Consensual Robbing

Chapter 1: Downfall

The air was cold, brisk like any other winter day would be. The snow beneath Adam's boots crunched like a nature valley granola bar, his breath looking like smoke as it escaped his lungs and went up into the atmosphere. His hands were red and throbbed from the conditions, he knew he should've dressed better for the weather.

He was a stubborn man though. When someone told him to do something, he wouldn't do it. Actually he would do the exact opposite of what people told him to do. For example, when his roommate asked him earlier that day if he could drive to the store and grab some groceries, he decided he would go to the store, but instead of driving he would walk. He wore nothing but a forest green turtleneck, and tan pants that were just a little too big on him, held up by a cheap black Walmart brand belt.
Adam sighed and stared up at the sky beginning to darken. "I probably should've driven." A car drove by and sloshed slush the color of cookie dough onto His already ugly shoes. He sucked in a big breath of air then blew it out watching it dissipate.

Denver was beautiful during winter, well it was beautiful if you weren't in the city. Every stop sign and telephone pole had a thick layer of snow that looked like a hat about to fall of someone's head. It was sad that the city couldn't stop to enjoy the first snow, and Adam felt somehow superior to the people driving by commuting to there 9-5 jobs. He wasn't working and was barely passing through college.
It wasn't that he was a bad student per say, he just didn't feel any motivation after his first year ended. The spark in him seemed to flicker out, and all that made him happy now-a-days was a good cup of coffee and people who didn't procreate.

His dream job was to teach to underprivileged kids in Greeley, a part of Colorado that was considered, 'The ghetto.' By most people who lived there. He aspired to teach and inspire people like him; individuals who didn't have much in their upbringing, but could grow up and be something larger than life.

But look where that got him.
Downtown in Denver Colorado on a Saturday night, walking in a mild blizzard, hearing nothing but the sounds of cars passing by, and his footsteps in the semi-melted slush.
It was enough to make a man go insane.
But he walked on, tuning out the sounds of the city by humming something low under his breath. City folk who walked by stared at him, thinking he was one of the many homeless men who fumbled along the dark bitter sidewalks drunkenly like a weird uncle who's life was over before it ever started.
Boy, did Adam just love his life right now.

Adam let out an audible gruff as he trudged through the snow, his attention from walking being pulled away by his phone ringing.
Every time it rang, he was reminded that he hated the ringtone of his phone but would always forget to change it after his phone call ended. With another gruff, he pulled it from his pocket and answered it with his almost frostbitten fingers.

"Hey mom." He spoke softly into the phone, his attitude he was once carrying now gone as he exchanged pleasantries with his mother.
"Hey honey. How are you doing?"
"Great," He said as he looked down noticing a new hole in his shoe. Great.. yea. That seems like the perfect word to describe how I'm feeling..
"I'm glad to hear, sweetie. Things have been so lonesome since your brother just moved out, there's no more lively kids in the house and it's gotten too quiet for my liking!"
Adam scoffed slightly, his lips turning upright into a soft smirk as he stopped walking and rested the phone against his shoulder, nestling his ear against it as he stretched out his arms.
"You always complained that we made too much noise mom."
"Well, yes. But the fact of the matter is, is that now I have Rumples to take care of, so it isn't as lonely here anymore."
Rumples. Rumples. was a tan Pomeranian puppy that Adams mother had just bought. He never figured his mother to be a dog person, but a family home void of family could get pretty depressing. It was no wonder that she adopted a dog, this way she would have something to care over, and not feeling alone in that big house.
"I'm glad to hear it mom. Listen, I-"
"Rumples! No! Down! Bad boy! Rumpl- sweetie I think I might have to call you back, the dog just- RUMPLES! DON'T YOU DARE! RUMP-"