by Kara Hart
Adam stepped out of the SUV and walked up to the old man. They stood a few feet apart, speaking slowly and carefully. They shook hands and embraced, pounding each other's back, while nodding. Adam walked back in a determined manner, lighting another cigarette.
“We’re good to go.” He said.
“To go where? Can you fill me in for once?” I liked being his sidekick and all, but he made me feel like a dumb girl sometimes.
“Look, there's a reason for not telling you everything. If things go wrong, you're in the clear. Got it? I told you earlier, we’re visiting an old friend.” He looked at me and could tell I was angry. He breathed in deep, staring at me. I stayed silent, glaring out into the green forest that surrounded us. I felt the car pull forward and about a mile into the forest was a small clearing with a cottage in the center of it. He parked the car and got out.
“So you two made it.” The man said, still stroking his chin. “Almost surprised. News been covering you two for days now. Come on in.” He gestured toward the house. In the driveway was an old motorcycle, covered in dust and old spider webs.
“Who's motorcycle is that?” I asked him. Adam looked at me as if I had done something wrong. My eyes fell to the dirt and pine needles on the ground.
“I don't believe we met. Name is Bruce Johnston. And that there relic is my old lady Bertha. She may not look like much, but in her prime she was a fucking warrior, man. Adam here knows that more than anyone.” He shook my hand.
“I'm Rose.” I said. He looked me up and down, examining my body.
“Young and gorgeous. Just the way we like ‘em.” He punched at Adam’s arm playfully as we made our way into the living room.
“Yeah well, the heart wants what the heart wants.” Adam said to him.
We sat on the ragged chairs by the door to the backyard, while he went into the kitchen’s refrigerator. “Now, I know it ain't much.” He began, tossing us a beer each. “But this here's my little paradise. Ain't as glamorous as your little desert thing, but I get by. I get by…” He took a swig of beer and slammed it onto the table in the center of the room.
“Property of the federal government.” Adam corrected him. “Or at least I'd have to think.”
“What in the hell are you talking about boy?” He asked him, turning serious.
“We got overrun by a group of SUV’s. Black. Tinted windows. There were bullets everywhere, and I mean everywhere. I'm certain that it's Brianna’s men. They knew exactly where the place was. If it weren’t Brianna, it would have to be Jorge. But he saved our asses back there, pops. I mean it. He pulled some heavy artillery shit back there.”
I shook my head in disbelief. Did I hear him right? Pops?
“Shit.” Bruce whispered through gritted teeth. “Brianna? You sure?” He took a big swig of his beer and grimaced.
“I know it’s hard to believe, but she ain’t one of us. She’s a fed, dad.”
“Jesus. Christ… That bitch used to come in this god damn house all the time. A fed… I can hardly believe it.” He took another drink, this time downing the whole can. “Motherfucking cock sucker…” He began muttering under his breath, pondering what he had just heard.
“Shit, I know how you feel. It hit me hard too. But now we gotta’ deal with things. And fast. Hell if I’m gonna’ die by the likes of her.”
He looked up at Adam, solemnly. “She know you’re here?” He asked him.
Adam shook his head, staring at the table and picking at the aluminum ring at the top of his beer. “Nah. Just didn’t have anywhere to go. I fucked up. Lost all my fortune. What am I going to do now?”
I nearly lost all my patience listening to this. I stood up from the seat. “So you’re his dad?” I asked him.
“Sure am.” He said. He turned to Adam. “She looks like your mother did. You know. Back when I first met her.”
Adam smiled. “I can’t remember. But I’ve seen the pictures.”
I blushed. “And you know Brianna Baxter?” I nearly screamed the question.
“If getting drunk and telling her a bunch of times to get off my property, counts as knowing someone, than yeah I knew the bitch.” He stood up to grab another beer. “Look, I get it. This is all new information for you. You’re feeling confused. But you gotta’ trust in my son, kid. He ain’t gonna’ let you down.”
I looked at Adam. He was peering out the window, making sure no one had followed us. I suddenly felt safe. I felt good, despite the confusion surrounding our circumstance. After all, this was the new life I chose, right?
“Yeah, I know. He seems okay.” I laughed. Adam smiled and went back to looking out the window.
“It’s good you came here, you two. You’re safe here. For now at least. I can’t tell you how long that will last. But tonight we’ll have one big family dinner. Like old times, Adam. Remember? Us and the gang?”
“Do I ever. Before I went solo.” Adam smiled, stroking his chin.
“I never got why you did that in the first place. I mean, I get it. But we lost something big when you left. The whole thing just fucking crumbled into nothin’. Hell, now look at us.”
“Yeah? And what are the boys doing now?”
“It’s like I said. I heard Avery owns a bar in New Mexico. Somewhere tame, you know. I think after he got his face slashed, he was more ready than ever to get on with his life. Randy is a trucker now, I’ll be damned. Of all things to do. You really inspired the men to lose themselves, you know that?” He shook his head.
Adam chucked to himself, rubbing his chin like his dad. “Yeah, well sometimes life pushes you to do things that don’t exactly make sense. Still, there’s not much use in regrets.”
“No, I guess there ain’t. You learned well, son. Just glad you’re back home to visit your old man.” He took a giant swig and threw the empty can into the corner of the room. “Come on, help me cook the chili.” He motioned to me.
Chapter 14
“Watching you smoke that cigarette is killin’ me, man.” Adam’s dad smiled. He looked as if he we would do just about anything for a drag.
I mixed the chili in a big pot on the stove. “Why don’t you just have one?” I asked him.
“Can't. Quit years ago. Doctor told me my lungs looked blacker than coal. Ain't no thing though. I'll survive, man. Got this grass stuff now that seems to take the anxiety away. Probably better for me in the long run anyhow.”
I shrugged. “I suppose you’re right.” Adam smiled, taking another deep inhale. He looked like he was enjoying this cigarette in particular.
“Ah shit, one won't kill me, right?” Bruce held a dirty hand out in front of him. Adam reluctantly pulled one out and set it in his cracked palm. “Thank you kindly.” He bowed.
“So I’ve been thinking about our next move.” Adam said suddenly.
“You have?” I asked him. I was curious to hear what he had to say. Despite the charming qualities of our stay here, I knew that our time was almost up. I most certainly didn’t want the feds to bust in and catch us. If something were to happen to Adam, my whole existence would be meaningless. I’d just be that lonely girl in the park, stuck in her books with no ground in reality. Perhaps that was what some people wanted out of life. But after experiencing the things I had seen, I couldn’t turn back now.
“Yeah. It ain’t gonna’ be easy.” He said, “But I think I know where we can get some money. Hey Pops, you remember that security guard at Northern Sun Bank?”
“Who? Daryl?” He eagerly took another drag of nicotine, holding it in for as long as he could.
“Yeah! That’s the guy. He still working there?” He asked him. I was starting to feel suspicious of this plan.
“What else would the idiot be doin’? ‘Course he’s still there. He’ll be there till he falls over and croaks.” He started laughing, but as the smoke from his cigarette entered his lungs, he couldn’t help but cough loudly. I went to help him, but he motioned me away. “Oh, I’m okay. Just not used to the smoke.” He said.
“Think he’d do me a favor. For old time’s sake?” Adam said, glaring out the window again.
His father lowered his tone, took another drag, and eyed him suspiciously. “What you thinking of doing, boy?”
“Thinking about robbing the place, pops.” He said matter-of-factly. I ran my hands through my short hair.
“You ever think about telling me anything, Adam?” They both looked at me in silence.
“The girl’s right, Adam. You ain’t thinking straight. Why don’t we talk about this over din—”
“I made up my mind on the drive up. It’s what I wanna’ do.” Adam said sternly, eying the closed forest.
There was a brief silence in the kitchen and I avoided eye contact with both of them completely. I stared at the red chili, stirring with anger. I guess I was just along for the ride. But just then, his father’s words echoed in my head: You gotta’ trust in my son, kid. He ain’t gonna’ let you down. And for the first time in days, I decided to put my faith in the man.
“You got a plan?” Bruce asked him, taking over the cooking.
“Sure do.” He muttered.
“Well then, run it by me. Don’t just sit there.”
“Alright, alright. But I’m gonna’ need Daryl. If we don’t have him, we’re fucked.”
“I’ll talk to him. He’s still in that cabin in the woods. After all these years, he’s still living the life of a hermit. I suppose I can relate.” He said, tasting a bit of chili and mumbling, “…needs some more salt…”
A cool breeze blew in through the window. “We follow a similar plan like last time.” He began speaking. Almost immediately Bruce interrupted him.
“Are you crazy, boy? The last time didn’t work. Do you remember at all why the gang broke up? It ain’t cause of your entrepreneurship. It was ‘cause the plan backfired. We triggered the god damn alarm inside the vault!” He slammed his fist onto the table. Our glasses shook. “Now, I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that again. You’ll get yourself jailed. Or worse, you’ll get killed like Hector.”
“We’re not going to trigger any alarms this time, dammit. I had a guy scope the place out. They’re under construction for the next month and a half. The whole block is closed. No cars can get in or out. Now, I have it on good authority that the vault alarm is disabled for the time being. All we have to do is disable the front alarms, blackout the cameras, and follow the script. We do that, we have 90 seconds to get in and get out. If we can do that, we come out with a couple million greenbacks.” There was a fire in Adam’s eyes. He was determined. I could see that. I just hoped he knew what he was doing.
“Well, son. I just hope you’re right. I really do. Because if you aren’t, they’ll post you up and hang you from your neck. After all you’ve stole, sold, and killed, the public won’t give a damn if they burn you alive.”
“Yeah, I know it. But I have to try. For Rose’s sake. I gotta’ do it for Rose.” He looked at me. I reached my hand out for him and he squeezed it hard, staring directly into my eyes. It felt like he was looking into my soul. My heart swelled up at the thought.
“Let’s do it.” I said. “Let’s rob ‘em blind!”
Bruce started laughing. “That’s the spirit, kid! But eat my damn chili first, will ya?” He scooped a big portion out for each of us, sloshing it into our bowls and yelled, “Dinner is served!”
I grabbed my bowl and ran to the table. Truth was, I was starving. I’d been surviving off of Red Vines and hot dogs the past two days. And before that I hadn’t eaten at all. Being on the run was tough on the stomach, so I couldn’t help but stuff my face. Once the smell of that chili entered my nose, there was no stopping me.
“Hey, settle down now.” Bruce said, tapping my hand. I looked up at him like an angry wolf. “We haven’t said grace yet!”
“Grace?” I said, my mouth full of food. My hands were still in the scooping position.
He held out his hand for me to grab. “Yes, grace. Just because we’re hardened men, don’t mean we don’t pray for forgiveness. Where would we be without the lord anyway?” He winked. He coughed and cleared his throat. “Dear lord, thank you for this wonderful world we live in. Thank you for the excess of money, food, and people we can rob. Thank you for the beer, although you could have given me more of it tonight. Thank you for your son’s sacrifice. Thanks even more for all my friends’ sacrifices…”
Adam looked up, angrily. “Dad…that’s blasphemous.”
“…and most of all, thank you for my son and new daughter in law. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.”
“Amen.” We all repeated back. I blushed at the words “daughter in law.”
“Who said we were getting married?” I asked him, taking another bite of chili.
“You’ll get married soon enough. I can sense these things. It’s a father’s sixth sense.” His beard lifted upward as he grinned.
“Well, I did promise her.” Adam said, smiling.
I couldn’t help but smile back.
“He did?!” His father exclaimed. “Well god damn! That’s a blessing if I ever heard of one! I think a congratulations is in order!”
He ran over to the fridge and threw over a few more cans of beer. Bruce popped one open and gulped it down hurriedly. Adam didn’t bother to open it.
“What’s wrong son? Is one beer too much for ya?” He laughed and turned his head to wink at me.
“We celebrate after we finish the heist.” He said, staring out into space again. He was always so contemplative. I guess I was grateful for that.
Chapter 15
We spent the whole night arguing over the plan, while Bruce kept drinking. He was getting drunker and drunker, and drunker and drunker. And as hours passed, he was stumbling over himself, yelling loudly throughout the house.
“YOU CAN’T JUST WALK INTO A BANK AND EXPECT EVERYTHING TO BE ALL HUNKY DORY, ADAM! YOU JUST CAN’T…NOW, NOW…LEMME TELL YOU WHAT, BOY…” He wasn’t making any sense and I could tell Adam was getting fed up with the discussion.
Eventually, I had to interject. “Hey, Adam. Why don’t we go outside for a second…” I whispered.
“OH, YEAH. GO OUTSIDE WITH YERR DARLING LITTLE WIFE!” He practically screamed at us.
Adam turned to him and gave him a direct stare. “If you weren’t my father, I would knock you on your ass.” He said. Then he spit on the wood floor and cursed, “Boy.”
Bruce simply turned around and stumbled back to the dinner table, where there were half eaten bowls of chili, crumbs of bread, and dirty silverware scattered. He was mumbling to himself something like, “I’ll show you father…” And other things that didn’t quite add up. I could see why Adam wanted to get straight.
When we walked outside Adam turned to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “Look, here’s the plan. I’ve got a guy in security that works the bank. You know the guy I mentioned earlier?”
“Daryl?” I asked.
“Exactly. He’ll switch the alarms off for us. Now, a friend of mine tipped me off not too long ago that they’re doing some serious construction inside and out of the building. So things are going to be a little unfocused for them. We evade the cameras. Never make eye contact. You good on that?”
I nodded my head, not exactly sure if that was the right answer or not. Nevertheless, this was the plan and I had to follow it, right?
He continued, “We go in, guns out, masks on. We do not shoot. I’m going to repeat that. We don’t fucking shoot a thing unless they’re shooting at us. If a gun goes off, we’re fucked. And I’m not about to be killed by no cop. Now, when we get in the bank, there won’t be any security to stop us. Daryl will let us through. He’s got the whole squad on his side, so they’ll be compliant. We just gotta’ yell, ‘get the fuck down on the ground.’ As long as it inspires fear in their hearts, we’re good.”
I breathed in deep.
“You still with me?” He asked.
“Yeah, I’m with you. Just never thought I’d be a bank robbe
r.”
“Kinda’ exciting, ain’t it?” He smiled.
“Well…”
“Okay, so once everyone drops to the floor, we have about 90 seconds left. We run towards the teller. Just let me do the talking. We don’t want them knowing you’re some little girl.”
“Hey!” I punched his arm.
“Ow, okay, okay. I get it. You’re not a little girl. Still, you get what I’m saying. We move past the tellers. They don’t have much money and we’re aiming for the vault. I’ll set two c-4’s to detonate the walls. We grab the money and get the fuck out of there. That’s it. 90 seconds. If we get away with this, we’ll get our dream, kid. We’ll get the freedom we’ve practically bled for. Think you can do that?” He looked me square in the eye.