Street Kidz

            Along a narrow street dimly lit by streetlights, a young thief and his brother lived. They were poor, and the young thief was prepared to resort to anything, even murder, to support both his brother and himself. Their mother was a member of a gang called BLOW, and had recently been jailed after the police found drugs on her. The young thief and his brother were to be brought to child services, but they had managed to run from the authorities in the nick of time.Their mother was going to be released on bail soon, and they did not want to be separated from her. The cold night's wind blew, and the both of them drew closer to each other, trying to warm themselves.           

            A shadow around the corner of the street caught both their attention. Cautiously, the young theif got up and went to peep. He saw a wiry young lady headed towards him. His wary expression faded, replaced by a smile as he ran towards the lady's warm embrace. "Sweetheart, where's your brother?" the lady asked, her voice raspy and low.

"Over there, I'll take you to him,".Jacob examined his mother's face. The lines on her forehead were very visible, and she looked as if she had aged a few years. If that was what two days of prison did to her, he swore to himself that he would never let her get caught again.

        Guiding his mother's hand as he led her towards his brother Tim, he made up his mind that he would have to find a proper, law-abiding job. Previously, he was told that he was to young to work, which was why he had turned himself into a thief under the guidance of Cleft, a master thief who could probably steal the King's jewellery under his very nose. Jacob had not told his mother that he stole things for a living, for he knew that if she found out, she would find Cleft and beat him to death. Jacob understood that his mother did not want to put him in harm's way, but he had to do something to help her support the family. Jacob never showed his mother the goods he stole. After stealing them, he would take them to the pawnshop straightaway and sell them off. Only after that did he think of excuses to tell his mother about how he acquired the money.His mother was usually so tired after a hard day of beating people up and smuggling drugs that she accepted whatever Jacob told her just like that.Besides, she needed the money enough not to question him so carefully. But nowadays, times were bad and the number of thieves on the streets were increasing. This was bad for business, as people now became more careful of their personal belongings. Most of the jewellery women wore were fakes, and Jacob realized that if this continued, his family would starve soon.

        Jacob pushed his thoughts away as they approached five-year-old Tim, who was now running towards them, eager for a hug from their mother. With one swift motion, Clara swept Tim off his feet and gave him a hug that left him breathless.Tears trickled down her face as soon as she set Tim down on the pavement.

"What's wrong, mama?" Tim asked innocently, his eyes wide with confusion.Jacob was too shocked to say a thing as he had never seen his mother cry before. 

"I'm sorry sweethearts! I didn't get out of jail on bail this time. Some bad people accused me of murdering the chief of police and I'm being sentenced to death! Randy helped me break out of prison, but now all the cops in town are hunting for me. I have to run!"

"We're ready, mum. Let's go,"Jacob looked at his mother.Clara squatted so that she could look into the eyas of her children.

"No. I can't take you with me. It's not a good life, running from cops all the time. Listen to me, Jacob! Go to the orphanage near Greg's Cafe and ask for Martha. Tell her you're Clara's children and ask her to help you. I grew up in that orphanage, and Martha was the one who brought me up, so she'll definitely take you in. She may be a bit strict, but she's a good woman, so listen to her always, okay?"

"I don't want to go, Ma!" Tim whined.Jacob knew that he had to. He understood that running from criminals was not a good life for Tim. He loved his mother, and he loved Tim, and that was the only way he could protect them both.

Steeling himself up, he held Tim's arm. "Okay, Ma. I'll go see Martha. You take care of yourself and don't get caught. Come see us if you have the opportunity. I love you." He wanted to cry and shout and scream like Tim was doing now, but he knew that would make things harder for his mother. So all he did was kiss her on the cheek.

Clara looked at her eldest son. Only 12, he was as mature as any adult. She felt herself bursting with pride. Only, guilt coated that pride into submission.She was not a good mother. Since the day Jacob was born she had exposed him to great dangers. Rival gangs could have kidnapped and tortured him only to get back at her. Drug lords who didn't receive enough drugs could easily have killed him.Jacob and Tim never had enough to eat, new clothes to wear or toys to play with because she could never afford such luxuries.And now, she was going to send both Jacob and her baby boy Tim into an orphanage where they would be treated like nobody gave a damn about them. But Jacob was a good boy and he knew how to take care of himself and his brother. She knew he would never let Tim feel like an unwanted child.

She stood up after kissing the both of them. " I swear to you, I did not kill that cop. And I promise that if I ever have the opportunity, I'll come find both of you.Goodbye my loved ones,". With that, she turned around quickly and walked away. She could not change her mind.

Jacob and Tim stared as the figure of their mother dissapeared. Only now did Jacob let his emotions take over, as he collapsed in sobs. That may have been the very last time he saw his mother, if she did get caught and later executed.

After crying all his emotions out, he took a while to think. It was dark now, and it was best if he took his brother to the orphanage immediately. The night was getting colder and the clothes on their backs would not give them much warmth.

As they walked towards the orphanage, Jacob was silent. Tim wanted to talk as he didn't really understand what was going on, but he knew better than to disturb his brother. Jacob was silent because he could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. Jacob's intuition was very good, as his mother had told him that it was probably the only thing that could keep him alive at times. "Trust your gut, Jake," he could hear her saying almsot as if she was right beside him. His gut was telling him somthing was going to happen, but what? He tightened his grip on his little brother's hand.

Without warning, three men dressed in suits as dark as the night closed in on them. One of them grabbed Tim, and another grabbed Jacob. Jacob struggled to free himself without letting go of Tim's hand. He heard Tim squeal. They were hurting his brother! Rage filled his entire body as he struggled even harder, trying to loosen the man's grip on him. His attempts failed as the man who had him was three times bigger than him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a piece of tissue being pressed to his brother's nose and mouth. Tim was rendered unconscious in no time. And that was the last thing he saw as a similar piece of tissue smelling of chloroform was pressed to his own mouth and nose.

A nasty smell greeted Jacob as he awoke. He found himself lying on a dusty grey floor. Sitting up, he saw his brother strapped in a chair in the opposite room. The room he was in and the room his brother was in were separated by a glass partition, making it easy for him to see his brother. Tim had not awoken yet, but he stirred occasionally. Frantically, Jacob tried to locate the door. There was only one  white door in his room and it led to Tim's room. through the glass partition, Jacob could see another door in Tim's room. A yellow one. Jacob surmised that the other door in Tim's room would be his only means of escaping. Being a smart boy, Jacob automatically knew that the yellow door would be guarded by heavily armed men.

There was no way he and Tim were kidnapped by people who wanted ransom money, because anyone could see that they were street kids. Besides, the three men who caught them were clad in nice suits, so they definitely belonged to a big gang or maybe even the mafia. No little street gang would clad their members in such expensive looking clothes. Which left only one question to Jacob. Why did an all important gang want him and his brother? It then occured to him. The members of the gang had probably killed the chief of police and then arranged it so that his mother took the blame without further investigation. Now that his mother was gone, the police would definitely start investigating and they might find contradicting evidence leading to the gang.

So the gang members did their homework and found out that Clara had children. Jacob thanked his lucky stars thath they didn't find out about his mother breaking out of prison sooner because had they located him and his brother sooner, they would have found Clara too. Another kid couldn't possibly piece the story together like that, but Jacob had lived his life hanging out with his mother's gang members and they told him what he needed to know about 'the world'.

Jacob was about to devise an escape plan when three men entered the room where Tim was being held through the yellow door. Two of them proceeded to wake Tim up while the third one, a big fellow with a beard continued forward towards Jacob.

Entering the room, the bearded man pointed a stun gun at Jacob's foot. Unafraid, Jacob stood up, but pain seared through his body as the man used the stun gun on him.Jacob fell to the floor.

"Listen here kid. Tell me where your mum is, and I'll let you and your brother go. Don't tell me where your mum is, and I'll cut your brother till he bleeds to death." He motioned towards Tim. Through the glass partiton, Jacob saw that both men in Tim's room held  sharp shiny knives to Tim's neck.Tim shook with fear, but did not dare to cry out loud.

Anger and rage filled Jacob's body and he no longer felt the pain that was there a few moments ago.Nevertheless, he did not dare do anything for fear of his brother's life. "I don't know," was all he could bring himself to say to the man.

"Wrong answer, boy".The man motioned to the two men with Tim. They nodded and simultaneously slashed Tim's arms."No!!!!!!" Both Jacob and Tim shouted together.

The bearded man pulled Jacob's chin to face him. "Two more chances, boy. Two more. If you lie, and I'll know when you lie, your brother......" the man dragged his stubby finger across his fat neck in a motion that showed what would happen to Tim.

Jacob's heart raced. His mind began thinking up places that his mother would never go to in order to throw the gang off her heels. "China! She's gone to China!" he shouted, trying to make his voice sound sure. The man laughed. "You expect me to believe that a poor ***** like your mother has the money to flee to China? Do you even know where China is?" he laughed again, then motioned for the two men.They slashed Tim's legs this time. In a fit of fury, Jacob tried to kick the man where it hurt most, but the man was more than prepared to face a kid like him. The stun gun was aimed accurately at his left knee, and the pain that entered his body was too much for him to bear. Jacob cried out loud. " This is your fault, kid." the bearded man said as he motioned for the two men in Tim's room to cut off Tim's finger.

"No! Wait! I'll tell you! Let him go first!" Jacob screamed, but it was too late. Blood spurted out as Tim's left pinky was thrown onto the floor. The sight of so much blood and the pain he felt made Tim faint.

"Okay, kid. Last chance. Tell the truth!"

"Look sir, I swear I don't know where she is. She told us to go to an orphanage and that she would never come back for us again. That's the truth! Really!" Jacob was way too afraid to lie anymore.

"Say goodbye to your brother.I'm sorry kid. My orders are to kill you both no matter what,"the man said, his face now serious and weary.The man nodded to the other two men in Tim's room and the unconscious Tim's throat was cut.

Sobbing, Jacob stared at the bearded man. "Goodbye kid." Jacob felt pain in his neck and liquid wetting his shirt collar. And as he lay bleeding to death, he sent out his final words to his mother."I'm sorry mum. I'm really sorry."