With all my preparation for the robbery, I had been neglecting to see Francine and a number of notes had been slipped under my door reminding me that she lived nearby. On Thursday night, I knocked on her door and could feel a bit of a chill when she let me in but it wouldn’t take long for me to thaw her out. I had that great excuse of helping my mother and how could she resist admiring the love that a son had for a parent. Actually, the excuse worked pretty well and within ten minutes, she had warmed up to me and giving out kisses. I spent a nice couple of hours with her that left me very relaxed and content. Now, I would sleep well and be in tip top shape for tomorrows’ activities. Thinking about the impending operation had me in a state of ecstasy and I continually caressed the pistol and cleaned it thoroughly. It was a great looking weapon and I wondered why it had taken me so long to acquire a piece. The next morning, I arose before the alarm went off and felt a tremendous amount of strength in my body. Before going to work, I put the gun in my backpack and headed for the bakery where the pack would stay in my locker until quitting time. Then I would be off to meet Bart and get on with this business. My body felt like it was full of pins and needles and it took a lot of discipline to keep from jumping up and showing my exuberance. Of course, I was a very cool guy and would never do anything as stupid as that and bring unwanted attention to myself.
As usual, work crawled slowly by whenever I had something important to do afterwards. I couldn’t help looking at the clock every few minutes which made each hour seem to last forever but eventually, the shift came to an end and after picking up my backpack, the real day started for me. I had a few hours to kill and spent them walking in the downtown area and stopping to eat at a diner. It was starting to get dark when I approached the area where our target was located and waited for Bart to show up. He knew where to meet me and it was then a matter of deciding the best route away from the area. Traffic was heavy at this time and would probably remain that way for several hours which was to our advantage. Even though it slowed us up on our escape, it was easier to blend in when hundreds of cars were moving along with us. The sky was getting darker when I noticed Bart’s car drive by the restaurant very slowly. I waved at him and walked about a block to meet him at the car. Bart had gone over the routes and decided on a particular way out after the robbery. He had found a good place to park near the building that allowed us to make a quick escape into traffic. We just sat in the car for awhile until darkness completely enveloped the area, looked at each other, and then took our masks and the gun from the packs. Bart stuck the gun in his belt under a shirt so it couldn’t be seen and after cautioning him about being trigger happy, we exited the car and began to slowly walk toward the restaurant. We had decided not to cover the license plate at the last minute as a precaution against unwanted curiosity by people strolling by.
The lights inside the building were very bright so that passer bys could easily look in and see what was going on so we wanted to wait until the street was fairly empty of people before making a move. I could see two customers inside and two or three employees in the front which meant that another one or two were possibly in the back area. We decided to approach the building from opposite directions so I crossed the street and walked a block past the target then crossed over. As we neared the front door, the masks came out of our pockets and onto our heads so that at the moment of entering, our faces were completely hidden. No one noticed us at first but then one of the clerks’ faces froze in surprise when Bart took out the pistol and we ordered everyone to stand against the counter. I went into the back room and brusquely told the two cooks to move into the front area. We had five people to contend with but they seemed to be sufficiently frightened of us and put up no resistance. While Bart held the gun in front of him and away from the windows, I walked around the counter and opened the cash registers. I was amazed at the stacks of bills that were in them and began to scoop them out and put them in my backpack. After taking care of that money, I ordered a clerk to tell me where the safe was and he did so immediately but swore that the combination to open it was not known to him. I turned to the other employees and demanded to know who could open the safe or else there would be trouble but none of them could do it. One fellow said that only the manager could open the safe and he was not due until morning. By this time, Bart had enough of their stalling and put the gun right up against one of the workers body and said he would shoot him if the safe was not opened now. Anyone seeing his actions would know that he was serious and even I thought that the gun would be used. What he said worked because one of the clerks said that he could open the safe and would do so if there was no further trouble. I pushed him over to the safe and it was open within thirty seconds. Looking inside was like walking into a bank vault. There were bags of money that had been due to be deposited this very night and the amounts in them looked considerable. I loaded those bags into my pack and told everyone to get down on the floor and not move for five minutes or we would be back. I yelled at them in my most scary voice and hoped that it would work. The two of us backed out of the door and walked swiftly to the car while taking off the masks. Luckily, the street was empty of strollers and cars and we made it very quickly without a problem. Bart had the car out of the area and into the main stream of traffic so fast that it seemed unreal. I believed that we would be long gone from here by the time police arrived and totally out of danger.
As we were traveling out of the downtown area and toward the suburbs, our breathing became more relaxed and smiles sprang up on our faces. We had done the job exactly as planned and it had gone off without a hitch. If that wasn’t a professional operation then I don’t know what one is. Bart drove far out of the city and then doubled back toward my apartment where we would count the loot and split it. I wanted to ask him if he would have really shot the clerk but decided not to bring up this matter now. There were sirens wailing in the distance but none near us and I tried to imagine how that crime scene looked at the moment. It must have been total chaos which was to our advantage since all the witnesses would have confusing and different versions of the event. I couldn’t wait to turn on the late night news and hear about the daring downtown robbery but that was for later. Right now, I was more interested in seeing how much we had taken and then hiding it in my closet along with the gun. After about an hour, we arrived at my apartment and emptied the bags on my bed which was entirely covered by the sheer number of greenbacks. It took us fifty minutes to count the money and when we were sure that the total was right, it took all my discipline to keep from giving out a joyous shout. The cash amounted to thirty six hundred and seventy dollars and that breathtaking sum made all the risk and planning very worthwhile. It was enough to put me back in good shape and take care of all expenses for a good amount of time. Now I knew the kind of jobs that we were going to do in the future and wondered why all that effort was wasted on stealing from one victim at a time.
We congratulated each other before Bart took his share, gave me the gun and left while I just stared at all of my money. I could buy a few nice things and even take Francine out for some good times. My mind was racing with what could be done with this windfall but after a few hours of blissful fantasy, I came to my senses and began to think of how the money could be put to use in helping me become independent and job free. I still needed a lot more and so much of this amount would be saved but that didn’t mean that a few luxuries couldn’t be obtained. After all, I had to have some kind of immediate reward for the work done. When the late news came on, I glued my eyes to the screen and listened to the reporter describe how the crime had occurred. As usual, it was not accurate and often greatly exaggerated so that some witnesses said there were two thieves, some said there were three, someone else said that the bandits had machine guns and so on. Watching the distortions made me laugh at how stupid people are particularly when faced with danger. I was so pleased with our work and highly excited by the success of it that my mind started thinking about the next place to rob. There was no way I
would give up this incredibly great way to make money and in fact, looked forward to bigger hauls in the future. When it eventually got too risky to pull off these heists, I was confident that another type of operation would spring up and be just as lucrative.
Before I start thinking about changing our entire mode of operating, there were several more jobs we could pull off and get away with easily. I needed to refine our procedures and make sure that all subsequent robberies were mistake free by eliminating any problem situations that had appeared. I wanted to cut the time down to a bare minimum before leaving the premises and believed that a tougher stance was needed to make employees obey us immediately. Precious minutes had been wasted in convincing the clerks to open the safe and that could be the difference between making a clean getaway or police showing up before we could leave. The idea of using a little brutality to force cooperation was not distasteful to me and in fact, was kind of a benefit to my ego. I hadn’t really bashed someone since we took care of Cal and during the tension of a heist, a physical release of my energy would do me good. I was sure that Bart would need no convincing about administering a couple of whacks to people but shooting them would do us no service. We already had one death on our hands and while nothing had come of it, there was no reason to shorten the odds of an apprehension by authorities. It made sense to engage in as many robberies as possible within a short time before switching to another type of money making opportunity and I would talk to Bart in a day or two and work out some new venture. In the meantime, I could relax, have some time with Francine and enjoy spending a little of the newly acquired money.
Other than the displeasure of my job, life was treating me pretty good and I believed that it could only get better as time went on. I was leading a charmed life and since my release from the camp, had not experienced any difficulty with the law. There was money to spend, a decent girlfriend, lots of opportunities and a pleasant future ahead. I hadn’t been in touch with my mother very often and when we did speak, she seemed fine and voiced no complaints to me. I had intended to give her some money but as time passed, the thought of parting with some of my hard earned cash kept me from doing so. It just seemed good enough to imagine that I was going to help her out even without doing the deed. Francine was a different story and spending some money on her didn’t bother me although I never had paid the hundred and fifty dollars back that allowed us to purchase the gun. Since she never asked for it, I considered that it was a gift that needed no repayment. In fact, I could get used to the idea of women giving me money just because they wanted to. At this time, I had a pretty decent stash of money but still had a need for much more before financial independence was achieved and any way that it came to me was fine. I was really starting to believe that everything that came my way was well deserved and fulfilled my destiny. I was beginning to see the world as comprised of givers and takers and it seemed to be the natural order of things. I was chosen to be a taker and those who gave to me were following their obligation and duty to satisfy my desires. That seemed to be a good way to look at life and the fact that events seemed to run in my favor only justified my logic.
I had been taking Francine out to eat at nice restaurants and to movies which seemed sufficient to satisfy her social desires. She didn’t seem to have any girlfriends and having a big ego made me believe that my presence was sufficient. Bart ran around with many women and some of them were real dogs so I never asked him to go anywhere with us. I also thought it was better if Francine didn’t meet Bart and avoid any identification of him in the event that something unforeseen occurred. I was content with the way she acquiesced to my wishes and acted as a woman should to a man. It was a good thing that Francine was not a strong willed or dominant person, since we wouldn’t have gotten along nor stayed together for any length of time. As long as everything stayed the way it was, I could tolerate having the woman near me. My sexual needs were still very strong and it would have been too much trouble and exertion to constantly chase other girls without knowing what kind of person they would turn out to be. Some thought had been given to what would happen if Francine started to change her attitude and demand more of me than I wanted to give. My responses to that scenario could range from leaving her totally or give her a few whacks to put things back to the way they were. I wouldn’t know how it would turn out until that situation came up if it ever did. In the meantime, it was to my advantage to stay with her and enjoy the benefits of her body.
Three days later, I phoned Bart and asked him to meet me so we could discuss our next move and found him to be very eager for action. He came over that evening and was very excited about wanting to continue our successful jobs without any fear of something bad happening. I liked his attitude and went over the kind of places that we could hit next. In my wanderings downtown, I always had a keen eye out for exceptional opportunities that sometimes just pop out at you. I had discovered a very similar kind of potential heist in another part of the downtown fringe area that looked as easy as the first one. The business I had in mind was a diner that seemed to have a tremendous amount of traffic all day long. I had counted at least eighty customers going in a single lunch hour and if each person spent five dollars, then the days’ receipts would be astronomical and ripe for the taking. The diner opened very early in the morning and didn’t close until eight at night when fewer customers were showing up. I had stood across the street at closing time and only noticed a few employees working at cleaning up. When the manager took the money to the bank was unknown at this time and would require a little more careful watching. If there was a back door, then he might leave without being seen by me and I would probably need Bart to help me figure out where and when he left with the money bags. Once I knew a time when he was preparing to leave, we could make our move while the money was already in bags and not have to bother with opening a safe or going through the tills. It looked like a very simple procedure but I wanted to make sure that our plans were foolproof since the amount of cash involved could be the most ever obtained from a job.
Bart liked the entire idea and said he would accompany me to the area and watch the rear of the building in case the manager left from that exit. We decided to meet the next evening at my place to discuss any last minute details. In my mind, nothing needed changing and I thought that this plan was the best ever which produced huge rush of confidence and excitement that put me in a great mood. I was feeling real good until Bart arrived and almost immediately demanded to hold onto the gun. I couldn’t see any logic in giving the weapon to him now and asked him to wait until it was time for the job. I repeated that the gun was only a means to assure compliance by the victims and not something that was to be used unless absolutely necessary. I made it clear to him that if things went the way they should, other than a few threats and slaps, no other violence would be needed. Bart was not happy with my reasoning but left without the weapon while muttering about my controlling personality. I tried to relax and calm my body down but the surge of energy kept moving up and down and sort of supercharged me. I needed to get a good nights’ sleep and to help me do so, I drank a few shots of bourbon that did the trick. I didn’t wake up until morning and felt well rested and raring to go. The drinks worked wonders on my nerves and I didn’t feel the slightest bit of a hangover. I never really got into drinking alcohol a lot, particularly after seeing what it did to peoples’ actions. They looked like fools after drinking too much and I would never want to be that much out of control and act like an idiot. Even the taste didn’t please me and the only time I drank was at some occasion and even then, never more than a few shots
Work was becoming unbearable and I hoped to have enough money to quit and spend all my time in pleasant activities with Francine or execute more lucrative robberies. It could be risky to keep committing heists but it was also a quick way to accumulating enough dough to lead the life I truly wanted. Until then, I had to continue with the charade of liking the work and putting up with the occasional pats on the head that the m
anager gave me. Today went better than most days at the bakery since my mind was totally occupied with the real work that would start later. All day long I went over the scenario until it was burned into my brain and hopefully, Bart had done the same. There was no room for mistakes in this line of work and perfection was the only way to survive. The day slowly moved along but inevitably, the shift came to an end and I changed clothes and hastily left the building before someone could stop me for any reason. I wouldn’t get to my apartment for several hours so supper had to be eaten at a restaurant and one just happened to be close to the diner. I originally had toyed with eating at the diner but thought better of it since there was always a chance that someone could remember my face if something unusual happened. I didn’t need to eat there because in a short time, we would be involved with the place except that it wouldn’t be food that was going to be removed from the premises. Darkness slowly came over the city and the crowds of people began to thin out as they left to get on with their private business. I positioned myself across the street from the diner where noticing me would be very difficult and bided time until Bart showed up. It wouldn’t be long before we got this show going and could return to the safe confines of our homes but until then, I could feel the tingling rising in my body as the time for action neared.
The evening light was getting dimmer as Bart passed by the diner and went around the block several times before finding an ideal spot to park that allowed us to make a quick exit from the area. Before he left the car, I motioned to him from across the street and walked to the car. Taking a seat, I passed the gun to him and once again mentioned that its use was mostly to threaten people. He grunted at me, put it under his belt and we then took up our positions on opposite sides of the diner entrance. We were waiting for a small crowd of eaters to move out of the area before donning our masks and walking through the door. While I couldn’t see the gun, there was no doubt that Bart had it in his waistband and knew when to wave it around. The diner had three customers and at least four employees but it would not present any more control problems than the last job. As we walked in with our masks on and were seen, the patrons and workers got an amazed look on their faces and just froze in their tracks. In a loud and nasty voice, Bart showed the gun and commanded all of the people to stay where they were and empty out their pockets. Everyone complied very quickly as I walked around the counter and ordered the back room employees to come out to the front of the counter. Then I ordered a clerk to open the registers and put the cash along with the customer’s money in a bag which she did without hesitation. I asked an older person who could have been the manager where the safe was and seeing that Bart had pointed the gun right at him, immediately led me to an area in the kitchen where a large metal safe was sitting. After telling him that he had until the count of ten to open it, he immediately started turning the combination wheel and within a few seconds, the contents of the safe were in my sight. Inside was a large stack of bills that the clerk put neatly into my backpack after which, we both went to the front. The money from the tills had been secured in a bag and we were almost done when one of the customers did the most stupid thing imaginable. We were ready to make an exit when a man sitting near the door made a dash for the street but luckily, he stumbled slightly and allowed Bart to run over and whack him on the head with the gun. The idiot went down like a ton of bricks and started bleeding on the floor which made one of the girls start to scream. I motioned to Bart that we should get out now and forget about silencing the woman. For a brief second, I thought he would shoot her but realizing the nature of our situation, followed me out and even with the weight of the bags of money, we were in the car within seconds and moving from the scene.
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