Superheroes 3

10

The talk with his parents was brutal. Eden informed them about his drug-dealing friend before she left. At least she kept her promise about not outing him.

For the next hour, he had to sit and listen to his parents go on and on about his bad choices and the consequences of dealing drugs. He could see how disappointed they were at him and he couldn't take it.
"I'll just move out then!"

"Don't be ridiculous. You're not going anywhere." Niall said.

"Try and stop me." Arthur said and got up and rushed to his room.

His parents followed him to his room.
"Arthur! We're not done discussing this!" Niall said angrily.

"I know you both wish that I wasn't such a failure!" Arthur shouted while he threw clothes in a bag.

"We wish you made better choices. Dealing drugs is illegal!" Niall said.

"We love you, Arthur." Claire added.

Arthur just snorted.
"I'm staying at a friend's tonight."

"No! You're staying here!" Niall argued.

"Go to hell! I hate you!" Arthur shouted and pushed past his dad and ran out of the house.

Niall's eyes teared up. Claire came over and hugged him.
"We have to go after him." Niall said.

"Let him sleep at a friend's house tonight. He needs some time to cool off and we need to come up with some sort of plan." Claire said.

"Yeah, okay." Niall agreed.

"He doesn't hate you. He's just angry. We did let Eden follow him. He has the right to be upset." Claire said.

"Yeah." Niall sighed. He felt awful about it but they had been desperate.

In the meantime, Arthur had reached Darren's apartment. He heard music and mumbling voices from inside but knocked on the door anyway.  It took a while before Darren opened the door. He didn't exactly look happy to see him.
"Uhm, hi. Can I stay here for a couple of days? I have to get away from my parents."

"Fine, but then you'll help out tomorrow." Darren said. 

"Alright, help out with what?" Arthur asked as he stepped into the hallway and dropped his bag on the floor.

Darren didn't answer. They walked into the living room where two other guys were sitting. Arthur had met them before.
"Guys, Arthur will help us tomorrow."

The two men exchange a look.
"Is that really smart? He's just a kid." One of them said.

Arthur was offended but Darren stood up for him. Sort of.
"We need a fourth guy.  He can handle it."

"What if he turns us in?" the other guy questioned.

"He won't. Then I'll tell the cops that he sells drugs." Darren shrugged.

Arthur stared at him. He was hurt. Would Darren really do that to him? Then he smiled at him. Did that mean that it was just an empty threat? Arthur didn't know what to think.
"We're robbing a bank." Darren grinned.

He must be joking? The two other guys made a high-five. It wasn't a joke. Oh, God. Arthur felt scared. He was way over his head in this.
"How?"

"Let's fill him in on the plan." Darren said.

It was a crazy plan. Clown masks and guns. It wasn't original or thought through. Arthur wanted to run away. He took a deep breath. He couldn't do that. He wanted to be the villain, right?
"Which bank?"

"London City Bank." Darren answered.

"Why that one?" Arthur questioned.

"It's close." Darren shrugged.

Arthur picked up his phone and googled something.
"So is the police. There's a police station five hundred meters from that bank. If we're going to pull this off we need to consider the response time."

"Oh, right." Darren said and scratched his head.

Arthur checked a map.
"Here, Metro Bank. The response time should be at least ten minutes if someone makes a call. How do we make sure that won't happen?"

"We wave our guns?" One of the men chuckled.

"Maybe we should be a little more organized than that? You two make sure that one of the employees doesn't hit the panic button. I will collect everyone's cell phone and Darren you get the cash. In and out in less than ten minutes. Okay?"

"Okay, yeah, that sounds like a great plan. I knew I made the right decision bringing you in on this." Darren grinned proudly.

"Right. If we're gonna do this we should either go when they just open or when they're about to close. Least amount of people to keep track of." Arthur said.

"When do they open?" One of the guys asked.

"Eight." Arthur answered.

"Who's awake that early? Nah, I vote for closing." The guy chuckled.

"Me too." The other guy said.

"It's better to go in the morning. Less traffic." Arthur said.

"We'll do it in the morning then." Darren said.

"Seriously? It's so early. Why do you let this kid make all the plans?" One of the guys whined.

"Because he has the better plan. If you have a problem with that you know where the door is." Darren answered.

"Fine." The man huffed and made no intention of getting up.

"Give him a gun." Darren said.

One of the men opened a bag and handed Arthur a gun. He just stared at it for a moment but when the guy started to wave it impatiently in front of him he took it. His hand was shaking.
"It's loaded. Do you know how to use it?" The man asked.

"Uhm, yeah." Arthur lied. He has never held a gun in his hand before.

"Alright, let's get high." The man grinned.

"Uhm, big day tomorrow. I'm just gonna go to bed, if that's okay?" Arthur said and tried to keep his voice from shaking.

"Alright." Darren answered as he reached for a joint.

Arthur got up and walked to Darren's bedroom. He closed the door behind him and looked down at the gun in his hand. He removed the magazine after fumbling with the gun for a while. He took a seat on the bed and took out the bullets. He looked around for a place to hide them before he opened the drawer on the nightstand and hid them under some paper. There was no way he would bring a loaded gun with him.

He put the gun on the nightstand and lay down on the bed. He stared at the ceiling and he could feel tears prick his eyes. He was in so much trouble but he couldn't back away. Darren counted on him.

He was close to tears. He thought about calling his dad and asking for his help but he had just screamed that he hated him. He had seen how much he had hurt him with his words. He hadn't meant it.

He didn't get any sleep. Darren must have passed out on the couch because he couldn't hear anything in the living room anymore. He went through the plan over and over again.  He googled floorplans of the bank while he tried to convince himself that he could do this. He was a villain!