by Anthology
The very thought that she’d think I was lying and that I’m no good makes my heart hammer faster in my chest.
I can’t let that happen. I don’t want this to come between us. There’s something here, and I want more of her. I can’t let this shit get out of hand.
“No,” she says as she looks Toni in the eyes. Damn, my girl has some balls on her. “I won’t let you.”
She closes her eyes, and Toni raises the fake gun in his hand.
Fuck that. He’s not going to scare her. I can’t let him fuck her up like that. I’ve had guns pointed at me before. I won’t let her go through that shit.
“Don’t you fucking point your gun at her!” I scream at him, reaching over and smacking the gun away. I can’t hear anything but the sound of my heavy breathing, I’m so pissed. He should know better than that.
I start to tell her to run, to get the fuck out of here before she gets hurt, to do anything but stay here, but she whispers, “Vinny.”
My blood runs cold and I stare back at her, slowly facing her and watching the disbelief grow in her gorgeous eyes.
My palms feel like ice. Shit, this is the worst possible outcome.
She knows.
I raise my hand up, trying to calm her as she seems to get over her fear and starts shaking her head even stronger and harder than before.
“It’s not what it looks like-” I start to explain myself, but she cuts me off.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” she practically spits out. She must really fucking trust me because all traces of fear vanish, replaced with rage. I was not expecting that. “Are you fucking serious?!” she yells at me.
She’s pissed.
“Shit, shit,” Toni curses behind me.
“Cherry,” I say in a low voice. It’s a warning. I know she’s angry, but she needs to calm her ass down.
“You aren’t taking this money! It’s for the orphanage!” she screams as she walks around the counter to get in my face. “You of all people-” she starts to rip into me, but I cut her off, gripping the hand that she tries to shove into my chest. I need to tell her the truth, and she’s not gonna like it, and she may not even believe it.
But she’s gonna fucking hear it.
“It’s not gonna go there,” I say as she stands toe-to-toe with me. Completely forgetting the fact that Toni’s right there, watching us go at it.
“The hell it isn’t!” she yells back. “Take your mask off and talk to me!” She tries to smack my chest with the other hand, but I grab that wrist too and hold her still.
“Stop it, Cherry,” I tell her in a low voice, with a threat just barely there. I’m not above grabbing her ass and taking her out of here like a toddler having a damn fit. Toni can handle this on his own. “The video surveillance is running, and I can’t let them see my face.” I know there’s no audio, but there’s video at least. I know that much. And even though I know Cherry knows, I still have faith she won’t tell them.
“Fuck, man!” Toni yells behind me, slamming his fist down on the counter and pacing a bit. He needs to calm down.
“Everyone, just calm down,” I say loud enough for both of them to hear.
“I already cut the feed. You’re going to have to fucking kill me.” Cherry pulls her hands out of my grasp. “I worked too damn hard to make sure the kids get what they need.”
I try to take in what she’s saying, but it doesn’t make sense. She crosses her arms across her chest, looking at me with tears in her eyes. She’s trying to be strong, but the weight of what she just said is wearing down on her.
I tilt my head and ask, “What do you mean you 'cut the feed'?”
She rocks on her back foot and looks away. Fear is creeping in. She’s trapped in this store, and she’s just said there’s no feed. Cherry. She really does need me to spank her ass raw. What the hell is my sweet cherry doing admitting shit like that? She’s not very good at staying out of trouble.
But then again, if she was, she wouldn’t have been with me.
“Tell me.” I give her the simple command, and that gets her attention.
“I can’t let you steal this money.” She says the words simply in a soft voice etched with pain. Conviction is there as well. I know why. She thinks this money is going to the orphanage like it’s supposed to. But it’s not.
“I’m taking this money to the orphanage,” I tell her, staring into her soft baby blue eyes. “Morose is stealing.” I take in a heavy breath as her eyes widen. She’s gotta believe me. “It has to go there, Cherry. Just let us take it to where it belongs.”
She blinks a few times and her breathing comes in short pants. “I swear to you, just let us take it to the orphanage.”
“No fucking way,” she says, and then my cherry takes two steps closer to me before she does the last thing I thought she would. She wraps her arms around my neck and presses those sweet lips to mine, moaning into my mouth.
I’m shocked, but she feels so damn good, I fall under her spell, letting her kiss me and setting the gun down on the counter behind her so I can hold onto her small waist, pulling her closer to me.
I could do this all night, but we can’t. I try to pull away, but she just holds me tighter. My greedy girl. She doesn’t let up until Toni snaps from behind me, “What the fuck is going on?”
Chapter 8
Cary Ann
I pull away and look at Vinny’s friend. The smile on my face dims as I catch sight of his gun again.
I take another step back and look between the two of them.
“You cut the feed?” Vinny asks me.
I nod my head and reply, “Yeah.” My heart is just too full knowing Vinny was doing exactly what I was planning on doing. I feel safe with him. Which doesn’t make sense with his friend freaking out. It makes me really uneasy to see the guns.
“What the fuck’s going on, man?” The guy pushes on Vinny’s shoulder as Vinny takes his mask off.
“She’s cool, Toni.”
“So you were gonna rob me?” I ask Vinny, ignoring the prickle of fear running through me. I keep looking at Toni. I don’t know him, and I don’t like that he’s here. For some reason it’s so easy to forgive Vinny. Especially knowing why he was doing this.
“I didn’t want to.” He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me close to him. My small hands land on his chest. “I didn’t want you to be scared.”
I scoff at him and refuse to admit how worked up I was and say, “I was pissed, not scared.” He smiles down at me, like I’m being cute.
I look back at his friend who finally pulls the mask off of his face. He looks vaguely familiar.
“She your girl?” he asks with his brow pinched. “Would’ve been easier if this was an inside job,” he mutters.
He shoves the mask into his pocket and walks over to the nearest register. Vinny’s grip on me tightens as I try to pull away and watch Toni.
“So we’re robbing this joint together?” Vinny asks me with a smile and then kisses my nose.
I purse my lips, not sure if I trust the fucker at the register.
“It’s right across the street, baby. We’ve got twenty minutes before the parade goes through. We take the cash and slip it through their mail slot in the door.” I nod my head. That’s better than the plan I had, which was to drop it off in the early morning. Now is better. Get the cash and move it from one place to the next as quickly as possible.
I look at Vinny, and I’m pretty sure I know why he’s doing this, but I don’t know Toni’s story. I watch him as he shoves the money into the bag. Vinny’s completely at ease, and obviously trusts him.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask as Toni closes the first register and moves to the next. There are only three in the entire store. So this won’t take long.
“I went there once.” He looks up at me. He’s got a baby face although he’s built like a man. “To the orphanage. Without Mrs. Pilcavage I wouldn’t be standing here today. There’s no doubt I’d be locked up.” He opens the
next register with the key. “Those kids aren’t gonna have the life I had.” There’s a hint of sadness in his voice.
“You trust me, Cherry?” Vinny asks me, pulling my eyes away from Toni.
“I don’t know,” I whisper although everything in me does. I shouldn’t. I know I’m naive, but I do. I trust him.
“Shoot me, Toni,” Vinny says, and my heart stops. Toni laughs and picks up the gun.
“Stop!” I scream out, pushing Vinny hard in the chest, but he’s a powerful man and my strength doesn’t do a damn thing.
My heart pounds as Toni pulls the trigger over and over again.
It takes a minute for my racing heart to settle. He’s gotta be fucking kidding me.
“It’s a squirt gun,” Toni says before looking at his watch and then heading to the third register, “but there’s no water in it.”
“I knew you’d be working,” Vinny says. “I couldn’t bring a real gun, I couldn’t risk even the slightest possibility of you getting hurt.”
My heart clenches in my chest. I swallow thickly, not liking how strongly I feel toward this man. It’s too fast, too soon, but all I wanna do right now is run away with him.
The last register closes shut with a large clank.
“It’s not everything that was donated,” Toni says, “but it’s close.” He zips up the backpack and clicks his phone to life.
“Fifteen minutes,” he announces, throwing the bag over his shoulders and looking back at Vinny and me. “We gotta get this over there.”
Vinny looks down at me, and I know he’s going to tell me to stay here. But that’s not happening. No fucking way.
“Cherry-” he starts, but I’m not letting him finish.
I shake my head and say, “No, I’m coming with you.”
Vinny’s eyes are hard, but the moment is broken by the laughter coming from Toni.
“Yeah, she’s definitely your girl,” Toni says.
Vinny puts his hand on the small of my back and leads me toward the doors as he says, “Let’s go then. We gotta make this fast.”
“Leave the keys on the counter so they know it wasn’t Cherry,” Vinny says, and Toni nods. He leaves the keys and then slips a note under them. I walk over and reach down to touch it, but Toni stops me, grabbing my wrist.
“No prints,” he says easily, and I nod my head. I suppose they’d run fingerprints on employees first. I could see that.
“What’s the note say?” I ask him.
An asymmetrical smile kicks the corner of his lips up. “Merry Christmas, Grinch.”
Chapter 9
Vinny
She keeps watching Toni and I can practically see the wheels turning in her head. She doesn’t trust him.
“Yo, Toni,” I call out to him as we walk past the two cars we planted and head through the parking lot to the other side of the vacant strip mall. We drove Cherry’s car around the block first. It added on a few minutes to the walk, but I don’t want her car out front just in case they find the money gone before Thursday morning. I can’t be too careful. It was awkward as fuck driving in the car. She’s tense. But she’ll be better once this is over with.
The orphanage is close. A five-minute walk if we step on it, and that’s the perfect amount of time. But I don’t like the way Cherry seems to be so damn uneasy. The faster we get this shit done, the better.
Toni takes a look over his shoulder, he’s leading the way. We have to go this way to avoid the cameras. The direct path goes right through the convenience store, and there’s surveillance in that parking lot. So we’re gonna avoid that and take the long way around.
Cherry’s keeping a safe distance from Toni. I wish she’d knock it off, but she has no reason to trust him.
“Whatcha want, Vinny? I’m not slowing down,” Toni answers as he hops over the chain link fence on the edge of the parking lot and turns to wait for us.
It’s a clear shot from here on over to the other street.
“Give her the backpack,” I tell him. He looks at me with a bit of confusion as I swing my legs over the fence and hop over easily. My sweet cherry is struggling a little. She’s on the petite side and I’ve got my hand out for her ready to brace her body, but she’s gripping the chain links of the fence.
“Alright sure, it’s a little heavy though.” He walks quietly over to Cherry as she tries to right herself. She almost landed on her ass, but I’ve got a good grip on her waist.
“Here little mama,” he says, holding it out for her to take. We’re hidden behind the bushes, but as a car passes, we all freeze. No one’s out this late on Christmas Eve unless it’s to go to the parade on the other side of main street. There aren’t any houses over this side of town either. The orphanage is basically on its own on the outskirts of town.
I hold my breath as the car passes, the lights from the headlights peeking through the bushes. I step in front of Cherry and Toni huffs a small laugh at me.
“Calm down, we’re home free.” He looks relaxed and happy. Truthfully, this is an easy heist. We’re so close to being done. I can taste it.
The car passes without incident and Cherry reaches for the bag, her eyes on Toni.
Her expression falls as he drops the full weight in her hand and she hunches forward to get a better grip.
“Holy shit,” she mumbles and then shakes her head, shoving the bag back at Toni. “You take it.”
Toni looks up at me, and I give him a nod. I just wanted her to see that it’s not about the money for him.
It was never about the money. It’s about the fact that the town wanted those kids to have a chance. That money isn’t for toys. It’s for the electric bill, the hot water. It’s to put food on the table and shoes on their feet. I know how much those simple things in life can make a difference. And I know that Mrs. Pilcavage is struggling and that she’s worried about the money that was supposed to come from the donation, but never came.
My anger rears up inside of me and I lead the way, my hand splayed on the small of Cherry’s back. “Let’s go,” I tell them.
I crouch beneath the low-hung branches of the trees across from the orphanage and look both ways. No one’s here, and all but one light in the whole house is off. I look for a sign that someone’s watching, but there’s no one here and no one looking.
Quickly, we cross the street and head straight over to the side door on the house. The outside light is on, so if someone comes, they’d see us instantly.
“Hurry.” Cherry’s fear is evident in her voice as Toni swings the bag off his shoulder and quickly starts shoveling the money through the slot. I take Cherry by the waist and lead her in front of him, the two of us blocking anyone from seeing him.
“You look like you’re up to no good,” my cherry says in a low voice. And I think she’s playing with me with that smartass mouth of hers until she pulls on my jacket. Oh shit, I almost forgot about the all black I'm wearing. I quickly shuck my sweater off, I was hot anyway, and toss it into the trashcan out front.
“Toni, you too.” He rises from his position, shoving the last bundle through the slot and then the card wishing a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all the kids at the orphanage. I know Mrs. Pilcavage, we both do. She’s a good woman and when she wakes up tomorrow and sees that money, she’s gonna cry with joy and relief. I know she will. It makes me proud to be able to give her back a sense of peace that she gave me all those years ago.
The town clock chimes as Toni stands up and chucks his black jacket off, revealing a beige thermal underneath, shoving the jacket and the backpack both into the trashcan. We toss our gloves and ski masks into the next trashcan and keep walking.
No more evidence. It’s done.
I finally feel like I can breathe. The three of us stroll down the street, heading toward the main road where we’ll meet up with the parade and blend in. I wrap my arm around Cherry’s waist, but she pulls away and runs to a blue metal post office box on the corner of the block. She pulls a small package out of her p
urse, covered in brown wrapping paper with an address written in black sharpie.
“What’s that?” I ask as she drops it into the box. She smiles and says, “The video surveillance of Morose.” Pride’s written on her face.
I huff a laugh and say a prayer that Morose pays for what he did. At least we’ve done everything we can do. The rest is in the law’s hands.
“You alright?” I ask her as Toni walks ahead. He’s got his hands shoved in his pocket and he’s breathing easy. I am too, if I’m being honest. Cherry’s not, she seems tense and she’s looking every which way like someone’s just waiting to get us. She gives me a small nod, but I know she’s still a little shaken.
I’m a reformed man, but this isn’t the first time I’ve gotten away with this shit. It’ll be the last though. I don’t need this in my life. Toni turns back to look at us and gives me a nod when Cherry leans against me, wrapping her arm around my waist.
Toni doesn’t need it either. This was the last heist for us. It’s a good way to end this career.
I look down at Cherry as we stop on the corner, finally seeing the parade just two blocks down. A Christmas elf from the bank is leading the way.
“You think it’s going to be alright?” she asks me.
“It’s gonna be perfect.” I kiss her hair and she seems to relax a bit. “I promise you,” I whisper.
The crowd from the parade appears, and the three of us keep on walking. Soon we’ll be blending in with them. Just another block to go.
Cherry stops walking as Toni jogs across the road. I turn to look at her, wondering what she’s doing.
I look down at my sweet cherry and she points up.
Right above us on a street light is a bit of mistletoe. I let out a huff of a laugh and look back down at her. She’s got a sweet smile on her lips.
“I’ll give you that kiss if you stay with me tonight,” she says softly.