The Last Time

Kathy took a drag on from her cigarette. It had been a long day. She pressed down as hard as she could stand on the new hole in her liver as a steady stream of blood came oozing between her fingers. She couldn’t feel them anymore but she could see her feet splayed out in front of her crossing the hall floor. Her back was to the wall in more than one way. Things had been awful all day. First she hadn’t gotten breakfast at Chubby’s, then there had been traffic on the I-35, and to top it all off, Anton hadn’t called her back. Then of course she had started smoking again which was just great. She looked down the hall where Mark had run and wondered if he would be back soon. 

There was a banging on the door at the other end of the hall. The door began to flex under the force upon it. Her fag hand dropped to the .45 sitting next to her. She might be able to lift the gun high enough to get off a few rounds if they came through. She closed her left eye to see if she could even aim. 

It wasn’t fair. She loved Tuesday morning breakfast at Chubby’s Diner. If Mark hadn’t called she would have been there with Anton that morning.  As it was she had had to make another lame excuse. He didn’t pick up his phone but she was sure he was mad at her. Otherwise he would have called her back by now. Things would have been simpler if she had just told Mark no. She had the feeling that no could be her new best friend. If they made it out of this bank, it sure as hell would be.

If she didn’t spend so much time taking Mark around to these heists, then she might have time to have real friends. There would be no more high speed chases on the highway or fiery car crashes. Then there would be time to have breakfast at Chubby’s everyday. She could see Anton all the time and she wouldn’t have to make pitiful excuses. 

Kathy took another drag. It was starting to get hard to lift her hand so she just hung the cigarette on the corner of her mouth. Most jobs didn’t go this bad. Usually when she got shot she could still go with Mark all the way to the end. This time though the bullet hit a little too close to her spine which just stole the legs right out from under her. Her head sagged back. It must have been one hell of a safe if it was taking him this long to crack. 

The banging was nearly inaudible over the shouting from the other side of the door. The .45 only had an eight round clip, and she was starting to seriously doubt that was enough to be of any use. Anton had helped her buy this gun. He was worried about her safety since she lived all alone. They had gone to all the firearms safety classes together. They were the best of friends, or they were before today. Now he probably hated her. She always blew him off for Mark, and she didn’t even like Mark. This was going to be it, the last time. Even with as long as she had known Mark it was clearly time to end things between them. She couldn’t just drop everything on a whim to run off and steal from the wealthy with him anymore. Things had changed, she had a real life now. 

When Mark came back to get her she would tell him that she couldn’t do it anymore. Then when they got home she would beg Anton to forgive her. No matter how long it took she would make things right. She looked down the hall as far as her failing eyesight would permit. Maybe he wasn’t as angry as she thought. Maybe a simple sorry would work, though she wasn’t above bribery. 

A shot ricocheted off the floor at her feet. Apparently they had made it through the door. She pulled the .45 over her leg but it was too heavy to lift. She angled it the best she could against her leg and fired. A torrent of lead hit all around her. 

“Looks like it’s time to go,” Mark said as the barrage ceased momentarily. Kathy lolled her head up to look at him. She hadn’t heard him come up beside, the man was like a fucking ghost. He was all draped in black even wearing a mask over his face. She never got to wear a mask. It didn’t seem fair. 

He pulled Kathy over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry and began to run down the hall away from the onslaught. Her head bumped up and down and she could just make out a flood of guards coming through what was left of the door. When he put her in the passenger seat of the car hidden a safe distance from the bank, he was ginger with her poor battered body. He checked the hole in her stomach carefully, but quickly. He placed a fresh cigarette between her lips with a smile, but her eyes stayed cold. 

He got into the driver next to her, “What?”

“It’s the last time,” she said, not bothering to hide her scorn as her face leaned against the window. 

He nodded solemnly, “Last time.”

“Cross your heart?”

His hand crossed quickly over his chest before he pulled the car out from hiding and joined traffic heading for I-35. 

There was a buzzing in her pocket and Mark pulled the phone out and held it up in front of her face. Anton’s name scrolled across the little screen. At her quiet, excited gasp, Mark flipped open the cellular with one hand.

Anton’s chipper voice came over the speaker. “Hey, buddy, I’m sorry I missed you at breakfast this morning. Are you having fun with, Mark?”

“Yeah,” she choked, pressing hard on her entry wound. “Loads.”

They rolled down the highway listening to Anton’s inane chatter about his day. None of it was accusatory, or mean. Traffic was still terrible on I-35, but at least Anton didn’t seem to hate her. Maybe it wasn’t such an awful day after all.