"What time is it?" Ian said to himself when he woke up.
He dug his phone from his uniform trousers and checked it.
"Oh God damn this." He said while still being cuddled up with Cindy on the sofa.
"She seems to be asleep. She won't notice if I dip. And I need to dip right bloody now." Ian thought and pried himself free from Cindy's arms.
He scratched his hair that Cindy's sweater had made electric, went upstairs and switched to a sweatshirt and joggers and then quietly snuck out through the front door.
"Ugh. What was I thinking? Of course I have to keep her happy but I shouldn't make her think that there's something between us again. Next time she asks for something like that, I'll politely reject her. Well, as politely I can." Ian thought to himself while walking towards the factory in the dark road that leads to the town.
"Was nice though. I don't feel as nervous anymore." He then thought while making progress.
"This might be my last day of freedom. It won't be though. I'll just do it once. I'll be a pro and wear clean gloves, leave no traces and make no sounds. Easy as pie. Nobody will know." Ian convinced himself and started jogging.
The dark road at night once upon a time was eerie to Ian but living in the area long enough and being used to being outside at night had made him numb to it. The street lights at the town did come as a relief however. There was a police van parked at a street. There were two officers inside. When Ian jogged past the van, he couldn't bring himself to actually look at their faces.
"They shouldn't think that anything is wrong. Just some dude having a late evening jog. Normal behaviour." Ian thought in his head.
He was right, since the van stayed where it was and nobody came out of it. Ian couldn't tell if the reason for his heart beating so fast was the jogging or his fear.
"What am I doing? I'd rather be home right now exactly where I was before coming here. But that won't pay me as much as I want." Ian convinced himself in his mind.
"She won't be pleased with me when she sees me in jail though."
"That won't happen."
At the industrial district Ian found the factory easily, as it was very easy to find due to the noise and the lights. At the factory he saw a van parked by the front that he had never seen there before. He could guess whose it was. He slowed down and breathed heavily while walking forward. As he came closer to the van, he saw who was inside. Ronnie stepped out of the front seat.
"We agreed on the time, for fuck's sake! What took so fuckin' long?" Ronnie shouted angrily by the van when he saw Ian approaching.
"I passed out. Let's just go." Ian replied when he was closer.
"We fuckin' better. This fucks up the timing sideways. Get in the van and let's get the fuck out of here already!" Ronnie commanded.
Ian did as told and got in the van in the passenger's seat. Ronnie got on the driver's seat and started the van. The van got moving and left the industrial district. The van drove past the same streets that Ian has jogged past when coming to the industrial district. The town was still as dead as ever. The van passed the same police van that Ian passed earlier, but this time from behind. When Ian saw the police van, he bent forward to hide his face, just in case.
"I'm actually doing this." He thought in his head for the thousandth time today, but now the reality was hitting him.
"Fuck you hidin' from, mate? You look suspicious." Ronnie said to Ian.
"I passed those pigs when I came here. Didn't want them to see me in a van now. That'd be suspicious." Ian answered.
"Suppose it might me." Ronnie said and got quiet.
"So you've planned out the timing and everything?" Ian asked.
"To perfection. I always do. Your slow arse might fuck us over though. But for now we're still good if we hurry."
"So even when I caught you in my girlfriend's house, you had planned that out?"
"Of course, mate. I had studied her schedule and memorised when she goes to sleep. I also noticed that she had a stalker but he was there only on some days, so I had to pick a day when he wasn't there." Ronnie explained.
"So you basically stalked her too then?"
"Don't call it stalkin', mate. Call it learnin'. And I also learned a bit about her interesting relationship with that stalker. He always spent several hours inside her house every day, except weekends. Couldn't tell if they were dating. They didn't seem to really get along from what I saw from my binoculars."
"Hmph." Ian let out, but inside felt much angrier.
"What? You mad that I was looking at your girlfriend through binoculars, or that she had spent so much time with someone else?" Ronnie asked amusedly.
"She's not my girlfriend." Ian replied simply.
"You just called her your girlfriend earlier."
"Did I?"
"Yeah. You did."
"Guess I misspoke. It's a weird situation."
"You mean you wish she was ya girl, but she isn't?" Ronnie asked, slightly curiously.
"No, that's not... Hmm. Forget about it." Ian simply replied and rested his elbow on the door of his side and his cheek on his fist.
"Alright, mate." Ronnie said and got quiet again.
"So where is this house?" Ian asked, changing the topic.
"In a really nice neighbourhood on the opposite end of the town." Ronnie answered.
"Been there a lot?"
"Of course I've been there loads watching this house. Last time I hit a house there was years ago. Enough time has passed since then that I don't think anyone will expect this."
"Better not."
"You doubt me, mate?"
"Nah, I wouldn't."
"Good. I know what I'm doin'. And look at that! We're already on the right street. This time I can park the van right next to the house because I know that the geezer inside is asleep at this hour." Ronnie said as the van entered the an idyllic looking street of expensive looking houses.
"So you've done your homework properly?" Ian asked.
"Oh yeah, mate. Proper! I know that this old fart always goes to sleep at nine in the evening, and wakes up at six in the morning. We arrived later than I'd prefer but we have plenty of time grab at least something valuable. Unless you fuck it up." Ronnie explained.
"Hold on just a second, mate!" Ian exclaimed.
"Keep it the fuck down." Ronnie said back.
"This is the same street where my ex lives. And you said it's been years since you hit a house in this street."
"Well, okay. By years I meant days. Just talking myself up." Ronnie explained.
"I got the impression that you've been doing this for years and in a wide area. Is that still true?" Ian asked with worry in his mind.
"Sure, mate. Now let's do this. Here's ya gloves and mask." Ronnie said and took gloves and a ski mask from under his seat and then handed them to Ian who took them.
Ian looked at them and the reality settled in even harder now, but so did doubt. Ronnie put his own mask and gloves on and glared at Ian.
"You puttin' them on or what?" Ronnie asked.
"Right. Sorry. Let's do it." Ian said and put on his equipment.
"And turn off ya bloody phone. Don't want anyone ringin' ya when we're in there." Ronnie commanded.
"Right. Of course." Ian said and did as told.
The two left the van and looked at the house in front of them. It was a white house with a nice lawn that had a paved path going through the middle of it. It had a big garage and an unremarkable car outside of it. It also had a lovely little porch and the windows has steel bars covering them.
"So how do we get in? Is there a security system of any kind?" Ian asked.
"Nah, mate. This'll be easy ridin'. Watch this." Ronnie said and retrieved a crowbar from the back of the van.
He then walked to the front door and inserted the crowbar in the right spot. He cranked it, and the door didn't open. Just a piece of it broke and made a cracking sound.
"Isn't that a bit loud?" Ian asked.
"This old man sleeps tight. We're good. Just got to get this thing a bit deeper in there and... There... you... go!" Ronnie explained as he successfully pried the door open with the crowbar.
"Oh. It was that easy. And no alarm went off. Nice." Ian stated.
Ronnie said nothing, but just stepped in the house, and Ian followed. Inside the house was quite the living room that was directly connected to the front door. The first thing that either man noticed was wide trophy cases on all the walls of the living room. Inside the glass cases were medals of gold, silver and bronze, as well as trophies obviously.
"Is this guy somebody famous?" Ian asked.
"Dunno. I don't recognise his face." Ronnie answered.
"Did you look at his mailbox? That could have given you his name."
"His surname is Oxen, but I don't know about the mate´s first name."
"Is there anybody famous with the name Oxen? An athlete or something?"
"I don't know. Maybe." Ronnie said and started opening one of the trophy cases.
Ian noticed the glint of glass on one wall and noticed that it's a framed poster protected by glass. He walked closer to it and looked at it.
"It's a match card. For a boxing night." Ian said when he saw the poster up close.
"Huh?" Ronnie said while looking at some gold medals in his hand.
"It's got like all the fights listed in a stylish poster to promote the event. And in the main event is Jacob Oxen. I guess that's this guy." Ian said.
"Huh. Never heard of him. Probably some has been." Ronnie said and put the medals in his sack.
"What do you think you'll get for those medals? If you sell them, they'll know that it's stolen goods." Ian asked.
"I'll melt them and sell them as gold. Idiot." Ronnie said and snorted.
"Right. Of course." Ian said and saw as Ronnie put the trophies in his sack as well.
"Feels sort of dirty to just steal an old man's memories. Like these might be the way he relives his glory days." Ian stated.
"And I'll live out my glory days in real time with the money I make. I picked this house for a reason." Ronnie said back.
"I guess. I think I'd rather live out my glory days doing something more honourable." Ian said.
"Are you going to help out with grabbing all this stuff or are you just going to talk?" Ronnie asked impatiently and handed a second sack to Ian.
"Right. Sorry." Ian said and took the sack.
He opened a door in the living room's television stand and found some old video tapes. He let out a sound of curiosity and took one of them in his hands.
"Oxen championship win fight." Ian read from a piece of tape that was at the side of the video tape.
"What?" Ronnie said while filling his sack.
"That's what it says here. So he was a champion of something, I guess." Ian answered.
"Yeah like a hundred years ago."
"The date here is fourty years ago."
"Alright. Who cares? Put the tapes in the sack and we can sell them." Ronnie ordered.
"Right. Of course." Ian said and put the tapes in his sack.
"People in these types of houses usually have some valuable cutlery. I'm checking out the kitchen." Ronnie said and did exactly as he said he would.
Ian was left alone in the living room. He noticed another framed picture on a wall. He took a closer look at it. It was a photo of a group of men posing for a group photo in a fighting gym, holding champagne bottles, and the man in the middle held up a championship belt. All the men in the photo had a black t-shirt that had a the words "Golden Goose Boxing Team" along with a logo depicting an aggressive goose inside a circle. There was a date in the bottom right of the corner.
"This one is from fourty years ago too. I assume Oxen is the guy in the middle." Ian thought while looking at the photo.
"Fuck it. I'm curious now. I'll just look up some info quickly and then turn the phone back off." Ian said and took his phone out of his pocket.
He turned it on and looked around to make sure that Ronnie was not in the room.
"He said we have plenty of time. Just a quick search before getting back to work." Ian whispered to himself as his phone lit up.
The first thing he saw once his phone was on, was a missed call from Emma and six unread messages from Cindy.
"Okay screw that. No time to check out all of that. I can do my research at home too. Back to work." Ian said and put his phone in his pocket without doing any research at all.
"Hey hey, what have we got here?" Ian said when he opened a door of the television stand and found a whisky bottle and a bourbon bottle.
"These might be worth something if I sell them to some teens. They're opened though, but I can fill the rest with water." Ian thought as he was holding the two bottles in his hands.
As he was holding the bottles, his phone started ringing in his pocket. The sudden noise startled him, causing him to drop the bottles on his feet. The sudden pain made him shout a cuss word. He caught himself and blocked his mouth before he could make any more noise. He noticed that his phone was still ringing, so he quickly took it out and declined the call.
"What the fuck are you doin', you fucking daft cunt?" Ronnie whispered as he came to the living room with a sack that was jingling like a jingle bell.
"Sorry sorry sorry sorry..." Ian was explaining.
"Shut the fuck up. Hear that?" Ronnie whispered and then listened.
The sound of steps could be heard upstairs. The sound was moving across the ceiling and going towards the staircase. Both men downstairs understood what this meant.
"Fuck, what now? Do we hide or run?" Ian asked.
"Not leaving this house yet. I can get more out of it. Let's hide until the cunt goes back." Ronnie said and started dragging his jingly sack towards the curtains by the window.
Ian looked around in panic as the steps were getting closer to the staircase. With each step that he heard, his heart pounded harder. There was no more room behind the curtains either. He did the best he could and hid behind the sofa by staying low. Both thieves stayed quiet as the steps were now coming down the steps.
"What the bloody hell was that noise?" An old sounding voice said from the direction of the stairs.
"Guess he couldn't hear it all clearly. He doesn't know that there's people here. That's good." Ian thought as sweat formed on his forehead.
The lights of the room were switched on and it hurt Ian's eyes at first. One other thing that the light did, was make Ronnie's hiding spot obvious.
"Oi, you! Who the bloody hell do you think you are?" The old voice called.
Ronnie came out from his hiding spot and grabbed his sack, getting ready to sprint. Ian briefly heard the sound of Ronnie's quick steps but they ended after only a few, and then the sound of Ronnie's body hitting the floor startled Ian.
"Thought you could just run past me while I'm standing guard here? I'm not that slow, matey." The old voice trash talked.
Ian thought of theories about what will happen next, most of them involving the police. He knew that he had to try to get past the old man somehow before he finds out about Ian being there. He thought about jumping through the window but then he saw the metal bars and that was the end of that plan. His planning was then interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing again.
"Hm? Somebody else there? Come out! Come out now, wanker!" The old voice called.
Ian stood up from behind the sofa with his hands up and an ashamed expression on his face. He saw that the old man was completely unarmed. Ian knew that he had a chance.
"Look, mate. I don't want to fight you, but I will if you don't let me get away. I won't take anything with me. Just let me get out and don't call the police." Ian bargained.
"Then fight me." The old man said.
"What?" Ian said back in confusion.
"You said that you'll fight me if you have to. Fight me." The old man egged on.
"You sure you want to fight me, old man?"
"Look what I did to your mate." The old man said and pointed at Ronnie taking a nap on the floor.
"So you won't let me go easily then?" Ian asked.
"Fight me already!" The old man shouted.
Ian sighed and stepped out from behind the sofa. He looked at the old man who had his dukes up. He stepped closer to the old man and took a fighting stance as well.
"I see you were a boxer some time ago. You think you've still got it?" Ian asked confidently.
"I've been wanting to find out." The old man answered.
"So Oxen is your name?"
"Never heard of Jacob Oxen? I was the pride of this town and a world champion."
"Might have heard the name somewhere. I don't want to hurt an old man and the former pride of the town." Ian trash talked.
"You won't." Jacob said and threw a punch at Ian that the young man was not fast enough to avoid.
The punch landed on his left cheek and sent him stumbling into the furniture.
"Hmm. Your mate here went to sleep from one of those. Suppose you're tougher than him." Jacob said and kept his guard up.
Ian straightened his back and put his guard up. He was mad now. He threw a punch that Jacob tried to duck, but in his old age was simply too slow. The punch hit Jacob in the mouth but did not rock him like Ian expected. Instead Jacob threw a punch right back that hit Ian in the eye. Ian felt his brain move but he didn't take a step back. He threw a punch at Jacob who blocked it by keeping his guard up. Jacob replied with a quick jab that Ian ducked. As Ian ducked, he landed a hit on Jacob's ribs. The old man blew out some air as a result of the hit. Ian understood what he just did and stepped away.
"I told you I'd fight you if I had to. I'm going now." Ian said and felt his busted eye with his hand.
"Bloody hell. You survived two shots from me. Your mate was out cold from just one. You're tough mate." Jacob said while catching his breath.
"Cool. I'm going now. Keep all your stuff. I'm not taking anything and you won't tell anyone." Ian said and tried to walk past Jacob.
The attempt was not very successful. As Ian was about to pass Jacob, the young man got yet another punch but this time in the jawbone.
"What the fuck, old man?" Ian yelled out while holding his jaw.
"Bloody hell. You hardly flinched." Jacob said in amazement.
"Okay, so what?" Ian asked.
"You're made of something different. You're a fighter too, aren't you?"
"Weekend warrior, more like. I quit training years ago."
"You should pick it back up. You've got potential, kid."
"Sure, whatever."
"No, I mean it. I'll bloody train you myself if no one else will."
"Good one."
"Believe me or don't. I'll coach you if you show up here any day. Not like this old fuck has anything better to do. You could be a pro with a skull like that." Jacob assured.
"Right. Good idea. I'm going home now. Do with the other guy what you want." Ian said and walked past Jacob, leaving the entire house.
As soon as Ian was out of the house, he started jogging, not even returning his mask and gloves. He only stuffed them in his pockets and didn't look back. He ignored Ronnie's van and just started jogging towards the town, knowing he would know the way home from there.
"What the fuck was that? The old fuck was offering to train me? That's a trap if I've ever seen one. If I actually show up to his house again, he'll either finish me for good or have me arrested. I'm never doing this again. No matter what Ronnie says. That fucker turned out to be a fraud too. He's got no clue what he's doing. He can go to jail for all I care. At least I might get Cindy's necklace from him then. But fuck all of this. That was too close. Maybe I should just focus on my studies. Forget about all this." Ian thought in his head as he was jogging through the neighbourhood towards the town.
17Please respect copyright.PENANAue6ULa9tUB
Ian avoided the part of town where the police van was parked and even avoided asphalt roads to get back on the road that leads to his suburb outside of town. Once he was on the familiar road, he stopped looking behind him and just looked ahead into the darkness. There were not many lights on in any of the houses on his street, but he knew he was coming home because of how well he knew the road. He opened the front door of his house without even trying to be quiet and stepped in without bothering to take off his shoes. All the lights were off and everything was quiet in the house. Ian pushed the door shut and went to climb the stairs before he was interrupted by a whisper from behind.
"Where were you, baby? We were both wondering what you're doing and you didn't answer any messages or calls." Cindy's voice quietly said from behind with a worried tone.
Ian didn't reply. Just stayed where he was and stayed quiet. He turned around and walked the stairs back down. He came face to face with Cindy and still stayed quiet. In the darkness the damage that Jacob did to Ian could not be seen by Cindy. She was surprised when Ian hugged her with no warning. Cindy didn't complain, but just hugged back.
"Is everything okay, baby?" Cindy asked.
"I don't know." Ian quietly said back.
"Whatever it is, you can tell me. But you don't have to, if you don't want to talk about it." Cindy assured.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"That's okay."
"I've made a mistake." Ian admitted, thinking about the police officers who saw his face earlier tonight as well as Ronnie who might yet rat on Ian to shorten his own sentence.
"Then we'll fix it." Cindy assured.
"It's over." Ian said.
"Never say it's over."
"Can we just sit down and shut up?" Ian asked.
"Of course, baby. Anything you want." Cindy answered.
They pulled away from each other. Cindy was about to walk to the living room until she was surprised when Ian rested his head on her shoulder. She stopped for a moment, and then continued walking. They walked together to the living room sofa where they then sat down. Once they were both seated, Ian leaned himself even closer to Cindy and kept resting his head on her shoulder as Cindy leaned on the armrest and the corner of the sofa. She didn't mind it.
"Thanks for everything." Ian said and closed his eyes.
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