Reel to Real (16 page)

“That’s not a good way to play it, sister,” Esther snapped. “I don’t have time for that kinda shit.”

She glared at Mylinh.

Mylinh glared back.

“Get the fuck out of my way then,” Esther said, brushing past her and hitting the eject button. As she pulled out the video cassette, she heard footsteps behind her.

S
hit. Now what?

She wheeled around to see Zach stroll into the room and then walk right past her. She couldn’t believe it. Esther knew Zach from previous visits to the store, and liked him. He had always been very polite and knowledgeable. Esther had a brief moment of doubt. Maybe the whole idea was wrong.

Can’t second guess now,
she thought. G
otta do it.

Zach appeared not to notice Esther or her gun. He whistled a peppy tune as he plunked a set of keys down on the desk and turned to walk out. He stopped abruptly when he heard a woman clearing her throat.“You better stay where you’re at buddy,” she said. “Don’t go anywhere.”

“What’s going on?” Zach said. He turned toward the voice.

“This is a robbery,” Esther replied, holding the gun higher so he could see it.

He froze.

“Stand over there with her.” Esther motioned Zach toward Mylinh. “We need to wait here … quietly.” She again raised her gun to remind them she meant business.

Part of the plan was for Shane to bring the remaining employees to the back so they could tie them up before grabbing all the money. Esther concluded Zach must have stumbled into the back room on his own.

The three waited in uncomfortable silence. Eventually, Esther heard a woman say, “This is where it is.” She looked over her shoulder to see Jowanda unlocking the bathroom door and waving Shane over.

But Shane did not step toward the bathroom door. He stepped toward Jowanda.

***

“I don’t really need the bathroom,” Shane said, producing his BB gun. He watched with satisfaction as Jowanda’s face froze. “What I need is … for you to go in there.” He pointed towards the office and instructed her to line up against the back wall next to Zach and Mylinh.

Once inside the room, Shane assumed command, his attitude authoritative. “Where’s the safe?” he yelled at Mylinh.

She didn’t respond, keeping her head down, fidgeting with the cross on her neck.

“Answer me,” he demanded.

Zach and Jowanda looked at her and shifted uncomfortably.

“Up front,” she eventually said without lifting her head.

“Up front?” Shane raised his eyebrows. “Okay then, let’s go up front.”

Mylinh didn’t budge. Gun in hand, Shane stepped toward Mylinh. “I said, take me to your fucking safe.”

“I don’t have the combination,” she said, now looking him straight in the eye.

He glanced at Esther, who shrugged her shoulders.

Shane turned back to Mylinh. “I’m sure you know how to get the combination.”

Standing rigid and defiant, arms crossed, Mylinh shook her head no.

“You understand, don’t you sweetheart,” he said, “that you’re gonna open up that fucking safe for me whether you like it or not?” Shane’s eyebrows pinned together. “Do I have to spell it out for you?”

Mylinh did not answer. She crossed her arms again, making no attempt to accommodate his demands.

Shane had not anticipated opposition. At all. Especially from a female. Why was this manager trying to foil his robbery? It wasn’t her money. In his other robberies, the managers hadn’t fought back. They were cooperative. Why was
she
trying to undermine his plan? He looked her up and down then decided he needed to be more forceful.

“Listen ...
bitch
. You’re not doing yourself any fucking favors here. If you don’t do what I fucking tell you to do … and do it now, your buddies are gonna get hurt. Bad. And it’s gonna be your fault.”

Mylinh held his gaze at first. But then she glanced at her shuddering coworkers and finally dropped her shoulders.

“That’s better.” Shane said with a huff. He pulled her out by the arm and shoved his hand between her shoulder blades, pushing her forward toward the front of the partially darkened store.

***

Esther let out a small sigh of relief when they left the back office. She also could not believe the manager was not cooperative. Every place she had ever worked had always advised their employees to comply with any would-be robber’s demands. It was safer, they said. Esther agreed with that philosophy and felt Mylinh was wrong.

Deciding she needed to keep her eye on two situations at once, Esther moved so she could monitor both Shane and the kids, straddling the back room door frame.

She looked over at her young captives. “Okay, I need you guys to set yourselves on the floor over there and shut the fuck up,” she said, gun pointed at them.

“And do yourselves a favor,” she added, in a rough voice. “Don’t fucking argue. It’s not worth it.”

The minutes ticked by in silence. Esther and her captives cocked their heads whenever the occasional and barely audible conversation drifted in from the front of the store. Esther couldn’t really make out anything that was said. Eventually Shane and a grim-faced Mylinh returned. Shane head-motioned Esther over.

“There’s only one car in the parking lot,” he said in a low voice. “Ask these kids who’s waiting for a ride. Ask ’em who’s coming.”

Esther pushed a strand of hair away from her face and asked Zach and Jowanda if they were expecting anyone. Jowanda shook her head but Zach chewed on a thumbnail and looked pale.

“My grandparents are coming,” he said at last.

Esther’s mouth twisted. “What?”

“My grandparents are coming to pick me up,” Zach repeated soberly.

As he spoke, Esther heard a rumble in the parking lot outside and looked in that direction. Through the storefront’s plate-glass window she saw headlights going from bright to black. She frowned.

“Do they drive a white car?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Shane shifted his stance and leaned his mouth into Esther’s ear. “You need to go outside right now and try and get in that car with those people. Don’t let none of ’em come in here. And for sure don’t let ’em leave.”

Esther hesitated.

“Right now,” he said.

She nodded, trying to remember her own advice about cooperation.

Before she left, Shane asked for the surveillance tape.

In robot mode, she handed him the video cassette. After one last look around, Esther shuffled outside to deal with the grandparents, leaving the employees alone with Shane.

The mood of the room darkened considerably with her departure.

***

Outside, Esther approached a white Buick Skylark, the grandparent’s car. She rapped on the driver’s window and a gray-haired woman wearing smallish wire-rimmed glasses and a brown cloth jacket turned toward her, eyes big.

With a phony smile, Esther pointed and swirled her hand in little circles, motioning for the woman to roll down her window. The woman squinted a long moment before opening the glass an inch.

“What is it?” the woman asked, still squinting.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” Esther said, hunched over the small opening, teeth chattering in the cold. “The manager told me I had to wait outside ’til her and Zach finished the money count and I was wondering if you could help me out.”

“How is it we can help, dear?” the woman asked, pushing up her glasses.

“Right. Well, it’s kinda cold out here and since the heater in my car is broke, I was wondering could I wait for them in your car … ’til they’re done?” Esther faked a grin and threw in extra teeth chattering for effect.

The old woman hesitated a moment and then smiled cordially, reaching behind her to unlock the back door. “Of course you can, honey. Come on in. It’s real warm in here. You can visit with us while you wait. We love meeting new people.”

Esther slid in to the back seat, rubbing her hands together, seemingly for warmth. An older gentleman in the passenger seat turned and faced her.

“I’m Pauline and this is my husband George. We’re Zachary’s grandparents,” the woman said, extending a thin hand.

“Marion,” Esther said. She shook Pauline’s hand, then George’s.

“Nice to meet you Marion,” Pauline said graciously. “Have you known Zachary long?”

“Oh, for a while now,” Esther replied.

“Well, he’s a great kid. A really great kid. He just graduated from high school last year and he’s been working at the video store full time to try to make some money to go to art school. He’s a wonderful artist. Just last week he sent his resume to Disney World.

“Zach’s been living with us for a few months. To be closer to his job,” Pauline continued. “We just love having him. He helps us out quite a bit.”

“Yeah, he seems like a good kid,” Esther said. “He doesn’t drive?

“What’s that you say?” Pauline said, putting her hand to her ear. “I didn’t hear you.”

Esther leaned closer. “I said, does Zach drive?”

“No, no. Hasn’t got around to it. That’s why we’re here ... to take him home. Some people say it’s a bother coming this late at night, but it’s no bother. No bother at all. We just set our alarm and come down and get him. We want to make sure he gets home safe and sound.”

Esther tipped her head back and worked on forming her next pseudo question. From where she sat, she could see the store interior, but because the grandparents were turned to face her, they couldn’t. Inside movements caught Esther's eye. First, she saw the rest of the overhead fluorescents go dark. Then, she saw the outline of Shane and Mylinh returning to the front of the store — this time to the cash register. Shane appeared to say something, then Mylinh knelt on the ground, out of view. Esther couldn’t tell what Mylinh was doing, but thought she might be accessing the safe again. In any case, one minute later they retreated to the back office.

Esther didn’t see anyone else come in or go out.

“So how long has Zach worked at this store?” Esther asked, forcing a smile, as she tried to ignore the action inside.

“How long? Since last summer I believe. He likes working here. He's always talking about the girls he works with.” Pauline reached over and put her arm on George’s shoulder. He flashed her a loving smile.

“The girls are great,” Pauline said. “Jowanda and Sheila are young, they’re still in high school. They go to Highland High, right around the corner.” Pauline pointed west. “Jowanda was on the basketball team this year and she was a Homecoming princess, too. She’s a beautiful girl. And the manager, Mylinh, is a very serious person. About a year ago, she came over here from Viet Nam … to get away from the war. She’s a tough cookie and a hard little worker, but nice. Real nice.”

As Pauline spoke, Esther heard something. Something that made her stomach ball up and her mouth go dry. She heard a succession of jarring, booming blasts, then a pause, and then another series of very loud bursts, coming extremely close together. She would later describe the noise as sounding like someone taking a hammer and beating it hard on the concrete.

Esther searched the good-natured faces of the Pauline and George McDougall, trying to determine if they heard what she heard. They showed no signs of reacting to anything out of the ordinary. Pauline was now talking about George’s career in the railroad.

During the ensuing moments, while trying to comprehend what was occurring inside the store, Esther could only murmur canned responses.

“Uh-huh,” she said to all of Pauline’s statements, her mind a million miles away.

At first the entire situation was too much for Esther to process. She was overwhelmed, numb. The half of her brain that understood what had just happened would not explain it to the other half that didn’t.

Then it hit her — she knew what the noises were. She grabbed both sides of her face.

She had just heard a series of gunshots in quick succession, with pauses in between. Her mind spun out of control. What was going on? More importantly, what could she do about it? She scrutinized the grandparents again but they still appeared unaware. Pauline kept chatting.

Esther didn’t know how she knew, but she knew Shane had done the shooting. She also knew gunfire was not part of the plan. In fact, guns weren’t part of the plan. Not real ones anyway.

Esther belatedly realized that Shane had his own plan and she had better figure one out too — quickly.

She knew that the grandparents were in imminent danger. And most likely she was, too. She had no weapon to fend him off if it came to that. Her BB gun wasn’t going to stop anyone even if it was loaded, which it wasn’t. Obviously Shane had gone over the edge and both she and the grandparents needed to leave immediately. Even though it was possibly not in her own best interest, she thought she might nee to go the police.

But in the split second before she could act, before she could get the words out of her mouth to warn the grandparents, to tell them to start the car and drive away fast, a wild-eyed, over-the-top Shane Harrison ran out of the video store. He stood on the sidewalk, swiveling his head rapidly from side to side, hyperventilating. He held the TEC-9 in one hand and a clear plastic trash bag containing a lot of cash in the other.

“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.”

H
ENRI
B
ERGSON

Time stood still for Esther. Questions flooded her brain. What was going on? Why did Shane have the TEC-9 in his hand? Why were his eyes going in two different directions? Had he gone insane? Why was he so ramped up? He hadn’t been like that a few minutes ago.

She peered inside the store and saw no movement. Why was her heart pounding so loud? Esther wasn't exactly sure what had just happened, she just knew it was bad.

***

The McDougall's still had their heads turned away from the store, facing Esther. They did not see Shane stuff a bag of cash through the Fiero's open passenger window. Nor did they see him replace the ammo clip on the TEC-9 with a fresh one. They didn’t even see him run over to the driver’s side of their car.

Until he got there.

“Open up,” Shane shouted. Pauline looked at the tall man with the gun in his hand and then fearfully at George and Esther. She hesitated. He began beating on the window with his fist.