131 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
131 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
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No Option Left
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Copyright 1987 by G. Daniel Flower, All Rights Reserved.
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Comments on this
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story may be directed to Sparks in the Email or General message
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section, and all such comments are invited.
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No Option Left
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by G. Daniel Flower
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Before you say anything, I know what I did was wrong. I
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freely admit that. Can I but wish that it had never happened.
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Unfortunately, the hands of time continue to move forward,
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turning back for no man.
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I am not a criminal, you know that. Sure, there were the
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few shoplifting incidents when I was younger, but Susan had seen
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me one day. Needless to say, you were hardly amused by the
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situation.
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Other than that I only have a few traffic tickets on my
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record. Up until now I have been proud of that fact.
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It is amazing what a man will do when his back is against
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the wall. I could have lived with paying six hundred dollars a
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month in child support; I could have lived with the three
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hundred dollar reduction in salary due to that transfer; I could
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have lived with the forclosure of the house (after all, I wasn't
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living there anymore because of the transfer).
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But I couldn't live with the fact that Loretta moved back
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with her parents because she wanted to get a college degree, and
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I couldn't help her.
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I know that it is passe these days for a man to feel as if
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he has to be the sole bread winner in a family, but not being
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able to afford to give Loretta what she wanted really hurt. The
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least I could have done would be to take care of the bills so
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she could put her salary towards her degree.
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Here we were, scrimping and saving to makie ends meet, and
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not even married yet. I only wanted the best for her. I tried to
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remain cheerful and supportive when she told me what her plan
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was. I even tried to make it work for a couple of months.
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But again, money problems entered the picture. I just
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didn't have the money to see her every weekend. Lonliness set
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in.
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Things probably would have stayed the same, going to see
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her when I could, just getting by, if I hadn't had that crazy
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idea.
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I never would have had the idea if I hadn't gone to the ATM
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machine that day. It wasn't a machine I normally use. I try to
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use the one at my bank. I was at the mall and needed some money
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for gas, so I decided I'd use the machine at the mall and get
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gas on the way home.
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Anyway, while I was making my withdrawal they came to fill
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the machine. I'd always wondered how they did it, and now I
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knew.
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The idea didn't come to me right away, at least not to my
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conscious mind. It wasn't until I was home that the lightning
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struck. I was looking at my bills, wondering how I was going to
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pay them, when the thought came to me.
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Why not ambush the team that fills the ATM machines?
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I argued with myself for days, and needless to say it was
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an argument that I lost.
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The plan was simplicity in itself. Wait by the machine
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until they came to fill it and then take the money. All I needed
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was a gun and a time schedule for when the filled the machines.
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Two people had filled the machine that day at the mall. One
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carried a brief case and the other was an armed, uniformed
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guard. I figured that if I got the drop on them there would be
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no problem.
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I went to a gun shop and bought a .380 Baretta
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Semi-automatic. I'd used one before and it fit the bill nicely.
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It was small and light weight, but looked ugly enough to get
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someone's attention. I didn't bother to try to use an alias, I
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wasn't planning on using it. If it came to that I'd hightail it
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out of there and think of something else.
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It took ten days to get the gun, because the police had to
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do a check on me to make sure I wasn't an ex-con or something.
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While I waited for the gun I watched the ATM machine.
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I decided to go with the machine at the mall. It was
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located near a side exit, and that end of the mall wasn't too
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busy during the day. I wasn't in a hurry and could wait until
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there weren't too many people nearby. I discovered that they
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came every other day to fill the machine, and that they came at
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the same time.
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The gun was ready the day the shop keeper had promised. I
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went in and tested it out on the indoor range, more because it
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was expected of me than anything else. I was finally ready.
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I went to the mall and waited. I made sure that I had used
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a different location to watch from everyday so that I wouldn't
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attract attention. My opportunity came on the third visit.
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There was no one near the machine, and I had to time it so
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that I arrived at the machine before the person with the brief
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case went into the service area in the back to fill the machine.
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It went just like I planned, neither one made a fuss when I
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showed them the gun. I took the guard's gun and had them face
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the wall. I told them I'd kill them if they made a sound, and to
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count to two hundred before moving.
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I was shaking as I drove away. I'd never been that scared.
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I started shaking again after I counted the money. $85,000. Not
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bad for a day's work, and more than enough to put Loretta
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through college.
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She caught a ride up with one of her friends today, in
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order to spend the weekend with me. I bought some nice steaks
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and a bottle of wine. After we'd eaten, I explained what I'd
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done, and why. I'd thought about what I'd say to her to explain
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my sudden windfall, and decided to tell her the truth. I can't
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lie to her.
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I really though she'd be happy, but she wasn't. She called
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me a scum, and a few other choice explatives. She told me I had
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to turn myself in, or she'd do it herself.
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I guess I lost my head. After all, I had done it for us, so
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we could be together. She had no reason to be so mad. I hit her.
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She fell and hit her head on the table.
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It didn't take me long to sober up after that. She was
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dead. I couldn't believe it. I picked her up and carried her
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into the bedroom. I laid her gently in the bed and looked at her
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for what seems hours, but what was probably closer to five
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minutes.
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Then I sat down and wrote this to you. There's not much
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left to do, Mom. I'll call the police first, of course. I don't
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want us to be found in a few days, and I don't know if the
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neighbhors will hear the shot from the .380.
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I guess there's nothing left to say, except I'm sorry. Give
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my love to everyone for me.
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Your Loving Son
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Greg
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Copyright 1987 by G. Daniel Flower, All Rights Reserved.
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