The Bank Robbery

The stopwatch meticulously tics as I case the bank from my vehicle. The regulars walk in and out with predictable timing. It is 5:10pm; Susan the bank teller is late. I get out of my car and enter the bank. There are cameras in all corners of the building. Four teller windows with bullet proof glass. Susan says: “How may I help you today?”

“I want to create an account.” I fill out the paperwork and display my credentials. “I would like to make a deposit.” I slide the cash in to the slit. I notice the manager of the bank close his door to his office making a clinking sound from the keys tied to his waist. She slips me the receipt as the cameras behind the window rotates. The sign FDIC comes to my attention.

My wife screams: “Tony! I am so done with you, a man is suppose to pay the bills, how are we going to raise our baby?"

I am cruising two cars away from the red armored truck. There is a gun port on each side of the hefty vehicle. On Thursdays the tank like vehicle takes a different route than usual. It arrives at the back entrance where there are two armed guards with shotguns. They toss bags of money to each other in to the metal room with a titanium door. I look at my watch. It took fifteen minutes to get here from the warehouse. This is the perfect time to hit but it is risky, the scenario can go sour resulting in a shoot-out. I do not intend to kill anybody.

My wife is angry at me again. “Tony! What have you been up to all day?” “I’m afraid that you might get hurt. “

I enter the bank to withdraw. Susan slides me the bills. The manager is talking to someone, with the shiny keys on his waist. I listen in with my hearing aid. The voices are amplified as my ear canal receives the voices. They are talking about receiving a load of cash, next Thursday, late afternoon. The armored truck makes two left turns passing the supermarket on that day, arriving around four pm.

I slap my forehead. I forgot to pick up milk and bread.

The exit to the highway is two stop lights away. I open the yellow pages and found the address to the closet police department. I drive over to the address. The response time is roughly twenty minutes to the bank. This town needs to be rezoned.

“Tony! We need to move to a smaller house, I can’t take care of the up keep myself!”

The weather tomorrow is sunny and then in the late afternoon there are heavy showers. They are now using the new model impalas. I go to the car dealership and speak to the sales man about the speed at which the Impala drives.

My wife angrily washes the dishes, “You Deadbeat! We are about to lose our car!”

It is Thursday, Approximately 5 PM. The sun illuminates the gray bank. We wear suits and ties with a Kevlar Vest underneath. We cock our nine millimeter hand guns and conceal it. We sync our watches as we walk calmly to the bank as we always have for the past year. Eight feet away from the bank we pull down our ski masks and draw our handguns. The urban landscape fades away as we squeeze in to the bank. The camera immediately zones in on us while the time elapses.

I jump on to the counter. “You all know what this is!” As I aim at the regulars and manager, everyone shrieks. “Everyone on the floor Now!” “Close your eyes and this will be over with!” I go up to the manager. “Open the vault Now!” He complies as I notice him quivering as he presses a button under the desk triggering the alarm. A loud repeating bell goes off piercing in to our ears. We have roughly twenty minutes before we are surrounded by cops.

The two of us go in to the vault, open our bags and the both of us start filling up the bags with stacks of cash. I shout: "Two Minutes!" The last guy is out in the main area of the bank calming everyone down. Susan is crying. He shouts "Three Minutes!" “Do not force us to kill you, stay calm before you know it you will be with your loved ones!” “Take deep breaths!” "You are FDIC insured! You will not lose any of your money!” He shouts: "Four Minutes!" My iron sites follow Susan as she runs for the door. I lower my weapon.

As we walk out the camera follows us. The urban landscape fades in as we cluster out the door. There is a crash of lightening that spread across the sky like the veins on our wrists. It starts to rain. Our watches display "Five minutes, three seconds" a new record.

We jump in to the car with our duffel bags. The driver drives at the speed limit. We take off our masks and smile, not saying a word. We exit on to the highway. Twenty miles away, in a remote location, we dump the car without closing the doors and jump in to another car and drive off.

My wife is shocked that I came home early for once. She kisses me and makes me dinner. We make love that night for the first time in months. The next morning I put on my suit and tie.

She turns on the TV: "A string of bank robberies have hit the Tri State area. There are no leads."

I leave the house to go to work, knowing that I am doing what I do best. I drop my wallet and it flies open hitting the floor spreading open, as the shield shines, displaying Special Agent Tony FBI, Bank Robbery Task Force Division.