Russell then starts to look at Yvette and is in disbelief at her constant disdain for him. Before the robbery, they were both reasonably close, now she has extreme hatred over him. He as well seems to notice all of her things are taken off her desk, and are packaged and put away. Russell then gets reminded of the fact Yvette told him that she does not wish to return to bank ever again. This causes Russell to think about his own position at the “Sunset Credit Union”, and if he himself will assume his position as manager of the bank. After the events which panned out today, Russell truly feels he can never look at the bank the same away again, and will always have this memory etched and engrained very closely. He will never forget the man who hired him to be manager of the bank, was murdered while doing his job. All of these thoughts are hard to ignore, and the traumatic experiences are a lot to deal with and to handle. This is something that didn’t really cross his mind until this point. Most likely due to the shock and trauma of the robbery, Russell never once considered what he plans to do now moving forward. Is he going to stay at the bank, and continue working? Russell then looks over again at Jesse reading a magazine. He then also realizes that his relationship with Jesse is nonexistent, and doesn’t know that much about him except very little minor details, despite the fact they have been working at the bank as coworkers. Russell also wonders how Jesse is handling the situation, but finds it odd that unlike Yvette who is showing malice towards Russell, Jesse is simply ignoring him. Russell continues to leer at Jesse for a bit, but then looks away from him. He sits back into his seat looking up at the ceiling. After a few moments, he looks outside of the bank and noticing it is getting dark outside, and dusk is approaching. He turns his head away from the entrance, and scans around the building again. Russell then gets up and roams around the bank looking down at the floor, with his hands in his pants pockets.
A minute later the branch manager, John Marshall finally arrives to the bank. Russell and John have a convoluted relationship, and for the most part Russell is not very fond of him. He has only met him a few times, as despite him being an official employee of the “Sunset Credit Union”, he is not present inside the bank that much; he visits very intermittently. Russell simply doesn’t care that much for him. His position as the branch manager is to simply take note of records of logistics of the bank. John after all is a very strict man, with an even more rigid and difficult personality. He is a very tall and skinny lanky man with a bushy mustache. His profile is not to be messed with, and he has a stern agenda. Russell notices him walking into the bank entrance, and moves over to his direction to greet him. However, the branch manager ignores Russell and goes straight towards the detective. Russell is not surprised at his behavior, and watches the both of them converse to each other.
“Detective Henderson, I’m the branch manager for this bank unit. I’m John Marshall. I want to apologize for my late arrival. I was attending a very important council meeting as a part of the “Los Angeles Federal Credit Union” for security measures ironically and incidentally, and I had no idea that the “Sunset Credit Union” was robbed until about twenty minutes ago. “
John shakes hands with the detective, and Detective Henderson updates on the proceedings of the robbery. John after being informed on all the details of the robbery, gives his opinion towards the ordeal, and is outraged and angered in the process.
“This is preposterous. Peter was killed in the robbery? Oh my, this is just unbelievable. That man was something else, he was pleasant to be around. This is terrible, as he was a very good friend to me, and he was a big support system as manager of the bank.”
Russell knew that John was fibbing. As of a matter of fact, he actually hated Peter, and Peter hated him. They fought like cats and dogs usually over petty things, and he would constantly try to get Peter to retire or transfer to another bank, so that he could take his position away from him. This was all a façade that John was trying to promote to Detective Henderson, to make him out to be a model person. Russell decides to try again to greet himself to John. He walks over to him and extends his hand out for him to shake it. John and Russell are able to shake hands, and acknowledge each other.
“Ah yes, hello Russell. I’m so sorry on the death of Peter, I really have no words. This is such an unfathomable experience for everyone involved. So unfortunate. Well I’m just going to go over some routine things, and take care of a few matters and then we will be done.”
Russell had a feeling that John was being totally insincere with the way he was acting. He did decide to push that to the side and move on from that, due to this very devastating situation at hand. Even though his relationship with John isn’t a pleasant one, he must allow for John to do his job. John also greets himself to Jesse and Yvette. Russell, John and Detective Henderson for one final time go inside of the surveillance room. Russell allows John to view the surveillance video of the robbery, to which he responds in a shocking manner, looking at Russell the entire time with a disappointed expression.
“This is very bad; I don’t understand; this is very tough to watch. But I feel that Russell should have stepped in over Peter. I don’t understand why Peter opened the vault and Russell didn’t. That really shows his character as a bank manager and how he’s unfit for the position and should have never gotten it in the first place.”
All three men return to the lobby of the bank, but Russell unable to control his emotions, responds to John over his comments.
“That’s it John, I can’t take any more of your shit. You weren’t fucking here when the robbery took place, you weren’t. You have no fucking idea what went down. Two guys came in here with guns and told us to get to the ground. Peter told me to stay down, and he went to the vault. I had no idea Jennifer and Peter were shot until after the cops came.”
John gives an angry look of disagreement to Russell. He then goes into his briefcase and pulls out a sheet of per and starts to write on it. Then responds to Russell.
“Russell, on Monday I want you to head to the Federal Union building here downtown. I want you go to this room, and speak with myself and a Union head Superior. We’ll talk about this issue more. I’m not saying you’re a bad manager, you’re not. You’re a very intelligent man Russell, but we need to dissect his issue further.”
John gives the paper to him, but Russell rips and shreds the paper throwing it on the ground. Russell then in a fit of rage fires back at John.
“I’m not going. How dare you come in here with that bullshit. This shows how much of a psychopath you fucking are. You always were one. You’re never ever fucking here, we had a robbery today, it takes you almost two hours after it happened to get here.”
John then grins at Russell, and sets his briefcase down on a counter and replies to him.
“You have some fucking nerve. If anybody is a psychopath, it’s you Russell McCoy. You are the creepiest, and scariest man I’ve ever fucking met in my life. What Peter ever saw in you I don’t know. Peter himself was a crazy quack anyways. I always told him this fucking bank was unsafe and because he never listened to me, I guess he now learned his lesson.”
Russell then starts to chuckle, and smile at John. He then looks away towards the ground giggling to himself some more and shaking his head. John responds again to him grinning.
“There you go again, always doing that creepy head shake. I don’t know why you ever got that manager’s job. You are clearly not fit for the position, and I’m definitely letting the Federal Board know about this on Monday rest assured.”
Russell stays silent for a few seconds, but then raises his head giving eye contact to John. Russell lifts his eyebrows and nods to John. Jesse stops reading his magazine and watches both men quarrel. Yvette who was also watching the fight, cannot take it anymore. She grabs her box of things and asks Detective Henderson a question.
“Can we all leave now? I gave my statement, the branch manager is aware of the incident and took note of it, are we free to leave now?”
Detective Henderson
says that the investigation at this point is temporarily suspended and that all the employees are free to leave the building. Over the next few minutes, all of the officers that were inside of the bank leave except for Detective Henderson, and the crime scene tape is removed from the outside entrance of the bank. Yvette makes another statement, before she decides to leave the building.
“Well Russell, John, Jesse, today was my last day working in this bank. I’m not returning, I can’t. I’m way too stressed out and dealing with all the damn mess from that to come back. I’m done, and I’m taking my services elsewhere. Goodbye.”
Yvette then grabs her things, and proceeds to walk out of the bank towards the parking lot. Russell, Jesse, John and Detective Henderson watch her leave, but all three men quickly divert their attention back to where it was before. Jesse continues to sit in the lobby. John continues to strike Russell in a humorous tone.
“See what you fucking did Mr. Bank Manager, you lost not one, but three employees today. How does that feel? I’m not surprised, because that’s the work of Satan and The Devil. You look like the fucking devil by the way.”
Russell once again does not respond to John, he just raises his eyes at him, and smiles and nods. Detective Henderson is not amused by this behavior and tells them both to stop.
“Alright gentlemen, that’s quite enough of that. Knock it off. I don’t want to see any of this continue. I want you both to stop all of that.”
John continues to undermine Russell’s character in an indirect fashion.
“I’ll lock the bank up tonight, and I’m most likely going to take the place as bank manager on Monday, as Mr. McCoy clearly based on his actions today needs to be reassigned. This man has no business managing a bank. So pitiful. What an ugly man.”
Russell refuses to hold back and finally unleashes his fury. He launches at John at tackles him to the ground due to his football skills, pushing his chest and neck towards the floor. Jesse stands up from his seat and watches in shock and in amusement. Detective Henderson then is able to break the two of them together, so that they can stop fighting. While restraining Russell who is much larger and overpowering John. John manages to get up, and Detective Henderson starts to massage Russell on the back calming him down. He then berates the both of them for their actions.
“I told the both of you to knock that shit off. Now knock it off. It has gone tough enough, and you need to quit. That is quite enough. You need to quit.”
John straightens his tie after Russell tussled him on the floor, and starts laughing. John then responds.
“Yeah I agree; you need to quit.”
Russell then angrily looks at John, then smiles and laughs to himself. Russell picks up his briefcase and then laughs once again at John’s face.
“You know what John; I agree with you. You are absolutely right, you are. I need to quit. So therefore, I fucking quit. You can take this job, and you can shove it. I’m done, I’m gone. You want to be bank manager so bad, be my fucking guest. I’m outta here.”
Russell then takes his car keys out of his pocket, and heads out of the entrance of the bank. John stands in shock not at all expecting for Russell to act and to respond in that way. John in a very disrespectful way quickly responds to Russell walking out.
“See what I tell you, he was just not fit for this job, there is something really off about that man, and he’s so troubled and disturbed. So pitiful.”
Jesse depressingly looks at Russell walk out the building. He then gets up walks over to John and Detective Henderson, and tells the both of them something.
“Um, I quit as well. If Russell leaves, I leave. I don’t want to work in this bank anymore either. So goodbye.”
Jesse grabs his tote bag, and walks out of the bank.
Chapter 4
NOTHING RIGHT, NOTHING WRONG
After his fight with John, Russell decided to terminate his position at the “Sunset Credit Union”. He already was contemplating suspending himself at the bank originally, but his argument with John solidified it. The future being unclear and unknown for him, he advances forward with his life. Understanding that the traumatic event which happened this evening, will forever haunt his memory. Russell left with his dignity intact and his virtues kept together and in order. Even though he has been through many hardships and troubles in his life, comparing them to what happened today. Along with the death of his parents, this event is also difficult. He moves on, and doesn’t intend to look back during the times that he had at the “Sunset Credit Union.” It is almost as if he is vowing to himself as a defense mechanism, to just erase the whole situation from existing. However, he sadly cannot magically remove the memories. The event did indeed happen in all it’s unfortunate glory. Russell must come to terms that he must find a way to proceed in a manner, which causes him to be comfortable and safe with himself.
Had Russell not had the quarrel with John, would that have mattered at all? Would that have leveled his choice to stay or leave his position at the bank? These are thoughts Russell himself possibly deep down cannot be certain to answer. Many signs are leading that this was a choice he was going to make regardless, due to the outcome of the event. He is of course very concerned and anxious about his future ahead. He is now without a job, and now has many horrific traumatic thoughts inside of his mind. Russell now has to take charge of this, and get all of this prioritized. Leaving the bank possibly was a good decision to make for his mental health capacity, to remove himself from the negativity. Choices that people make sometimes don’t always make sense to an outside party, but to the person themselves it is the logical and most sensible one to choose. In the case of Russell, he had to frankly do what was right for his own personal agenda.
He is still trying to also cope with losing both Peter and Jennifer, two of his fellow employees. An extremely hard pill to swallow, accepting the truth of witnessing and going through all of that. Peter was Russell’s close friend, losing someone that you shared a close connection with is unbearable to imagine and understand. Trying not to recollect all the harsh and depressing moments, Russell tries to stay strong minded from it. After all, he has had one of the most excruciating days in his life, and he’s not having an easy time dealing with all of the results which have reacted from that.
Russell no longer wanted to associate himself with that bank, and simply wanted to move on. All the turmoil he was feeling, toppled any hope of wanting to stay and stick around in that arena. The guilt he was being accused of by John, also played a major toll. Being humiliated and attacked by him, Russell felt buried under all of that, and the stress wasn’t enough to hold onto. Understanding that there is an even bigger problem of proceeding into the unknown and undetermined future that he has for himself. Those issues and problems he would rather not ponder about at this time. Russell is well aware that a moment ago, he made an extreme rash life choice concerning his career. Yet again, it was a choice that he felt he had no choice to make. It was something he simply had to do, and there isn’t any way around it. Mental anguish is very difficult to heal. Russell feels finding a way to mask or hide what he is going through, is a good solution. He will attempt to erase the multiple hardships that he went through earlier, and strive to find some type of explanation or improvement to deal with it all. It will seem difficult and complex at first, but Russell tries not to feel much worry about it. With the right routine and mental stability, he can overcome it. With so much to think about and so many thoughts he is confused about, it’s a lot to carry. He is willing to advance from it, and be optimistic with whatever comes next.
As the sun is setting and nighttime is beginning to start, it is still a humid night in Los Angeles. Russell is in the parking lot of the “Oakwood Shopping Center”, still fuming and tense from his fight with John. He holds his car keys clenched in his fist, walking to his car. When finally reaching his vehicle, he starts unlocking his car. He drives a black Chevrolet Suburban, which Russell himself always treasures his car. He gets into his c
ar and sets his briefcase in the back seat. Then he starts to lock the doors, and turning the air conditioning on with the windows rolled up. Russell turns his car stereo on, and listens to one of his favorite songs. “Scar Tissue”, by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He opens the sunroof of his car, puts his head back on his seat, turns the volume of the stereo up, and closes his eyes for a bit.
He begins to feel very comfortable and relaxed, if only for a moment in this condition. Feeling weightless and light, and wanting to escape to some non-existent parallel world inside his mind. Escaping to some make believe heaven which he daydreams in his head. Intermittently, he is distracted by being reminded of foul events which happened in the day, although quickly trying to cover up those thoughts with happy ones. He realistically is in his own bubble and paradox, and doesn’t want to think of anything that would ruin or soil this scene he’s currently brewing in his mind. Russell opens his eyes, and looks up in the sunroof, and sees the dusk sky. The humid air also is orchestrating a gentle and smooth breeze. He takes his phone out of his pocket and notices the battery is quite low. In order to remedy that, he plugs his phone into the electrical port under the car stereo. Immediately following that, he leans his head back into his seat, and closes his eyes.
A few moments after this, he hears a soft knock on his passenger side door. This noise at first scared and startled Russell, who was in his comfortable mood. He looks out the passenger door window, and notices the person who is knocking is Jesse. He realizes that Jesse is looking rather depressed and puzzled, and possibly is in some type of trouble mentally. He turns the volume on his stereo down, and rolls the windows down. Russell then softly speaks to him.
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained Page 8