We Told Six Lies(59)

He said it with such optimism. As if my mother’s presence at the dinner table was the start of something new, something better.

“Sure,” I said.

And then I left with my mother’s knife.

A knife I planned to use.

I hopped in the car and pulled out of the driveway. My knuckles whitened as I gripped the steering wheel and drove to Steel and then parked down the street. I knew Duane would be coming out soon.

When he appeared carrying the bag, I readied myself. Chad was an idiot for allowing Duane to drop the money at the bank. He should have paid for a pickup service, but that would have cut into his bottom line, and his only aspiration in life was for the owner to pat him on the back and invite him over for dinner twice a year. A dinner Chad would talk about for days because Fitz has an indoor pool. A goddamned indoor pool with heaters and pink LED lights and a surround sound system and…you guys have got to see it.

I followed Duane and thought about you lying on a hotel bed covered in cash like they show in the movies. You’d be undressed and reaching for me, and I’d bend you over because that’s what you’d want after what I did for us. Fear mixed with adrenaline, and I felt myself grow hard.

Duane parked near the bank slot at the mall. Near, but not near enough. He should have pulled right up to the deposit pull, but he didn’t, because he’s a cocky bastard.

I left my car on the street and softly closed the door behind me. Then I ran through the lot, ducking between the cars. Duane walked slowly, keeping his eyes on the phone in his hand.

I shouldn’t have been this excited, but I couldn’t stop thinking about my training at Steel. It was Duane who showed me how to run the register and how to do the paperwork for a new patron and set up their keycard. He did this thing every time I had to ask a question twice. He laughed. Every single time, he’d give a short, sharp laugh. Maybe he didn’t mean it the way it felt, but it still humiliated me.

It would be me who laughed this time.

When I was no more than ten feet away, I stepped out from between the cars. Glancing around, I ensured no one was watching, and then grabbed him from behind. Shoved him to the ground. Before he could make a sound, I leaped on his back and held the flat of the knife against his cheek.

“Don’t say a word,” I hissed, ensuring my voice sounded different.

Duane rolled over and looked up at my mask. His eyes filled with horror as I grabbed the bag from beside him, stood, and kicked his phone away.

I danced from foot to foot, thinking I needed to do something else. Say something else. Guilt flooded me as I watched a dark, wet spot bloom between his legs.

“Don’t do anything, man.” His voice shook, and it broke something inside me that I figured was unbreakable. “I’ve got a girl.”

I’ve got a girl, too, I thought to myself. And we need this.

As much as I hated Duane, I didn’t like seeing him this way, scooting backward along the pavement, his eyes swollen with fear, his hands reaching for—

He pulled a gun.

“Oh, shit,” I said and turned to run.

“Cobain,” he yelled.

And I stopped. Like an idiot.

“I fucking knew it. What the fuck, man?”

I turned around and watched as Duane leaned over, put his hand on his knee, and caught his breath as he kept that gun trained on me.

“Did you think you’d get away with this shit?” he asked. “Why do you think Chad has me take the cash instead of you?”

He waved the gun as if to answer his own question, and my stomach lurched.

He tipped the gun toward himself. “Throw the bag over here and drop that pitiful knife.”

I did both, and after he picked up the bag, he held it in front of his crotch.

He stood there staring at me for a long time. So long that I finally said, “This was a mistake. I’m just going to go. I’m sorry. I didn’t—”

“Shut up, I’m thinking,” he yelled, and then spotted a woman walking to her car beneath the mall parking lights. She didn’t look in our direction, but he still lowered his gun next to his leg.

He watched her until she got in her car, backed up, and pulled away. Then he looked at me and said, “Okay. Okay, here’s how this is going to go. Lucky for me, this is the biggest haul of the week. So I’m going to take a few hundred, and tomorrow you’re going to change your name on the close-out sheet so it looks like you did the last count.”

“Fuck,” I said under my breath.

“Chad will think you stole it, but he won’t be able to prove it. You’ll be canned, and I’ll be a grand richer. Win, win.”

“Duane,” I tried.

He lifted the gun a second time. “There’s another way this can go.”

I raised my hands and turned to go as Duane watched. I glanced back once and saw him scrambling for his phone that had fallen beneath a car, then caught the sound of a zipper being pulled.

I walked faster.

I was almost back to my dad’s car, wondering how the hell I screwed this up, when I heard Duane say, “Say hi to Molly for me. I’m sure she’d be real proud of her dirtbag boyfriend now.”

I almost turned back.

I almost forgot about the gun and charged him. Almost took the cash and what was left of his pride. But instead, I climbed in my car and sped away. As I hit the highway, I slammed my fist into the steering wheel.