Textbooks & Handguns

A short fiction piece.

Emily wiped the palms of her hands on the front of her pants, anxiety racing through her like electric currents jolting through a wire. It felt as if the air in the car was suffocating her, her lungs tightening with every breath she took. She glanced over at her partner in the passenger’s seat, her eyes glittering with worry. She couldn’t get one thought out of her head as she watched him pull the worn black ski mask over his pale face, how did I get dragged into this?

Her partner turned his head to face her and said with a chuckle, “nervous?” Chills running down her spine, Emily realized that she couldn’t even recognize her partner of three years. “Shut up, Isaac,” she narrowed her eyes, her shaky voice betraying her attempted nonchalant expression. She didn’t want Isaac to know that she so desperately wanted to back out of this, that with every moral cell in her tall, lithe body. Beside her, Isaac’s dark green eyes darted from her to the black duffle bag in the back seat, exceedingly more dominant as the ski mask masked the rest of his face. “You don’t have to do this, you know,” his voice was gentle, yet laced with mischief, “I can just zip in and out of there in ten minutes and all you have to do is sit in the car and wait. Although, you will miss out on all that action…” Emily knew that a smirk was hiding beneath that black fabric and she sighed. She knew that he could manipulate her with the snap of his slender fingers, and he knew it too. “All that money though, just to be handed to you?” he hissed, “shouldn’t you have to work for it?”

She simply stared at him, forcing herself to maintain eye contact for a few seconds before grabbing the second ski mask, this one bright pink instead. She felt her hair fall flat as she pulled it on, her vision encased with pink by the edges of the eye holes on the mask. “That’s what I thought,” satisfaction was thick in Isaac’s voice before he turned and reached into the back seat. As he shifted through the back duffle back, Emily averted her gaze towards the bank across the street.

The glass doors that were guarded by an ill-looking homeless man reflected the sunlight, as well as each car that raced past it. Emily’s lips faltered, her straight face replaced with a frown and premature worry lines on her forehead. Moments later, she turned back to Isaac, more anxiety creeping up on her as she watched him attempt to conceal a handgun in the waistband of his dark wash jeans. Reaching back again, Isaac pulled out another gun, this time handing it to her. Her hands shook relentlessly as she took the gun from his hands. Loosely, she slid it into her waistband as well, praying that it wouldn’t fall out before she needed to use it as intimidation. Emily hoped that she or her partner would not have to use the weapons as she felt its cold metal pressing up against her skin.

With that, they stepped out of their car without muttering another word with each other. The plan was already in place, there was no need to discuss it further. Emily’s feet felt heavy as she jaywalked across the street with Isaac by her side. For a moment, a memory of their first date came back into mind; she thought back to when times were simpler, back when their date nights didn’t involve robbing banks to get extra money for liquor and, evidently, textbooks that Emily otherwise could not afford. She managed to ease her anxiety when she remembered that Isaac had promised that they didn’t have to do this after her school was paid off. This alone gave her motivation, as well as a smile on her face. As they made it across the street, and in front of the bank, Emily called out to Isaac to wait and dug through her pockets.

She tosses a few dollars in change into the plastic cup that sat in front of the homeless man. “God bless,” he said with a smile, flashing empty space where his teeth had rotted away. Even though she knew that God wouldn’t forgive her for such a huge crime, even if she had committed a small act of kindness, giving to the homeless man still eased her conscience a little bit. Isaac rolled his eyes before pushing open the door, here goes nothing. Emily could hear screams, even from behind the main door where she waited for his signal. She wasn’t sure if she found great relief or great anxiety for her sudden loss of nerves, but she continued to wait patiently.

From behind tinted glass, she watched normal citizens dropping to their knees, pressing their shaking bodies against any wall or desk they could find. “What an unfortunate day to visit the bank, huh?” Isaac’s voice was loud and clear, despite their separation. His words were menacing, creating genuine shock in her chest. Emily realized that she was engaged to a psychopath. Her eyes flitted over to his hand as he gave her the signal. Hesitantly, she pulled the door open, the gun burning into the thin layer of skin on her hand. She carefully stepped behind the desks and counters, pulling every paper bill and coin that she could find and slipping it into their black backpack. As she returned, she found Isaac waiting by the door, gripping his gun in both hands which were pointed in the general direction of the others. They stared at Emily with pleaded eyes but she didn’t show any sympathy as she stepped out towards the car. “You’re lucky we didn’t shoot you!” she heard Isaac yell before he joined her outside. Hastily, they drove out of the neighbourhood, thousands of dollars now to their names. They were never seen again.