Demands

Time: 12:40pm

DH saw Barbara glancing down at her smartphone, but not until after she’d managed to text Ken.

-What are you doing? he snapped at her. She was sitting atop her desk next to him. DH had set the volume on the speaker phone to the lowest setting. He wanted to reach over for her phone but he didn’t want to make a scene. He’d noticed Todd looking over earlier.

-I’m making the sale, Raquelle replied over the phone, hearing DH snap and assuming he’d been talking to her.

Todd had in fact signaled Barbara whether she needed help. He rubbed his nose then scratched his right cheek while making eye contact with her. The gestures were supposed to mean “do you need assistance with this client.”

She responded by nodding a slight no and rubbing her nose. The nod was self-explanatory. Rubbing her nose meant he didn’t have to check again.

They had hand motions and gestures for various uncomfortable situations, up to bank robberies, that they practiced regularly but rarely used.

She would pat the back of her head gently if a customer was being inappropriate or suggestive. That was the gesture she’d used the most.

Nobody had tried to rob the bank in years, it was such a throwback crime, Barbara thought. She wasn’t even sure if this qualified. The girl on the other end of the line did not sound like someone who would go through with it. Maybe she’d been used to humoring DH. There was obviously something wrong with him and his ability to handle himself. Here, she thought, was someone held up by women his whole life. He wouldn’t last a day as one.

-It sounds like your partner’s on top of it, DH, Barbara said coldly, still looking at her phone screen.

-Put the phone away Mrs. Darcy, DH said quietly.

-Or what? Barbara scoffed. She looked around. The bank had mostly cleared out for lunch. After she waved Todd off it looked like he’d went into the back. The security guard had moved outside. He was too old to do anything anyway. Helping other older people from their cars to the front door was probably the most valuable thing he did, and prevented falls that could cost the bank money.

She stood up and put her hand on DH’s shoulder.

-Goodbye Rachel, Barbara said as she leaned down over DH’s phone.

Then she looked directly at DH.

-Hang up the phone, she commanded. Now.

DH obliged without thinking about it. He didn’t even say goodbye to Raquelle.

-Let me ask you: what are you doing?

She put her hands up as if taking a step back for him.

-I’m robbing this bank, DH said through gritted teeth. He wanted to squirm in his feet. I’m serious, he added, opening his phone again to send another message to Raquelle. Watch, he said as he started typing. “back to every 5 minutes” and then a heart emoji. I’m not playing, I promise, DH said, but he found it hard to believe himself.

-Ok. This is not going great for a bank robbery, Barbara said mockingly. Did you just think you could come in and make demands?

DH took a deep breath and tried to settle himself.

-We have a hostage, he said slowly but quietly.

-Do we? We’ll get back to that, she said as she grabbed a withdrawal slip and a pen from her desk, setting it in front of DH as she continued. You have a demand, be specific. How much are you looking to withdraw? she asked as she handed him the pen.

-Right, he said, taking the pen from her and starting to write on the withdrawal slip instinctively. $70,000, he wrote, with the line through the 7, one of the little fancy things he thought he let himself do.

Barbara glanced at her phone while DH was writing. Ken still hadn’t texted back. She’d sent a vague text on purpose. Maybe this could work out for her. Billy Allen had warned a divorce could be expensive, mainly because she didn’t really have a compelling one so, he explained, it would be easy for any half-way competent attorney for her husband to extract a generous alimony.

DH hadn’t shown a gun but she’d raised her hands earlier. She knew the security cameras didn’t capture audio. It would be a he said, she said situation, but it was not hard for her to start game planning a way it’d be just a she said situation.

-Ok, good, she said as DH finished filling out the withdrawal slip. He’d spelled out the total and wrote “CASH” in the name field. She took it from him and went back to sit behind her desk.

-Now what? DH asked. He glanced down at the phone to check the time.

-Well, there’s a 15-minute delay once I put a request in for a safe from a withdrawal. Anti-theft measure, you see, Barbara explained.

-Of course, DH said, as if it were the most normal thing in the world although he’d never heard of it before and it was in fact something Barbara had just made up a few moments ago to stall for time.

-I’ll also need photographic evidence, you know, that my dear Ken is actually in danger. Can sweet Rachel muster that much?