Money Over Everything

Chapter 3

We've been robbing small stores for a few months. We take cash from the registers and whatever else they have that we need at the time. It's the only thing that's allowed us to be able to eat proper meals or wear proper clothes lately.

Jordan and I's dad hasn't worked in twelve years. He's been collecting social assistance checks that he blows on booze. Ali and Chance's parents are addicted to gambling, so any money they bring in goes straight to the slots.

We just got sick of not having even the bare necessities. Jordan worked part time at the grocery store but barely brought in enough money to feed us, let alone save up for his car. My dad managed to get me fired from every job I ever tried by coming in drunk and making a scene. Ali and Chance tried to get jobs, but their parents owe so many people money that they've only been given the option to work off their parent's debt, instead of getting paid the money that they deserve.

We tried the honest way, we really did.

The first place we hit was the supermarket. Loaded up our houses with food and a few cartons of smokes. From there we hit the clothing store, gas station, hardware store, and now we are ramping up for the gun store. We need to start getting more cash. We go through the registers at the stores, but there's never much money left in them.

Once we have the guns our plan is to rob the local bank. It will be our first daytime job, but we have no choice since that's when all their cash registers will be full.

We each have our own little role in the jobs. Jordan is the driver, Chance picks the locks, and Ali and I take care of any cameras and load the bags with whatever we decide to take. Our town is so small that the stores don't have much for security besides cameras and locks.

Once we rob the bank, we're going to skip town. It's the first step to getting as far away from here as possible.

Our plan is to get the guns tonight, and then hit the bank tomorrow. We're going to use the money from the bank to get us a place in a town an hour away. Jordan drove there one day and checked it out, there's a few banks that we can hit. It'll be easier for us to stay under the radar there as no one knows who we are.

We've realized we'll never get anywhere living in this awful town, and we don't want to be stuck here like everyone else we've seen that has tried to leave. Our dream is to move to the city and start over. Ali, Chance, and I will go back to high school, and Jordan will try to get into College. It's the only way we'll ever make something of ourselves and become more than just more wasted lowlife's from Crownley county.

It's painfully ironic that in order to not live the rest of our lives as lowlifes we need to first become lowlifes.

Jordan and I get back to our trailer and head inside. Dad is asleep on the couch with a bottle of rum in his hand. I sigh and click off the TV, shaking my head at Jordan. He gives me a small smile and heads into the kitchen to make us supper.

"Damien was asking about you again." He teases.

"Oh goodie, tell him to meet me by my locker on Monday and I'll break his other hand."

He lets out a small laugh and then brings supper to the table, we eat in silence. I can tell he's nervous about tonight. I'm nervous too but I know we can pull it off. We finish eating and put our dishes in the sink, as the dishes clank together we hear Dad groan. We quickly look at each other and he flashes me a wink.

"Want to race?" He whispers.

Before I can answer he takes off running and I follow right behind him. I go to get in front of him and he gives me a playful shove as he gets to his room first and closes his door. I get into my room and quickly lock the door behind me. I can hear dad stumbling around in the kitchen, groaning and talking to himself. I just sigh, throw in some headphones, and lay on my bed to try and pass the time.