Love Bandits

By: Stamatis Kakleas

 She found him sitting on a park bench with his headphones on, staring out into the park.

“Hm” she thought and walked right up to him. “Hi” she said.

He only moved his eyes. Looked at her and then turned away. “Hi” he said as he continued what he was doing.

She sat next to him. “I love people watching. Can I join you?”

“Sure” he responded. Seeing as she had already sat down before he could say anything.

After a few minutes of silence she turned to look at him. He was handsome. “Can I ask you something?” She said.

“Sure.” He responded; still looking out into the park.

“Where’s your heart? I don’t see it.”

He turned to face her. She was pretty but he didn’t have much interest. He just looked at her and waited.

“I wear mine here” she said; pointing to the outside of her arm. He looked at her arm, then looked at her. “That’s stupid” he said.

She seemed surprised. “Why’s that stupid?”

“Because” he said and turned back to face the park.

“Because why?”

He looked at her again. “BECAUSE” he said in a loud tone and then lowered his voice “What if someone takes it?”

“No one is going to take my heart.” She said as she looked down at the floor, sliding her feet on the pavement.

“What makes you so sure?” He asked.

“No one wants it.”

“What makes you so sure?” he asked again.

“I don’t know. Because it’s only half a heart”

“Those are hard to find.”

“I guess.”

“Just watch out okay. There are thieves everywhere around here. You can’t even tell who is and isn’t these days. It doesn’t matter what shape heart you have. They’ll take anything they can get their hands on.”

She looked him in the eyes. “Where’s yours?”

He got up and started walking away. “Hey!” She yelled. “You didn’t tell me!” He just kept walking. “Hey!” She shouted again. “STOP!”

He stopped in his tracks and turned around.

“Where are you going?” She asked.

“Home” he said and began to turn around again and continue home.

“Hey!” She shouted again.

“Yes?”

“Will I ever see you again?”

“I’ll be here tomorrow”

And he turned around and walked away. The sound of his footsteps fading as he got further away from the park; leaving just the sounds of a group of kids playing basketball.

 ***

The next day she arrived at the park and was very excited to see him again. Her heart was bright red, sitting on her sleeve as usual. After a half hour of waiting for him though she decided to get up and leave, feeling worse than she did on the way there. Just as she was walking away he walked into the park but she didn’t see him.

“HEY!” He shouted to her and she turned around. And he walked over to the bench they met at.

She smiled brightly at him and walked over. “Hiiii” she exclaimed. They sat down.

“You never told me where your heart was.” She said anxiously.

“Why should I tell you? He asked. “And, why do you want to know so badly?”

“I don’t know. Because.”

“That’s not a good answer. I have a question for you.” He said.

What?” she asked.

“Why do you wear your heart where everyone can see it?”

“I don’t know. I like it there I guess.”

He smirked and quickly snatched her heart off of her sleeve. It was very soft; almost fluffy. He got up and started tossing it up in the air like it was a ball. “See. Anyone can take it from you right before your eyes.” Then he pointed at her with his left hand and kept his right arm back so she couldn’t reach for it. “And what are YOU going to do about it?”

“Give it back!!” She shouted at him and got up off the park bench.

“NO!”

He talked as he evaded her. “Anyone can just grab it and start playing with it. Just like that. Is that what you want to happen?” He chuckled “this is fun!” He said to himself.

“GIVE IT BACK” she yelled again as she wrestled him for it. Seeing how much it bothered her he decided to give it back to her but just as he brought his arm around to hand it to her, his gripped slipped and he dropped her heart.

“You dropped my heart!!!” She shouted and quickly fell to pick it up. He just stared at her blankly until she got up.

“LOOK what you did!” She said as she pointed to her heart. “YOU SCRATCHED IT!!”

He felt a little bad. “I’m sorry” he said in an attempt to repair the situation.

“That wasn’t very nice!” She said to him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose. It slipped.”

“I have to leave.”

“Why?”

“I have to go home and see if I can fix this.”

“Oh” he said. “Cool. I’ll see you tomorrow.

“I don’t know.” She told him.

He seemed surprised. “Why?” he asked.

“There’s no way of telling the extent of the damage. Who knows if I’ll even make it until tomorrow” she said sarcastically and smiled at him. She had big deep brown eyes and a lovely smile. She looked up at him and the way the sun hit her he could see the definition of her dimples. Before he started laughing at her joke he took a moment to admit to himself how pretty she was. She couldn’t know though. That would be giving her too much too soon. “It’s just a scratch you baby. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said.

“Do you want to see me?” She asked.

“Bye. Now get out of here. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said and she walked away smiling.

 ***

The next day, he got there first but she came soon after.

“Hey” he said. “How’s your heart?”

She wasn’t showing her heart on her sleeve that day. She kept it covered.

“It’s fine.” She said and she showed him her band-aid.

“Let me see.”

“No” she said bluntly.

He was taken back. “Why won’t you show me?” Something was different about her that day.

“Because” she said and looked away, denying him the right to look her in the eyes.

“Because why?” He shouted and put his hand on her shoulder; shaking her to turn around.

“BECAUSE” she said as she turned around and looked him in the eyes. “You won’t tell me where your heart is!”

He sat back in the bench and looked out into the park. He was thinking.

“Well?” She asked again and he didn’t say anything.

As she grabbed her bag and got up to walk away he grabbed her by the arm. “Fine” he said.

She sat back down. “Why don’t you have a heart?”

“Because.” He said.

“I’m tired of this because shit! Can you just tell me!” She shouted at him anxiously.

“I was getting to it” he said and paused for a moment. “Someone took it from me.”

“What do you mean?” She asked

“It was stolen!”

“Didn’t you try to catch them?”

“They were too fast. This is all I have left.” He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of his heart and handed it to her. “Here, you can have it.”

“This is a really nice heart” she said. “What kind was it?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore” he said. “It’s gone.”

“Did you file a report with the police?”

“What are they going to do?”

“I don’t know. People’s hearts get stolen every day. Maybe the caught a few people and got a few hearts back. You should go check.”

“Psh…Your optimism is just childish.” He said.

She turned red. “I was just being nice.” She said. “You don’t have to be so mean.”

“My bad”

“Didn’t you ever go looking for it? Why are you sitting here on this park bench and you’re not out there searching? Go find it!” She said and she shot up of the bench. “I’ll help you!”

“NO!” He shouted. “It’s gone!”

“You’re just going to give up like that? Don’t you want your heart back?” She asked curiously.

“What if I don’t want it back? What if I’m happy without it?” He asked.

She tilted her head and squinted in confusion. “Happy without a heart?” She asked him. “That’s not even possible. That doesn’t even make sense…”

“How does that not make sense? Makes perfect sense!” he said.

“Explain”

“Because…” He said and paused for a moment and looked at the ground.  “You can’t feel any pain.”

She snapped. “NO SHIT SHERLOCK! YOU CAN FEEL ANYTHING!!” She shouted at him. “How can something make you happy if you can’t feel it? How can you walk around with an empty smile? We’re not robots. We’re made to feel!” She took a stepped back and gestured to everything around her with her arms. “We’re made to feel everything! The good! The bad! ALL OF IT!” She sat down next to him again. “It’s what separates us” she said.

“I can’t listen to this shit” He said. She was taken aback by his comment.

He continued. “You’re not in a movie! This is real life! There’s good and there’s bad. Whether you like it or not, someone can take your heart any minute. You act like it’s going to protect you from everything if you open your heart up. If anything it exposes you! What happens to a soldier at war when he removes him armor?” He said. “It just makes you a moving target.”

“Sometimes you need to expose yourself so someone can see the real you. How do you ever expect to let anyone in if you don’t disarm yourself?”

“Who says I’m looking to do that?”

“I feel bad for you” she said with genuine concern in her voice.

“Why?” He asked.

“I can’t explain it” she said. “I just wish I knew what you were like with a heart.”

He had a blank expression on his face “Yeah. Me too” he said. “I’m gonna go.”

“Where you going?”

“Home.”

“Can I come?”

“No”

“Why?”

“I want to be alone. Thanks.” And he began to walk away. She watched him walk away slowly and turn the corner. “What is wrong with you?” she said before she decided to follow him.

 ***

She kept a safe following distance until he reached his house. As he fumbled with his keys he took one quick look around him to see if anyone was there. She quickly collapsed behind a parked car and waited there until she heard his door close. Once the door closed she stuck her head up to make sure everything was clear and quickly ran up to his window. She saw him walk into his kitchen and pull out a chair. In one motion he sat down, rubbed his face, ran his fingers through his hair, and dropped his head onto the table. Before he got up he picked up his head and dropped it back onto the table one more time. He walked into the other room.

She made her way around the house, ducking under all of the windows so he wouldn’t see her head. He had walked into his living room. She was able to see him from the back so there was no risk that he would see her. He walked over to a dresser with a big box on it. He shuffled his hands in his pocket and pulled out a key and proceeded to open up the box. He didn’t take anything out but rather just looked inside the box.

“What’s in there?” she thought and tried to stand on her toes to get a better visual but it was useless. She couldn’t see inside the box. “I have to get inside” she thought and just as she walked away she tripped and over a garden hose. He heard something fall outside his window and quickly locked the box and went over to see what it was. He opened the window and looked out but she had snuck away in time. She was in his backyard now. After he saw that there was no one there he decided to walk upstairs.

She stayed in his back yard and waited. She saw a set of lights turn on the second floor and realized he was upstairs so she walked up to his back door and checked to see if it was open. It was. “Who keeps their back door unlocked?” she thought. “What if someone tries to break in and steal something?” She continued inside and began to creep around trying not to make any noise. When she heard the shower go on she went directly into the living room and walked up to the box.

It was about the same size as a shoe box. She put her hand on the box and she could feel something moving inside. It was a slow, soft beat. She put her ear on the box to try to hear what it was and the beat became faster and louder. “What’s in there?” she said and then she got down on her knees and decided to try to peek through the keyhole. She couldn’t see much through the keyhole but what she saw shocked her in such a way that it made her heart sink down into her stomach. It was his heart and it was locked inside this box beating with life. It even had a small piece missing from it about the same size as the piece he showed her back in the park. She couldn’t believe that someone would just lock away their heart and she just kept on gazing inside this black velvet box.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she jumped up.

“What are you doing here?” he said firmly.

“What’s in the box?” she asked.

“None of your business.”

“What’s in the box?” she shouted louder.

“NOTHING!” he shouted back. “What are you doing in my house?”

“Who’s heart is that?” she asked. “Is that your heart? Did you steal it from someone? Why would you keep a heart locked away in a box like that?”

“You should go.” He said.

“No I’m not going to go!” she shouted. “You lied to me!! You had a heart this whole time!! Why would you keep that from me? Why would you lie to me like that?” she said and she began to cry.

He just looked at her.

“Say something! I don’t understand you!” she shouted. “Why would you do that? You’re such a mean person!! I showed you my heart from day one and I didn’t hide anything from you. I’ve never lied to you!! Why would you do that to me?” she cried.

“I never asked you to do all that.” He said.

“OH PLEASE!! Are you always such an asshole?” she asked. “I WONDER WHY?” she shouted at him. She picked up the box. “Maybe it’s because your heart is locked in a fucking box!!” She began to shake the box and tried to open it.

“STOPPPPP!” he shouted at her. He grabbed the box and pushed her and she fell to the floor. “Enough with this fucking heart bullshit!” he yelled. “I don’t care about you or your fucking heart! Can you just leave? I don’t know why you’re still here! No one wants you or your dumb fucking half heart.”

She was speechless. She had just felt her heart crack right beneath her chest. Not saying a word she just got up and walked out trying as hard as she could not to let anything else out of her. She felt a piercing pain in her heart. She had never felt such a thing before. Her once bright red heart was causing her intolerable pain; almost too much to keep on moving. When the door shut behind her he just looked down at the floor. He felt terrible. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t mean what he said. He was just upset. She just walked back towards the park, crying and sobbing along the way; trying as hard as she could to keep her heart together.

After pacing around his house worrying about her he couldn’t take it anymore. He decided to go and look for her to apologize. He put a light coat on and began to walk to the park to see if he could find her. It was the only place he could possibly check. After all, he had no idea where she lived. On his way to the park he saw little red pieces of hearts on the ground. Not sure if they were hers or not he picked them up anyway and put them in his pocket. As he picked up more and more pieces he began to realize that he never really gave her a chance. He also became more worried that they were all pieces of her heart.

When he turned the corner to walk into the park he saw her laying sideways on the ground in front of the bench and he quickly ran up to her. Her heart was on the ground next to her in pieces and she was out cold. “WAKE UP!” he shouted and tried shaking her out of it. She wasn’t moving. When he turned her over her arm swung over and the piece of his heart that he gave her tumbled out of her hand. “Oh man!” he said. “This is all my fault!!” He put his head down and began to cry on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry!!” he said. “I didn’t mean it!” He got up and collected all of the pieces of her heart and the ones he found along the way and wrapped them up in his jacket. He put it under her head and got up and began back to his house hoping nothing happened to her in the meantime.

He sprinted to his house as fast as he could and ran into his living room. He knew what he had to do. He sat there for two minutes nervously debating if this was the right move. “Oh boy.” He said to himself as he paced around. “You’re really about to do this aren’t you?” he said. “Fuck it!” He grabbed the black velvet box and raced back to the park. On his way back all he could think about was her smile and how he took it away from her. He couldn’t stand the thought of her never being able to smile again because of him. When he got to the park she wasn’t there and neither were the pieces of her heart. He ran up to the bench only to find his jacket with the small piece of his heart in one of the pockets. He began to panic and shout.

“WAITTTT! WHERE ARE YOU!!! COME BACK!!” He shouted and began running around the park. “Have you seen a small brunette walk by here?” He asked someone. “What does she look like?

“Petite, light skin, brown eyes, dark brown hair, very pretty…she probably looked upset.”

“Yeah she left a few minutes ago. She left her jacket though.”

“That’s my jacket” he said. “Where did she go?”

“That way” and the man pointed to his left and the boy began to run in that direction.

“What about your jacket?” yelled the man as the boy ran out of the park.

“YOU CAN HAVE IT!!” he shouted back and just kept running towards her.

He saw her in the distance. She was walking slowly with her head down; dragging her feet and running her left hand along the wrought iron fence.

“WAIT!!” he shouted at her as loud as he could and she turned around and stood there.

He ran towards her “Wait!” he said again. “Wait.”

“I’m sorry.” He said. “I swear I didn’t mean anything I said before… I’m sorry.”

“Anything else?” she asked and looked at the box and then began to turn around to walk away.

“Yes!” he said and grabbed her arm. “A lot of else. I owe you an explanation.”

“What?” she asked.

“I’m scared. I’m sorry.”

“Is that it?” she said.

“No, that’s not it. I just don’t really know how to say this right now.”

She just looked at him.

“Where is your heart?” he asked.

“Here” she said and pulled the pieces out of her pocket and dropped them on the floor.

“HEY!” he shouted. “BE CAREFUL WITH THOSE!!”

“Why should I?”

“Because! I want them! Those are mine now.”

“Says who?”

“Says me!” he said and stood up and looked her in the eyes. “I want your heart.”

“Why?”

“Come here” he said and he took her by the hand and kneeled down to the floor to gather the pieces of her heart.

“I’m sorry I lied to you” he said as he put the box in front of them. “I just didn’t want to take that risk. You never know who you’re dealing with. I never knew who I could trust and who I couldn’t. Who was worth it and who wasn’t. So it wasn’t worth the risk of disarming myself.” He said as he shuffled for his key. She didn’t say anything. She was just waiting for him to finish what he was saying. He nervously tried to put the key in the hole; “Until I met you.” He looked at her and when she locked eyes with him he took a deep breath and unlocked the box and opened it to reveal his half heart.

When she saw it she couldn’t help but smile. He had a half heart too. She always thought that she was the only one and that no one would ever want her. “Why are you doing this?” she asked?

“Well, because.” He said. “The day I saw that you had a half heart I knew what you were looking for. I knew what I was looking for…but I was so deep in blue that I didn’t realize it right away. I also didn’t want you to turn into me. You had such a bright red heart and I had ruined it. You were right this entire time.” Her heart slowly began to piece itself together as he spoke. Right before his eyes he could see its bright red color seeping back into it. “It’s been miserable without a heart. I don’t know how anyone can be truly happy without one. I’m sorry for everything. I promise I’ll never hurt you. Just promise me one thing.”

“What?” she said; her heart almost fully back together.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small piece of his heart and handed it to her. “Promise me you’ll never throw this away again.” He said.

“I promise.” She said and smiled brightly at him. Their hearts were shining bright red and beating fast. They slowly began to gravitate towards each other. He placed his hand on the nape of her neck and pulled her in to kiss her. Once he saw her heart was fully mended he helped her get up and patted the dust off his jeans. “So” he said to her. “I have this heart for you. Would you like it? Be gentle” he said as he extended his arm out to her with his heart shining brightly in his hand. Her smile was radiating at the sight of it. She took her heart off of her sleeve and handed it to him. “Keep it safe” she said to him. “Of course!” He said and he offered to walk her home. “It’s okay, I live around the corner” she said, “all this heartbreak is making me tired.” she looked him in the eyes in the most affectionate way and told him she couldn’t wait to see him and that she would meet him in the park tomorrow. She pulled him in and kissed him and they parted ways, both smiling like idiots.

He arrived early to the park the next day because he was so anxious to see her. A full day hadn’t even gone by and he already missed her. All he thought about while he waited was the future they would share together and it made him grin. She seemed to be a little late but it didn’t bother him until ten minutes turned into two hours and she still hadn’t shown. He began to worry about her and he decided to pull her heart out of his pocket to inspect it and it didn’t have the bright color it did the day before. Just as he realized that it could be a fake it started to disintegrate and slowly fall apart in his hands. He just sat there, on the bench they met at, staring down at his hand watching small particles of a fake heart blow away in the wind. He felt an emptiness wash over him as he realized she was everything that he tried to protect her from and that she was a love bandit all along.