VALERIE

Thirty Nine

"My balaclava is staring to chafe." Valerie complained lifting her ski mask up to her forehead, Nick rolled his eyes in annoyance as they walked hand in hand.

He had a black bandana around his neck, and in his free hand he had his bottle of gin but in the back of his pocket sat the revolver.

"We're like Patricia Arquette and Christian Slater in True Romance." Valerie mentioned slinging the backpack she had behind her back, Nick lifted an eyebrow at her in confusion,

"Oh my God you've never seen True Romance? It's a fucking classic."

Nick shrugged, "I didn't really watch movies or TV as a kid, I was always studying or wondering if my dad was going to feed me, and as a teenager I just started doing bad shit." He said with a nervous laugh,

Valerie frowned, "Well as a kid I was always getting evaluated with different psychiatrists."

Nick didn't reply a word. Instead they kept walking in silence and then suddenly they were in front of the beat down liquor store, the lights were turned on inside and the parking lot was empty, the inside looked empty too with only a clerk behind the counter.

Standing across the street Nick heightened the black bandana to the bridge of his nose, and Valerie lowered her ski mask past her chin to her neck.

They looked at eachother before going in for a kiss, the fabric of there masks touching still made them feel electrified.

Rushing across the street Nick took out his revolver, and shoved open the door allowing himself and Valerie to go in quickly, the clerk behind the counter lifted his arms in surrender as Nick inched closer with the revolver to his face, he was an older man with a scraggly gray beard and a lazy eye.

"The fucking register open it." Nick demanded pointing the gun quickly at the register then back at the mans face.

"Don't shoot please." The man pleaded in a thick southern accent.

"Then open the fucking register." Nick repeated, his finger on the guns metal trigger.

The man was practically shaking, he glanced over at Valerie who stood next to Nick, he looked at her eyes and she gave him a wink.

"Do it." Nick demanded calmly again, this time he touched the mans forehead with the revolver,

"Please don't shoot." He implored as the visible beads of sweat formed on his head and trickled down his face slowly. A lump enclosed within his throat.

Nick pulled back the hammer of the gun, "Open it."

Slowly the old man's hands slid onto the register where he pressed a few buttons and it opened right up, making a short ringing noise.

But just then as Nick reached with his free hand to get the money, as quickly as the old man could he pulled out a double barreled shotgun from under the counter, Nick still having his revolver in his hand stared briefly at the shotgun before shifting his eyes to meet the old mans.

The old man cocked his head to the side, "Give me one mighty good reason not to kill you two."

Valerie froze up, the man was completely concentrated on Nick, she shuffled around swiftly, her eyes trained solely on the mans stance.

"Fuck." Nick said, his voice sounding defeated yet amused, he licks his lips and slowly puts down his gun, just then Valerie lunges at the mans hands and he drops the shotgun onto the floor, he curses under his breath, Nick quickly grabs Valerie's hand and the two charge out, only a gun shot being heard and shattering glass behind them, it was hard to run through tall brushes and dry grass but they managed, laughs and all, adrenaline and fear.