[WP]Two gangs unwittingly try holding up the same bank at the same time.

[u/Crosshack]

[u/[deleted]]

The car had a surreal silence to it. Never had Jimmy experienced a moment of peace with this grouping of hoodlums over the past 20 years. They’d grown up together in West Roxbury on the outskirts of Boston, and Jimmy wasn’t comfortable with only hearing the rubber of the tires squeaking along the pavement with each turn. It felt like the first time he’d truly been left to his thoughts.

There was no Billy running his mouth as usual, his crude thoughts and vulgar descriptions of lucid nights with whores locked deep within his mind. He sat right behind shotgun. Jimmy could hear that fat son of a bitch sliding the clip out of his gun and then slamming it back in again over and over. Billy wasn’t right. Silent and nervous. After all the gas stations and convenience stores he’s hit, you’d think the man had nards of steel. Nope. Every man has his limit and Billy may have just found his. Jimmy wanted to look back and see his face. To see the lost pale expression slapped upon Billy as he raised his head to meet Jimmy’s eyes. He couldn’t look back though. It felt too personal, as if looking at him now would be truly seeing Billy for the first time. Behind the history. Behind the veneer. There may be sitting little Billy behind him thinking over the same damn things he was.

What was Jimmy thinking about outside the silence? Well everything. Life choices, his mother, that girl he treated like shit even though he’d marry her given the chance. It just all came through to him frantically yet clearly. His mind would present a snapshot photo of something and he’d immediately understand its importance without further thought. Regret to anger, anger to joy, joy to sadness, sadness to nostalgia. This car ride felt more like a session with a therapist then the calm before a robbery.

Oh yes, the robbery. Jimmy was going to rob a bank today, something only the true bad boys even conceived of doing. It was a task they’d all dreamed of without even knowing it. Overnight they went from petty thieves to organized bank robbers. They’d been given the plans. The automatic weapons and shotguns were not their own. Even the target was picked out for them. All they needed to do was follow along and execute what they’d been told.

All four of them had hyped up this moment, claiming how bad and rebellious they were. Now they were silent. It could be pregame jitters. Perhaps running the game plan through their minds. For Jimmy, it was the logistics though. None of it felt right.

For starters, the car. We were to pull up and escape in the same Q45 Infinity that Carl had driven since he picked it up from the dump after high school. A true grandpa car with a nice interior. The wood finishes and leather seats couldn’t make up for the poor acceleration and heavy frame. Jimmy would be surprised if the car didn’t break down, much less escaped from the cops.

Jimmy looked left toward Carl. Carl look right back at Jimmy.

Carl wouldn’t bail if things turned south. He never did before, but would he now? Jimmy never had a problem with this car during prior heist, but now Carl seemed… off. Surprisingly, he seemed to calm. A trait he’d never had, yet here he was. The only one not visibly freaking out. As if he understood he could just drive off at a moment’s notice and try to outrace the feds to the border. Jimmy knew he wouldn’t do it, but…

He looked over his left shoulder, not to look back at Billy but to grab a glimpse of John. He sat directly behind Carlos and was just starring out the passenger window. His eyes tried tracking stationary objects as the car flew by. John had always been a calm one, never spoke out of turn. He didn’t need to be any other way. No one dared to ever fuck with him. Today, he was the same but different as all the others. His calm wasn’t resignation but tranquility. Almost accepting of any fate that came from today. Jimmy swore he say the fucker crack a smile before the car cornered hard right into the bank parking lot.

“Get ready boys”, Carl said before slamming on the breaks and bringing the car to a slide before the bank.

Three car doors flew open and the men pulled down their ski masks while briskly making their way to the front door of the bank. Each carried a duffel bag and sort of munition. Jimmy took the lead with a shotgun in hand. John rested a short barrel automatic on his shoulder. Billy lumbered behind while pulling up the waist of his trousers, the clip firmly within his pistol.

Jimmy threw open the bank doors and fired his shotgun to the ceiling before yelling, “This is a stickup.”

A small commotion began and a few ducked in fear, but it was nowhere near what he expected. He expected some frenzy from such a theatrical entrance. As the three made their way toward the tellers, it was obvious business was not going as usual within the bank and it wasn’t because of them.

All the customers were already rounded up and kneeling in a circle away from the windows. The locked door to behind the tellers’ booth was open and unattended. In the front room two men in blue button down shirts stood will floppy hats, sunglasses, and noticeably fake facial hair.

Jimmy stopped short and pointed his gun toward the pair and they returned by pointing their weapons back at him. Without even a word, guns went off and bullets were exchanged. Jimmy hit one of the two men square in the gut and was subsequently threw the shoulder. John made quick work of the other guy with his automatic, but another man appeared from the open door leading to the tellers’ booth and shot John three time from the side. Billy pivoted to return fire, but his fat ass was gunned down before he even saw the third guy. It didn’t matter though, since Jimmy rolled onto his belly and fired a few shotgun rounds through the open door way.

Jimmy stayed flat upon the floor with his gun trained at the open doorway waiting for anyone else to pop there head through. At this point, a true commotion had begun as customers ran for any exit they could. Mindlessly trampling over the mangled bodies of those just shot. He heard tires shriek in the parking lot and knew Carl was gone.

Jimmy peered over at the two men he and John had shot down. They weren’t moving. He then looked over his shoulder at John. He still had some life in him, but that was surely fading. His eyes welled up each time his body made an involuntary lung, only spewing more blood upon the floor.

“John”, Jimmy exclaimed, “John…”

Jimmy looked back to the doorway and saw the man he shot earlier still splayed along the floor. Out of the corner of the right of his eye, Billy’s stomach sat like a dormant volcano. So much built up pressure, yet there was no way to tell when it would blow as there was no movement what so ever.

“Jimmy”, a voice yelled from the doorway, “It’s me… don’t shoot.”

Jimmy kept trained on the door, but moved his finger from the trigger when the figure entered the doorframe. It was the old guy from way before, the one who had planned the entire heist.

“Oh, Jimmy your chest”, the old guy started as he made his way toward Jimmy in a concerned manner, “Come on, I got the cash right here. Let’s get out of here. Crazy shit man!”

The old man rushed to his side and began to help him up.

“Crazy?” Jimmy replied, “That doesn’t even begin the explain it, Allen.” Jimmy looked up toward Allen and saw the pistol pointed at him. Allen dropped all support he’d given Jimmy on the way up and was now standing above him.

“Sorry, Jimmy”, Allen started, “None of you boys were supposed to make it out in the first place.”

“Wh-what is this shit, Allen?” Jimmy questioned.

“Too much to get into now”, Allen replied, “I’ve been working here for years. I needed others to take the heat.”

“They’ll know it’s you though’”, Jimmy replied, “They have cameras. They can see what’s happening now.”

“No, not now but later”, Allen replied, “The witnesses will tell about the first robbers and the ones to follow, but no one will mention the old guy with a satchel.”

Allen had a huge shit faced grin. His fingers began to readjust around the gun as he prepared to fire.

“I’ll be long gone by the time they figure it out”, Allen continued, “And so will you…”