A cocky little thief who thought he was invincible would get a rude awakening and in the end come up against the hard facts of life.
Eddie McCormick, 18, smirked as he thought of his buddies who had chickened out this time. He wasn't afraid of anybody let alone a lone security guard as he climbed the fence that surrounded Sonica Electronics. An experienced thief, he a member of the small elite group of thugs called the Raiders. He had started stealing when he was ten years old and had been in trouble with the law ever since. He had already been in and out of Juvenile Hall several times already. It didn't even bother him that if he was caught again he wouldn't be going to Juve Hall but instead would do time in regular jail. Although he could stand up for himself on the streets he didn't think much of his chances in jail. This was why he was always so careful these days. His lean, almost athletic frame scaled the fence easily and dropped down quietly onto the ground near the company loading docks. He was quick, wiry and would pick a fight with men twice his size. He fought his way into the Raiders and was now one of the tops guys in the group for having brought in the most loot. The Raiders had been hitting several factories down near the waterfront, one of them being the Sonica Electronics where they made some good money stealing DVD players. Eddie had found a way into the factory and had made several very lucrative forays into the building. He had planned another one this very night, but the other guys were against it. The news on the street was that the company had hired a night watchman, a real ball buster from what they heard, and hitting the factory again was asking for trouble.
After heated arguments among the gang, Eddie brushed them all off and decided to show them all by hitting it one last time by himself. The other gang members thought it was foolish, but Eddie didn't. The last haul of DVD's put a lot of money in their pockets and Eddie was eager for more. Like a cat he dashed among a line of trucks along the back wall of the property then when he closest to the loading dock he moved into the shadows of the loading bay. Crawling under the dock he moved to a large vent cover that he had discovered and quietly removed it, the darkness of the conduit did not bother him as he slipped inside; he didn't need a flashlight, as he knew the passage by heart. Eddie moved into the air duct, turning left then right then left again until he came to another vent cover that looked out into a dark storage area; smiling to himself he gingerly popped the cover, then slid it aside and stepped out into big storage room. The only light available came from the sign over the emergency exits, but it was enough for him. Moving silently among the stacks of cartons he quickly located the pallet with the DVD players. If he were lucky he'd be able to walk out of the place with a dozen of them. Pulling out a box cutter he quickly sliced through the straps holding the boxes together for shipping, and then he pulled away the plastic that encased the entire order. He quickly slipped two of the boxes off the top of the pile and carried them back towards the vent opening, but just as he got to the spot he immediately knew something was wrong.
"Awright, you little bastard, put that shit down right now!"
Eddie stepped dead in his tracks. The sound came from somewhere in front of him, somewhere near the vent opening. As he stood there staring he saw someone step out from between the stacks of boxes and walk towards him. Eddie cursed to himself as a huge black security guard came towards him. The man was over six feet tall, bald as a cue ball and dark as night. Realizing that if this bastard got his hands on him he was finished, he'd wind up in regular prison for god knows how long, so he did the only smart thing he could think of a that moment. He ran. Tossing the two boxes at the huge man, Eddie turned and ran as fast as he could down the aisle. He heard the guard swear as the boxes hit him, then he heard the man grunt loudly and then something flew through the air towards him. Before he could duck in between the cartons something struck him hard on the back of the head; he crumpled to the ground unconscious.
A short time later he woke up with a splitting headache; he opened his eyes but squeezed them shut when he was momentarily blinded by a light bulb directly overhead. He started to rise up when he felt a large weight press down on his chest; he winced and fell back onto the floor.
"Don't move, you little bastard!" A gruff voice said above him. "You fuckin' broke into this place for the last time!"
Shading his hands in front of his eyes he saw the huge black security guard sitting in chair in front of him. He was one of the biggest men he'd ever seen. The guard was wearing some sort of dark blue security outfit that barely fit his massive, muscular frame; huge muscles threatened to tear through the short sleeves of his shirt as he leaned over for a better look. "Who the fuck are you?"
"I'm you're worst fuckin' nightmare, white boy," The guard snarled at him and gave him a kick in the shins.
"Arrrrrggghhhhh! You bastard that hurt!" Eddie snarled.
"Not so tough now are you, McCormick?" The black guard said. "Yeah, I know who you are."
""I don't know what you're talking about," Eddie bluffed. "I just broke in here on a dare."
"What you fuckin' think I'm stupid? Do you?" The black guard, whose name was Stanton accord to his name badge, said as he leaned over for a closer look. "You fuckin' white boys think this is your own personal toy store, don't you?"
"I said I don't know what you're talkin' about, you prick!" The teen spewed at the guard, only to receive a hard crack across the lip. When he tasted blood on his tongue he glared up at the beefy guard. "YOU FUCKIN BLACK BASTARD! MY FRIENDS ARE GONNA FUCK YOU UP!"
With that the beefy guard leaped out of his chair, grabbing the teen by the collar of his jacket he hauled him up to his feet with one hand. Then he cracked him across the lip again. "YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT! You and your little band of delinquents don't know how much shit you're in. The owner of this company is getting tired of your little nighttime shopping sprees! That's why they hired me! And Stanton always gets the job done!"