Trust
You can call me a fool or too trusting, or both. Either way, I find myself in a situation of not my choosing, again. Okay, a mature person would take some responsibility for their own bullshit, but I’m not sure if I’m mature enough. I will admit that it’s all the wishing, wanting, and hope that gets me into these kinds of messes. The worst part of me lives inside my head, in the future, thinking of all the great things to have, like money and friendship. This time, it’s the latter that screwed the first.
I lift my head and watch the intergalactic cop in her yellow eyes. Her gray, mussy head reminds me of an octopus. The one creature that turned out to be an alien when humans descended into the stars.
“You are in trouble, Miss Zinnia Caster.”
Yeah, you bet I am when you use my full name like that. “It would seem so. Not that there is anything new there, Miss Qorvexia Nalim. It’s not like we haven’t done this before.” The ache at the back of my head blurs my vision. That’s what you get for being too trusting, too kind, too something. This was a selfish galaxy, and only a fool had a conscience, especially as a thief.
“No, Miss Caster. And as I recall, I gave you a chance last time because of the special circumstances, and I’m out of chances this time around. There’s no way out of this. You are going to go to jail.”
“Can’t we pretend I did it for noble causes?” Actually, I had. Dusk had told me he needed medicine for his sister’s kid, and I had believed him. I always believed him despite the fact that he was a liar and a cheat. We had broken into this huge-ass medical corporation laboratory to steal some, and here I was. The laboratory should have been my first clue that something was amiss. You break into a pharmacy, not a laboratory, to get medicine. But I had believed Dusk. I always believed him. All he had wanted was some classified documents to sell and me to take the heat off his back as he got off the planet and disappeared into the stars. It had become painfully clear when we had knocked me out and left me for Miss Nalim to catch—the one alien who kept her feelers out for me and my shit.
She was my father’s ex-partner, back in the day when my father had been one of the good guys until he screwed my childhood over and made me a thief, a good one and a stupid one. One who believed every word that came out of the mouth of someone I was attached to. Not Nalim, though. And I was starting to see a flaw in the pattern, that maturing part.
“You have a good heart, Zinnia. You have always had. But you have to learn, and I can’t be sentimental because of our past.”
I lick the back of my teeth. I know this means years out of my life, and there’s nothing I can do to change her mind once it’s set.
“I’m sorry, Zinnia.”
“Let’s do this then. It’s time I pay for my shit.” I look straight into her eyes; she reads me like an open book and nods. We both know the good life I got from my ill-gotten gains is gone. The Intergalactic Council will seize all my assets, and I won’t have them back once I get out. At least, I got to live a comfortable, boring life for a few years. And at least, she will be waiting for me once I get out.
The idea of jail is still horrifying. There are those in there who have an axe to grind with me.
—
I wish I could have a different ending. I knew there needed to be a payment; she couldn’t just walk out despite her noble reasons. She had to mature. But I wish I could show what happens next. I think there is a greater story there than personal growth.
What I got today was a voice-driven comedy about rags-to-riches, written in the first person. I put a science fiction spin on it since my head is in the stars with the aliens. Again, if you come across any aliens, say hi for me.
Thank you for reading! Have a day full of aliens and the weird, and see you tomorrow ❤
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