Felicia wanted that watch.

Cobblestone Alley was dense with the usuals. Pedlars selling knock off products for a much higher price, sex workers calling in potential clients or smoking in the corners and kids running back and forth holding someone’s wallet. Amidst the usual was a well-dressed man in a gold watch who stuck out like a sore thumb.

And Felicia wanted that watch.

Sis always told her not to steal but sis also told her that she shouldn’t settle for less and always get what she wanted. Felicia almost squeezed the cat in her arms.

“What should I do Lupin?” Felicia asked, stroking the black cat with white spots. “What should I do?”

Felicia loved the rush. Loved it way too much. Stealing was way too fun. She had a stash that she hid away from Sis full of little trinkets she found in and out of the Alley. And then she saw it. One of the boys tried nabbing the watch as the man was practically begging to be robbed with that suit of his. He tripped and fell over the man. The man gave him a gentle smile. There was a short conversation and the boy walked off, giant smirk on his face. He shuffled through his pocket and his expression changed to that of confusion. Felicia looked at the man and saw him putting his watch back on his wrist.

Felicia smiled to herself. “I made up my mind, Lupin.” She placed him down and the he wandered out. Felicia left her house, wearing a pair of black sunglasses and flicking her hair out of her eyes. Sis told her she’d be out the whole day and be back late at night so she’d be able to take the watch without her making a big deal about it.

Inside her apartment, overlooking the rest of Cobblestone Alley was a massive disservice to the street she called home. The smells, taste and sounds were a pleasure to the senses. Food sizzling on the stands, the sound of muttering and whistling and people beckoning passers-by to their stalls. The Alley was a place where what people considered the worst of society thrived and Felicia much like her Sis was proud to say she knew the people that lived here.

It wasn’t hard to spot the man. Where everybody wore rags, cheap dresses and worn-out clothes he walked around in a suit. People tried pestering him back and forth but he seemed very familiar with what was going on. Felicia kept her eyes on him and whenever he turned, she hid in the crowds. Carly and Tim wanted to greet her but when she saw that she had a mark, they gave her a knowing smile as she followed the man through the winding streets.

The old bumping trick wouldn’t work. Maybe she could pass by him. Act inconspicuous and steal the watch. But the man looked like he was aware of all the tricks, all the skills thieves used. Felicia had to be creative.

Felicia walked to a stall, paying the lady at the front for a string. Felicia blended in the crowds, using the density of the crowds to slip in front of him, string in her palm. And she did something very boring. She bumped into him.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

The man smirked. He was middle-aged with faded blonde hair and a moustache. “Rather boring, isn’t it?”

Felicia smiled. “You know it.”

Felicia walked away. The man still had the watch in his hand but before he could strap it on, Felicia pulled at the string. The watch was dragged across the floor but before anyone could get it, Felicia snatched it for herself. The man gave her a knowing smile before disappearing into the crowd.

It was on her way to her stash that she found out that the man had slipped something in her pocket. It was a black card with the face of a white cat out front. She turned it around and imprinted at the back were numbers. Co-ordinates.