Earthbound by Adam Lewinson

I am so very pleased.”
    I heard Old Pearl’s faint voice say “thank
you Frank” from across the room. She’d finished her business and
had turned toward the door. I saw Frank get a good look at Pace. It
was past time.
    “P-Pace,” Frank stammered. “Suspect you’re
here to make a withdrawal?”
    Old Pearl made it over to the door and Mrs.
Johnson stepped out of her way. “Thank you dears,” she said. And
then Old Pearl was gone. But not Mrs. Johnson.
    Pace didn’t have much of a choice. He started
moving forward with our plan.
    “Yes Frank,” he said with his usual swagger.
“I do want to make a withdrawal.”
    I saw Pace pull back his long brown coat. It
was time to roll with it.
    “It is so very important,” Mrs. Johnson said
to me, “that we all do our very best. I’m so pleased that you
amounted to something.”
    "Mrs. Johnson, it’s funny you should say
that…”
    I pulled my revolver out from beneath my
black coat. She wasn’t looking at me anymore. Just the barrel of my
shiny gun. In one swift move, I flipped the OPEN sign, sidled Mrs.
Johnson out of the way and locked the door. I glanced over at Pace.
The barrel of his gun was directly against Frank’s temple. I’m sure
Frank pissed his pants.
    I didn’t want Mrs. Johnson to feel fear,
though. Especially given my family’s history with guns. I wanted to
reassure her. So I leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Don’t
worry, Mrs. Johnson. I’ll keep you safe. You were my favorite
teacher.”
    She looked me in the eye and I’m pretty sure
she believed me.
    “W-what do you want me to do?” she asked with
a slight quaver to her voice.
    “Just stand close to me,” I instructed. And
she did. Her body was stiff at first. And then, maybe, she got a
little too close. That was interesting. Her body was softer than I
used to imagine.
    Yeah, that’s right. I used to think about it.
So what. I was twelve.
    “I’m not here to do you in, Frank,” Pace
said. “I’m happy for you actually. You got a promotion. Good for
you, you deserved it. I wasn’t very good at banking anyway.”
    “W-what do you want?” Frank asked. He was
stiff with fear.
    “Just step aside and let me open the
vault.”
    “They changed the combination! A-and I’m
n-not telling you what it is!”
    Pace smiled and tapped Frank on the side of
the head with the nose of his revolver. Frank got out of the
way.
    “You know they did no such thing. Bank
regulations. When there’s a change in personnel, headquarters must
send a representative to change the combination on the safe. And
that hasn’t happened yet, has it?” Frank nodded his head yes, but
that slowly gave way to no. “So how many people alive know the
combination? You? And… me?” Frank nodded his head yes. “Down on the
floor Frank,” Pace instructed. “Face down. I’m not going to shoot
you, but my partner would. He wants to, actually. Doesn’t like your
face much.” Frank took a look at me and believed Pace. He leapt
down to the floor and covered his face in his hands. Pace took a
moment to lean down next to him and pried a hand away from his
face. “But I like your face Frank. It’s a good face.”
    “Pace,” I interrupted, “want to get going on
this?”
    Pace nodded, hopped up and headed to the
safe. He turned the dial effortlessly, as if he’d opened the safe a
hundred times. Which, of course, he had.
    As he turned the crank and pulled the door
open, I was a little surprised by what I saw. I dunno, I guess I
expected the safe to be much bigger. Instead it was maybe two feet
deep, with a couple dozen shelves filled with containers of gold
coins. I guess our settlement was poorer than I thought.
    Pace grabbed a couple of shoulder bags that
were resting on a chair behind a nearby desk. He filled one of them
with coins until it was full, and then stepped over Frank’s stiff
body to hand the bag to me. I placed it on my shoulder. It was not
quite as heavy as I’d expected, but I liked it.
    I