Chapter 15: Catching the Thief

While Emuna, Lazarus and Yudia continued watching Zaboulon search for the thief, Zaboulon turned his head back to them and widened his eyes. "Guys, you gotta help me find the thief!"

Emuna, Lazarus and Yudia shook her heads with their serious looks on their faces. "Right, we're with you, Zaboulon. We're gonna help you bring the thief to justice. Let's go look one last time before we split up," Emuna said.

"Yea!" Lazarus and Yudia agreed, shaking their heads.

Emuna and her friends scanned their surroundings but couldn't find the thief until Zaboulon's eyes caught the boy running across the street towards one of Aqua World's walls with a brown wallet in his hand.

The boy wore a white T-shirt, blue shorts and a pair of sandals. He appeared to be in Upper Elementary, in between the ages of ten and twelve. The sunlight radiated on his brown skin and black, fuzzy hair.

Zaboulon pointed his finger at the boy while he turned his head to his friends and the boy back and forth. "Hey, that boy's the thief! After him!"

"Mhn!" Emuna, Lazarus and Yudia shook their heads as they began to look both ways. Once they waited for the cars to stop at the lane, they crossed it and raced against the boy with Zaboulon.

Emuna displayed her serious, determined face while Zaboulon's voice yelled, "Stop, thief!"

-Dear Elohim, please help us deliver that thief to justice and get Zaboulon's wallet back. You know we can't do this alone. We need You know more than ever. In Yeshua's name, Amen.

Emuna and Yudia however never caught up with Lazarus and Zaboulon, as Lazarus and Zaboulon were fast runners. So the young women slowed down and just walked forward, watching the young men not only caught up with the thief;the young men also grabbed him before he managed to escape the Aqua World area. They couldn't keep up with the guys when it comes to running speed.

"Oh, thank Elohim that little thief being brought to justice big time, broh!" Yudia exclaimed, smiling at the young men.

"Oh, yea! Tell me about it," Emuna also exclaimed when she and Yudia watched their friends confronting the thief, yelling at him.

Once the young ladies finally caught up with the thief and their friends, their friends turned around to them while they held onto the thief. The thief resisted the young men, glaring at Lazarus above him. "Hey, let go of me. Give me back the wallet. I need the money, y'know."

"Ha, no way, bruh!" Zaboulon roared when he glared at the thief.

The young women looked down at the thief with their serious faces. "What does he want the money for anyway?" Yudia questioned, looking at the young men and down at the boy back and forth.

"Well, we tried to get him to answer us, but he doesn't even want to talk to us in the beginning," Lazarus answered in a disappointing voice.

"Ah…I see…" Emuna said, kneeling down at the boy's level. She glared at him. "So can you explain to me why ya steal my friend's wallet?"

The moment the boy turned to Emuna and glared at her, he spit on her face. Emuna's eyes closed tightly just in time to prevent the spit from entering into them.

"Ugh! Gross!" Emuna snapped, wiping the spit off of her face, sighing her deep breath.

-Dear Elohim, please help me prevent my anger from hurtin' this child! In Yeshua's name, Amen.

When Zaboulon and Lazarus saw that, they angrily looked down at the thief with Lazarus tightened his grip on him.

"Ow! That hurts! Let go of me!" The thief cried, trying to pull himself away from Lazarus. Yet he failed to do so.

Yudia gasped and looked down at Emuna out of shock. "Emuna, are you okay?"

"Yea, I'm fine," Emuna responded with her eyes still tightly closed.

Realizing that Emuna needed a napkin, Yudia looked up at Lazarus and Zaboulon with her serious look on her face. "Alright, guys. I'm gonna go get Emuna a napkin. I'll be right back."

"Mhn!" The young men agreed, shaking their heads, watching Yudia run her way towards a Shekel Store in the opposite direction. Then after they watched Yudia ran towards that store for a while, they returned their attention to the thief with their angry faces, while the thief still resisted Lazarus.

"Hey, why the hell did you spit on Emuna?!" Zaboulon roared.

"Yea!" Zaboulon agreed, "You apologize to her right now!"

"Never!" The thief yelled as he constantly resisted Lazarus. "Now let go of me!"

"Hell nah, ya little brat!" Lazarus snapped. "Not until you answer our questions, apologize to Emuna, repent of what you've done and be punished!"

"I said, 'Let go of me!'" The thief shouted, leaning towards Lazarus' arm.

As soon as the thief opened his mouth, Lazarus and Zaboulon broadened their eyes out of shock.

Lazarus raised his hand. "Oh, you're not goin' to bite me, kid!"

Once Lazarus' hand struck the thief in the cheek, the thief put his hand on his injured cheek.

"Ow!" The thief said as he frowned at Lazarus. "That hurts!"

"Well, that's what you get for tryin' to bite my friend Lazarus, bro," Zaboulon said, smirking at the thief.

The thief glared at Zaboulon. "Wh-what?! I wasn't tryin' to bite your friend! I was tryin' to help him! What are you talkin' about?!"

"Liar!" Lazarus snapped, glaring back at the thief. "Zaboulon and I literally saw you tryin' to bite my arm! Don't play dumb with us!"

"Nuh-uh!" The thief said as he still resisted Lazarus.

"Yah-huh!" Zaboulon and Lazarus said.

While Emuna's friends argued with the thief, Yudia returned to Emuna with a napkin in her hand.

"Here," Yudia said, tapping and placing the napkin on Emuna's shoulder.

Emuna touched her shoulder and grabbed the napkin from Yudia, wiping the spit off her eyes. "Thank you, Yudia."

"No, prob," Yudia responded as Emuna looked up and smiled at her.

Then the young women returned their attention to their friends and the thief for a moment. "Now, back to business," Emuna said with her focus on Yudia. After Yudia shook her head, Emuna then turned to the thief. "So, let me ask you again, little one. Why did ya steal my friend's wallet?"

But the thief didn't hear her, so Zaboulon said to him, "Hey, Emuna's talkin' to ya!"

The thief looked at Emuna out of disgust. "Oh, what do you want now?!"

When Emuna repeated her question, he said to her, "Oh, I don't need to answer that question. It's none of your business anyway."

Emuna glared at the thief. "Oh, it's my business if you steal somethin' from my friend! Now tell us why you did it!"

Then the thief stomped on Lazarus' feet and Lazarus' eyes widened when he felt pain.

"Owwww-wah!" Lazarus said as he looked down at his feet and lessen his grip on the thief.

Zaboulon placed his hand on Lazarus' shoulder for comfort. "Hey, man. Are you alright?"

"Yea, the brat jus' stomped on my feet!" Lazarus cried.

The thief expressed his vicious smirk on his face when Emuna and her friends comforted Lazarus. Then once the thief resisted Lazarus one last time, and he finally broke free from Lazarus' hands.

Emuna saw the thief ran away from him. "Hey! Get back here, thief!"

As Emuna ran after the thief, Yudia turned to Lazarus and Zaboulon before she ran with Emuna. "Zaboulon, you stay with Lazarus while Emuna and I will chase after the thief."

"Right, I'll do that," Lazarus agreed while Zaboulon just shook his head.

Then Yudia ran as fast as she could to catch up with Emuna and hopefully the thief. Emuna looked at the thief with a serious, determined face. "Hey, stop! Thief!"

-Dear Elohim, please help us capture this thief and bring him to justice. He's much smarter than he looks. We can't do this without Your help. In Yeshua's name, Amen.

As she ran however, she noticed that people just either walked by or watched her and Yudia chased after the thief. The thief turned to the front and back with a smile back and forth a couple times. No matter how many times she yelled, "Stop, thief!" People will still ignore the thief, Emuna and her friends. Emuna began to frown out of disbelief.

-Why the hell do people not help us capture the thief?! Why do they allow injustice to plague society?! The Earth is jus' so wicked.

As soon as the thief bumped into a couple of police officers however, he looked up at them and widened his eyes, shivering. When the police greeted him, he took a couple steps back and Emuna and Yudia were relieved. They finally managed to capture him and thanked the officers for stopping the thief despite them not being aware of the situation.

Then they began to walk with the police to the car with the authorities and the officers drive them to Aqua World to pick up Lazarus and Zaboulon. They were happy with the fact the thief was now in custody. Emuna thanked Elohim for everything He'd done for her and her friends yet again, placing her stronger emphasis on her faith.