TIME FLIES WHEN you’re having fun, and that’s exactly what Nix and I have been having over the past two weeks since I told him about wanting to rob Cash N Check. Two weeks of staking out the place. Two weeks of Nix looking into their security system like he’s been doing this his whole life. Two weeks plotting exit strategies if one of the cashiers happens to get to the button and the police show up. We know exactly where the button is, and which cashier will be the one to go for it. Fourteen days of getting it all together with two Saturdays of hanging out with Reina mixed in just to spice things up a bit. Two long weeks of my adrenaline pumping more and more as the days went by, bringing us closer to the time it’d finally happen. Two weeks ago I told Nix we needed to change our lives, and today it finally happens.
The two Saturdays I’ve had with Reina have been better than I’d ever expected spending time with someone could be. After we set our date for her to show up, I half expected her not to. I don’t know why, but I guess my experiences with people—especially my mother, who’s just as useless today as she was two weeks ago—just made it to where I don’t trust anybody. So, when the train came to a stop and I stood outside of the train station, I was truly surprised to see Reina walking towards me in a long, black coat that went down to her knees, thick black leggings, and black shoes with tiny heels on them. She was gorgeous, but what I thought about most was how she kept her word. That went a long way with me, and it stayed with me as we spent that day walking through the rough neighborhood of Strawberry Mansion, and I told her everything I knew about the place. It stayed with me as she listened and learned about where I live, and who I am, and the things I’ve experienced in my time on this earth. Her loyalty stuck with me after the day came to an end and I had to walk her back to the train station, and it was still there a week later when she arrived once again, right on time.
That Saturday was about her. We did more walking and talking, and this time she went on and on about her life, and what she has been through, and what she goes through on a normal basis with her horrible parents and her terrible “friends” at school. She spoke in depth about how having money means nothing to her if she can’t be happy and have a life filled with adventure. By the time the day was over, I felt like I knew her much better than I had before, and we’d grown closer. Even as the date that Nix and I had chosen to rob Cash N Check crept closer, she never told me I shouldn’t do it. She understood and supported me, and without the slightest hesitation, she told me to go for it. Her having my back means more to me than she knows, and it will make today easier.
Cash N Check rests on the corner of two quiet streets on the edge of Strawberry Mansion, and after all of Nix’s thorough investigating, we know that the best time to hit it is first thing in the morning when people are still at work waiting to get their checks. We made sure to do this on the week between the first and fifteenth, ensuring payday is still a ways off. Everything will be quiet, and by now, you should know what comes after the silence—chaos, except this time, we are the chaos.
We wait in an alley in my mother’s car as the workers walk in and get everything set up, unaware of the two of us lurking outside the door. Nix and I both have stolen guns, but as the time draws closer, something in me doesn’t want to use the gun. No, I like the idea of striking fear into people with a knife. A big, sharp, jagged knife. You see, if I force you to have to choose between being shot in the head or stabbed to death, you’ll surely pick the shot to the head, because it’s quicker. The fear of pain comes in to play and nobody wants to feel the agony of being stabbed over and over again, and that’s why a knife or a blade is my best friend, my favorite weapon. Nothing brings fear like a blade.
As we take one last deep breath to steady ourselves, I tuck the gun into the waistband of my sweats and the knife into my pocket, before finally applying a balaclava over my face, followed by a Jason Voorhees Halloween mask. We put on black gloves to cover the last of our exposed skin, and before we know it, we’re all set. There’s nothing left but to do it. All the preparation is done, and now it’s time to make it happen. As the two of us check each other to make sure we’re both covered up, I realize we only have two options now—either make it happen or run away. Once we step outside this car, there’s no turning back. This is the moment that will change our lives forever. It’s time to change the channel. I exhale, then we’re out of the car, walking down the alley, and stepping around the quiet corner, fueled by pure adrenaline.
Inside is even quieter than outside. There’s a counter that separates us from the workers behind it. There’s only three of them, all women, and they sit behind white and brown desks, clicking away at their keyboards on what I’m sure is Facebook. There’s a red head, a blonde, and a brunette, and I’m sure there’s a bad joke in there somewhere, but I brush the thought aside and focus. No time for distractions. The desks are large and metal, and they conceal everything behind them—can’t even see the legs of the women who occupy them. They don’t even see us when we come in, because they’re too busy staring at the screens and clicking the keys. Click. Click. Clickety clack.
“My oh my, what kind of sexist establishment is this?” I begin with my arms outstretched like I’m waiting for a hug from no one. The three women finally look up from their computer screens and see me and Nix standing behind the counter. They see the masks, and I know that’s what sets them off. We knew it would, so my partner and I act accordingly.
“Hands on top of the desks!” Nix shouts as he raises his black nine millimeter and I jump over the thick counter that’s doing such a horrible job of protecting these three beautiful ladies. Well, two of them are beautiful, one of them sort of reminds me of Master Splinter from Ninja Turtles, but oh well. The three of them oblige Nix, and I can see the fear in all of the their eyes as I come closer to them, no longer separated by the counter up front. Adrenaline and a desire to change my life push me forward, and it’s the greatest rush I’ve ever experienced.
“What is going on in here?” I ask with a smile none of them can see behind the two masks. “Three women running the show? Where are all the men? Oh I know, men can’t be trusted because they’re all greedy, violent, sexist pigs who only think with their dicks.” I let out a laugh and the tiny redhead in front of me cringes at the sound, which catches my attention.
“Oh, do I frighten you, Darleen?” I ask, reading her silver nametag on her black button-up shirt. “You don’t have any reason to be afraid, dear. I’m just telling the truth about men. Is that scary to you?”
“Aren’t you a man behind that mask,” another woman says to my right. This one is obviously the boss of the shift, wearing a gray pantsuit with her dark brown hair tied in a tight bun. She’s trying to show me just how confident she is with a stern expression and a furrowed brow. How cute.
“Oh no, I’m not just a man,” I answer the brunette. “Far from it. I’m much more than that. I’m the devil himself coming to take everything I want from this world.”
“And what is it that you want?” the manager asks, still holding on to her faux confidence.
“Isn’t it obvious? I want what you’re trying to hide in the safes behind those gigantic desks of yours.”
In a flash, I see Nix quickly shift the barrel of his gun over to the third woman and run over to her as she tries to move her hands back to the top of the desk.
“I told you to keep your damn hands on your desk!” Nix shouts in her face as he shoves the barrel of his gun into the blonde’s face, the metal pressing against her glossed red lips. Oh she’s got him fired up, and I let out a chuckle at the sight of it. But it doesn’t last long, because I sense movement coming from my left.
Words are nice. That’s why I hate them. I like action. Nothing strikes fear into the hearts of your enemies more than action. So when I see one of Darleen’s hands shift from its place on the desk, I act on it by pulling my ten-inch survival knife from my pocket and stabbing her in the hand, effectively nailing her hand to the table. The blade only goes into the desk about an inch, which makes me frown behind my mask. The desk is made of strong metal.
Darleen lets out a blood curdling scream at the top of her lungs, and the other girls let out shrieks of their own. That’s against the rules, so I let go of the knife and pull out my own nine millimeter, aiming it at the brunette manager, which makes her bite her tongue.
I return my attention to Darleen and slam my hand over her mouth, squeezing her face with every muscle in my hand and forearm, turning her pale, freckled skin even whiter.
“Ssshhh,” I say in her ear as she quiets down. “Were you not told to keep your hands on the desk?” She doesn’t move. “Oh Darleen, this wasn’t part of the plan. But the plan allows for contingencies, which means I will stab more holes in multiples places on your body if you move again. If you scream again, I’m going to take this knife out of your hand and slide that beautiful jagged edge across your throat. Do you know why, Darleen? Because you can’t scream if I sever your vocal chords.”
The panic in poor Darleen’s face turns her as white as cocaine on a black table top, and I know from that look, she’s not going to make another peep, and that puts a smile on my hidden face. This is more fun than I thought it would be. The fear I feel coming off of all of them washes over me and fills me with excitement. But I don’t have time to soak it in We can bask in our success once this is all over, so I swallow everything down and refocus.
“Alright, enough chit chat, ladies!” I begin again as I remove my hand from Darleen’s mouth and tuck the gun back into my pants. “It’s time for us to bid you farewell, however, you still have something between your legs that my partner and I came here for.” I hear the blonde woman gasp. “Oh relax, you pervert, I’m talking about the money in the safes. Nobody cares about your pussy. Now, we just so happen to know that those safes require your fingerprint to open. So, my partner and I will address you one at a time, and when you’re told to move slowly, you’ll scan your print, open the safe, and quickly fill our bag with the money. Sound like fun? Wonderful. Let’s play!”
One by one, Nix makes each woman scan their index finger and open the safe, starting with the blonde. He keeps the gun pushed into her neck while she empties the money into the trash bag, then moves to the next manager while I retrieve my gun and aim it at the woman he just left. It all runs as smooth as a baby’s bottom, and before we know it, I’m pulling my knife out of Darleen’s hand and hopping back over the counter. Nix and I run down the street to another corner where we parked my mother’s car in the alley, and toss the bag in the trunk before slowly driving away from the scene of the crime in the opposite direction.
“I can’t believe we pulled it off,” Nix says from the passenger seat of Whitney’s crappy Toyota. “I can’t believe it!” he shouts with pure joy as he folds up his balaclava and Michael Myers mask and the car comes to a stop in front of his house. “Solomon, we did it, man.”
“Yes, we did,” I reply with a smile, which morphs into full-on laughter. “We did it! And they have no clue who it was. They’ll never know!”
Nix and I laugh and bask in our accomplishment for a few minutes longer before he finally gets out of the car. Before he closes the door, he bends over and looks at me.
“You’re the only person I trust, Solomon, you know that?” he asks with a grin on his bearded face.
“And you’re the only person I’d ever call a friend. I don’t take that lightly. Now get the hell out of here, you freaking behemoth,” I reply.
Nix smiles at me and nods before saying, “I’ll see you soon,” and closing the door. He walks up the steps to his house as I drive home and park the car where Whitney left it, although she probably wouldn’t notice if I moved it. Once parked, I walk to the trunk and remove the trash bag full of cash. I usually walk to my room through the front door, and even though Whitney is inside as high as a kite—which is why I was able to take her car without her knowing—I still decide to enter the basement through the outside door that rests in the space between our house and the neighbor’s. The last thing I need is Whitney seeing this money and shooting all of it into her veins. I’m not sure I could keep from hurting her if she did that. This money will not go to her drug habit. This is mine. It belongs to me and Nix. We earned it by taking it.
Once downstairs, I lock both the exterior and interior doors, and tuck the gun and knife between my mattresses, before grabbing the black trash bag and turning it upside down on my bed. My heart races as I watch the cash cascade onto the black sheets. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life, and I just stand there staring at it. Going in, Nix and I knew Cash N Check only puts five grand in each safe to minimize the loss if they were to ever get robbed by people like us, so I know how much is here. Fifteen-thousand dollars. Nix and I will split this sixty-forty—I was the one who came up with the idea after all—and who knows how things will be different now? I can tell you this though—they will be different.
Looking down on this money and knowing that the chances of Nix and me ever getting caught are beyond slim in Strawberry Mansion, fills me up with a new found confidence. I can never be without money like this ever again. I won’t go back to being completely broke now that I know I can do this and get away with it. There’s no sirens blaring in the distance, no police banging on the door. There’s nothing but the sound of my heart beat and the smell of money in the dark basement. We pulled it off.
Confidence is a funny thing, and confidence in a person like me can change everything. It has changed everything. This is the beginning I’ve been waiting for. I might as well call today my birthday, because Solomon King is just being born right here and now. And the world better watch out.