Brian only had five pounds in his pocket. He had more money at home but he kept it in a secret box, so that one day he will have enough money to get out of his dump of a village. His other reason for wanting a lot more money was because like every other teenage boy, money was power. Money was liberty. He didn’t have any, therefore that was his reason for coming there that night. But already he knew that he shouldn’t have come. It was immoral. It was foolish, so why did he come?
He looked at his addidas three stripe watch and saw that it was already ten past seven. The dark master was late. Should Brian have left by now? If so, he could just stay with his aunt for the rest of his life, feeling lonely as a lost possession under the sea. Or he could stay, get very rich and maybe get caught. Just as he was about to leave, an older boy dressed in a leather jacket came over and blocked Brian’s pathway to freedom.
“You off then, Brian?” the older boy said in such a mysterious voice, that gave Brian goosebumps.
“I thought that you weren’t coming.” he said in an unsure voice.
“Oh yes? Then why did you think that?”
Because you’re 40 minutes late. I am cold and that you are as dependable as public transport. That was what Brian wanted to say. But the words did not come out of his mouth, instead he just shrugged.
The boy just smiled. His name was Ian. He was seventeen, tall and bony, had fair skin with acne. Ian was dressed in expensive designer clothes and stunk of cologne. Even at school he had the best clothes.
“Sorry that I was late but I got held up.”
Brian said nothing.
“You haven’t had second thoughts have you?”
“No,” I said in a very powerful tone.
“You’ve got nothing to worry about, Brian, mate. It’s going to be very easy. Charlie already told me.”
Sure Brian had nothing to worry about because Charlie was Ian’s older brother who just happened to be in prison, in a young juvenile detention centre! Ian didn’t really talk much about him. But it was Charlie who had heard of the warehouse.
The warehouse was about fifteen to twenty minutes away from the tube station. It was in a manufacturing zone. It was a warehouse stacked with CDs, DVDs, and mobile phones. It was amazing because there were no alarm systems and no security cameras. And the only security guard there was an old man, who was practically deaf and always slept. Charlie knew this because his friend once went there to work on the electrical systems. According to Charlie, you could break in merely using a pin and then walk out with about 200 quids worth of equipment. It was all there, just waiting to be taken. It was like taking candy from a baby.
That was why Brian agreed to come down and meet with Ian. He and Ian had done many things before, like stealing cars and stealing things from local supermarkets but never anything like that night. Fear rose up in Charlie. His blood pressure escalated and he could hear his heart pumping like a man thumping the floor. Brian didn’t know if he could go through with this. Brian liked Ian very much because when he first came to school, Ian took him under his wing and whenever someone tried to bully him, Ian showed everyone who was boss. Ian was like a friend to Brian.
“Are you sure about this?” Brain asked, his body trembling with terror.
“Sure I am sure. Why? What’s the problem?” Ian asked in a very casual voice.
“It’s just. If we were to get caught....”
“It will be fine and we won’t. As I have already told you, there are no CCTV there. Come on Brian. If you are going to be so scared, then I do not know if I even want to hang out with you even more. Come on, money is power.”
The words spat out again. Money is power and I won’t want to be your friend anymore. Brian knew that he couldn’t give up anymore because otherwise he will loose his only friend and he will have no money.
Ian and Brian set off to the warehouse. When they arrived, the warehouse looked like a complete dump. It was old and the building looked discoloured and naturally, it was graffitied. They went to the back door and before they both went in, Ian went through the instructions.
“Remember, we are going to split our ways and take whatever we can. Then after half an hour we will meet back here. Ok?”
“Ok,” he said with pain pinching his back all over.
Ian broke in, just using a pin and they were in. So maybe it was really like taking candy from a baby. The warehouse was much bigger than Brian had expected. There were hundreds and hundreds of rows of CDs, DVDs, mp3 players and stereos. Ian immediately went off and Brian went the opposite way. Brian started to put things in his pocket but then a part of him wanted to put everything back. Brian was taking some DVDs when suddenly he heard a radio being turned on.
That was when it all started to go wrong.
Brian knew that the radio noise was not a good sign. Just as Brian was about to turn round, a giant hand clumped onto his shoulder and the security guard said “What the hell are you doing here?”
Brian tried to turn round but he couldn’t. The policeman took Brian’s hands and suddenly nothing seemed simple anymore. The security guard was asking if there was someone else with him but just after saying that, the security guard’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open. He fell on the floor. Then he saw Ian, with a knife in his hands covered in blood! Ian told Brian that they should leave but Brian protested.
“We can’t just leave the guard just lying here in his own pool of blood. We should get some help. You can leave but I am going to stay.”
“Fine then, be a loser, stay but I am going to save myself.”
Just as Ian finished those words, police sirens were coming out of the blue and there were many of them. Ian fled but Brian just stayed there. That was then Brian realised that when hanging out with Ian, he had gone through a bad transformation. The police came in and saw the guard on the floor covered in blood. They took Brian and cuffed his hands. He heard Ian shouting that it was all Brian’s fault. So then he was yanked off into the silent evening.
