Lots of People Say "Holy Moly"

The unexpected alarm made me drop the money.

Stacks of hundred-dollar bills tumbled to the floor.  I shivered.

A lady passed out.  Her hair covered some of the money.

“Come on! Come on,” yelled Dennis.

I picked up the money as fast as I could.

The lady’s head was in the way.

“Holy Moly,” I mumbled.

“Hurry up, hurry up.”

I couldn’t get it all.

The alarm hurt my ears.  No way to stop it.

I glanced back at the lady teller. She saw my awkward exit.

“Let’s go!  Let’s go,” said Dennis.  He looked like he was about to slap me.

We got in the car and drove away.

“What the hell happened?”

“The alarm.  It scared me,” I said.

“You should have just left it.”

 No reply from me.

“Yeah, you should have just left it there.”

We ran through two yellow lights.  Skipped a stop sign.

“You scared me, Ray, you scared me.  We had to get out of there.”

“I know, I know.”

 Dennis shook his head.

“I was trying, man, I was really trying.”

We walked into the motel with bags and suitcases.

I still could not breathe normally.

“That could have been a disaster.”

 I nodded.

“A real disaster. You, need a drink?”

“No, I am ok.”

“I need a drink.”  He poured one. Downed it quickly.

“Man, that was close.  So close.”

I sat on the edge of the bed and then fell back.

My hands were shaking.

I turned my head.  Dennis downed another shot.

He kept shaking his head back and forth.

I turned over, wishing I was in a different room.

I thought at dinner that I should confess to Dennis.

“The teller,” I said.  “I used to date that girl that was the teller.”

“What are you talking about?

“We dated in college.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No, really.”

“Did she know who you were?

“I think she did.”

“How?  Even with a mask?  When was the last time you saw her?”

“College.  Maybe five years ago.”

“How could she have known?”

“She just did.”

“That’s not possible. What makes you think that?  How long did you date her?”

“Couple of months, I guess.”

“In Florida?”

I nodded.

“So, she’s in North Carolina now?”

“People move, Dennis.  People are allowed to move, you know. Damn.”

We didn’t talk for several minutes.

“This isn’t good Ray.”

“What do you mean?”

“She could turn you in.  And if she turns you in, that means that I get turned in.”

“We don’t know that.”

“Why wouldn’t she?  Did you guys take a blood-oath or something?”

I shook my head.

“How are you even sure, she knows?”

I finished chewing my food.

“Holy Moly.  I panicked and said Holy Moly.”

“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

“Because she knows that’s something that I used to say.  I mean, she used to smile if I said it.”

“So, lots of people say Holy Moly.”

“Not really.  Can you name someone?  You probably haven’t even heard me say it much.”

“That’s stupid.”  He chewed on his food.  “Lots of people say that.  That’s not something that would give you away.”

“It’s a feeling in my gut, that’s all. I just don’t feel good about it.  I’m sure she knows.”

Dennis sighed deeply.

Back at the room.  I flipped channels.  Nothing on TV satisfied me.

“Can’t you find a channel and stick to it?”

“Nothing on.”

“Well turn it off if there’s nothing on.”

I flipped it a few more times.

“Just turn it off, will ya?”

I did.

“What’s her name?”

I paused for a moment. “Alison.”

“When’s the last time you saw her?”

“Like I said, back in college.  Maybe five years ago.”

“Did you know she lives here?”

“Well, sort of.”

“What do you mean, well sort of?”

“You ever wonder where your old girlfriends are?  I mean, are you ever curious as to where they ended up and what they are doing now?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Well, I knew she lived up in this area, but. . . “

“But what?”

“I mean, I didn’t know she was a bank teller or anything.  Much less the bank we were going to.”

“Do you still love this girl?”

“I suppose in a way.  Some people you always have feelings for.  I mean old girlfriends never die they just go off with someone else.”

Dennis sighed.

We sat quietly for a few minutes.

“Do you think she’ll tell?”

“Heck, Dennis, I don’t know.”

“What is your gut telling you?  I mean, is she the type of girl that would let it slide for old time’s sake, or is she the kind who would want to do the right thing and tell the police?”

“I suppose the police report is already done.  Too late.”

“What do you think she told them in the police report?  Do you think she told the cops that one of the robbers was an old boyfriend from college?”

“I don’t know.  I forgot to bring my crystal ball.”

“You must have some idea.”

“I really don’t know.  I mean, I don’t know what I would do if it was the other way around, you know. Would I rat her out if she was the robber and I was the teller?  I just don’t know.”

“Would you tell on her if she was the robber?”

“Probably not.”

“Do you think there’s a chance that she would let it slide?”

“I don’t know.  People change over the years.  Who knows?”

“Do you know where she lives?”

“Why don’t you just shut up about this? It’s done.”

“I’m serious Ray.  I am dead serious.  We are talking about going to jail or not going to jail.”

“Dennis, the police report is done.  It’s done.  Either she did or didn’t.  You can’t go change that.

What’s done is done.”

“Yeah, but I can’t live with that kind of vagueness Ray.  I can’t go around paranoid like that.  Thinking the police are two steps behind me because they know who one of the robbers is.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“I am saying that if I knew that she never said anything about you, that I would rest a whole lot easier.  I mean, wouldn’t you?  If she didn’t rat, we could both breathe a lot easier, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well let’s find her.  I gotta know.”

It didn’t take long to find out where she lived.  We drove by several times.

The sun was almost down, but I could still make out my old fraternity tattoo on my wrist.  I wondered if she had noticed that when I reached for the money.  Probably not. I had on long sleeves.  That’s where we first met, at a fraternity party.  She encouraged me to get it.  I don’t think she saw it though.

“What are you daydreaming about?”

“Nothing.”

“You think that’s her car?”

“I don’t know.  People can change cars after college, Dennis.  They can move, they can get various jobs, various homes, various lovers, come on.  How would I know if that’s her car?”

“We could always check the bank parking lot and see if the car matches.  But there’s no way that I am going back to that bank.”

“Let’s get out of here and go back to the room,” I said.

Dennis kept pacing back and forth.  Thinking.  A hurricane could destroy our room and he would still be pacing.

I seemed to be getting less so.  Figuring if the cops hadn’t busted down our door by now, we might be in pretty good shape.

“Let’s go see Alison tomorrow,” said Dennis.

“Why?”

“I just gotta know if she recognized you and told the cops.”

“If she sees us coming, who knows what she’ll do?”

“What do you mean, what she’ll do?”

“I don’t know.  Worst case scenario, like have some guy with her that would beat us up or kill us.  Call the cops on us. It’d be better to just stay away.”

“What if you went to see her by yourself?  That might work.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea either.”

“I think you should.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No, but if it were my old girlfriend, I would check it out.  Show me the courtesy, man.

What have you got to lose?”

Outside Alison’s house, my hands sweated like a first-time date. I could feel my heartbeat.

I pressed the doorbell.  The chime rang through the house.  No other sound.  Maybe she wasn’t home.  Ten seconds went by.  Then I heard footsteps.

The door swung open and my dear old Allison was there, but with a frightened expression that I had never seen before.

“Hey,” I said.

 She didn’t say anything. I didn’t expect her to invite me in.

“Alison, I. . . “. I didn’t even know what to say. “Listen. . . “

“Look, just come in,” she said.

I stepped in sheepishly and she closed the door quickly behind me.

“Why are you here?”

“Did you see me a couple days ago?”

She nodded.

“You knew it was me?”

She nodded again.

I was about to say something, but she interrupted.

“I didn’t tell anybody, Ray.  How could I describe someone who had on a mask?”

“I know, but you knew, right?”

“Yes, . . . but.”

“I didn’t really want to come here, but my partner, he’s been really paranoid lately and well, he thought. . .”

She looked down at the ground.  “I didn’t say anything.”

“Was it the Holy Moly thing?”

She nodded.  “Yes.  But I just knew.”

“How, though?”

“Your manner.”

“My manner?”

“I can’t really explain it.”

I walked across the room. Puzzled. “I just assumed it was the Holy Moly that gave me away.”

“Lots of people say that.”

“Really?”

She nodded.  Her hair looked nice.  And she always dressed well. I hadn’t seen her in five years, yet it was almost as if we had been out together the weekend before.

The next morning, she put her suitcase in the car.  We planned to take turns driving. Montana is a long way. We needed some warmer clothes.  I had some money to buy things.

I started the car.  A few turns from here house and we were on the interstate.

She took hold of my wrist and checked out the old fraternity tattoo.  “Still there, huh?”

I nodded.  “Some things never go away I guess.”