Cops & Robbers

Chapter One (Revised)

Pic of Alex (Carlos Freire) --------------------->

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This story, "Cops & Robbers" including all chapters, prologues/epilogues and associated content (i.e. fanfics, teasers and content within blogs, social networks, and eReaders) is copyrighted. All rights are reserved by the owner and creator of this work (Rika Hedglin) and any unauthorized copying, broadcasting, manipulation, distribution or selling of this work constitutes as an infringement of copyright. Any infringement of this copyright is punishable by law. Any links, images, brand names or otherwise copyrighted material is not my own, and is not covered by my copyright. No copyright infringement is intended.

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14 years ago

“Put your hands up! This is a stick up!” I shouted to one of the neighborhood girl scouts that was manning a lemonade stand.

“Oh my God! You are like, so weird,” she rolled her chocolate brown eyes at me as she stirred the pitcher of lemonade. “If you want some you have to pay for it. It’s a lemonade stand, not a charity house.”

“You heard the girl. This is a stick up,” my cohort in crime coolly announced, “Give us some lemonade or give us your cash. It’s your choice.”

“Alex! I didn’t see you there!” she replied blushing what was to my mind, an ugly shade of red.

It was my turn to roll my eyes, because like every other girl in this lame neighborhood she had to have a crush on the neighborhood bad boy.

“Typical,” I grumbled to myself even though at the young age of ten, I knew there was nothing typical about him. Alejandro, or Alex as everyone but his mother called him, was already almost five feet tall. It drove me nuts that he was so much taller than me, but the fact of the matter was that he was taller than everybody our age, so comforted myself with the knowledge that one day I might catch up with him and he could stop calling me Midget whenever it was just us and our close friend Ben.

“Here you go,” Ben said as he put a dollar and fifty cents on the table, “That’s enough for three lemonades, right?”

“Ben!” Alex and I groaned at the same time.

“What?” he replied defensively, “It’s easier this way.”

She twirled a lock of her brown hair around  her finger. “Thank you Ben,” she said too sweetly. 

“Sure thing,” he answered shooting her a toothy grin.

With a long suffering sigh, I picked up the lemonade Ben had just bought and trudged off toward our houses.

“I hate playing cops and robbers with him,” Alex complained, easily catching up to me in a few of his long strides, “He never gives me a chance to rob anyone, and he always insists that we pay for stuff. She was ready to give us the lemonade for free, you know that right?”

“I know,” I sighed, “but that’s just the way he is. Always on the straight and narrow.” And that truly was the way he was, he evened out our troublemaking ways. Every time Alex would suggest something off the wall, Ben would be right there to make sure the two of us didn’t actually get into any real trouble. I hated to think how often we’d have gotten reamed had he not been there.

“So what else is there to do?” Alex asked as he kicked a rock off of the sidewalk.

“Well, I’ve got to get back home for dinner,” I shrugged.