Kevin takes more hits of the marijuana joint, while watching the television. He then starts to laugh very loudly from what he’s watching. Kevin hands the joint back to Russell.
“This movie is so funny Russ. I remember I was in elementary school when I first saw it. Thinking it was just going to be some stupid kid movie. It’s not. ‘Kindergarten Cop’ is really something Russ. There are so many internet memes from this movie as well man.”
Russell takes one last hit from the joint. Russell then hands the joint back to Kevin. Russell then leans his head back on the sofa and closes his eyes.
“I’m good Kev, you can finish it off. I’ve had enough man. Thanks man.”
Kevin takes more hits of the joint, and he responds to Russell.
“Anytime Russ, you know you’re my main man Russ.”
Russell closes his eyes, and listens to Kevin laugh, and quote sayings from the movie playing on the television. Russell then eventually falls asleep.
Chapter 15
NOTHING SLOW, NOTHING FAST
The next morning, Russell awakens on the sofa area at “Home Base”, where the rest of the men also are. It is now Saturday morning, and the day succeeding their first bank heist. The previous night, the men all celebrated their heist by throwing an extravagant party. From all of the excitement, the men bonded towards each other at a high point and level. Russell stretches his arms out, and begins to sit up on the sofa. He looks down, and notices Jesse is still resting his head on his lap, however due to Russell’s movements as he was waking himself up, Jesse is now awake. He however still has his head on Russell’s lap resting. Jesse then shortly after that falls back asleep again.
While he’s still sitting on the sofa, Russell looks over to the other side of the sofa, and sees that Kevin is asleep. He continues to look around the area, and sees that Victor is sitting down at the kitchen area eating a bowl of cereal, watching a video on his phone. Russell looks around more, noticing that Brian is working on a car. Brian has music playing on his phone, while he’s working. He is modifying a black sport utility vehicle with tinted windows that Russell has never seen before, at his work station. Russell sees that Brian has added brand new traction tires, with the old tires discarded to the side. He also sees that Brian has removed the license plates as well. Although Russell is not a mechanic, he is moderately familiar with cars, and how they operate. He can tell that Brian is now doing an oil change on the vehicle. Russell then moves his head back and closes his eyes. He decides to rest on the sofa for a few minutes.
While he’s resting his eyes, Russell updates himself on all of the recent events that have happened. Yesterday, for the first time in his life, he successfully managed to operate a bank heist. One that he spent careful time and energy planning. He was only able to reign victorious, with the help of his comrades. They all were able to plunder a large sum of money, all for their taking. At this time, each of the men mutually agreed to not spend any of it yet.
The men want to commit one final heist on Friday, one which will be at a much larger bank. Once they have successfully completed that heist, the men will share the complete total of their money, and be comfortable with themselves. The men at this point, have not yet planned this heist yet, but come the time Friday approaches, they should be ready. Using their prior experience and desire from the first heist, it shouldn’t be difficult for the men to go into their final heist. They were able to perform their first heist nearly flawless. Victor was hit with a dye pack, but aside from this, they still managed to work remarkably well.
Russell continues to backtrack himself mentally of everything which came together yesterday, and also brainstorms their future endeavors to their heist on Friday. He has many ideas he is considering, and he is optimistic about each of them. For right now though, Russell doesn’t wish to explain his plans until a little later. In his mind, he wishes to return to the building they clean at, and do their briefing there. Russell feels drained and hungover from all the partying and celebrating the night before, and he can’t bring himself to discuss heist plans at this current time.
Russell then opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling. He then becomes curious on what Brian is currently doing, and gets up from the sofa. Without trying to bother Jesse that much, he gets up very gently, and positions Jesse on the sofa, so he’s not disturbed. Kevin still remains asleep on the other side of the sofa.
Russell while feeling slightly tired, waddles over to where Victor is with his hands in his pockets, and unintentionally starts to look at the screen on Victor’s phone. Victor by the expression on his face, looks depressed and upset, and this causes Russell to be concerned over him. Victor is watching a video news podcast on his phone, and seems to be bothered by the content. Russell assumed that Victor would be alerted by his company, but he isn’t. Victor is well aware that Russell is standing by him, but he is much too enthralled on the podcast on his phone, and doesn’t with to deal with him right now. Russell then starts to rub the back of Victor’s shoulder. Victor then decides to be cordial and pauses his podcast, and turns head away from his phone to look at Russell who’s smiling at him.
Victor then very reluctantly grins back at Russell, quickly turning his head back to his phone, resuming the video podcast directly after that. Russell then leaves Victor to himself, heading over to the area Brian is at, and starts to observe him.
Brian is disassembling many aspects of the vehicle, and is extremely focused. He is amazed at how efficient Brian is skilled at working with automobiles. Russell doesn’t speak to him at all, though he has many thoughts on his mind concerning this particular situation he’s in. Brian while continuing to his current task, senses Russell standing by him. Brian looks up at Russell, and laughs at him. Brian then immediately returns to the work he was doing. Russell keeps gazing his attention towards Brian, being very puzzled over his actions. Russell then walks closer to Brian, who’s working under the hood of the car. He then whispers to him.
“What’s with the car man? When and where did you get it?”
Brian as he’s continuing to deal all his attention towards the car, responds to Russell.
“I figured that there is no time like now to be prepared and ready for our final heist on Friday. The van is nice, but as it’s our final heist, I want us to do the job in a more sophisticated way, by having two more getaway cars. I was thinking ahead that way.”
Russell then raises his eyebrows. Brian proceeds to explain himself to Russell.
“I managed to work my magic, and snag this Chevy Tahoe this morning from this car dealership about an hour from here. Don’t worry, the guy who runs the lot is an asshole, trust me. I only steal from corrupt dealerships, that screw their customers. Look at my progress, not bad right? I’m only doing some minor modifications to it, so it can be a good getaway vehicle for us. Kevin can drive the van, someone else can drive this one, and there’s another car I also was able to get, which another guy can drive. It’s a black Ford Expedition parked at our other unit.”
Russell continues to be intrigued at Brian. This was an idea which he seemed to be indifferent towards. The dangers of all of the guys leaving the bank in different vehicles, include the fact they may separate and get split from each other. Russell plans for all of the guys to stay together, and to not drift away. By acting as a team in unison, it may offer greater success to them all. However, Russell believes that by each of them having separate getaway vehicles, it will offer a better chance of them escaping the heist better. Instead of all of them ramming themselves into one vehicle, by using multiple vehicles, it will offer a smooth operation towards the heist. Russell then starts to understand that Brian has a knack to steal cars so well.
This is something that ordinarily shouldn’t be ruled and considered a talent, but Russell couldn’t help being impressed over the way Brian is able to accomplish all of that. Brian is able to be multi-faceted in that regard. Not only being skilled with his extensive knowledge on how cars operate, but being able to
get any vehicle that he wanted. Stealing is very immoral, but as of late, Russell has thrown all his morals away. He looks at life at a different perspective, his oppression has taken over any sense of morality he had in his body.
Russell does admire Brian’s abilities, but feels he’s probably not approaching what he’s capable of, in the correct manner. Gaining a more open mind towards agendas he didn’t use to respect or understand at all, Russell changes his attitude to these topics. Russell remains curious about Brian nevertheless. He continues to watch him closely for several minutes, with Russell still having a puzzled expression on his face. Brian glances at Russell for a few seconds, noticing how perplexed he looks. Brian then responds.
“Russell, is everything alright man, do you need me to get you something?”
Russell shakes his head at Brian, and starts to look down towards the ground. He then crosses his arms, and walks closer to Brian. Russell then leans in and whispers to him.
“I’m glad you’re trying to help Brian. I only want to ask can you let me and the other guys know when you’re gonna do stuff like this please? I appreciate it. I mean, all of us more than likely would have all been fine with this, but I want us all to work together; and not make choices like this without consulting the whole group first. You understand right?”
Brian then looks at Russell, and he smiles at him. He then responds.
“Sure, no problem Russell. I understand man; I should have talked about this with all of y’all first. You’re absolutely right man. I just wanted to act fast I guess. The idea was so hot for me not to go on ahead and do it. But you’re totally right Russell. From now on whatever I do, I’ll lay it down with you guys first.”
Russell laughs at Brian, and pats him on the back of his shoulder. Russell wants each of the men to make decisions and choices that are discussed about with the whole group. If one person acts in a way ahead of the others, this possibly could lead to their solid team unit being wrecked and tarnished. One positive thing to consider through all of this, is the men are working in harmony of each other, and they must continue to do so. Russell continues to speak to Brian.
“I have two banks in mind. These are high profile though; big time. This is our last heist, so I want to pick somewhere that’s gonna give us the best results. But I’ll talk about all of that on Monday, right now I’m still kinda hungover from last night man. Shit.”
Brian while still working on the car, briefly turns his head towards Russell and laughs at him. In this moment, Brian then shuts the hood of the car, and responds to Russell.
“Take it easy man. I’ll take a break from this for now. I have to still work on the other car, but don’t you worry. I get everything ready by Friday.”
Russell then smiles at Brian and walks towards the sofa area. Brian starts to put his tools away. By now, Kevin and Jesse have each woken themselves up. They sit at the sofa area and watch the television, which is playing “Mythbusters”. Russell then while he’s standing in front of the sofa, starts to rub Kevin and Jesse’s heads with his both his hands. He then speaks to both of them in a playful way.
“Good morning you two. I know you guys had fun last night.”
Jesse nods his head at Russell, with Kevin looking up at Russell, but quickly turning his view back to the television. Russell then takes a seat on the sofa, positioned in the middle of them. Kevin while watching the television, talks to Russell.
“Russ, I have a really bad hangover man. I know you’re hungover too Russ. I can tell. You can lie to me and say you’re not, but I know that you are man. Let’s all go and get something to cure it. You can pick the place Russ, I don’t care. I just want to get some food.”
Russell looks down at the floor, ignoring him. Jesse then angrily glares at Russell, and slugs him on his back. Russell looks over at Jesse with a confused face, and he grins at him. Russell turns his view back towards the ground, and Jesse then speaks to him.
“Russell, I agree with Kevin. I’m hungry, and I could use a bite to eat.”
Russell continues to have his head towards the floor momentarily. He then lifts his head up, and stares at Kevin who’s watching the television. He pats Kevin on the leg, smiling at him.
“Okay Kev. If you’re hungry, I can take you out to eat man. I’m sorry about that man.”
Russell then gets up from the sofa area, and walks over to Brian, who is still gathering all of his tools together. Russell then speaks to Brian.
“Hey man, do you want to go get something to eat with us?”
Brian who has his attention directed towards all of his car tools, responds to Russell.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I already ate earlier. I’m fine, but thanks for the invitation man.”
Russell then nods his head at Brian and walks over to Victor, who is watching a podcast on his phone. Russell stands next to him without speaking, under the pretenses that Victor overheard his conversation with Brian; which Victor in fact did, and he would quickly give Russell his answer. Victor for whatever reason refuses to acknowledge him. Russell then taps him on the shoulder. Victor gives Russell a cold stare, and Russell talks to him.
“Victor, we are all gonna go and get something to eat. Do you want to go out with us?”
Victor while he’s watching the podcast on his phone, quickly snaps back at Russell.
“Yeah, I heard you talk to Brian. No I don’t want to go, but thank you for asking.”
Russell laughs at Victor, and walks away from him. Russell then walks over to the area Brian is in. Brian has finished putting all his tools away, and he looks up at Russell.
“Is everything good? What do you want to tell me Russell?”
Russell pulls out his phone and car keys. He then responds to Brian’s concern.
“Well. Brian, I think me, Kev and Jesse are going to go home after we eat. We feel kinda worn out from last night. So we’ll see you and Victor, Monday morning then. You know you can call me whenever you need to Brian. Alright then, catch you later man.”
Brian extends his hand out for Russell to shake it, and he does. He then says goodbye.
“Okay Russell, I’ll see you Monday, and we’ll take it from there. See you.”
All of the men begin to say goodbye to each other, and Russell, Kevin and Jesse grab their belongings, and put their sunglasses on. They then walk out of “Home Base”. It is partly cloudy today, giving off a slight breeze. Russell starts to walk over to his car, and unlocks the doors. During this time, Brian rushes out of the unit, and proceeds to spring over to where Russell is. Brian who is slightly out of breath, converses with Russell.
“On second thought, me and Victor will join you. I’m not really hungry, and neither is Victor, but we are still a little hungover. So why the fuck not? It’s not like we’re doing anything. We can go to a restaurant with you guys.”
Russell smiles at Brian, and nods his head. Russell, Kevin and Jesse then wait in Russell’s car, as Brian and Victor get themselves ready to join them. While they are in the car, Kevin turns on the car stereo, and the song that’s playing is, “The Way She Dances”, by N.E.R.D. The three of them continue to wait in the car, listening the music. They listen to a couple more songs on the radio, until Kevin reaches in his laptop bag. He takes out a bag of marijuana, and quickly begins to roll a marijuana joint. Russell watches him silently. Kevin finishes rolling the joint, and puts the marijuana bag back in his laptop case. Congruently, Brian and Victor then walk out of “Home Base”. Kevin turns his head taking note of them walking out, and cuts the stereo off. He then puts his hand on Russell’s shoulder, and softly speaks to him.
“Russ, I figured we could all smoke a little before we head out. Come on man.”
Russell shakes his head at Kevin and cuts the ignition off. He along with Kevin and Jesse walk out of the car and stand outside of the “Home Base” unit. All five of the men gather around, as Kevin starts to light the marijuana joint. Kevin takes a couple hits from it, and passes it to Russell. As Russell is taki
ng hits from the joint, Kevin asks him a question.
“So Russ, where are we going to go eat at? I’m hungry for anything really?”
Russell hands the joint to Brian, and he responds to Kevin very lightly.
“Kev, why don’t you pick the place man. We’ll go wherever you want to go Kev.”
Brian passes the joint to Victor. Kevin then rubs his hand behind the back of his head.
“Well Russ, we can go to ‘Applebee’s’ I suppose. There’s one not that far from here.”
Kevin pulls out his telephone and begins to reaffirm himself. Kevin then starts to place a reservation for all five of them with his phone.
“Alright Russ, I saved us all a table. I have a feeling it’s gonna be crowded.”
Russell looking down at the ground, nods his head at Kevin. Victor hands Jesse the joint. The men continue to smoke for a few minutes more, then they proceed towards the restaurant. Russell gets into his car, with Kevin and Jesse riding with him. Brian and Victor follow right behind them. They continue driving to “Applebee’s”. As they reach the restaurant, the men walk into the building. Being that it’s Saturday, the restaurant is quite crowded and busy. Luckily, due to the fact they made a reservation beforehand, they are attended to rather quickly, and are seated by the waitress at a table. Brian sits at the head of the table, with Russell sitting on the other head of the table. Kevin sits next to Russell on the corner side of the table, with Jesse seated right next to Kevin, adjacent to Brian. Across the table is Victor, who is sitting near Brian’s corner of the table.
This was the first time that all five of them are seated at a restaurant together. Russell then feels happy because of that, being glad his whole team is present. After they are all seated, the waitress then asks all the men for their drink orders. Russell, Kevin and Brian order a Heineken beer. Jesse orders himself a Cadillac Margarita. Victor orders a double shot of gin and tonic. The men converse towards each other at the table, not revealing or discussing any information that they shouldn’t be.
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained Page 36