Black or White

Prologue )( Be Careful Who You Steal From

   So Dan wasn't a bad guy and he was not basic either despite the name. Dan was just a very time wealthy but hungry high school graduate and needless to say, a starving man is a dangerous one. So Dan was stood outside a coffee shop next to some girl selling bagels on some non-descript street corner, waiting for some particularly grimy person to come buy a bagel so he could steal it and not feel too bad.

Sadly it seemed all the pregnant women, old people and cuter than should be possible kids and teens came out on Wednesdays to buy unlicensed street bagels. Dan waited. Dan waited for a long while. He waited until he started to wonder why exactly he was waiting at that unideal spot for stealing good food. Then he looked again at the young woman behind the stand selling bagels and he remembered.

Dan wasn't the smartest but Dan knew that if he was going to wait for unknown length of time for his next meal (snack) then a pretty face really was the only thing that could distract him from the hunger. That bottle dye purple hair could only remind him of the Barbie movie popstar that his little sister drew almost every day during fifth grade – she went through three packs of crayons just for the plum purple to colour the hair and skirt; her eyes were darker than dark umber and her bright white smile could blind a man, like that one scene in a movie he had seen some time ago. Then his stomach grumbled, distractions could only last so long.

Dan got up, gave a sigh in farewell to pretty Plum Girl, and began walking off to find another curb to foodnap at, until somebody brushed past him hard enough to hurt. He turned as if to complain but once he saw the old scrub that hit him he smiled because he looked grimier than the Grinch after he tried to climb down a chimney; hair thin and belly rounded with a dirty dress shirt on and a stench he could not identify. So Dan ended up waiting a little longer while Mr. Grimes requested (in the loosest meaning of the word considering the tone he seemed to use when doing it) a few bagels from Plum Girl.

Plum Girl simply smiled, in a way that looked much more genuine than the previous day's ones, reached under the counter of her stand and took out his order of bagels which she promptly bagged and handed to him. Grimes shoved the money in her direction and was off; Dan followed suit. He glanced at Plum Girl as he rushed past and, for the first time all day, their eyes met. They didn't have time to get acquainted, Dan focused on not losing sight of Grimes in the crowded intersection street.

He stopped at the back of the crowd for the pedestrian crossing and Mr. Grime was none the wiser as Dan stood directly behind him on his goods carrying side. A few seconds before the crossing signal lit up, Grimes took a heated call that left him standing still even as the crowd thinned once the crossing sign was up.

Dan knew that was the time to strike. He moved fast, Grimes busied himself with semi-shouting into his receiver and Dan busied himself with grabbing the little paper baggie then taking off to the other side of the street as the stop crossing warning started flashing.

A shout came from behind him, one that did not sound like Grimes' throat would have produced it. Dan, like an idiot, did a brief look behind him; his eyebrows ascended at the glimpse of purple box braids on a figure that brushed past Grimes and ran towards him.

If he had time, Dan would have turned back and asked Plum Girl if she did track in school but he kept his focus on trying not to kiss pavement every time her fingers gripped then slipped off his hoodie as they ran like thieves (well, thief and pursuer) through the district. Though unnecessary to mention; Dan had never felt more alive, maybe he should make this a habit.

She caught up to him sooner than can be classified 'understandable' so should be deemed as 'embarrassing'. She grabbed a fistful of the back of his hoodie and yanked; he didn't kiss pavement but his ass got a chance to introduce itself to the sidewalk. Dan did not find himself concerned with how the parties involved would describe the encounter but the best word, in his opinion, would be 'painful'. Maybe as painful as the back of his head's brief but passionate connection with Plum Girl's hand.