Bank Job by James Heneghan Read Free Book Online Page B

wasn’t courteous, like me. Or amiable. Sometimes he was quite despicable.

NINE
    APRIL 6
    Holdup number two was the Toronto Dominion Bank. There were only a few people in the bank— three customers and maybe four bank staff.
    It was raining. I was standing outside the bank entrance, heart hammering same as last time. I had my foot in the door as Billy slouched up to the counter in his disguise. I could hear his harsh, scary voice but couldn’t make out the words.
    The teller was young. She freaked out.
    â€œHelp!” she screamed. “Help!”
    Everyone froze, including Billy.
    Then he turned and ran, pushing through the door and dumping his disguise into my shopping bag. It all happened so fast I didn’t have time to think.
    As Billy disappeared around the corner, my legs went weak and I almost fell to the ground. But I took a deep breath and pulled myself together. Had anyone seen Billy ditch his disguise? Expecting to feel a heavy hand on my shoulder any second, I clutched the shopping bag to my chest and walked casually—though I was shaking like a paint-mixing machine—to the children’s toyshop where Tom waited.
    Without a word, he grabbed my bag and quickly stuffed it into his backpack. Then he headed toward the SkyTrain station. I looked around. Everything was quiet. People were walking by like normal. No angry mob running out of the bank.
    I headed for the train station, too frightened to look over my shoulder.
    Half an hour later, we met in Billy and Tom’s room.
    Billy grinned. “Was that scary or what?”
    I collapsed into the orange beanbag. “That girl screaming scared me half to death. It was a bummer.”
    â€œFriggin’ bummer!” said Tom, cracking his knuckles. He glared at Billy. “So your plan isn’t exactly foolproof, Billy.”
    Billy shrugged. “I meant foolproof against getting caught. We weren’t caught, were we?”
    Tom sulked. I said nothing.
    Billy said, “There’s not much I can do if someone freaks out. She was a cuckoo bird, that teller.”
    â€œYou looked scary and you sounded scary, Billy,”
    I said. “Maybe that was the problem. It was like a horror movie. What if you just smiled nicely and spoke in a normal voice? The girl wouldn’t have been so terrified and she wouldn’t have screamed.”
    Billy laughed. “But I need to scare them a little,” he said. “Maybe I should pull a crazy face, go cross-eyed or something.”
    â€œIt’s not funny.” Tom slid off his bed and lay on the floor by the window, stretching himself out. “We didn’t make a nickel on that robbery, not one cent. In fact, if you factor in the cost of the wear and tear on our shoes, we lost money.”
    Billy stared at the ceiling and said nothing. He looked relaxed and at peace with the world. Holdup number two had been a failure. But so what? I knew what he was thinking. There was always a next time.
    Tom started jerking his arms and legs, as though trying to shake poison from his limbs. Then he sat up and stared out the window at the SkyTrain tracks. “This reminds me of something my dad used to say.”
    â€œWhat’s that?” I asked him.
    â€œIt’s an old Japanese proverb. ‘Taste everything, but swallow only what tastes right to you.’ And I’m telling you guys, this whole thing tastes downright foul to me.” He pounded the windowsill with his fist then continued staring out the window.
    I couldn’t look at Tom’s slumped, sad back another minute. I went to my own room to lie down and close my eyes. I was shivering. I crawled into bed.
    And worried.
    What were we doing? Where would it end?
    I pulled the covers over my head, the girl’s terrified scream still echoing in my ears.

TEN
    Tom admired and respected Billy. He always had, right from the beginning.
    When Tom first started school, some of the other kids bullied him.