Tropical Heist

The Huddle

I had made up my mind, and thought of the many ways in which I could make this happen, but I definitely couldn't do it alone. I was going to need some help, but who to turn to with such a sensitive topic. It wasn't really that clear cut after all, because how do I just go up to some one and say, "Hey, do you wanna rob a bank with me?" It was almost worse than asking a crush out in high school. This time however, it wasn't just the embarrassment that I was risking, but my freedom.

There was a white board on my bedroom wall, just above the desk. The desk served as a battle station for all my planning. It was already cluttered with sticky notes from my last big idea, well it wasn't so big because I was still broke, and the white board was filled with scribbles. It was all an accurate representation of what was going on in my head. I needed to start a fresh, so I swept the table clean lumping all the books onto the floor. Just doing this set my mind in motion again. The cogs were turning and I started thinking about the team.

There were a few guys like myself living on hall, but I hadn't decided how I was going to go about selecting the correct batch of folks. They not only needed to be hungry, but they needed to add value. This wasn't the run of the mill, get in be aggressive and get out. I needed this to be as clean as possible, with no attention drawn to the bank during the heist, and certainly no casualties.

I  had identified six people that were all in a a somewhat similar situation as I was, four guys and two girls. All I needed however, was just three people. They all met the requirement of being hungry, having that burning desire to succeed, but hadn't the money to make it all work. I quickly eliminated the girls, not because there weren't capable, but none of them were mutual friends with any of the other guys, heck, they weren't even friends with each other. There was no way me spending time with those girls would look even barely natural. I wanted the story to pass the Bechdel Test, but I guess it wasn't to be. 

Of the four guys, Mark and James were the two I wasn't too sure about. Mark had a girlfriend who he told everything. She was filthy rich, helping Mark with most of the financial troubles he had, much to her father's dismay of course. So in reality, Mark wasn't as desparate as the rest of us. James, well, the entire hall has heard rumours of a criminal past and he has an extremely hot head.  Rory was simple really. I have seen him function under pressure, it's amazing really. If I had to rate him on a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate him a Jordan B Peterson. Besides functioning well under pressure, Rory was very proficient with computers and anything tech. His twin brother, Ramon was just a part of the package. You wouldn't see one without the other. He was studying to be an engineer and spent his time away from school working in an auto shop. I figure we would need transport anyway, so why not?

Mark's predictability and his financier made James the most obvious choice of the two. James however had a short fuse, which was definitely a concern. I have honestly never seen James behave irrationally, but he's had a few run-ins with other residents and a nasty fight just weeks before. As I mulled over this I looked out my window and there was James strolling by. I just couldn't help but laugh to myself. Imagine a 5' 9" scrawny fella, weighing maybe about 120 lbs taking a 250-pounder and sweeping the concrete with him. This guy really knew how to hold his own. He wasn't strong but his never say die attitude it was just what was needed.

A pair of twins and the unpredictable Jimmy, it wasn't a match made in heaven, but with Jimmy being Jamaican just like myself and the twins being inseparable, there was no way it would look suspicious if we started making moves together. Now that I had identified these three guys I had to decide what was the best way to get my message across. Was I gonna speak to them individually, or was I gonna have a team huddle. I then thought to myself, "Would it be a team huddle if everyone didn't know we were a team as yet?" It often boggles me the things that I expend my thoughts on. I thought maybe it would be wise to have one meeting with the purpose of laying it all out, but how do I get everyone to be in one place without making it weird.