Represent-Feature Story

What’s Your Hustle?
Stealing from cars

By Daniel V.

One night my foster brother’s friend Al told us he had a plan that would put mad money in our pockets. I was a little nervous, but couldn’t wait to see what we were going to do.

My foster brother told me to dress in all black, so people wouldn’t see us. I predicted that we were going to rob people and I thought about not going, but I didn’t want to look like a punk.

We took the train to a neighborhood that looked very rich. The sidewalks were all clean and neat and the houses were big. There was no one around, and every time a car drove by we’d hear it from a long distance away. That’s how quiet the neighborhood was. The neighborhood even smelled good. It smelled like flowers.

“This is where the fun starts,” Al said with excitement.

A First-Timer

He explained that a lot of people kept their cars unlocked, and we could check them for valuables. If an alarm went off we were to run and hide, and at the end of the night we’d split everything we found. It sounded so easy.

But when I got to the first car and reached for the door handle it felt like a thousand needles poking my heart. I quickly pulled my arm back. I guess I was scared that the alarm might go off. I’d never felt so paranoid before.

“What’s the matter? You all right?” my foster brother asked.

“Don’t mind me, it’s my first car.” I said with a shaky voice.

“I know what that’s like. You just gotta keep telling yourself that it’s nothing, because it really isn’t,” he said, trying to calm me down.

The Gate to Heaven

As I pulled the handle I suddenly realized that the door was locked, and that felt like a huge relief. But the next car’s door opened like a gate to heaven. I went inside the car and searched everywhere for any valuable stuff. We came out with some change and a cigarette.

“Most of the times you won’t find much, but trust me, you will hit the jackpot at least twice tonight,” Al said.

By the end of the night I had about $50 worth of change, a cell phone and a Play Station Portable. I also stole a butterfly knife, lots of cigarettes and lighters, and other junk that I liked. It was fun taking chances that night, and I wanted to do it again.

The next few times I wasn’t paranoid at all. I guess my system built a tolerance level for it. I loved being able to have so much money in my pocket, and having lots of expensive electronics. One time I found a brand new pair of sneakers. Another time, believe it or not, I found about half an ounce of haze (the best type of marijuana). Right there I rolled it and got so high that I was laughing at everything.

Not Our Night

One night we found a purse with $300 in it, two digital cameras, an I-pod and a couple of phones. “This is our night,” I thought.

We went into a car and sat down to look for more valuables. But when we got out I saw a car right there across the street with lights on.

“It’s just someone from around this neighborhood,” my friend whispered, but when the car pulled up next to us it stopped, and so did my heart. A tall guy got out and asked us for ID. At that moment my two friends started to run mad fast, while I just stood there in shock.

“Don’t be stupid and run,” the cop said as he ran to his car’s radio to notify the other cops about what my friends were wearing and where they were headed. I acted like I was going in the car, but as I opened the door, I started to run in the opposite direction as my friends, as fast as I could. After a couple of blocks, I got caught.

“Get on the floor, NOW,” the cop screamed. I tried hopping over the fence, but the cop grabbed my leg and threw me to the ground. I got handcuffed with my face in the dirt.

I thought I’d at least given my two friends a chance to get away, but in the morning they got caught, too.

Even though my hustling experience brought me lots of fun and riches, it definitely wasn’t worth what I got in return—a year upstate, which was plenty of time to regret all the things I’ve done.