know the real me. But I kind of liked that these lads didn’t take themselves too seriously. Apart from Adam, that is. He didn’t really join in with the jokes unless he got pulled in. Instead, he stayed quiet, focused on whatever was going through his head. And judging from the way his jaw kept clenching, the muscle tightening as he glanced around him, it wasn’t anything good.
