Reel to Real (9 page)

Back to the other stuff I was talking about. I have been totally fucking up lately and a lot of it has to do with John. It started when he brought a pen pal to stay with him at his house and I got jealous and had sex with a 17 year old. I didn’t know he was 17 when I did it. Then John got mad and put a gun to him and the police came and now John’s on the run. John wants me to get the cops to back down and so far I haven’t been able to.

Anyway, now it’s up to me to convince these cops and the PO and the Judge that  the kid is lying, and me and John are telling the truth.

So if I can’t convince him to come home and straighten things out, I’m going to him and become his Bonnie in any endeavor he chooses to make money. That’s the way it has to be.

Let me know your thoughts and I’ll write again soon.

Love Esther

By “Bonnie,” Esther meant Bonnie Parker of “Bonnie and Clyde” fame.

“No one ever became extremely wicked suddenly.”

J
UVENAL

February 21, 1996

Shane liked to make lists. In fact, he was a little compulsive about it. He had lists stuffed in envelopes, lists in pockets of his clothes, and lists filling various drawers throughout his apartment. There were lists of towns he’d like to visit, beers he liked to drink, guns he had owned, and even crimes he’d like to commit.

Today he was listing how much money he had and any money he thought was forthcoming.

He dug into his pocket and found he had $75.57 in stray bills and change. There was another $250 in his drawer, and $40 of emergency money he kept stashed in his car. His parents said they were going to give him about $400 around the first of the month to help cover his rent and bills, so that counted. But after he paid his rent, it really wasn’t very much money. Barely five hundred dollars, and no real prospects for more.

In the time period since he had lost his PNM job, he remained unemployed. He hadn’t even been looking. How could he? He was too depressed, too lethargic. Kind of crabby, really. That’s what Raina kept telling him every time she came into the house. She was starting to get on his nerves. She had mentioned she might move out. That might not be such a bad thing.

Shane mainly passed the time watching rented movies on TV.  He went to the Hollywood Video store on Central, the one closest to his house, almost daily. He usually rented about five VHS tapes a day. He would sit alone, shades drawn, and watch one video after the other, sometimes more than once. He really liked the action movies, especially the bloody ones.

After completing his list regarding his current financial situation, he pulled out his “potential crimes” list and reviewed that. He knew he needed to develop some sort of strategy to bring in more cash — and soon. His eye fell on a restaurant robbery he had already researched. The restaurant he had in mind was a prime target; it stayed open late, was isolated, took in lots of cash, and had only one employee at closing.

This looks too good to pass up,
he thought.

***

When Esther arrived at Shane’s apartment, he was watching
Pulp Fiction.
He was so caught up in the movie, he didn’t even notice she had come in. Esther, who was used to less-than-stellar treatment from men, ignored the slight. She settled in to watch the movie too. Shane eventually noticed she was there and switched off the tape deck.

She gave him a look. “Hey! What’re you doing?” she said. “I was just getting interested.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll turn it back on in a few minutes. I wanted to ask you a question.” He walked over and seated himself next to her.

Tipping her head back, she asked, “What question?”

“You wanna make some money?”

“Maybe.” She looked at him sideways. “How?”

“A robbery,” he said, leaning forward, arms folded across his chest.

“Robbery? I’ve never done a robbery before. Sounds dangerous.”

“It’s not dangerous. We wouldn’t even use a real gun.”

“What about whoever’s getting robbed? They might have a real gun.”

“It’s not a problem. I checked it out already. There’s no gun. Just a bunch of money.”

“Still seems risky.”

“I’m gonna split the money four ways.”

“Four ways? Who else is doing it?”

“Stewart’s gonna work with us, and then we’re gonna go ahead and send John a share too.”

“You’re gonna give John a share?”

“Yes,” Shane said, without elaborating.

Esther pursed her lips and thought about the proposition. She did need money. And John did too, obviously. He had told her he was broke. She knew Shane had robbery experience, although he had been caught. But he had mentioned during another conversation that he had received quite a few helpful robbery tips while he was in prison.

Esther told Shane she was on the fence about the idea. She wanted the money but she didn’t want the risk.

Shane handed Esther a cold can of Pepsi. He knew she loved a cold soda.

She thanked him and took several long chugs.

“Well? What do you say?” Shane asked finally, standing up and clapping his hands together. “You wanna make some money?”

She took another drink and looked at him.“I’ll think about it,” she sighed.

Shane got up and pressed the play button on the VCR.

“Let’s watch the rest of that movie,” he said, smiling.

***

Forty-five minutes later, Shane glanced at the time on the VCR and let out a gasp.

“Shit,” he said and turned the machine off again. Esther gave him a puzzled look.

“I gotta call John.” He grabbed the phone on the kitchen counter.

Esther was ecstatic. She was so happy, in fact, that she forgot she wasn’t supposed to watch Shane punch in the phone number.

She inadvertently noticed him tap in a 719 area code.
That’s odd
, she thought, positive that 719 was an area code in Colorado.

When she thought about it, she realized something even odder. John told her only yesterday that he was in Chicago. Did he fly to Colorado overnight? With what money? She was mystified.

After a brief conversation, Shane handed Esther the phone and she chatted with John about the cold weather in Albuquerque.

“Hey babe, I hate to cut you off,” John said, “but I need more cash.”

“What?” Esther said. “I just sent you a hundred yesterday.”

“Yeah, but I was already in the hole when I got it. I owed a guy almost all that for the hotel room I was staying in. I had to pay up or get thrown in the street. I just need a little more to get me through this week. A guy might pay me to help him move. I’m doing all I can on this end.”

Esther hesitated. “I guess I have fifty bucks more, but I was gonna get my brakes fixed. Plus I need to pay my rent next week.”

“Babe, I gotta eat,” John insisted. “What am I supposed to do? Remember how I got in this fix in the first place?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Okay then, you’ll send me some.”

“Yeah, okay. I guess I’ll just drive slower,” Esther said mournfully.

February 22, 1996 2 PM

Shane and Esther drove to the Walmart at San Mateo and Central. Shane had a short list of items he needed. Robbery items.

Their first stop was the sporting goods section, where they picked up a black BB gun. Except for the red tip, the toy gun looked exactly like a .45 semi-automatic pistol. Shane knew from experience that the red tip was easily covered up. Shane and Esther both held the gun and proclaimed it looked and felt like the real thing. Which was crucial.

On their way to the checkout counter, Shane scooped up four rolls of silver duct tape and six pairs of black latex gloves.

Esther was ambivalent about participating in this robbery. On the one hand it seemed like a quick way to improve her cash flow problems, but on the other hand, she had never been involved in this type of crime before. Not one involving guns — not even fake ones.

Shane had informed her that Stewart, one of his Community Corrections cohorts, was going to help them with the robbery. He would basically be his main assistant and do all the gun handling and stuff of that nature. She would just be the driver. He assured her the money would still be split equally, with John getting an equal share.

Esther didn’t like the idea of Stewart being involved. She told Shane she thought he was too nervous, too strange. She said she didn’t like his fidgetiness and the fact that he worried so much. Besides that, he was constantly picking at sores on his face, buttoning and unbuttoning his jacket, and speculating about things that couldn’t possibly happen. He had told her on more than one occasion that the FBI had planted listening devices inside his body.

Stewart gave her the creeps, but Shane said it would be okay.

Shane selected the target: Mac’s Steak in the Rough Restaurant on Juan Tabo Boulevard, because it would provide the most cash with the least amount of stress. He knew a girl who currently worked there, and she had already provided him with the details he needed. She had told him about the store routine and the amount of money normally available at closing. Shane told Esther he always thoroughly researched his jobs ahead of time, explaining that it was this type of pre-planning information that set him apart from other would-be robbers.

After purchasing the equipment with Esther’s money, they drove back to Shane’s apartment.

“We need to get you up to speed,” Shane said, picking up a roll of duct tape.

“What’re you talking about?”

“When we hit the restaurant, you need to know how to use the tape. How to tie people up.”

“I thought you said I was just gonna be the driver,” Esther said.

“You are,” Shane replied. “This is just in case I need extra help. Stewart told me he’s not that good with tape.”

Esther rolled her eyes.

Shane told her they would do some role playing. She would play the part of the manager and he would be the robber. He placed a full-length mirror on the floor so she could study his technique.

He explained that the preferred starting position was to have the person on his hands and knees — to prevent any quick moves. Esther obediently got down on all fours.

“Once you got ’em on their hands and knees,” he said, “then go ahead and get ’em to lie face down, flat against the floor.” He waited until Esther was completely prone.

“Then, when you got ’em on the floor,” Shane continued, “have ’em lace their fingers behind their back. Make sure you’re telling ’em the whole time not to panic, that everything’s gonna be okay. Keeps ’em quieter. Then go ahead and wind the tape around their wrists pretty tight so they can’t get loose.”

Esther, splayed on the carpet, watched in the mirror, then nodded and asked, “What if they try to get away?”

“Then shove the gun right between their fucking eyes and tell them you’ll kill ’em. That’ll cut that shit out pronto. They’ll do what they’re told after that. Guaranteed.”

Shane went on to explain that one should use the figure-eight style when hand wrapping, and reiterated that the hands needed to be placed behind the back, not in the front. Made it harder to wriggle free, he said.

“Okay,” he said standing up and admiring his work. “After you get the hands tied up real good, then you need to wrap the ankles, too. So they can’t walk.” Shane squatted back down and wrapped Esther’s ankles with duct tape. “After you go around about six or seven times, then you do like maybe two or three in the middle, in between the feet. Makes it like a shackle, like a fucking ankle cuff,” he explained patiently, giving the tape a pat.

“When you’re done with that, then tape their eyes and mouth shut. But hold off on that part until you’re almost done. Just in case you still need ’em to tell you how to open the safe or whatever. Definitely do it before you leave though. It cuts down on them getting rescued too quick. That’s what screwed me the last time.”

"Where there is mystery, it is generally suspected there must also be evil."

L
ORD
B
YRON

Midnight

(closing time — Mac’s Steak in the Rough)

Esther’s faded yellow station wagon rolled inconspicuously down Albuquerque’s Juan Tabo Boulevard toward the Steak in the Rough Restaurant near I-40. Traffic was light and it was about 35 degrees out. Shane was in the front seat and Stewart was in the back. Esther was driving.

She still didn’t like the idea of having Stewart with them. She could see him in the rear-view mirror and he looked weird. She didn’t know how old he was, but he was not a good-looking man. He had a large bald spot on top of his head fringed with dirty, long blond hair, and a face full of scabs.

She shuddered.

For the record, they were going to the restaurant to case the joint, to check it out for a future robbery. But it was possible, Shane had said, very possible, that if everything seemed correct, they might just go ahead and do the job tonight. They were certainly ready.

The trio pulled into the parking lot across the street from the restaurant and watched. Shane smoked a cigarette. Esther sat perfectly still and stared out the window. Stewart picked his teeth with his fingernails and noisily rubbed his pants. Esther shot Stewart a frown. Oblivious, Stewart continued his whirr of motion.

They were waiting for the manager to leave the restaurant. Shane had been informed that he drove a small tan or white car. He spied a light brown Corolla coupe parked next to the side door.

After nearly twenty-five minutes, a tallish white guy in his 30s exited the restaurant, jumped into the Corolla, and drove north on Juan Tabo. The station wagon followed him.

Shane had been advised by his informant that the manager drove to the Western Bank and made a deposit every night as soon as he left work. Shane’s plan was to jump the manager from behind while he put the money in the night dropbox, but the manager did not go the bank. Instead, he drove to a nearby Walmart and went inside. This puzzled Shane. He told his crew to sit tight and they would wait to see what the manager did next.

The manager emerged about ten minutes later and took off. Shane told Esther to follow him, but once again, he did not appear to be headed towards the Western Bank. In fact, he seemed to be just driving around, possibly in circles. Stewart was sure he knew why.