5 A Successful First Hit

Jesseye knocked on his door late in the afternoon and jogged lightly in place. Her stomache was in knots, but she couldn't understand why.

He glanced at her as he sat down on the floor of his van, trying to organize his shelves again. With a grunt he rose and opened the back door for her. "Want some peskata?" She asked a bit shyly, holding a decent sized plate of food, "We've got extras!" she added, trying to play it off as excitement.

"Sure, thanks." He said, taking the plate.

In all honesty, she would of made more for him anyways."You're welcome!" she chimed, still rather nervous. If he liked it then her dream wasn't ridiculous, right? Jazzy said it wasn't, but they had been friends for so long she'd support her in anything.

She followed him to his bed and sat next to him. He took a bite and almost moaned. "Mm my gosh, this is really good." He chewed with his eyes closed, savoring the simple pasta dish. It was the best meal he'd had in years. Fresh, cheesy, soft, but not too creamy. Once his first bite was completely gone, he dove in for more, "This is so much better than that prison crap." He said through an overstuffed mouth.

Jesseye beamed at his compliment,"Thanks!" she chimed before growing self-conscious and fiddling with her ponytail, "..But I'm pretty sure anything's better than prison food." she commented with a nervous laugh.

"No, I get why you wanna restaurant now."

Jesseye had a grin plastered to her face,"Yeah?" She asked softly, her cheeks flushed.

He paused to take another bite and nod, "How long have you been cooking?" he asked before taking another bite.

She shrugged, "A while. I hope it works out. I really want this, y'know?" A snicker bubbled out of her as she glanced back down to her hands. This was so stupid, wasn't it? Even if they stole from ten stores they wouldn't have enough, would they?

He nodded as he chewed. "Yeah." He said though he'd never really had the freedom to dream before. Maybe he'd have to get on that. Perhaps he'd think of something more creative to do with his cutt?

She shrugged, "Kinda feel like this is my purpose in life. I love how good food always brings a smile to people's faces." She said, wearing a smile herself. She hoped he didn't mind her hanging with him or rambling on like this. "It's just.." She knew things would be different now that they'd both paid their time, but she didn't want this to change. "I wanna do some good, help people who can't help themselves, and such. You probably think I'm crazy, don't you?"

He swallowed and shook his head, "No, this is great, Jess."

She awkwardly stood at the realization that she was probably overstaying her welcome and shrugged, "Well, um," she cleared her throat and glanced over her shoulder,"I'm gonna go ta bed. Night Shane. I'm glad you're here," she said sincerely before leaving him on his lonesome.

She took her ballcap off and combed through her stringy velvet hair as she walked back into the shop. This wasn't Jesseye's first relationship, but she only now understood what it meant to truly have a crush. All her insides were mushy and muddled and hot and sweet and nervous and, and... She was enamored with him. And terrified. These feelings could ruin everything if he found out. He would no doubt draw away from her and all she hoped for would be gone. She'd have nothing. Again. How could they be so high after only a few months together?

Jazzebella stood waiting for her best friend with a hand on her hip and a smirk on her lips,"That delivery sure took a while," she taunted with a raised brow.

She broke from her thoughtful trance and blushed in embarrassment, "Well, well," Jesseye fumbled her words, her mind scrambling to make up an excuse. Her mouth suddenly felt dry so she swallowed,"We're friends!" Jesseye managed to exclaim in her defense.

Jazza wasn't fazed,"Is that so?" She asked calmly, her smirk only growing.

"Yes! Just because we're out doesn't mean I'm gonna abandon him!" She shouted with a stomp of her foot. Oh the smug look on Jazzebella's face made her blood boil, "We just spent three months sharing a cell!"

"Sparky today." The black woman glanced out her garage door towards Shane's van,"Somethin ta do with the new guy?" She asked with a raised brow.

Jesseye growled and stormed upstairs. "It's none of your business!" She didn't need someone like her taunting or lecturing her on relationships. She knew how to handle herself.

After a couple weeks of settling and getting used to the slower, more relaxed paced, the girls started at finding a good starter heist. Somewhere easy for an amateur like Jesseye but worth it in stores. The fiery red head looked up and smiled,"Hey Shane!" She greeted warmly, straightening from the work table to give him a hug.

He hugged her back awkwardly. "Hi." He greeted before as he stumbling to the cabinet and grabbing some cereal. Jazzebella simply nodded.

"Y'know I can make you something, right?"

He waved her off while pouring in the milk then joined them at the table. "What you guys up too?" He asked groggily, scooping a spoonful into his mouth and nearly missing.

"Plannin'!" Jesseye chimed cheerfully, jotting down a couple notes on her little note pad.

Jazzebella nodded, taking break from the information they'd printed out. Just a couple places here and there, but with as much detail as they could find, "Jess insisted and dragged me out here without coffee." She glared at her lightly but the spunky girl shrugged it off.

"I made you breakfast," Jesseye retorted with a small smirk. The other woman rolled her eyes."Anywayyyss," she giggled excitedly and did a little dance,"I think I found a couple placceeess~" she sang, pushing her notepad towards Shane,"It's small, and the security isn't that great, and it's far away from any of your daddy's 'protected' properties," she explained as she sincerely hope she did good.

He looked down at the paper as he chewed and rubbed his eyes. In all honesty he wasn't ready to judge anything yet, so he let her ramble on in detail about each place while eating. After he read over the notes and nodded. Sometimes the lack of silence was good, gave him some time to wake up. He nodded and pointed to the list with her pen. "This top one's good. Good job on looking around the area."

"Yay!" Jesseye grinned like a cat.

He moved down as he shoved the last bit food in his mouth. "This one's a no." He mumbled with a full mouth before swallowing.

Jesseye nodded, moving around the table to watch him,"Yeah?" She cocked her head,"Why not?"

"It doesn't look like it, but this spot gets a lot of foot traffic. Druggies and stuff." He explained to her. Jazzebella observed them quietly, trying to judge whether this new addition to their crew was trustworthy or not.

"Ooohhh," Jesseye snickered at herself. Her black friend found it comforting that he didn't seem all that interested in the ginger, not in the way Jesseye was anyways. Jazza knew her friend tended to trust too easily.

Together they went down through her list of possible hits, crossing some out and highlighting others. "For your first gig, you did good." He said told her, drinking his milk before he setting his bowl in the sink. They had their place now, that was good.

"Thanks!" Jesseye shouted enthusiastically. She took her journal back and their fingers brushed together.

She laughed nervously as Jazza shook her head. 'What am I gonna do with you?' the dark skinned woman asked herself in thought.

Shane looked to his hand and then the other direction, "Y-you're welcome." he stuttered, rubbing his neck.

"Whenever you two hit it, I'll be stayin in the car." Jazzebella mentioned resolutely, her arms crossed obstinately.

Shane's attention turned thankfully to Jazzy. "That's good, we'll need a uh, getaway car, just in case." He said with a nod. He rubbed his neck and then looked over his shoulder at his van.

"That's what I thought!" Jesseye chimed.

"Well um...I'm gonna go make sure I have everything I need." He said before walking away.

She smiled and nodded while Jazza narrowed her eyes,"Mmk!" Jesseye shouted after him. The ginger jumped up from the table and trotted upstairs to check her gear too. Her stuff didn't include too much, mainly just a lock picking set and some black cloths. She was just excited so she needed something to avoid going completely stir crazy. Good thing her day job with Tony's cousin wasn't too far away. If only her shift lasted longer!

*&^%$*&^%$*&^%$*

Shane drew a deep breath as his van slowed to a stop in front of a small, run-down jewelry store at the edge of town. "Ok you two. You know the plan." He nodded at them both then noiselessly pushed the van door open and held it till Jesseye climbed out.

"Mmhm," she hummed. She was a little too loud for his tastes, but at least no one was here! He waited for her while she silently but quickly picked the door lock. He checked around them for cameras to keep himself busy. Thankfully, zilch. She scoffed as Shane seemed almost surprised by her skill, pushing the door open for him. "Follow my lead," she whispered a command, praying that he would. They had planned this together, but she sensed his way of getting the jewels was far different from her own. "Get the alarm and cams first then I'll pick the case boxes." she ordered with a nod.

His brows narrowed, but there was no time to argue on who was the leader. Shane simply sprinted in, straight to disabling the alarm.

While he connected his phone and waited as it cycled through passwords, Jesseye took the iniciative and began picking a case lock. "Come on, come on." He mumbled through his black mask. He cackled as it clicked. "With 15 seconds to spare." He said almost bragging as he walked back over and shut the front door.

By the time he walked over she was already shoveling jade necklaces into her bag. She looked up to him and raised her scarlet brow, "You get it?" she asked though she knew they'd already be caught if he hadn't. She started on her second case and he looked towards the door. Shook his head, he went to one of the other cases and set down his backpack.

She shot him a look at the clang from some can in his pack alarmed her, "You're taking too long." He said with a shrug. He retrieved a small air can, showed it to her, then chuckled as he placed the small nozzle into the lock.

She scoffed and shook her head, "Shut up," She was already on her second and they hadn't been here five minutes. Didn't help that her current one just happened to be more difficult than the first. She blamed rust.

With just a press of a button, he released the cold pressure. The lock creaked and turned white, and with a tap, it feel to pieces on the checkered floor. "What were you saying about my tactics again, Jess?"

She couldn't help grumbling under her breath a bit. "Keep them quiet," she tried to order with a huff. She would kill him if he messed this up for her. Didn't matter if she happened to like him. She needed this for her dream restaurant!

He grinned while shoveling the various rings, necklaces, and earrings into his pack. "Been a while since I've done this." He tapped another the lock as she silently popped open her case. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten how much he loved the sound frozen metal shattering. "Nitroglycerin bitch." He said with a wink before opening the case. He laughed as he grabbed everything and shoved it into Jesseye's duffle.

She nodded. He was surprised how little she was speaking. Her picking increased in efficiency by the time she got to the third lock,"This is my first time," she replied far too late. Apparently she needed to concentrate if they were going to get out of here quickly. He walked around the store and went to repeat his process of freezing the locks with the others, but she already had most of them open.

He chuckled lightly and nodded. "Well, you're doing pretty good." He encouraged her as he pulled her full bag over his shoulder and started filling his.

"Thanks," she glanced up with a light blush. He looked around as they finished up and then looked to his partner. She took her bag from him and nodded.

She picked her last one then looked at him with a fiery brow raised, "What were you saying about my methods, Shane?" she echoed with a smirk as she stood with his bag over her shoulder.

Shane placed their snarky note on one of the empty cases then ran out with her. "I told you to fuck off, Jess. We did it, didn't we?" He asked as he shut the back door of the jewelry store.

Jesseye chuckled as she hopped in the van, "Pssh," she shook her head and waved him off. He pulled the doors closed and flipped a switch on the floor for lights then sat down,"Yeah, we did." He unhooked his mask, tossed it aside, then looked to Jesseye,"Hit it Jazz!" She shouted before breaking into more giggles.

"Hell yeah!" The other woman roared, kicking the van into high gear, 0 - 60 baby.

Quickly it started to sink in that they really had robbed a small store. Shane shouted and joined both women in hysterical laughter, "Fuck yeah!" He exclaimed, slapping the floor of the van.