CHAPTER 1
I ’ve never been a good
judge of character. I always thought I was, but in reality I was
fooling myself. I dated losers, I got terrible jobs, and I brought
way too many things from late night infomercials. Good decisions
were not my forte.
On reflection, I think I knew when it was time
to break up with my latest boyfriend. He definitely wasn’t a good
decision. He cost me a lot more than my dignity…
“ I need to go to the bank,” Ryan
grumbled as we lay in bed. I watched as he pulled on some clothes
from the floor and zipped his pants.
The last thing I wanted to do was leave the
comfortable bed. Especially when I’d been working half the night.
“I’ll see you when you get back.”
“ No, you need to come with
me.”
“ Why?”
“ Will you just do it? You always
have to argue,” he looked at me with that cute exasperated look he
always managed to pull off. It was difficult to refuse.
“ Why don’t you just come back to
bed?”
“ Because we need to get
moving.”
“ Fine,” I sighed. My clothes came
from the closet, at least I still had some pride yet to
lose.
We took the drive to the bank and circled the
block until Ryan found the ideal car park. He insisted he didn’t
want to walk far and ended up parking in the disabled spot. I knew
my protests would fall on deaf ears. Perhaps that was his
disability – selective deafness.
Inside the bank, there was a long queue for
the tellers. I waited with Ryan as he completed the slip. He seemed
to be taking a long time, which should have been my first clue that
something wasn’t right.
“ Here, take this,” Ryan said as he
shoved something into my hands. I didn’t even think as I accepted
the object. It was heavy and cold. I looked down and saw I was
holding a gun.
“ What the hell, Ryan?” I tried to
hide it underneath my jacket so nobody would see. Instantly, it
felt like every eye in the place was staring directly at
me.
“ We’re robbing this place,” he
answered, twitching nervously. I didn’t get a chance to respond
before he stomped into the middle of the bank and fired his gun
into the ceiling. “This is a hold up. Everybody on the
floor.”
I was speechless as everyone around me
instantly dropped to the floor in terror. I was stuck in place, I
couldn’t move. I think my brain was shutting down with the sheer
shock of it all. The only thought running through my head was that
I really should have broken up with Ryan earlier. That was the
moment I knew I had made a vastly incorrect judgment of
character.
He waved his gun at the tellers in turn,
giving them orders to put money into bags and hand them across. He
looked at me. “What are you doing? Don’t just stand there, help
me.”
Was he seriously going off at me for not
helping him rob a bank ?
Seriously? “I’m not doing this. We need to get out of here. This is
crazy.”
“ We need the money.”
“ Not this bad. What were you
thinking?”
“ I’m thinking I need to get back
to robbing this bank.”
“ We need to go.”
He rolled his eyes and got back to business.
The gun was starting to get heavy in my hands. I let my arms fall
to my side which caused a burst of screams from those around me. I
looked around, they were all staring at the semi-automatic in my
hands.
“ Sorry,” I muttered,
wondering if that was the appropriate apology for terrifying people
half to death. Perhaps I should have said I was really sorry?
I didn’t have long to think before a
megaphone-enhanced voice filtered through. “Police! Nobody
move.”
I turned around to face the entrance, a line
of a dozen cops were standing there. All their guns were pointed
directly at me. I quickly looked around for Ryan. He was nowhere to
be seen. Great.
“ Put your gun on the floor and get
your hands up,” the cop yelled at me. I don’t know why he was
yelling, I was only standing there – minding my own
business.
I did as I was told, fearing I might have
twelve bullets
I ’ve never been a good
judge of character. I always thought I was, but in reality I was
fooling myself. I dated losers, I got terrible jobs, and I brought
way too many things from late night infomercials. Good decisions
were not my forte.
On reflection, I think I knew when it was time
to break up with my latest boyfriend. He definitely wasn’t a good
decision. He cost me a lot more than my dignity…
“ I need to go to the bank,” Ryan
grumbled as we lay in bed. I watched as he pulled on some clothes
from the floor and zipped his pants.
The last thing I wanted to do was leave the
comfortable bed. Especially when I’d been working half the night.
“I’ll see you when you get back.”
“ No, you need to come with
me.”
“ Why?”
“ Will you just do it? You always
have to argue,” he looked at me with that cute exasperated look he
always managed to pull off. It was difficult to refuse.
“ Why don’t you just come back to
bed?”
“ Because we need to get
moving.”
“ Fine,” I sighed. My clothes came
from the closet, at least I still had some pride yet to
lose.
We took the drive to the bank and circled the
block until Ryan found the ideal car park. He insisted he didn’t
want to walk far and ended up parking in the disabled spot. I knew
my protests would fall on deaf ears. Perhaps that was his
disability – selective deafness.
Inside the bank, there was a long queue for
the tellers. I waited with Ryan as he completed the slip. He seemed
to be taking a long time, which should have been my first clue that
something wasn’t right.
“ Here, take this,” Ryan said as he
shoved something into my hands. I didn’t even think as I accepted
the object. It was heavy and cold. I looked down and saw I was
holding a gun.
“ What the hell, Ryan?” I tried to
hide it underneath my jacket so nobody would see. Instantly, it
felt like every eye in the place was staring directly at
me.
“ We’re robbing this place,” he
answered, twitching nervously. I didn’t get a chance to respond
before he stomped into the middle of the bank and fired his gun
into the ceiling. “This is a hold up. Everybody on the
floor.”
I was speechless as everyone around me
instantly dropped to the floor in terror. I was stuck in place, I
couldn’t move. I think my brain was shutting down with the sheer
shock of it all. The only thought running through my head was that
I really should have broken up with Ryan earlier. That was the
moment I knew I had made a vastly incorrect judgment of
character.
He waved his gun at the tellers in turn,
giving them orders to put money into bags and hand them across. He
looked at me. “What are you doing? Don’t just stand there, help
me.”
Was he seriously going off at me for not
helping him rob a bank ?
Seriously? “I’m not doing this. We need to get out of here. This is
crazy.”
“ We need the money.”
“ Not this bad. What were you
thinking?”
“ I’m thinking I need to get back
to robbing this bank.”
“ We need to go.”
He rolled his eyes and got back to business.
The gun was starting to get heavy in my hands. I let my arms fall
to my side which caused a burst of screams from those around me. I
looked around, they were all staring at the semi-automatic in my
hands.
“ Sorry,” I muttered,
wondering if that was the appropriate apology for terrifying people
half to death. Perhaps I should have said I was really sorry?
I didn’t have long to think before a
megaphone-enhanced voice filtered through. “Police! Nobody
move.”
I turned around to face the entrance, a line
of a dozen cops were standing there. All their guns were pointed
directly at me. I quickly looked around for Ryan. He was nowhere to
be seen. Great.
“ Put your gun on the floor and get
your hands up,” the cop yelled at me. I don’t know why he was
yelling, I was only standing there – minding my own
business.
I did as I was told, fearing I might have
twelve bullets
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