A Lower East Side Robbery

1

The store was lively and busy. The air filled with various scents of perfume, skincare products, and corny pop music that played semi-loudly. It was the perfect time to get what we wanted with barely any hassle. Sarina smirked at me and we split up into different sections of the store. I went to the makeup section and she went into the fragrance section.

We met each other in group therapy for kleptomaniacs-- or should I say forced to attend these meetings to avoid jail time. In everyone else's mind stealing is black and white. In our minds, it's a hard impulse to ignore. I started off young, just simple and small things like candy, markers, or even kid's nail polish. Obviously, it progressively got worse when I got older. What got me arrested was mistakenly hitting two stores in one day. I was riding the high or the thrill from another store. I must've thought it was my lucky day, except I wasn't planning on the store to upgrade their security.

My eyes scanned the different products until they stopped at a mascara tube. It was glossy black with gold decals. It shined against the bright white fluorescence on the ceiling above me. The price label read $64. That's insane for something that works almost the same as others.

Casually, I looked to my left and right for any employees. There were only four other customers. I held the mascara in the palm of my hand and walked close enough to another woman so that she could bump into me.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." I said. She nodded her head and walked away. As soon as she turned her back, my shining smile turned into a smirk. During the motion, I had swiftly shoved the mascara in my jacket pocket.

I looked for Sarina across the store and tilted my head towards the exit. I didn't want to overstep my luck and nothing else grabbed my attention. She nodded her head and I left before her. I noticed a group of people leaving so this could be my chance to blend in with them as they left. I kept my head held high as I walked past the security alarms and suddenly the alarms started blaring.

"Hey!" said a male voice coming our way.

He was wearing all black including a black cap; clearly a security guard. I watched as he stomped his way closer and I expected him to approach Sarina and me, but he didn't. He went to one of the other women trying to leave.

"Open your bag for me, ma'am." He said. She rolled her eyes and handed it to him. The security guard pulled out her brown sweater and underneath it was a couple of makeup brushes with the tags still on them.

"Amateurs." I scoffed to Sarina.

He asked the woman to come to the back of the store and we took that as an opportunity to leave. Crowds of pedestrians, shoppers, and others can be seen walking along the gum-ridden pavements outside the other shops or they're trying to cross the road. The New York noise of cars and taxis hooting, or of scooters, flying past is deafening.

Sarina giggles, "What did you end up getting?"

I smiled and put my arm around her, "A fancy new mascara is all. Nothing shouted at me, you know? How about you?"

"I got a perfume that smelled fruity like berries and a ruby red lipstick. Watch out world, I'm gonna look like Asian Marilyn Monroe or something," she said. She pulled out her items from her purse to show me quickly but put them back so she could get her car keys. The purple smart car beeped in front of us and we got in. She got the car customized after scoring a wedding ring from a bathroom at a fancy restaurant. I enjoy the act of stealing, sometimes I want to stop but Sarina always talks me out of it. I swear I think she's worse than me.

Sarina sighed loudly and used her hands for dramatic effect, "We gotta do something bigger than measly makeup products, Nikita."

"What do you mean? You have any ideas?" I said.

"Of course I have ideas! Listen, the other day I overheard a friend of a friend talking about robbing a small-time jewelry store in the Lower East Side--"

"--Oh my god, Sarina..." I trailed off, shaking my head.

"No, listen! It'll be quick and they steaked out the place already for a few days. Only three employees during the day and they let the newest hire close the store by himself. How stupid and easy does that sound?" She asked.

"I need to talk to whoever is gonna be in charge and see from there," I said and her eyes immediately brightened with excitement. She squealed in happiness and did a little dance in her seat before starting the car up.

I laughed, "No promises!"