Petty Theft - Chapter 1: The Wolf Totem

“If we’re going to do this, we can’t fuck around.” That was Jean’s excuse for going on a shopping spree and buying up enough gear for them to rob an art museum.

“Ski masks? Seriously?” Avery picked up one of the offending knitted garments between his thumb and forefinger as if it were a rat. The hand was attached to an arm that fed into a red and white letterman jacket with the name “SOLOMON” printed on the back. He was handsome, too. Sculpted features, winning smile, natural olive complexion. Even his dark brown hair appropriately styled in that carelessly tousled manner preps fawned over.

But even for a jock, he was acting like a priss.

“Security cameras. Witnesses,” Jean listed, “If we’re seen, at least we won’t be recognized. Which means also means you have to take that jacket it off.” Jean’s green eyes searched the only girl in their trio for support. “You get what I mean, Cam.”

Camilla Marquez looked up from studying the gear when she felt eyes on her. Her finger stroked her chin with the arm under her breasts supporting the elbow. Then she shrugged and dropped both of her arms to her sides. “I don’t know if we’ll need all of it,” She said, “But no one saw you, right?”

“No one that matters.” Jean smirked. It didn’t matter why he was smirking, but every time he tried to smile, the recipient was often put into a state of unease. It was as if he was hiding something or plotting something at the very least. Camilla learned not to ask questions when she saw that smirk.

“We’re stealing a wolf totem. Not a Michelangelo statuette,” Avery bitched under his breath and flung the mask onto the pile.

The trio divided up the goods. Each of them got a ski mask, a pair of gloves and a walkie-talkie. Avery was in charge of the black spray paint, Camilla the lock picks, and Jean empty-handed because he was letting the other two to do all of the hard work. The rest was shoved into a corner in Jean’s walk-in closet.

“Wait, is this a gun?” Avery held up a handgun in much the way he held up the ski mask earlier. It was heavy. So heavy that he had to switch how he held it and balance it on his palm so he didn’t drop it.

“Relax. It’s a prop,” Jean said, rolling his eyes, “Just throw it in with the other stuff in the closet.”



South Central was fifteen minutes away from Jean’s house and snugly settled just outside of the heart of the city, far enough away from the south side gang activity to be reasonably safe from the crime there. The road was empty, save for the single black sedan that came to a rolling stop in front of the school doors. They had put their masks on a few blocks back in preparation for the cameras that could be watching them on the sidewalk.

Jean put the car in park, but left the engine running as he turned to address his friends. “You have your walkie-talkie?”

Jean nodded in approval when Camilla shifted in her seat to show the device clipped to her belt and Avery held up his from the back seat.

“I’ll check in every ten minutes,” He informed them, leveling both of them with a stare, “Keep your volume on low or off, but don’t lose track of time.”

“Hey, lighten up,” said Avery, giving him a gently nudge on the shoulder with his fist, “We’ll be in and out. Fifteen minutes tops. No sweat, right?” He tossed a look to Camilla for back up.

A smile pulled at her lips, but it fell a little flat under the cover of the ski mask. She didn’t say a word. Jean picked up on the silence and fixed a smile on his face.

The pair walked briskly to the front doors.

Camilla descended onto a knee in front of the lock of the school and began to work at it with her tools. Avery searched the corners of the entrance and spotted the camera pointing at them from the upper right side. It was his turn now. A spray can came out of his pocket and he shook it hard as he walked over to the camera. The camera lens was rigidly pointed in front of the doors. Standing directly under it, Avery raised the can and resolutely covered the entire lens in black paint.

The lock gave and Camilla pushed the door open while beckoning for her partner to hurry inside.

Avery followed Camilla into the school lobby and stopped every few yards to stop and coat a security camera with a single layer of spray paint. They moved swiftly and silently. No one should be at the school at this hour, but there was no room to take any chances.

Camilla’s heart pumped evenly in her chest, spreading adrenaline out through her body. This wasn’t the first time and probably not the last time she’s broken the rules to this depth. She kept low and close to the wall and checked every corner before crossing an intersection. Avery was wise enough to stay close by except for when there was a camera that needed blinding.

She froze when she heard the faint hiss of static. Avery nearly bumped into her, but put a hand on the small of her back to help keep his balance.

“What is it?” He whispered.

Her hand went to her walkie-talkie and she slowly rolled her thumb along the volume dial. Gradually, Jean’s words became clearer through the speaker.

“... to Ocelot and Earwig. That is Cobra to Ocelot and Earwig. Do you copy? Over.”

Avery listened carefully. “Which one of us is Ocelot?”

Camilla unhooked the device from her belt and held it up. She spoke in a low murmur. “I hear you. This is Ocelot.” She reached back without looking and swatted Avery when he sucked his teeth at her. “We’ve cleared hall B. Approaching target now, over.”

She started to move again and stopped when they came to another lobby in the heart of the school. Four different hallways, including the one they were in, fed into the lobby. A row of lockers touched one wall, a couple of vending machines against the other, and straight ahead was a display case full of trophies and their boon: The totem.

Avery went ahead of her and pressed himself flat against the hallway leading into the lobby. His eyes scanned the corners for the cameras.

One was pointing at the case, obviously, from a mount just above his head. Another was in a corner next to a vending machine. And then there, the third one mounted above the mouth of an adjacent hallway. They were all mounted a little higher than the others so they could get a wider scope of the area. He couldn’t get one without being seen by the others, but hopefully, if he moved fast enough, it wouldn’t be a problem.

He rolled up and sprayed the one above his head first and moved, quick as a cat, to the next. He shimmied into the space between the vending machine and the wall. By bracing his legs on the vending machine in front of him, and possibly by the grace of God, he was able to worm up the few inches he needed to get to the camera without toppling the machine. A grunt left him as he contorted himself in order to reach the lens, but after a quick spray, he dropped and landed lightly on his feet.

He moved swiftly across the lobby, sticking to the shadows, and with a running start, jumped high enough to catch the last camera with the spray. He landed and slunk back into the shadow of a body of lockers.

Panting slightly, he reached for his walkie-talkie and muttered, “All clear.”

Camilla saw everything from where she hid, but didn’t move until she got verbal confirmation.
She darted ahead and landed on her knees in front of the display case. She picked the lock and slid the glass door over.

The “totem” was a painted porcelain figurine of a wolf with its head thrown back in permanent howl. It was about a foot tall and ten inches at the base, but was much lighter than what she expected when she picked it up.

Her walkie-talkie crackled. “Cobra to-”

“We got it,” She replied, admiring the paint job, “We’re on our way out.”



“Yes!” Avery was the first to erupt when they were clear of the school. Jean joined him in hoots of celebration and reached back to bump his fist. Camilla had to smile. It was a relief that they hadn’t been caught. The trick went smoothly, like they planned.

“I can’t wait to see the faces of those Central fuckers at the game Friday,” Avery said, “They’ll shit bricks when they see it on the crossbar.”

“They’ll never know what hit ‘em,” Jean agreed, grinning like the devil.

“Hey,” Avery suddenly put his face between the two front seats, looking down at Camilla’s lap, “Can I see it?”

Wordlessly, she offered it up with both hands and watched him closely when he took it.

“Man, it’s got a nice shine to it. You think they polish it a lot?” He remarked and sank back into his seat, taking the totem with him.




Avery tossed the totem into the air and caught it with one hand as they walked up the stairs of Jean’s house. “You know, it’s actually a lot lighter than I thought it would be.”

Every time it flew in the air, Camilla’s stomach dropped a little. Jean must have caught the same feeling. “Stop throwing it around like that, would you?”

Avery scoffed and rolled his eyes, but complied. He rolled it around in his hands instead.

“Hey, there’s a stopper on this,” He said and started to pick at it with a gloved finger, “I think it might actually be hollow- Oh, shit.”

The totem fell out of his grasp. For two breathless heartbeats, he juggled with it, trying to get it in his hands again, but it bounced off his bicep, his wrist, his fingertips, and finally soared out of range. Camilla made a grab for it, but it was out of her reach as well.

The three of them watched in horror and hopelessness as it descended the last few steps of the stairs and shattered on the hardwood floor at the bottom.

A resigned sigh pressed out of Camilla.