In Los Santos metro, three boys stepped off the trai two twins and one a bit older.
The three brothers Noah, and the twins, Raymond (Ray) and Jayden (Jay), had escaped from the orphanage two days ago. When they found out the family that was going to adopt them in the United States had backed out and that they were now being sent back to Puerto Rico, they made a desperate decision. With the sole goal of staying together, they ran away without food or money, arriving in Los Santos on a train, feeling insignificant compared to the vast city surrounding them.
The noise of Los Santos the constant sound of cars and distant sirens made the three feel more lost with every step they took. The cold night air chilled them to the bone, and the streetlights cast long shadows on the empty streets.
As they walked through the lit streets, Ray and Jay argued heatedly.
"This is your fault, Ray!" Jay exclaimed, his voice filled with a mix of frustration and fear. "You got us into this mess, and we don't even know how to survive! What are we going to do now?"
Ray looked at him exasperated, the fatigue showing in his eyes. "I did what we had to do! What did you want, to go back to Puerto Rico? Spend our lives in another orphanage, separated? At least here, we're together!"
Behind them, Noah walked in silence, watching his brothers fight as usual, chuckling to himself. Despite the gravity of the situation, he couldn't help but laugh softly. The fight between the twins, although serious, was normal Ray and Jay couldn't exchange four words without arguing.
A few hours later, night had fallen, and the city's lights seemed colder, almost indifferent. The hunger that had been lurking now roared fiercely in their stomachs. They hadn't eaten more than a pack of Oreos shared among the three over the past two days. Every time they passed a restaurant or convenience store, the smell of food made their mouths water, and their stomachs grumble.
Finally, as they turned a corner, Ray and Jay saw a small convenience store. Neon lights flickered above the door, and the shelves inside were stocked with food.
"Hey, look at that," Ray said, pointing to the store with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "We could buy something to eat. Maybe some beers too."
Jay, exhausted and starving, nodded. "Yeah... some food sounds good right now."
Both started walking toward the store, almost like automatons, but Noah, who had been silent until then, stopped them with a simple question.
"How do you plan on paying the shopkeeper?" Noah asked, laughing at his brothers.
The twins froze. They looked at each other as if the thought hadn't crossed their minds, then turned to Noah, and the three burst into laughter.
After a few seconds, Ray frowned, running a hand through his messy hair. "We can't keep going like this. But we also don't have anything to buy food with. And at this hour, who the hell is going to help us?"
"So, what are you saying we should do?" Jay asked, quite nervous.
Meanwhile, Noah just laughed, watching them. He didn't know why, but it was funny to see his brothers argue. He knew it wasn't the right moment to intervene; between the two twins, Ray had always been the decision-maker, and Jay would follow him even when he was scared and nervous.
Suddenly, Ray had an idea. He pulled Jay aside, whispering something in his ear.
"Jay, listen. You distract the shopkeeper while I sneak some food and beers into the backpack. Then we run."
Jay looked at him, feeling nervous, swallowing hard. "Ray... are you sure? If we get caught, we're screwed. They'll deport us."
Ray patted him on the shoulder. "Trust me, man, if we don't do something, we'll spend another night without eating, and I'm not up for that."
After a few attempts to convince him, Jay finally gave in, albeit hesitantly. It had never been difficult for Ray to convince Jay to do something. Both brothers headed to the store, telling Noah to watch and learn from them.
"Relax, bro, watch and learn," Ray said, forcing a smile to appear more confident than he really was.
Noah, with his arms crossed and a frown on his face, sat on a nearby bench, observing from a distance. Even though he knew it was a bad idea to let his brothers do whatever they wanted, he was curious to see what stupidity they would pull. He had always let them handle their "twin stuff" without getting too involved.
A few minutes later...
Noah was watching the store, expecting to see his brothers come out with food, telling him they had begged the shopkeeper for it or something. But when they didn't come out, he decided to get up from the bench and cross the street to see what was happening inside. However, just as he was about to cross, a police patrol suddenly appeared, with its sirens blaring.
Noah stopped in his tracks, mentally cursing, "Idiots, they're such fools." The patrol car parked right in front of the store. For a moment, everything seemed to slow down. Two police officers, a woman and a man, got out of the car.
(Police POV)
Emily McCarthy and James Morgan were about to finish their patrol shift when suddenly a message came through the terminal in their car: "A robbery is taking place at this store, please respond immediately." It was the pre-set message from the alarm. Both looked at each other reluctantly, and James frowned, saying, "Well, last call of the day. Let's finish quickly; I want to go home." Emily nodded seriously.
When they arrived at the scene, they stepped out of the car with their service weapons drawn. Surprisingly, there were no vehicles outside the establishment. Then, they saw two identical boys run out and start fleeing, so without thinking, they gave chase, shouting, "LSPD, stop right there!"
One of the boys tripped on a tile and fell, while the other kept running for a bit longer, but when he saw that his companion had fallen, he stopped running too.
Emily shouted, "Los Santos Police, hands up where I can see them!" as one boy was handcuffed by the other officer.
James added, "Alright, boys, you have a lot of explaining to do. Why were you running? Why did the store alarm go off, and who are you?"
Ray and Jay looked at each other nervously, too scared to say anything. Emily noticed the backpack on Ray's back and ordered him to hand it over for inspection.
"Give me that backpack, kid," Ray, nervous, handed it over. She opened it and saw a bunch of snacks, a bottle of vodka, and three beers inside.
Suddenly, a third person approached with their hands raised, saying, "Officers, this must be a misunderstanding. These are my brothers; what's going on here?" It was obviously Noah, who, seeing the situation and realizing he couldn't do anything, decided to approach. And well, if it meant jail time with his brothers, then they were his brothers—he wouldn't abandon them.
The officers brought all three in front of the patrol car, uncuffed Ray, and asked the three boys for their identification. The twins looked at Noah, and he nodded, pulling out his ID and handing it to Emily. The boys did the same.
Emily looked at their IDs and read, "Noah Jackson, Puerto Rico, 01/09/2005," "Raymond Martinez, Puerto Rico, 24/04/2006," "Jayden Martinez, Puerto Rico, 24/04/2006." Emily placed a hand on her face and very seriously called James aside. "James, come here," she said as they moved a few steps away, still keeping an eye on the boys to make sure they didn't escape.
"James, they're minors," Emily said, very seriously. James' eyes widened as he said, "What are minors doing out at this time of night, alone, and on top of that, stealing? How do we fix this?"
They approached the boys again and asked why they were stealing. After hearing this, the boys remained awkwardly silent, staring at the ground.
"We were hungry," Ray finally answered, embarrassed. Emily opened the backpack again and inspected its contents, only finding alcohol and food.
"And where are your parents? I need a way to contact them," James asked. The boys looked at each other, and Noah responded, staring straight into his eyes.
"We don't have parents." Upon hearing this, the two officers looked at each other, sighed in unison, and Emily said, "This just got a lot more complicated."
"Well, first of all, you're going to apologize to the shopkeeper and return the items," James said, and Emily nodded. The two boys, very embarrassed, went to the clerk, apologized, and returned the items.
"Alright, now we're going to the station. First, I'll give you something to eat, and then we'll sort this out," Emily said as she got into the car with James, signaling the three boys to get in. The three looked at each other and reluctantly got into the patrol car.