There was always a thrill to be had when she was with Günther. As it had been, since she first picked him up in that little nightclub (it was just a repurposed garage) in that tucked away place in the city where not even the Christmas lights dare shine or the carols dare walk through. The blind spot God had not take into account. She had picked him up, Günther, the tall blonde with the tight leather pants and stretched out earlobes. They had sex the first night. And every night since, for the month they were together. And today, after leaving the house and Stefanie with it, they had gone to his little room and done it again. They had gone out and done it, underneath a bridge, with a family of ducks that quacked pass them on the underpass river.

It hadn’t been the high she was hoping for.

This was though. Definitely. Her heart, rapid, unceasing, told her so. She passed glances to the dull cashier man staring down the aisles. She perused or at least appeared to peruse. Her delicate fingers reached for small toys and snacks and other foods to stuff into her purse. It was an excellent game, her shaking her head to see when the gaze was upon her, playing innocent, whistling with the stolen goods poking out her leather purse.

Günther watched from a distance, at the refrigerator. He had the door open. His body against the cold air, his head looking over at Claudia and the cashier man. They were chasing each other, with shifty eyes, looking for a point of weakness when one would slip. Claudia and the clerk.

She chewed on stolen jerky. She ducked and took a swish of vodka from the little bottle. Her veracity was unmatched, as if in the middle of a gold rush. She felt her bags five pounds heavier, she didn’t stop.

And the store clerk knew it. She wasn’t stopping. She raised her head against the horizon of metal shelves. He just needs evidence, she thought. Just a tip.

A bag of Swedish fish fell to the floor. She reached for it. They both locked eyes at that instance, both with straight faces like jousters at their corners.

She smiled.

He reached for a button below his little desk and tried to hide it with contrived, idle movements; like spinning in his chair or pinching his greasy hair or yawning exceptionally loud. Günther waved at Claudia. Experience told her what this was. The clerk was nervous. Günther came around, beer bottle in hand. He put a hand on her shoulder and smirked. He had disarmed Claudia with that smile once. They drew closer to the clerk. She, wondering if it would work on him. They walked slowly. Another bottle appeared from the inside of his jacket, they clanged like bells.

She couldn’t even sweat anymore. She felt too playful to sweat. She was feet away from the desk. She shook her bag. It made a rustling noise. The clerk stood up.

They ran. Knocking down the shelves. Everything collapsed into screeching drags across the floor. She stepped on a bag. It popped, like a gun. She ran faster, in hysterics. The crunch of chips right behind her.

She laughed like mad as she looked back to the clerk running slowly behind them. It was impressive, as she eyed the clerk, how that small desk had hid that big gut. Günther threw a trash can at him. It made the clerk slip onto the icy floor. The trash spilled onto the floor. He fell, screaming. He screamed, cursing with his middle fingers out. And they heard sirens. The hauls of police and their bright colored lights above their cars.

They didn’t care though. It was just a playful crime. The hid into the nearest crevice of the wall, a small alley. A cat ran past them, scared by their new territorial grab.

Claudia peered her head out. She tucked it back in immediately. A car came past her.

“We did it,” she said, breathing exasperatedly. He moved closer to her. His hand went up her thigh and she felt his dry lips on hers. It chaffed, funnily enough.

“Fun, don’t you think?” Günther said.

She broke off from him and put his hand back to his sides.

“Not here,” she said.

“Why not, no ones around?” The blaring sirens disagreed. She walked deeper into the alley, fiddling with her purse. She opened it, most of it was meaningless. Or perhaps, they were the only things with meaning. The little toys, the small bottles of alcohol, candies and treats, a tube of lipstick. She liked it. The feeling, the freedom. And she began to hum.

“You’re going to give us away,” Günther came up behind her and put his arms around her waist. His mouth fell on her neck. She kept singing, something in Latin, something going smoothly - until, after pressed in the stomach, had gone off key. She stopped. Embarrassed, disappointed, only for a moment.

“I wanted to a be a singer,” she said. He kissed her neck. “Haven’t I told you this?”

“Mhm,” He licked her. His tongue felt grainy for some reason.

“I wanted to go to America, they have a television show there. I’ve seen it,” She didn’t even expect a conversation anymore. “They all sing and the people clap and the judges judge. And you can find someone to invest in you, there. You can make a name and go around, everywhere.”

“And now you’re free to do whatever you want,” He said in between his deep breaths. “So do me.” He rode her nape, up behind her ear. She couldn’t feel the sensations, strangely enough.

“Yes, I’m free. My sister said so.” Her eyes fell. “I don’t think she’s letting me back in.”

The police chased after ghosts. Their noise seemed distorted and distant, though they were only blocks away. But from within this sad back way, they might as well have been a different city.

“Then go apologize. When you do, who knows. We might all three go up to your room and...”

She felt his small hope press against her thigh. She rolled her eyes.

“I’m not apologizing. And you’re not doing anything with her, you hear me?” She gripped hard on his thin arms. “As a matter of fact, you won’t be seeing her ever again. Neither of us will. She’s gone from my life now.”

“Sisters shouldn’t fight.” Günther bit her ear.

“She’s not my sister, she’s my parole officer.”

“Fuck it then, forget about her,” Günther said. “You’re killing my boner.”

“I’ll talk however I want.” She broke off from his arms.

“Don’t get pissy with me.” He said. “I’m not the one who kicked you out.”

“This is all you care about, isn’t it? Cumming and drinking and sleeping?” She asked.

“And you don’t? How are you any different?” He asked. She stayed quiet. “What’s wrong with that kind of life anyway?”

Suave as he was, like the first time he met her. He coiled around her and wrapped his arms around her neck and shoulder and embraced her calm and easy, his blue eyes gazing into hers.

“Isn’t that why we met? To get away from everything, to be free?” He revealed in his pocket a little packet of pills. “I never asked you why you were there, in that club. I never asked you what your problems were when I found you crying in the bathroom. I accepted you, for who you were. Didn’t I?”

She looked away, though she could not move away from his grip.

“Who cares about any of this shit? Whatever hurts you, whatever annoys you, why waste your short life on it? Seems pretty stupid, if you ask me.”

“I’m not getting high tonight.” She said. He didn’t believe her, she knew it, because she had learned in this small time what that cocky grinning was all about.

“Okay," He said. She knew he knew she didn't believe him. They all played the game anyways. He looked down at her, smiling,

“You won't get high? We can still have fun?” He said.

“Fun? What’s more fun than this?” The police were in hot pursuit still.

“Want me to show you?” He asked. He extended his hand out. She thought it over, she thought of her sister and for a brief moment, of her grandmother and that little leaking house. She didn’t want to think though. That was her problem. And looking at the pills, at his cold hands, at his grinning face, she thought, why not. Who cares? How could he be worse? Where would he take her now?

It made her a little scared, where would he take her now? It made her a little excited too. She’d never done anything boring with Günther, after all. Not at the clubs, not at the bars, not at the little deviancies around the town.

Where would he take her now? She thought it over. She was glad, it was better than thinking of her family. She sighed. Blurted a quick giggle and took his hand.

“I won’t disappoint,” He said. They walked into the alley. His little reverse crucifix hanging from his ear, bouncing up and down, as they walked through the now burgeoning darkness.