The Family of Thieves and the Gala

Prompt: "I taught you how to pick locks, and THAT is how you're choosing to use that skill?"

Hi, hello, hey, Aloha, Hola, Ciao, and other greetings that I don't remember. Wondering who in the world I am? We can get back to that question shortly.

I will say one thing, though.

You are currently reading the story of a master thief, who has a friend that's VERY skeptical of their skills.

Twenty million years ago... Well, actually it's only been an hour, but who's counting?

I'd just taught Serena how to pick locks, (in case you were wondering, she's the skeptic) when my dear sister, Kalya, called me.

See, now I'm tempted to say my name is Kayla, so my sister is Kalya, and I'm Kayla.

But I kind of feel bad for her. Kalya?

Sometimes I feel like my parents misread the name Kayla, and ended up naming her Kalya.

Anyway, she called me, and who's with her? Gray, the most paranoid cousin to ever exist.

"What are you afraid of now?" I sighed.

"I'm not afraid of anything, Jelly. I'm just casually wondering when you're going to get over here!"

"Kalya? Gray? What's with the yelling?" a voice called out, somewhere from Kale's end. Kale is a nickname for my sister, by the way.

"It's nothing, Dad! Someone is just being uncooperative at the moment!" Gray shouted back, glaring at me.

I can hear Javi, my brother (and favourite sibling) muttering something about 'loud children' in the background. Hmph.

"I am so not being 'uncooperative'," I protested. "Me neith-" Kalya started, but luckily, the line went dead before I could hear her reply, which was good. Gray was probably fuming now, and my brother was probably wishing he could duct tape our mouths.

•••

Okay! I'm pausing right there just to explain a few things.

So my name is Angelica Harolds. Surprise! Apparently when I was younger, I called myself 'Angelly'. Hence, my nickname is Jelly.

Kalya's name is pronounced 'Kal-yah', but once a tutor called her 'Kale-yah', and Gray and I thought it was funny, since Kale... and kale?

Get it? No?

Anyway, Gray's mom disappeared when he was five. My parents decided that a two year old, a six year old (me!), and a ten year old wasn't enough kids to handle, so they took him in. You could say he's practically my brother.

Anyway, we've never met my uncle. He died before Gray was born.

Now, do my parents approve of our thieving? Yes. They're the ones who taught us how. In fact, they're master criminals. Wanted around the world.

We've been on the run since I was nine. I'm turning seventeen next year, not the point though. Half the time we don't know where we are. I think we're in Spain at the moment. I don't know, ask my brother.

We need to steal to survive, and if you think that's wrong... well then, just leave.

Serena and Sam, were abandoned children, at ten, and thirteen. Serena is my age and Sam is almost Javi's age. Serena says that she was with her parents when she fell asleep next to her other older brother, Diego, and when she woke up...

Yeah. So we took them in too (my parents can't have enough kids, can they?), stole a bigger caravan, blah, blah. By the way, we're originally from El Salvador, but moved to England when I was about seven.

Oh, and we rely on our mother for schooling, she used to be a teacher.

At the moment, me and Riri (Serena) are in some sort of warehouse...

•••

Alright, back to the present.

S and I are on the run.

Basically, we were locked in the warehouse, and Serena decided to put her new skill to use. But, she turned the hairpin the wrong way, an alarm went off, and here we are.

So, you got any ideas? Cause we're in a bit of a pickle. Oh wait, this is a one-sided conversation.

The peeps chasing us just cornered us at a stupid dead end. Oh, nevermind, S found a solution. Thanks for the help.

I look at my raven-haired friend. Her face fills with determination, from her pitch black eyes, to her roman nose, to her thin lips. She's the same size as me, but looks a lot scarier. Don't get me wrong, I'm the aggressive one, she's the scary one.

She climbs onto a dumpster, and grabs a rusty pipe on the wall. Above her, there are more. She uses them to scale up the wall, and somersault to the roof.

I follow her (though not as smoothly), landing awkwardly next to her. We both take off at a sprint, jumping buildings, until we reach one short enough to jump off.

We hit the ground running (literally), and head towards the rusty, green caravan we call home.

The familiar scent of wood and lavender hits me as soon as we enter. Five white mattresses lie next to each other on one side, along with a dressing table filled with drawers. Although the outside is completely metal, wood is the only thing you see on the inside. We also have a mini kitchen on the other side.

So, we have seven people living in this caravan other than me;

Melina Garcia-Harolds/Lina (my mom): A former teacher turned criminal

Miguel Harolds/Mig (my dad): A former doctor turned criminal

Javier Harolds/Javi (my brother): The handsome, charming, persuading one

Kalya Harolds/Kale (my dear sister): The clumsiest girl ever to exist, yet the fashionista

Serena Kingsworth/Riri (she counts as my sister as well.): A graceful ex-ballerina (according to her), a very bad lock-picker, and a super scary and dark person overall

Samuel Kingsworth/Sam (counts as my brother, but Serena's real brother): The nicest person to ever exist

Gray Harolds/G (my cousin): A nerd/geek, and completely scared and paranoid

A brown haired boy, with light brown eyes, full lips, and a sharp nose, sits in a corner, going over plans. He's about half a head taller than me. My older brother Javier.

Beside him, is a blondie with blue eyes, a button nose, and thick lips filled with lip gloss. She has way too much makeup on. My younger sister Kalya.

On her other side is Riri's boy version. Who is a bit older, and kinder looking. Samuel. I don't see my parents, so I think they went scouting for food.

A redhead with tons of freckles, gray, almond eyes, and a skinny frame, is silently watching my every move, so I finally give up and sit next to him.

"Hey, Gray."

He doesn't answer.

"Gray—" I start, but he cuts me off.

"Do you ever wish that we were still living in England, happily? I mean, you, Kale, Javi, me, we all loved London. We all loved pretending we got our Hogwarts acceptance letters, and pretending that we were demigods, pretending we were elves slash keepers slash wizards. And I bet Serena and Sam wish they could live normally. Like, they don't have to be outlaws. Or—"

"What exactly are you trying to say, Gray? Because you know that Serena and her brother were abandoned, and that Kalya, Javier and I have parents who are known criminals. We situationally cannot go back to living in London!" I snap, my patience finally wearing thin.

Gray is always yapping about this, complaining about everything. I love my cousin, yes, but SOMETIMES HE JUST DRIVES ME INSANE ARGH—

So I leave him and go to Riri.

"I taught you how to pick locks..." I say, staring at Serena, who grinned.

"Yeah, you did. Amazing skill, I've been stealing some of Sam's old Pokémon cards. Don't even ask why he still has those, Jennifer gave them to him, so why does he want it?"

Serena calls her parents Jennifer and Henry, because they lost the privilege of being called Mom and Dad years ago.

"Okay, okay," I interrupt, "But seriously, you're choosing to use what I taught you..."

"Say it, Angelica."

"OKAY FINE! Why would you pick locks just to steal some chocolate?" I say, exasperatedly. The chocolate looks good though.

"What can I say," Riri shrugs, "a girl needs her chocolate. A Serena needs her chocolate."

I smack her arm, and she runs away from me, laughing. Taking the chocolate with her.

"I WANT SOME CHOCOLATE!" Someone yells, scaring the crap out of me. Javi. He's this super handsome, strong guy, but if someone tries to give him chocolate... he turns into a puppy. But I can't be talking, everyone in the Garcia-Harolds-Kingsworth caravan is obsessed with the sweet treat. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sam chasing his sister while my parents look at each other. Then they chase the poor girl too.

"Guys!" Gray yells. "We have to get ready!" My parents share a look that says oh snap.

You see, tonight we're going to a gala. Yeah, a party for snobby rich people held at another rich person's mansion.. And we're gonna loot the place. Ooh, just thinking of what we can steal brings a smile to my face.

Anyway, everyone rushes to get dressed into their fancy outfits for the gala.

Dad comes out first, with a top hat, black gloves, and a black suit with tails. Mom next with a shimmering red dress, red heels, a bun, and red and maroon makeup. Then Sam, wearing a gray vest, with a full-sleeve dress shirt under, dress shoes, and black pants. After that, Gray comes out in a perfectly buttoned suit, polished shoes, and ironed pants, with neatly gelled-down hair. Next is Kalya, in a sparkly pink dress, a faux fur coat, sparkly silver heels, loads of makeup, and a sleek ponytail. Serena comes out, wearing a black dress, black heels, black makeup, and open hair. Then Javier, in an open black suit, a stylish hairdo, and dress pants and shoes. Last is me, in an emerald dress and heels, a fishtail braid, and sleek makeup.

Then, we make our way to the gala.

•••

At the door, Javi somehow convinces the guard that we're the French ambassador's family, and that he couldn't make it, so we came instead. Yeah, the guard believed it.

Getting right down to business, we make our way to a big door, stealing little trinkets from rich people along the way of course. I pick the lock, and we swiftly cross through. Sam puts the guards to sleep with sedatives, and we split up to check every room, until Kalya and dad find the treasure room.

And we loot it.

We take gems, and silver, and gold, and put them into sacks that Gray brought. But right as we're leaving, some backup guards catch us, and, oh, is it a chase.

Everyone splits up and I run from room to room. I end up in a statue room and hide behind a tall lookign one. The buff guard smashes all of them, and soon gets to mine.

I hold my breath. Three...

Two...

One...

Ze- BANG! A loud noise comes from somewhere else and the guard chases after it.

I run in another direction, and somehow the whole family is back together. Mom drops a smoke bomb, and we disappear.

Well, technically we just run away really fast, but the guards are too dumb to realize that so let's just say we disappeared.

Serena suddenly stops in her tracks. "B- box of ch- chocolates..."

"Let's go!" Day says. She pulls a hairpin out of her pocket (totally ignoring him), unlocks it, and takes the chocolate. "I taught you how to pick locks, and THAT is how you're choosing to use that skill?" I yell. "I'm seriously regretting teaching you this."

"LET'S GO!" Dad says again, and we start running.

We come to the last exit, where there are tons of guards. Everyone immediately goes into fighting mode, and we have a battle for the ages. Serena manages to somersault over a guard, and she comes to the door. I throw her a hairpin, and she picks the lock.

And... we're free! Nevermind, I'm glad I taught her that. Finally, we knock the guards unconscious, and we run right out. 

Everyone smiles while we whoop and cheer through the summer air, eating our stolen chocolate, running to our caravan. We deserve the celebration.

After all, it was a job well done. (Yes, we got the treasure.)

Word Count: 1, 974 words