Tropical Heist

Ho Ho NO!

Zoe jumped, she was surprised and I could tell because the concrete bench shook as soon as my as all my attention was now focused on her.

"What is it Steve?" she said, the perkiness from her voice now vanished, it was almost as if fear had taken hold of her.

"Christmas vacation, we can start during the vacation," I said, "Jimmy and the twins usually stick around, I am not going home this year, it's just you, but you're from Trinidad. We can meet up over the holidays."

"But why would we be hanging out over the Christmas break? Wouldn't that still be a bit suspicious?" she queried with a puzzled look plastered on her face.

"No one else would be here and besides, look!" I said and I pointed towards the notice board.

There was a notice posted there, it might have gone up just before the weekend or it could have been there longer, but I was just seeing it for the first time. It was advertising the "Adopt-A-Student" initiative that the university promoted every year. The University was a regional institution with a huge percentage of the students being citizens of neighbouring islands. While many could afford to go home every holiday, some of us usually spent the Christmas break in Trinidad. The university usually hosted a Christmas dinner or party for the students and then encouraged local families to adopt a student or few. 

"Steve, what does that have to do with anything?" she queried with the puzzled still fixed on her face.

"Zoe, it's the 'Adopt-A-Student' initiative that they host every year. Adopt a student or few..." I looked at her waiting for some sign that she understood where I was going, and still there was nothing. "Zoe, YOU can adopt a student or maybe few!" I said with a big grin on my face.

"Oh! But I still don't understand, how is that going to help?" she looked at me with utter confusion.

"Zoe, if you go in and submit your name, I think you can list the students you want to host. We all live on the same hall, and we already know each other, so it wouldn't appear out of the ordinary if your family was assigned to host us. If you host us, then it gives us a reason to become chummy when the new semester comes around. After all, we'll be here for five whole weeks." I explained.

"Not a bad idea, but I would have to run it by dad, he doesn't really like new faces in the house," she looked at me with a little smirk. Something which we both agreed was quite understandable

My phone buzzed just as she finished her sentence, it was Jimmy, he was responding to the call I made to him earlier, "Weh you deh? We can talk after mi eat supm," and to be honest, I could almost feel his hunger through the message. I quickly replied telling him to meet me in the courtyard because I had some exciting news.  I turned my attention to Zoe again and we spent the next 15 or 20 minutes, heck it could have even been 30 minutes talking about God knows what. We were just engrossed in conversation while we waited for Jimmy.

Jimmy soon appeared in the courtyard, and looked quite content with himself, maybe eating a large breakfast would make anyone happy. He greeted us with a big grin on his face and a shout, "Yaaaaaooooow!" 

"Alright Popcaan, easy!" I said as Zoe and I both laughed, "Wah you so happy 'bout?"

"Mi cya just have a good day?" he asked, as though he was peeved we were querying his, "I got some good news from mother just now."

"Cool, wah she a--"

"REDjet is flying to Jamaica for Christmas!" He exclaimed.

The smile on his face was so bright, and to be honest I should be smiling too, because that means I can afford to head to Jamaica for the break. REDjet is a low cost carrier, much like Ryanair, and at that time I could get round-trip tickets to Jamaica for well under US$200.00, which was unheard of. A one way ticket normally runs anywhere between US$250 to US$350. He was still yapping away in excitement, so much so that I doubt he had the chance to look at me or Zoe as yet.  I already had my phone in hand scrolling through fares on the airline's website, it was so unbelievable, a Christmas break where I could fly home without feeling guilty. The fares were so attractive that I almost forgot about the conversation I just had with Zoe.

I had turned my attention to Jimmy again, and he was still rambling on about his trip home and how much he was gonna eat. He listed just about every local dish he could think of and listening to him made me yearn for home. Zoe's looked at me, she seemed a bit embarrassed to be be sitting there while Jimmy rambled on, especially when she knew we were about to rain on his parade.

Jimmy's face was still lit up as he proclaimed, "Ackee and saltfish, a dat me a go eat first you know, and then me a go box down two--"

"Jimmy," Zoe said in her most soothing voice, "Umm, could you slow it down a bit."

Jimmy didn't hear a word and continued to ramble on, and Zoe tried to interrupt again, "Jimmy, are you hearing me?"

"Wapm?" He asked in a tone as if he was upset that she dare interrupted him.

"We have some news Jimmy, a way to get things up and running," I said, "We have a plan"

"It couldn't wait until me done?" He snapped

"Well Jimmy, that's the thing, the plan, ummmm--"

"Steve just talk bredda, don't bother dragging things out!" Jimmy demanded.

"Well Jimbo, I think you might want to hold out on the trip. We just walked through a solid plan to help get us all in the same place without an suspicion. And well, it has to happen over the Christmas break," I explained with a very solemn tone.

Jimmy's facial expression was now a stark contrast to what it was just moments before. He wasn't angry or anything, but you could sense some disappointment in him. He didn't say anything just yet, he just looked at me with a "What the fuck do you mean?" kind of stare. I was  a bit anxious to hear what he had to say and I think Zoe's anxiety was right up there as well, I could feel her legs shaking with impatience against the concrete bench.

"Jimmy, say something," Zoe pleaded.

All I could hear was a few grumbles, Jimmy definitely wasn't happy about this new development. The look on his face was not pleasant, but he finally opened his mouth and said something audible, "So when were you gonna tell us about this? You and Zoe just gonna plan everything now?" he grumbled

"Well, it only came to mind this morning, it's not as if we started planning this ages ago. I haven't even gotten a chance to tell the twins about it yet," I explained, "I was planning to tell you when you got out here, but the news you had to share was much more important.

My stomach felt really hollow as I gave him a quick rundown of what we thought was a pretty solid plan. The plan was good, but I felt like I was robbing Jimmy of a bit of good that came his way. I mean, maybe he didn't need to be there with us, we could fill him in over the phone or maybe give him the details when he comes back. The thought of  money we were hoping to walk away with at the end of all this sat to the very back of my mind. Money is good, but it can't pay for the missed opportunities.

"Steve, you see the price of the ticket dem? It's unreal!" Jimmy exclaimed, "When we gon see supm like this again?"

"Jimmy, to be honest I don't know, but this is the best we could come up with. I mean, we can probably work around it, that's what things like WhatsApp and Skype is for," I reassured him while trying to lighten the mood, "I must admit though, some bun and cheese would be nice."

Jimmy let out a light chuckle, but Zoe and I knew it was just to help make us feel better. Jimmy had a seat, but he didn't say much while we sat there. He managed a few chuckles whenever Zoe cracked one of her stale jokes  but that was it really. He was relaxed, but he wasn't happy with what he just heard. As Zoe yapped on I zoned out and went deep into thought, I had a sinking feeling in my gut, I felt as though I betrayed Jimmy. 

The day started with us solving one problem and it's gonna end with us creating another. Imagine, this wasn't even 24 hours after we decided to move ahead with this job and we already started hitting road blocks. How were a bunch of university students who have never even as much as gotten a speeding ticket gonna rob a bank? How?