Several weeks had passed since that confusing incident and, for the most part, Keani had pushed it out of his mind. Life was back to its usual routine with few surprises and the usual ups and downs of struggling to get by, stealing to eat, avoiding those that would turn him in or take his spoils, and making sure his brother was provided for.
It was late morning when he headed to market. Early enough to ensure there was still plenty of stuff available for the picking, but late enough that there would be a crowd to blend into. Moving easily among the crowd, mostly ignored--because few people paid much mind to a scrawny, dirty kid--his empty stomach rumbled when he caught sight of a table laid out with apples. He'd given Keoni the last of yesterday's bread that morning, lying and saying that he'd already eaten earlier, and he could feel his mouth watering.
They'd been living off bread the past few days; the prospect of sweet fruit was far too tempting.
Weaving his way through the crowd and closer to the apples, he feigned getting bumped into by a taller man and knocked his hip against the table hard enough to spill some of those apples to the ground.
"Shit!" Keani gasped, and stooped to start picking them up and putting them back. He shot the seller, a younger woman, an apologetic glance as she rushed around and started shooing him off. "Terribly sorry, miss! Some people are just so rude! I mean, didja see that guy?" he said, putting the last apple back on the table despite her hurry to get rid of him, annoyance written all across her face.
"Go on, now! Yer gettin' my apples all dirty!" she told him, waving her hands at him. With another apologetic look, Keani retreated back into the crowd.
She never noticed the pair of apples he'd slipped under his shirt.
