The Fugitive Grandma

Chapter 31 - Johnny's Proposal

“Kid, you’ve got to be joking!”

Stella and Johnny sat in her room at Shady Palms on Sunday morning, several hours after he’d left his father’s house with the .357. The TV in the corner was showing a rerun of a Larry King interview.

“Grandma, I am dead serious. I wouldn’t make this up. I heard Harry talking with his boss about the whole thing.” Johnny’s face was dirty and his clothes disheveled. He had ridden his skateboard back to Shady Palms in the dead of night. “I am telling you, Grandma, I heard them talking about all of it. They have a bunch of money in that room behind Harry’s desk.”

Stella nodded, knowing the boy wouldn’t invent such a story.

“Harry always said it was a supply closet. I’ve heard Hubert and the nurses talking about how he doesn’t let staff go back there.”

“Exactly! They said they get a hundred thousand dollars a month. And they’re cheating on the games. That guy with the Coke-bottle glasses is named Rudy and he works with Lester and Harry. I found the glasses and that white wig in Harry’s desk.”

“So he was a plant. I knew that game last night was fixed. Harry’s got that bingo drum rigged.” Stella shook her head angrily. “The nerve of those rascals, ripping off the residents of their own retirement home!”

“I heard them talk about how they keep it all in cash, Grandma.”

“Of course, they have to keep it off the books so they can keep their charity license and avoid getting investigated.”

“The money will be there tonight. The rumor all around Shady Palms is that Harry goes out drinking the night after bingo. So it’s our chance,” Johnny continued. “We take all the money and get the heck out of here! With a hundred thousand dollars, we can get away and do whatever we want.” He tried to keep his voice low, but could barely contain his excitement.

Stella frowned, piercing Johnny with a skeptical stare. “Kid, you’re talking about burglary! You’re talking about breaking the law. We ain’t crooks like Harry and Lester. We don’t do bad things in the world. That’s not who we are, Johnny.”

“That’s exactly why we should do this, Grandma! They are the bad guys, not us. We get them good and make sure they can’t cheat anyone else. And we take enough cash so we can get away from here forever.”

“I don’t know, Johnny.”

“Yes, you do, Grandma. You’re the one who taught me to stand up for what’s right and what’s wrong. You’re the one who taught me that you have to fight and protect yourself when someone tries to take your life away. You used to have your own life, Grandma. And they tried to take it away from you. All of them: Great American Superstore, the doctors, Harry and Lester. Even my dad was part of it. I found out he sold your house to pay off Lester Cummings, and that’s why he moved you in here!”

“He did what?” There was shock in her voice.

“It’s true, Grandma. He sold your house to Lester. I heard them talking about it.”

Stella’s teeth clenched with rage. “Doggone it, Frank! I told him not to get involved in those real estate deals!”

“It’s a crime what the whole bunch of them did,” Johnny continued, building momentum. “And they didn’t just do a crime against you. They did it to me, too. Because when they steal your life, they rip off mine, too, because you’re the one I care about the most.”

“They did take my life away.” Stella set down her coffee cup. She picked up the empty ADAPT bottle, eyeing it like the corpse of a vanquished foe. “They took my pension, my insurance, my house, my gun. They took away my freedom. And they tried to take my mind away with these stupid pills.” She threw the plastic bottle at the TV and it bounced off Larry King. “You’re right, Johnny. It is a crime what they did to me. Maybe they didn’t break any laws, but what difference does that make? A crime is still a crime, no matter what laws they got on the books.”

“We’re not going to let them get away with it, Grandma. I won’t let them take anything else away from you. We’re going to fight back. And we’re not going to let them scare us.”

“You’re right, Johnny. We can’t let them scare us. They try to pump you full of fear so they can shut you down and make you do what they want.” Stella’s face was vibrant and her blood was pumping. She nodded her head and clenched her fists as her old attitude came back with a vengeance.

“Grandma, I want to show you something.” He grabbed his backpack, unzipped the pouch, and pulled out her revolver.

“Johnny, you saved my revolver! I thought it was gone.” Her face glowed with excitement as she held the pistol.

“I finally found out where my dad was hiding it. Ever since my birthday, I can’t stop thinking of how I found this gun in your bedroom. And I always remember Little Red Riding Hood and the two different endings. You told me that in real life, we have to fight back against the wolf. We can’t rely on anyone else to save us. We have to choose our own ending. So now is our chance. Let’s do this, Grandma. Let’s fight back!”

Stella paused for a moment, processing the idea through her mind and weighing the merits of Johnny’s proposal. He could see her working out the details. Johnny knew she’d already made her decision to go along with him, she was just thinking it through, hashing out some of the specifics.