The medicine disappeared in his pocket first, followed by a can of tuna. The chocolate bar he kept up the sleeve of his sweater. Once more he looked over his shoulder, afraid someone might have seen him, but the aisle he was in, was empty. An old lady, standing in front of the reading glasses, still tried on new pairs of glasses and didn't seem to notice him at all. The girl that worked in this place, had noticed him, but looked away when his eyes met hers.

With a slow pace he walked across the store to the cooling compartments. His hands folded around a cold bottle of water and as he closed the glass door of the cooled shelves filled with drinks; he grabbed a bag of spicy chips.

The hood of the sweater he wore underneath his leather jacket covered his eyes. Others wouldn't be able to see him, but he couldn't really see others as well. The silver chain around his neck felt cold against his warm skin. He had to resist the urge to grab his necklace, afraid the chocolate bar would drop from his sleeve.

When he finally came to the counter, he dropped the two items and waited for the Afro-American girl, who had looked at him before, to come to the register and ring him up.

"Is that all?" she asked with suspicion in her voice. Her amber colored eyes flew from the chips bag to his covered face, back to the counter.

"Yeah, you gonna ring me up, or what?" the boy snapped.

The girl crossed her arms and scoffed. "Not until you show me your face."

The chips bag and the water bottle formed a barrier between them. So small and still they separated them. He sighed deep and took of his hood. With his dark brown eyes, he looked at her. She was pretty, beautiful curves and twinkling eyes. She must've been the same age as him, around eighteen, maybe a little younger.

She saw danger in his eyes. They were almost black. "Is that all?" she asked again, scanning his body. The counter blocked her few of the lower half of his body, but she knew for sure that he had something hidden in the pockets of his oversized leather jacket.

"Whatever," he growled. He turned around, leaving the chips and water bottle on the counter. With a slight sway in his pace, he left the store. Only the door closing was proof he had ever been there.

Aliyah sighed, as she took the items of the counter and placing them back where they belonged. She just hoped he wasn't the kind of guy that stole from small stores that already had enough trouble to deal with. Bad boys stealing products shouldn't be added to that already long list. She wasn't going to work off her butt to find out that it was all for nothing because someone like him decided to steal from them.

"What did he want?" her father asked. He stepped inside the store and looked at his daughter.

"Nothing," Aliyah said, shrugging. "I guess he was just looking for attention."

Aliyah's dad narrowed his eyes. "Hm," he hummed. "Call me the moment he returns; I don't want those thugs inside my store!"

"Dad!" Aliyah called out. She hated it when her father started cursing. Usually he wasn't like that, but when people he didn't trust entered the store, he had no trouble calling the names. He just had no idea what words like that did to her. Usually she was the one they called a thug.

The white man looked at his daughter. "Sorry dear," he said as he walked over to her and kissed her on her box braids. "I didn't mean it like that."

"You did say it like that." She looked her father in his eyes and paused. She could see the fear in his eyes, afraid he might have overstepped, but she took a deep breath and continued. "I will call you when he returns, okay? I have work to do." She walked over to the medicine-aisle and tidied the shelves.

Her dad disappeared in the storage room again, leaving the store to his daughter.

She glanced through the window, searching for him, but she didn't see him. He might return and when he would, she didn't know if she would call her dad. If he returned.