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ATTICUS WALKED THROUGH HIS FRONT door with a smile on his face, a few wads of cash between his hands as he raked his fingertips through the bills for the fifth time that evening. It was half the money he and JJ had stolen, which would cover each of their restitutions.
"Hey, mum?" He called out, as he kicked off his shoes.
"In here, sweetheart!" He walked into the living room, where his mum was busy folding up clothes. "Hey, darl-" she turned around, eyes latching onto the money displayed proudly in his hands.
"I got the money," he whispered happily, eyes gleaming with pride. She dropped the clothes on the floor and rushed over, snatching the money out of his hands as she worriedly flicked through it.
"Where did you get all this?" She asked with furrowed brows.
"Don't worry about-"
"Where did you get it, Atticus? And don't you lie to me!" His smile instantly diminished as she raised her voice. She barely ever raised her voice.
"This guy tried to steal from us, so we . . . we, uh-" he stuttered, fingers fidgeting in front of his waist as his eyesight slowly trickled to the floor in shame.
"So you stole back from him? She took his immediate silence as an answer. "I don't want your filthy money."
She pushed the bills back into his chest, walking back over to the piled up clothes on the shiny floorboards and dumping them back onto the couch. "I thought you would be happy, mum," the boy whispered, eyes still latched onto the wooden flooring.
She whipped around, a fire in her eyes that had barely ever been there before. "Happy that you took someone else's money? Who in the hell would be happy about that?" She shouted.
"Me! I'm happy, mum. I've got the cash!" He stepped forward, waving the money in his hands in the air in front of her face.
"I don't care that you have the cash! If you worked for that cash, then I would accept it," she stated with a finger pointed into her son's chest.
"I did, mum. He held a-"
"I don't care what he did, that money was his. You stealing from him makes you just as bad, if not worse! Put it back, now!" She yelled, taking a step closer to the boy for each step he took back, until he stopped.
"No. No way. I'm not putting this back," he stated monotonically, staring equally as angry into his mother's fierce eyes.
"Then get out of my house," she seethed. He fell silent, chest rising and falling as he heaved deep breaths. Instead of turning towards the door, he turned towards his bedroom down the short hall, storming towards it before slamming the door shut behind him. It ricocheted off the walls.
