Broken (29 page)

"And what about those two big
thugs that work for Bogdanovic?" I asked. "What if they come into
the office while we're stuffing the money and jewellery into the
rucksack? You can't fight them."

"They're usually in one of the
rooms at the back of the shop." Garth said. "And I know that each
time I was there the door was closed. I remember hearing the sounds
of a snooker game so they probably spend all their time playing
snooker. I don't think that they'll be a problem."

"Garth." I said. "That's crazy!
I'll admit that your plan up to there sounds feasible but you can't
ignore those two thugs. And if they do come in, they'll kill
us!"

"Slow down." Garth said. "This
isn't the final plan. It's just the beginning. We're not going to
do anything until we've covered all eventualities. What we'll have
to try and find out is if the door can be locked and if the key is
in the lock on the outside. If it is then I can quietly lock the
door as soon as I've knocked out Bagdanovic."

"And how can
we find that out?"
I asked.

"You may have to make two visits
to Bogdanovic so that you can find that out on the first visit."
Garth said. "Then, if the door can be locked from the outside,
we'll do the robbery on your second visit. But remember; we're not
going to do this unless we're both satisfied that we can pull it
off. So, like you did today, try to find flaws in the plan. That's
the only way we'll perfect it."

***

I thought
about Garth's plan to rob Mister Bogdanovic constantly, trying
desperately to find something that would force him to abandon the
scheme, but eventually I had to admit that it all hinged on whether
on not we would be able to lock the door leading to the back of the
shop. I also resigned myself to the fact that I would have to visit
Mister Bogdanovic to find this out. In a way I felt more
comfortable with this.
At least I would
be familiar with the shop if and when we did do the robbery and I
wouldn't be going into it blindly.

I was also
tempted to tell Garth after my visit that the door didn't have a
key on the outside, even if there was a key there, and that we
would therefore have to abandon the scheme. But then I realised
that I was vaguely in favour of the plan because, if it did come
off,
our financial problems would be
over, at least in the short term, and that by the time we needed
more money we would both have good jobs.

We discussed
the robbery plan every day at least once, going over the plan in
minute detail and trying to find any flaws that would lead to
disaster. Eventually we were down to two stumbling blocks;
the possibility that someone would come to the
shop while the robbery was in progress and would test the security
gate as people were prone to do with these barriers and the
possibility that we wouldn't be able to lock the door leading to
the back of the shop. We finally solved the first
problem.

"I'll print
out a
"CLOSED" notice on my computer that
we can stick on the glass front door which I'll close after I'm in
the shop." Garth said. "Because it's a glass door, closing it won't
be noticeable."

"Yes." I said. "Just be careful
not to leave any fingerprints on it or the door."

Now the whole robbery depended
on whether or not we would be able to lock the door into the back
of the shop and to find this out I would have to visit the shop and
apply for a loan. I went to the supermarket and bought a cheap
black wig and a pair of cheap reading glasses with the lowest
magnification available.

"I'll have to
leave the lenses in." I said. "If I wear glasses without lenses in
them Mister Bogdanovic will quickly notice this and become
suspicious. Glasses like yours that don't have lenses in them are
okay if people are only going to see you from a distance. And as
I'll only be wearing them while I'm in the shop I'll easily be able
to see with them, especially with such low
magnification."

"Good thinking." Garth said.
"And with enough make-up you can change your complexion, making it
either darker or lighter than it really is."

Garth coached me on what I
should say to Mister Bogdanovic during the meeting.

"Just keep
everything simple." he said. "Act like you don't know anything
about finance. As we won't be paying back the loan, or even taking
it, it doesn't matter what interest he charges you. Ask for a two
thousand Rand loan to be paid back in ten days time and if he asks
what you need the money for tell him that it's to help your sister
who's in hospital and is coming out in three day's time and can't
pay the hospital fees until she gets back to work a week after that
when she'll be able to pay you back. You're going to lend her the
money in the mean time. And your sister's name is Anne. We'll also
have to make up a fictitious name for you as well as a fictitious
address. We can use the address of one of the apartment blocks in
Hillbrow. Tell him you live on your own and you don't know where
your parents are. He'll also ask you for your identity document.
Look in your handbag and tell him you've forgotten it at your flat
but that, if he does agree to grant you the loan, you'll bring it
with you to the next meeting. We'll also have to buy a cheap cell
phone and a SIM card and some air time as he's bound to ask you for
your cell phone number. After the robbery we can throw the 'phone
away."

"What should I wear?" I
asked.

"Wear
something sexy." Garth said. "That will make Bagdanovic focus on
your body and not your face. I wouldn't be surprised if he's a
dirty old man and will spend most of the time leering at your
legs."

***

As I walked along the pavement
towards Mister Bogdanovic's shop I felt as if everyone was looking
at me and could see that I was wearing a black wig, had layers of
face powder on my face to lighten my complexion, had heavily
blackened eyebrows and long artificial eyelashes. My short skirt,
high heels and low-cut blouse also embarrassed me. I kept reminding
myself that there was an important purpose to what I was doing and
if it came off the rewards were be very satisfying.

I reached the shop with the sign
"LOANS" on the window and pressed the buzzer attached to the frame
of the door. As I waited for a response I put on my black-rimmed
glasses. A hugely overweight middle-aged man appeared in the
entrance. He was completely bald with pale blue watery eyes and
thick blubbery lips.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I'm interested in taking out a
loan." I said as the man's eyes wandered over my body as if he was
undressing me.

The man
nodded and disappeared from view. A few seconds later the lock on
the security door clicked open. I pushed the gate open and walked
into the shop. The security gate, which was controlled by a steel
spring closed behind me with a loud click. I glanced quickly at the
door in the back wall and, even with my glasses on, I could see the
key in the lock. A movement to my left attracted my attention and I
saw Mister Bogdanovic staring at my legs from the door of his
office.

"Come into my office." he said
and as I entered he smiled at me. "I'm Rocky Bogdanovic."

Mister
Bogdanovic moved to the chair behind his desk and sat down. He
pointed at the two visitor's chairs.

"Sit down." he said, still
leering at me.

I sat down and put my small
handbag on my lap.

"So, you want to borrow some
money." Bogdanovic said. "How much did you have in mind?"

"Two thousand Rand." I
replied.

"And how long will it take you
to repay it?"

"Ten
days
." I said.

If the man had had eyebrows they
probably would have risen halfway up his forehead.

"As quickly as that?" he
asked.

"Yes." I
said. "My sister Anne is in hospital and will be coming out in
three day's time. Until she can go back to work a week after that,
she won't be able to pay the hospital's bill. I'm going to lend her
the two thousand Rand to help her pay the bill when she leaves the
hospital and she'll pay me back as soon as she gets back to work.
Then I'll come here and pay you back."

Rocky Bogdanovic nodded.

"Have you got anything that you
can use as surety?" he asked. "Jewellery, coins or furniture?"

"No." I said. "My furniture is
all still on hire-purchase and I don't have any jewellery of
value."

"Okay."
Bogdanovic said. "As you don't have anything to use as surety for
the loan it means that I'm taking a big risk by lending you two
thousand Rand. The interest will therefore have to be twenty per
cent for the ten days. Do you understand what that
means?"

I nodded.

"What's your name?"

"Maureen Daniels." I said.

"Where do you live?"

"In a one-bedroom flat in the
Sunset Mansions in Kotze Street in Hillbrow." I said.

Mister Bogdanovic wrote all this
information on a pad on his desk.

"How old are you." he asked.

"Seventeen." I said.

"Give me your
identity book
" Bogdanovic said holding
out his hand.

I opened my
hand bag and scrounged around in it as if I was looking for the
book. I looked up at Bogdanovic with an embar
rassed expression on my face.

"I've forgotten it at my flat."
I said. "If you do agree to lend me the money I'll bring it with me
when I come to collect the money."

"Okay." he said. "But without
the identity book I cannot lend you anything. Do you
understand?"

I nodded.

"Is there
anyone that can vouch for you?" Bogdanovic asked.

"No." I said. "Both my parents
are dead and I don't want my sister to know that I borrowed the
money to help her."

"Where do you work?"

"At Steers in Randburg as a
part-time waitress." I said.

"You travel to Randburg from
Hillbrow every day?"

"Yes." I said. "Times are tough;
as I'm sure you know. I have to take whatever I can."

"Do you have a cell phone?"

"Yes." I said
and gave him the number of the 'phone that I had just
bought.

"Okay."
Bogdanovic said. "I know that I'm taking a bit of a chance here but
you seem like an honest person to me. But I'll have to keep your
identity book until you've repaid the loan. You know the terms of
the loan, so when do you want the money?"

"In two day's time." I said.

"Okay. Come
back here the day after tomorrow with your identity document and
I'll lend you the money." Bogdanovic said.

I stood up and Bogdanovic
hurried round his desk. As I walked to the door of the office I
felt his hand on my back.

"A pretty
girl like you shouldn't be working as a waitress." he said. "I'll
see if I can find you a better job. Would you like
that?"

I walked out
of the office without saying anything, my skin crawling from his
touch. I glanced quickly at the door to the back of the shop to
assure myself that I had seen the key in the lock. It was
definitely there. The lock on the security door clicked and I
pulled it open.

"Be here in two days time at ten
o'clock." Bogdanovic said. "I might even have a job offer for you
by then."

I nodded and stepped out onto
the pavement.

***

"What a
horrible man!" I said as I walked into the lounge and sat down on
the couch next to Garth. "You were quite right about him being a
dirty old man. He leered at me the
whole
time I was there. If he's ever asked to describe me, the only
things he'll only be able to describe in detail are my legs. He
never stopped looking at them."

"What about
the key?" Garth
asked impatiently. "Was
it in the door?"

"Yes." I said. "I saw it in the
door as soon as I walked into the shop. And just to make sure, I
purposely looked again on the way out."

"And the
interview?" Garth
asked.

"It went just
as you said it would." I replied. "Bogdanovic took down all the
information that I gave him and then he told me to come back the
day after tomorrow. But, what's worrying me, Garth, is that he's
bound to send someone to check on the address that I gave him. What
do you think he'll do when he finds out that I don't live
there?"

"I think it
will make him all the m
ore determined to
see you in two day's time." Garth said. "He'll probably want to try
and intimidate you and force you to either work for him or have sex
with him. But, before you get frightened, remember that he won't
even get a chance to accuse you of anything. The fact that you gave
him a wrong address means nothing. If everything goes according to
plan I'll have knocked him out within minutes of you walking into
the office. And by the time he comes round we'll be long
gone."

"Of course!" I said. "I hadn't
thought of that."

"I'm going to
come into the shop about thirty seconds after you've gone in."
Garth said. "I don't want him sitting at his desk where he'll see
me crossing the entrance hall to the back door. He's got to have
his back to me."

"What I can
do is drop my open handbag when I'm in the middle of the office and
Bogdanovic's still behind me." I said. "I'll make sure that some of
the contents of the bag fall out. Then, while Bogdanovic's helping
me pick up the things and leering at my legs, you'll be able to
close the glass door with the "CLOSED" notice on it, cross to the
back door and lock it, and still get to the office before we've
picked up everything."