I remember how it all started. My wife was working late at the hospital, and I had gotten a flat tire on the way. I tried to hail a cab, but no one in this city ever stops. Except, I found a random stranger who flagged me down. He opened the door for me, and I stepped in his large, black SUV. “I’m Ricky,” he said as I closed the door behind me.
“Anthony, but you can call me Tony.”
“Tony, huh? I like that name.”
Ricky was well dressed, a three-piece suit, the jacket draped over the back of his seat.
“Where you headed, Tony?”
“UMass Hospital. The wife’s a nurse, and she’s been out all day. I just wanted to bring her something to eat,” I said. “Tuesday is left-over night.”
Ricky chuckled approvingly. “Good man. Happy wife, happy life, yeah?” he asked. I nodded in reply. At the next light, Ricky reached back into the back seat and pulled a paper-wrapped package. “Hey, since you’re headed to the hospital, could you drop this off with a man named Leo? He’s waiting for it, and I’ll even throw in a C-note for you. I have to hightail it to my niece’s birthday party.”
I sat stunned for a moment. A hundred bucks to drop this package off somewhere I was already going, for such a kind man? And I had been between jobs for so long while my wife worked fourteen-hour days. “For a guy like you, Ricky? No problem,” I said.
Ricky clapped me on the back and pulled promptly up to the front of the hospital. “Good man,” he said, handing me a crisp hundred-dollar bill. “Leo should be on the second floor, room 203. Can’t miss him.”
I stepped out of the car, took the package, and nodded to Ricky as he drove off. Leo was the next stop, and Ricky was right. Leo was a wall of a man, and he approached me the moment he saw the package. He grunted in thanks, and I was on my way to my wife’s station, where I dropped off her food. She wasn’t on break so I left it in the fridge, and texted her from the cab I finally managed to get back to our little apartment. I sat down in my recliner and sighed, dozing off to the news on channel five. I woke up a few hours later. The news cycle had to be over, but the casters were still on the air. Apparently, one of the UMass hospital’s doctors had been shot. As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Two spooks in suits were on the other side, claiming to be FBI. Within moments, their demands stopped as two gunshots rang out. Carefully, I stuck my head out the door, and there stood Ricky and Leo, dapper and covered in blood.
“Hey Tony, looks like you’re stuck with us. Welcome to the job,” he said dryly.
Leo smacked me over the head with something, and the next thing I knew, I was in an ornate living room.
“Get dressed,” Ricky said. “Time to earn the boss’ favor.”
I was handed a suit, tie and mask, all of which fit me shockingly well. Too stunned to argue, I did what Ricky said, and he and I stepped into his big, black SUV.
“Don’t worry,” Ricky said, handing me a pistol. “First time’s always the hardest. Just, don’t miss, okay?”
After a short ride, Ricky and I stepped out of the car. In front of us was the Commerce Bank on Main. I knew what was going on. “Ricky, no,” I said. “I don’t want to do this. I’m not involved!”
Ricky cocked a shotgun from somewhere on the other side of the car. “Your face is all over the news Tony, from the UMass killing, where you handed Leo the gun.” He said as he stepped around the car. “Like it or not, you’re involved.”
He shoved me towards the front door of the bank. It was my first heist. Later I learned, it was my first job offer in months, and seeing no other option, I took it. Now, I have a well-paying job, I’m a good husband, and every Tuesday is still left-over night.
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