When Darkness Creeps

​Joseph Jackson, his friends called him JJ, ran as fast as he possibly could. He was not going to get caught this time. He had convinced himself he was smarter and faster. He had to stop a couple times to catch his breath and pull up his shorts. He felt the adrenaline as it engulfed his entire body. Nothing was going to stop him now. Not only had the store clerk missed seeing him take the portable DVD player from the shelf, but also had not seen JJ stash it down the back of his pants. After all, baggy and sagging was the style, and so much could be hidden down there with that extra room. ​ As JJ rounded the corner of the alley, he stopped to pull up his shorts and retrieve the valuable merchandise. A grin appeared on his face as he wiped the sweat off his forehead, his chest heaving. His eyes grew bigger as he read the price tag on the box. ​“They won’t even miss it.” he said aloud to no one in particular and began walking as fast as he could without looking too suspicious. ​With the DVD player in tow, he had enough money to buy more merchandise that would prove to be worth more than any DVD player. This was his eighth shoplifting mission this month. He was beyond addiction to this profitable game. Shoplifting was only the beginning stage. The DVD player was a means to an end. And the end for JJ was money—lots of it.  ​Unnoticed by JJ and other people passing by too busy talking on cell phones and hurrying to their next appointment, a dark figure cloaked in a long black jacket crept over to the corner where JJ had momentarily rested. He stooped and picked up the security tag that had been stripped off the box. He looked in the direction that JJ had fled. A menacing smile crossed his face. His eyes pierced the darkening alley. Had the passersby not been too preoccupied, they might have noticed the yellowish glow that emanated from the dark figure’s eyes. He tossed the device into a nearby trash can and stealthily followed suit. His job was finished for the day, his mission only beginning.  ​When JJ reached the safety of his friend’s home, he slumped on the couch breathing a huge sigh of relief now that he had completed his covert mission. He was physically drained, as it was not easy living the life he had chosen to live the last few years. He had begun hanging around the wrong crowd in junior high school and now was in too deep to get out. JJ was the culmination of the choices he had made, and nothing could change his mind. He did what he had to do in order to survive the hood that he called home.