Broken (28 page)

"I'm glad." Cindy said. "I'm
also glad that you didn't have to use any violence."

"Yes." I
said. "It went off like clockwork and Mister Whiteside was so
shocked when I gripped him and shoved him into the alley that he
let go of the shopping bag as soon as I grabbed it. And he didn't
even shout for help, he was so shocked. When I got to the far end
of the alley and looked back, he was staring at me with his
shoulders slumped. But what's wrong with you? Aren't you pleased
with our success?"

"Garth."
Cindy said quietly. "Those two old people are broken. Mister
Whiteside arrived back at the depot, walked into the office and sat
down at his desk. He began to cry quietly. Misses Whiteside came
into the room. He told her what had happened. She also began to
cry. "We're ruined." she said quietly. "That's the last straw. The
business is gone and now all the people that work for us will lose
their jobs. We won't even be able to pay them the wages that we owe
them." Misses Whiteside looked at me. "Cindy." she said. "We've
been struggling for almost two years now to keep the business
afloat. Our overheads were killing us. We'd used up all our life's
savings to keep the business going. But times have changed. Dry
cleaning isn't as popular as it used to be. The pressure on us has
been unbearabl
e. And now this. We're
finished; ruined. I'm afraid we won't be able to pay you for the
work you've done for us, so you'd better leave. I'm
sorry."

Cindy looked up at me as tears
began to trickle down her cheeks.

"What are you crying for?" I
asked. "That's life. You win some; you lose some. I'll bet that
their business would have closed anyway. A business that size
doesn't close because it lost fifteen thousand Rand. They're trying
to use the robbery as an excuse. I don't understand you, Cindy.
Yesterday you hated those people and now you fell sorry for
them."

"Garth."
Cindy said. "I've experienced a great deal of despair in my life,
and I'm sure that you have too. But the despair that I saw in those
two old people's eyes today was appalling. We were young when we
experienced despair and were able to recover from it. Those people
are too old to recover from what has befallen them. Regardless of
how they treated me I can't help feeling sorry for
them."

"You'll get
over it." I said. "Life goes on. We've got our whole lives ahead of
us. Now we can pay off our debt to Mister Bogdanovic and start
anew. The future's ours. Let's make the most of it."

Cindy took a deep breath and
smiled weakly.

"I suppose you're right." She
said. "I will get over it. It may take a while but eventually it
will fade into the past."

She stood up from the couch.

"I'll get some beers." she said.
"Let's celebrate."

***

"Your
Honour." Cindy's attorney, James Foster said, addressing Judge
Bester. "My client, Cindy Bedford, assures me that she has
recovered her composure and can continue with her testimony.
Perhaps this is a good time for Garth Gilmore to step down from the
witness stand and allow Miss Bedford to continue."

The judge nodded.

CHAPTER 11

"Cindy. Are you sure that you're
able to continue?" James Foster asked me as I looked at him from
the witness stand.

"Yes, thank you." I said.

***

Garth paid
back the money that he owed to Mister Bogdanovic and I began
looking for another job. But the economic climate had changed
drastically. The housing bubble in the United States had been burst
by the sub prime mortgage crises and this had impacted harshly on
the rest of the world, especially developing countries like South
Africa. Companies began cutting their budgets and tens of thousands
of workers were retrenched. Misses Phillips, from the Child Welfare
Department came to visit us late one afternoon. We sat in the
lounge. I could sense Garth's hostility towards the woman and I
thought that this was unfair. Although she had reprimanded him for
forging the document to the bank and fraudulently withdrawing the
funds, she was only doing he job which was to look after Garth and
his estate until he reached the age of eighteen.

"Garth, your
estate's in serious trouble." Misses Phillips said. "The original
amount of money that your aunt left you in the investment account
earned sufficient interest to cover the cost of the rates and taxes
on the house, the domestic worker one day a week and a part of your
daily allowance of a hundred and fifty Rand a day. The balance of
your allowance had to come out of the capital
amount thus reducing it by almost a thousand Rand a month.
I had hoped that by now you would have found employment and this
allowance could be discontinued. Do you understand?"

Garth nodded, still looking down
at the carpet.

"The
problem
is that the capital in the
account has been so drastically reduced that the interest that it
now earns won't even cover the rates and taxes on the house. For
this reason I'm going to have to terminate the domestic's
employment as well as your allowance. If I don't, all the money in
the investment account will have been used up in about six month's
time. You can see therefore, just how important it is that you find
a source of income as soon as possible. I've spoken to the bank
about a mortgage on the house but they've told me that the only way
that they can do this is if you can show them that you have
sufficient income to pay the instalments."

"As far as the domestic worker's
concerned, that's not a problem." I said. "I'm quite happy to do
the washing and ironing and keep the house clean and tidy."

"That's very good of you,
Cindy." Misses Philips said. "But will you be able to do that and
still do your work at Checkers?"

"I don't work at Checkers
anymore." I said. "At the moment I'm also unemployed. But I'm
looking for a job. It's just that finding work is becoming more and
more difficult. The economy changed for the worse. There just
aren't any jobs that I can do."

"Oh, dear."
Misses Phillips said. "I am sorry to hear that. So now you're both
unemployed. And you're quite right. It is becoming more and more
difficult to find work. But it's vital that the two of you do find
work. It would be a tragedy if you were to lose the house. And even
if you did have to sell the house it wouldn't solve your problems
as you would now have to pay for your accommodation as well as your
living expenses. Even if you invested all the money from the sale
of the house, the interest that it would earn wouldn't nearly cover
your expenses. On top of that, the bottom has fallen out of the
housing market. The prices of houses are falling drastically. There
are far more sellers than buyers. This is a very bad time to have
to sell the house. Garth, Cindy. It's vital that both of you find a
source of income."

"We'll keep trying." I said.

After Misses
Phillips had left
, Garth and I went into
the kitchen and I began preparing our supper. Garth took a beer out
of the fridge and sat down at the table. The water in the pot on
the stove began to boil and I dropped in two handfuls of spaghetti.
I sat down at the table opposite Garth.

"What are we going to do?" I
asked.

Garth shrugged his
shoulders.

"I don't know." he said. "But
I'll think of something."

"Another robbery?" I asked.

Garth looked at me intently.

"Do we have a choice?" he asked.
"Neither of us has a job and the chances of finding one are remote.
And I'm determined not to lose the house."

***

I continued to search for a job
but the task was hopeless. Even temporary jobs like a steakhouse or
bar waitress were almost impossible to find. And, even if you did
find a job as a waitress the earnings were pitiful. Fewer and fewer
people were eating out, and those that did were becoming less and
less generous with the tips that they left.

I also
worried constantly about Garth and his implied intension to commit
another robbery. I loved him dearly and I didn't know what I would
do if I lost him. He'd been extremely lucky with the two crimes
that he'd committed so far and, even though he believed that this
was the result of his good planning, I believed otherwise. All
criminals eventually made a mistake that cost them dearly. There
were just too many inconsistencies in human behaviour so that even
the most meticulously planned crime could easily go wrong. People
were just too unpredictable. Eventually though, I resigned myself
to the fact that Garth would continue to resort to crime to see
himself through life.

About a week
after Misses Phillips had visited us, my worst fears were realised.
Garth and I
were in the kitchen, he was
sitting at the table drinking a beer and I was standing at the
stove with my back to him heating up what was left of the stew that
I'd cooked the previous evening.

"I've found someone that I think
will be a suitable target to rob." Garth said.

I continued to stir the stew,
too disappointed to say anything.

"It'll be a
lot different than the previous two robberies though" Garth said.
"It can't be a grab and run robbery. This time I'll have to rob the
guy on his premises. The problem is that I can't do that on my own.
I'm going to need your help."

I switched off the stove and
returned to the table with the pot of hot stew. I ladled it onto
our plates and took the empty pot to the sink. I washed it and
placed it on the drying rack, all the time conscious that Garth was
watching me carefully to see how I was reacting to what he'd just
said. I returned to the table and sat down opposite Garth. Suddenly
I didn't feel hungry at all. I forced myself to pick up a forkful
of stew, but before I put it into my mouth, I looked up at
Garth.

"What would I have to do?" I
asked.

"Okay." Garth
said. "This is my plan. The man that I think that we can and should
rob is that money lender Bogdanovic. Apart from the fact that I
think that he's a thief for charging such high interest rates, when
I was in his office in connection with my loan from him, I noticed
a large safe. Each of the times that I was there it was open and I
could clearly see that there were stacks of one hundred Rand notes
inside as well as a great deal of jewellery. I've no doubt
whatsoever that there's a small fortune in that safe."

"But how will you get to it?" I
asked. "Are you thinking of breaking into the shop one night? And,
if so, how will you open the safe? Bogdanovic won't leave it open
at night."

Garth shook his head.

"Breaking into the place would
never work." he said. "For the reasons you've just mentioned. And
there'll be a very efficient and intricate alarm system, without
doubt. And, I wouldn't be surprised if those two goons of his sleep
in one of the back rooms at night. No. We'll have to rob the place
during the day while Mister Bogdanovic's there."

"But even if
you wear your ski mask he might recognise you." I said. "And
anyway, how will you get into the shop wearing your ski mask?
Bogdanovic won't let you in; that's a certainty. And what about the
door? Isn't there a security gate? Are you going to try and break
it down?"

"No." Garth
said. "That would never work. And, unless I was disguised, he would
recognise me. And a disguise is far too risky. He would probably
recognise my voice. But, he doesn't know you. He'd let you in,
especially if you were there to ask for a loan."

"And once he's let me in?" I
asked.

"By opening
the gate for you he'll give us a chance to block the lock so that,
when the gate closes, it won't lock itself." Garth said. "And we'll
do that by you sticking a strong piece of tape such as mirror tape
over the cavity that the bolt of the lock goes into when the door
is closed. Thus, the door will close after you enter the shop, but
it won't lock itself. Then, while you and Bogdanovic are discussing
your loan in his office, I'll be able to enter the premises without
him knowing. Then I'll pull down my ski mask and rush into the
office."

"Are you sure that he won't be
able to see you come in through the door?" I asked.

"Yes." Garth
said. "The office is on the left side of the door as you enter and
the doorway can't be seen from it. Each time I visited Bogdanovic
he came out of the office to see who'd rung the doorbell so I'm
sure he can't see the doorway from the office. So I'll be able to
get into his office before he knows that I'm in the
shop."

"And then?" I asked.

"Then I'll hit him over the head
with my truncheon." Garth said. "He's seriously overweight so his
reactions will be very slow."

"And what if you kill him like
you killed that book maker?' I asked.

"I've told you before, Cindy."
Garth said angrily. "We don't know that Mister Eksteen died because
I hit him with the truncheon."

"Okay. I'm sorry I said that." I
said. "So, you knock Bogdanovic out. Then what?"

"Then we take all the money and
jewellery out of the safe, put it into my rucksack, I'll roll up my
ski mask and put on my fake glasses and we'll leave the shop as if
we're two ordinary customers."

"But even if Bogdanovic doesn't
recognise you, he'll know what I look like." I said.

"Not if
you're wearing a wig, fake glasses and heavy makeup." Garth said.
"And as we leave the shop we'll pull off the tape that had
prevented the security gate from locking, so nobody will know how
we got in. But we must be very careful not to touch anything so
that there are no fingerprints to betray us. When you open the door
use your handkerchief. I'll do the same."