January 29th, 2015.

7:45am

Amaya placed her feet on the dashboard of her boyfriend's car in an insouciant manner. It was a usual practice for him to drive  her to school every morning and back home once classes were done. They had been dating for a year, and so far, their relationship was as they saw it; perfect. 

"If you're going to do that, you should at least wear clean and nice shoes," he joked, at least that was what she thought. Ryan was never one to be choleric but the few times he got angry, he could be frightening. She brought down her feet just in case she was not wrong about him being in a bad mood.

"So..." she trailed off " are you still visiting your dad today?" She asked although she knew his answer would be a definite yes. She was only trying to make conversation. She felt uneasy and very uncomfortable. She had noticed that he was unusually very quiet and moody when she got into his car, but she just assumed he was tired since it was morning, and he was not a morning person.

"No," he said in a cold tone. She was shocked, not by the tone, but by his answer. Ryan always visited his father in prison whenever he could. He had no work after class, and so, Amaya assumed that as usual, he would pay his dad a visit. Of recent, he had been visiting his dad even more frequently, almost too frequently. Amaya found it strange, but she did not want to get suspicious over a son visiting his father in jail.  

Ryan's dad had been imprisoned for eight years, he had twelve more to go. He killed a guy ten years ago. He had been involved with some very bad people, he stole, kidnapped, and did so many disruptive things to innocent people. Ryan had been heartbroken when he heard the news of his father's arrest, although he was not shocked by what he was convicted for. He always knew the kind of man his father was. His father did everything he could to get money, but he went about acquiring the money the wrong way. He had treated high school like trash, and so he could not get into  college. He lost hope and was desperate. He came across some bad guys who thought him the cowardly way of getting out of the 'rough life'. Through that way of living, he met Ryan's mother, she gave him two babies; a boy, and a girl. The girl ended up getting pregnant at sixteen. Her baby's father ran away, he refused to take responsibility. The boy; Ryan, tried his best not to turn out like his messed up father, but it seemed that his father's genes were dominant.  No matter how hard he tried, trouble always seemed to come knocking at his door, and foolishly, he sometimes welcomed it in.

  No one in Amaya's family liked Ryan. They felt he was dangerous, and she was disgusted that they judged him based on who is father was. She always defended Ryan. 'He's a great guy," she'll yell to her mum 'you don't know him like I do,' She'll say. After months of arguing, her parents finally stopped nagging her about him, but they did not give their approval either. Their guts told them that he was a bad guy, and her parents held on to the hope that one day, he'll reveal his true self to her. Amaya had always been aware that Ryan knew the kind of man his father was. She knew that he was only trying to protect his after by not reporting him. She imagined that she'll do the same to protect her family if she were in his shoes.  

"You say that you want a miracle to fall into your laps that will suddenly make you wealthy," he said.

She nodded her head slowly and waited for him to speak. "There's this guy my father worked for, he needs a favor. Nothing too shady. Says he'll cough up fifty thousand if I help him." From the way he spoke, and from the look on his face, she could tell that he was not joking. For the first time, she knew that he was being very serious because he had a look on his face that was so strong, and so determined.

"What-what kind of favour?" she swallowed hard. She did not want to find out where the conversation would lead.

"He needs a female for it, he wants someone pretty and in a short dress. I already got you covered," he said, and then he motioned his head to the back seat. She turned around and noticed  a shopping bag there. She really did not like where the conversation was heading.

Ryan noticed that Amaya was not talking, he could feel her stare burning into his neck. "It's not what you think, you don't have to do any of the dirty stuff. All you have to do is use those pretty legs to distract a guy. He has a disease; it's beautiful women like you," he winked at her, but she was not smiling.

"What do you take me for, Ryan?" she yelled. "How desperate do you think I am?"

Ryan slowed down as he pulled up to their school's driveway. He drove his father's rickety old pick-up truck. It was so old, they could hear the engine cry whenever the car was in motion and let out a sigh of relief whenever the car came to a halt. Ryan's arms were still on the steering wheel, and then he turned his neck to Amaya who had fiery flames burning in her eyes. "I'm not asking you to sleep with him or anything, you're too special to me," he said and stared into her eyes. He used the calmness of the blue sea in his eyes to quench the fire in hers. She always got weak whenever he stared at her like she was the only girl he ever noticed.

"Then what are you asking me to do?" she folded her arms over her chest.

"Women are his kryptonite, so I want you to get his attention and then I want you to follow him to his room and put something in his drink that'll make him unconscious for a while.''

"How long is a while?" she put her hands up in quotes.

He shrugged, "it'll knock him out for a couple of hours, but it's not gonna kill the guy," he assured her.  "  I would have done it myself but I don't look good in short skirts," he laughed. He tried to make fun of the situation. She was not smiling, but she was listening and also considering what he was saying.

She wondered to herself: am I really that desperate? But she did not have an answer yet. She did know that it was not a definite yes or no. 

"What next?" she asked.

"The rest is up to us, after that, you leave and then we come in," he replied.

"Who's we? And what are you guys gonna do to him, and who's the person you want me to poison?"

''You don't need to know the A to Z of this operation, babe."

She shook her head and scoffed "you're just like your father after all," she narrowed her eyes at him. "You're a criminal," she spat out and then she pushed the door of his truck open and vehemently banged it shut. She walked up to the steps of the school and wiped away a tear that came rolling down her bony cheeks. She could not believe what Ryan had just casually told her like it was no big deal. The fact that he could stand the idea of her seducing another man irked her, he was a jealous guy yet he wanted her to go after a man. And then what next? She did not know what was next. Were they going to kill or torture him? maybe kidnap him and demand a ransom, or steal his money? So many possibilities came to her mind, she did not know which it was, but she was sure that one of her assumptions would be right.

She gagged at the thought of her trying to seduce an older man because she knew for sure that it had to be someone old. She imagined it and almost threw up in her mouth. In the years that she had been with Ryan, she had never thought he'd be capable of turning into his father. When they met three years ago, he told her that he loved his father but that he hated the person he was. He hated how he destroyed his life and the lives of everyone in his family. He always feared that he would turn out to be like his father, and she always consoled him by telling him that he was a good guy and that she was sure he wouldn't. She told him that only to console him, but when they started dating and she finally got to know him better, she meant it. She saw that he was a great guy who had a heart of gold. He treated her like a princess, and spoiled her with so many gifts, despite not having enough money. He sent money to his little sister whenever he could, and helped his mother pay the bills. He was also very hardworking. He worked two tiring jobs, he was a cashier by day and a waiter at night.

She also felt guilty, because as his girlfriend, she should have noticed the point when he decided to turn his life around. But then she thought, was he always this way, and I just didn't notice it? or maybe he got tired of living like a poor man. Maybe he got tired of working two jobs, maybe he got frustrated and  gave in to temptation. Maybe he  begrudged people who were moneyed and wanted to be like them. He must have been hungry for their money and the easiest way to satisfy that hunger was to involve himself in shady business. If that were the case, she wondered if she would get hungry like Ryan and if yes, she wondered how soon. She was also desperate for some money. She wanted so badly to help her parents pay off some of their debts. She wanted to get a nice brand new car for her father, and for her mother she wanted to get the diamond necklace that her mother always stared at any time they walked past the jewelry store. For herself, she wanted to secure her future. She wanted to make sure that she had enough money for college, in case she did not get a full tuition scholarship. And even if she got full tuition scholarship, she still had to worry about feeding, college books, money for movement, and so many other necessities. She thought about what Ryan said, but then she shook her head. She bit her bottom lip and sighed. She knew she had a lot to think about.

Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money, she thought to herself in chemistry class while others were busy pouring chemicals from test tubes into conical flasks. She assumed that she and Ryan would split the money equally. That would leave her with twenty-five thousand dollars. That was still a lot of money. It was not enough to pay off all her family debt and buy all the things she wanted, but it was a huge load off her shoulders. It was a start.

 Other classes were the same, she drifted off into her thoughts, and she had the tendency to think a lot whenever she was faced with a difficult situation. Sometimes, she'd think until her head hurt.

3:05pm.

Classes were done and Amaya was taking her steps as she walked outside. Usually, Ryan would take her back home every day after school, but she had been avoiding him, ignoring his calls and she left all his messages on read. She did not want to talk to him, she did not want to listen to his reason or excuses because she was scared to find out the kind of person he truly was. She was afraid to hear things come out of his mouth that would cause hurtful and heartbreaking things come out of her own mouth. As she walked, her eyes came down to her feet, she looked at her shoes and started picking each and every detail apart. She noticed how old and ugly they were, the sole was already coming off, and the leather was peeling off. She could buy herself some nice new shoes. She was never a materialistic person, but she knew it would not hurt to have some nice things once in a while. She looked at her dress and noticed how short it had gotten. She bought the dress four years ago, and at the time, it fell down to her knees, but now it was at least four inches above her knees. It had faded from being washed too much.

She thought of what she had to do again, and it seemed pretty simple. Seduce a man, poison his drink with something that would not kill him, and leave. Like he said, she did not need to know the rest. But then she wondered if she was valiant enough to pull that off. She had never thought herself to be a sexy or confident person. The only person she could act sexy around was Ryan. With everyone else, she was rather ungainly.  

She neared her neighborhood and began to question  how safe where she lived was. She had seen a lot of dangerous-looking guys lurking the streets. She knew that she would one day, very soon, want to move her parents out of the neighbourhood and into a safer place. She got to her house and then she pushed the door open. Her house was empty, her mum was at the hospital; she worked as a nurse. Her dad was an accountant. Her paternal grandfather was sick, he was diagnosed with cancer, and so, her father spent most of his earnings on his medical bills. That was also something she wanted to help her family with. 

She walked to her room and lay on her bed to rest. Her phone rang just as she lay down, she checked it; it was from her mother.

"Hello," she said in an even tone.

"Amaya," she started. Her voice sounded weak, almost like he had been crying "I don't know how to tell you this," he said.

"Tell me what?" she sat up.

"Your grandfather," her voice broke "his condition worsened, the doctors say it's bad. I'll have to stay overnight with him today to make sure he's stable," she said.

Amaya's breath hitched, she swallowed hard, her heart beat fast. She was so scared that her mother would say he had given up his fight. She was not ready to lose her grandfather; someone who she visited every summer, someone who sent her chocolates every Christmas, someone who always told her jokes that she always found boring, but she laughed to anyways. It all came down to money with any issue they had in their family. They had love, but they also needed the money. People say money does not buy happiness, but she knew that in that moment, money was the answer. Money would have gotten her grandfather the best doctors, the best treatment, and maybe he would be getting better and not worse. The doctors told her parents that her grandfather could survive and live for a long time with the right treatment; a treatment they could not afford.

"Okay," Amaya replied softly ''take care of papa and tell him that I say I love him," she said, and then she cut the call.

She went through her recent calls and then she called Ryan. After one ring he picked. He didn't say anything, but she could hear him breathing through the other end of the line. "Are you going to kill the man?" she asked softly.

"No," he replied.

"Are you going to steal from him?"

He hesitated before replying "yes."

She swallowed hard and let out a breath "Have you done this before?"

"No," he said softly. "I guess I am like my father after all,'' he laughed dryly.

"Does he deserve it? to get robbed."

"He's cheating on his sick wife, he deserves some sort of misfortune," he replied.

"When do I have to do it?"

"Tomorrow night," he replied. "He'll be staying at the club, all you have to do is seduce him. He'll take you to his second house, there's no security there. It'll be simple, it'll be fast."

She nodded "Okay," she said, "I'll do it." she said quickly,  in a low voice. " I guess we're both delinquents."