A couple of weeks later, Jamila was walking towards her car. It was a grey four-door Vauxhall Corsa. It was her first car and she was so proud to have bought it second-hand out of the money she saved. Suddenly, she saw a man step out of her car with some items in his hand which he stuffed under his hoodie. Jamila was shocked when she realized that the man was stealing from her car!
“Hey! That’s my car!” she shouted as she started running towards the man.
Tom turned back and saw Jamila running towards him. He slammed the door on the passenger side and ran across the street.
“Hey! Come back here!” she shouted as she ran after him. “Give me back my stuff!”
Jamila hesitated and looked both ways before crossing the street. Thankfully, there was hardly any traffic and she was able to cross the road safely.
The man ran into a house and closed the door, but it did not close properly. Jamila boldly followed him into the house, not thinking of what she might find or of her own safety.
When she stepped into the house, she froze at the entrance. An overweight woman was sitting on a couch combing her hair. All she had on was a black and white striped vest and a long white skirt. Two girls were sitting at a small table drawing pictures and coloring. There were crayons and colored pencils scattered all over the table. The youngest one, a baby, was sleeping soundly in her crib. The popular kids’ cartoon Peppa Pig was playing on their small TV set.
The room was messy and the furniture looked old and worn. The woman and her children stared at her in shock.
The man came out of another room and shouted, “What are you doing in my house? You can’t be in here. Get out!” He pointed at the door waiting for Jamila to leave, but she stood her ground. She shot the man her hardest look and said, “You stole some stuff out of my car and I’m not leaving until you give it back, or else I will call the police.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man replied with a wave of his hand as if to dismiss what she was saying.
“Tom, is this true?” the woman on the couch asked. Jamila assumed it must be his wife. “Did you steal from this lady’s car?”
“Louise, this doesn’t concern you. Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it,” the man said impatiently.
Jamila stared at the man called Tom. His hair was uncombed and stood up in little spikes on his head. He wore a dark grey hoodie and faded black jeans. The trainers he wore were old and dirty and one of them had a small hole where Jamila could see part of his big toe.
Suddenly, Jamila felt a wave of compassion and felt sorry for the man and his family. They were poor and they needed help.
“Tom, I told you if you keep doing this one day you’d get in trouble. Now please, give the lady back the items you took,” his wife pleaded with him.
“Louise, please let me handle this. It doesn’t concern you!” Tom replied firmly.
The woman and her children looked scared. The baby woke up and started to cry. Louise picked her up, cradled her in her arms, and rocked her gently to calm her down.
Jamila opened her bag and took out some cash from her purse. “Look, I’ll give you £50 if you give me my stuff back. And I won’t call the police.”
“I already told you that I don’t have your stuff!” Tom said angrily. He scrunched up his face and crossed his arms.
“Tom, please, just take the money and give back the stuff you took from this lady’s car!” Louise pleaded again. She had placed a pacifier in the baby’s mouth to stop her from crying. The baby happily sucked on the pacifier, blissfully unaware of the tension in the room.
Tom looked at the money that Jamila was offering to give him in exchange for the items he stole from her car. He then looked over at his wife. She looked back at him with tears in her eyes and she said softly, “Please, Tom, take the money and give her back her stuff.”
The man gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He glared at Jamila and his muscles grew tense and he took a step towards her and reached out to grab her.
Click here to read A Desperate Thief – Part 1
Click here to read the conclusion to A Desperate Thief – Part 3.
