Fiction: Group 4
steal?” And suddenly, as if a dam had broken, anger flooded his mouth and he let it spew out onto his
brother.
“What were you thinking? What would mother do if she heard about it? You're an idiot, a careless,
thoughtless, idiot!”
Zheng’s face remained set as stone; the stare seemed to be chiselled on, becoming just another facial feature.
Tai found himself worrying if he had been too harsh for a second until he spoke again.
“You think I am an idiot for earning money, while you use up all of mother’s? She won’t be home for
another seven hours because she’s busy working to afford to feed us, to keep a roof over our heads when we
sleep. And yet you do nothing to help out. I don't even see you doing housework. Why not do yourself a
favour and think for once?”
Tai looked at him, horrified. Could it be true? Have I been such a burden on this family and not even
realised, let alone acted on it?
A terrible weight bore down on all sides of his head; it felt as if he was underwater, hundreds of feet under
the sea without light or breath.
“I’m saving up the money until I figure out the best way to help her out. Are you going to help or give me
another scolding?”
Tai just looked at him and shook his head solemnly. “I’m scared,” he replied “but I’m also your brother.”
As the years added up, so did the money. Like a ladder, each crime creating a rung to escape the clutches of
impoverishment. Zheng climbed this ladder with ease; however time manifested itself in a different form for
Tai. Each of these crimes was like a tide, bearing relentless attrition onto the shoreline of his soul, and by the
day that there was enough money saved up to move into their own apartment, as Zheng claimed, “to let
mother slow down”, Tai’s faith in his brother had cracked and fractured his heavy carapace of loyalty so
much so since childhood, it now clung to him as a burden, a useless weight disabling him to climb any
further up the rungs of crime.
Zheng slipped on his second shoe and persisted “Tai, come on, we have to go!”
Tai lay back on his bed in the room, staring at the ceiling.
“Can we not go another night?”
Zheng stopped, looked up and walked into the room.
“What?”
“I don't know. I just have a bad feeling about this one.”
His brow furrowed, “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Well, you know I’ve been thinking, why risk it at all?” Tai sat up and looked at Zheng, “We have enough
money as it is. Why do we need to go tonight? What’s stopping us from just getting an ordinary day job like
every other person by the end of the week?”
“Ha! Since when did you become so righteous and high and mighty? What we do is a profession. It’s just
less recognized than some. Besides how much of a burden could it be on your conscience? All you need to
do is sit in the car and drive. Now get ready and stop playing Justice Bao, we have a job to do.”With that he
turned on his heel and walked out. Tai sighed resignedly and followed his orders.
Tai drove them through the night and after some time, they had reached their destination. A house in the
country lay isolated down a narrow path lined with woods on the side of the road, tactfully illuminated to
avert the eyes of thieves, searching tirelessly for the undefended homes of wealthy families on holidays.
Zheng collected all the equipment from the back seat and opened the door. He stepped out onto the curb
with a heave and was about to close it wordlessly when he heard Tai mutter, “Good luck.”
He looked back and noticed a strange tinge in his eye.
“I’ll be back in a minute. Just keep the car running, okay?” He said, a hint of uncertainty betraying his steely
confidence.
He then turned and closed the door behind him before beginning to strut down the dark, lonesome path.
Tai watched him approach the tall row of white, wooden fencing that guarded the house, blissfully unaware,
toss the bag over and proceed to mount it. As he reached the top, he glanced back at Tai, waved cheerfully,
and then fell into the criminal unknown.
