"Again, Daddy, again!" shouted Rome's daughter, Joelle, shrieking with joy as her father pushed her on the swing higher and higher.
Rome obliged, watching her face become alive with happiness as she went to the sky. She was the only thing worth living for.
It was a day before they would pull the heist off at the jewelry store. He, Jonny, and Will had gone their separate ways for a few days. Roman took the opportunity to spend more time with his daughter, taking her to the park to look at the birds and play on the swing.
"Daddy, I'm hungry," said Joelle, "can we get something to eat?"
"Of course, Princess," said Rome, "what do you want to eat?"
"Can we go to McDonald's?" said Joelle.
"Sure," said Rome. "You got it, McDonald's it is."
Rome drove up Highway 9 where the McDonald's was located, between a moderate strip plaza and a Speedway Gas Station. The McDonald's had a Play Place that Joelle could enjoy while she was there.
"What do you want sweetheart?" Rome asked.
"I want chicken McNuggets," said Joelle.
Rome ordered nuggets, fries, and vanilla shake for Joelle, while ordering two McDoubles and a strawberry shake for himself.
"So how was school today?" Rome asked Joelle while they ate.
"It was good, Daddy," said Joelle, grinning, showing one of her missing teeth at the top. "We learned how to draw shapes and I learned how to write my name today."
"That's great honey," said Rome, beaming.
"Yeah," said Joelle, nodding her head vigorously, "tomorrow, we're going on a trip."
"Yeah?" said Rome, "where are you going?"
"The Turtleback Zoo!" Joelle exclaimed, "I can't wait to see all the fishies."
"I know much you love the fishies," said Rome, "well you have fun. And in the meantime-"
He pulled twenty dollars out of his pocket and gave it to her. -"buy you some souvenirs and show it off at home."
"Oh, thank you Daddy!" said Joelle, hugging Rome tightly. She had tight grip. "You're the bestest daddy in the world!"
After the two finished eating, Joelle played in the Play Place for a bit. While Rome watched her play, a smile on his face. It seemed like yesterday his wife brought Joelle home, three days old. Her grandfather had nicknamed her "pudding ball" because of her cheeks resembling two large pudding balls. Of all the titles he held (good and bad) being 'Father' was the best title of all.
Rome drove Joelle back home where he watched Doc McStuffins for an hour. Afterwards, he taught her how to add and subtract using pieces of candy and then teaching her how to sound out letters. When it got time for bed, he got her to brush her teeth and change into her bed clothes, reading her favorite bedtime story The Rainbow Fish. When she fell asleep, he chuckled to himself and kissed her rosy cheek, closing the door quietly behind her as he went back to the living room and waited for Gail, his wife.
In less than 24 hours, he would help pull off the biggest score of his life so far. If the payout was like Will said it would be, he'd be walking away with 3 million dollars. 3 million dollars for a few minutes work. That's more than he'd make in years working as a security guard.
It was crazy, how he'd known Will less than a month and made more money with him than he'd made with Jonny in 5 years. Even though he loved Jonny like a brother, Jonny only thought in short-term. He didn't rob for gain like Rome did. Yes, the money was a bonus, but Jonny robbed for the sake of robbing. Rome wanted more than that. He wanted to provide a better living for him, Joelle and Gail. And with the three million dollars, he would be finally able to. He wasn't going to spend it right away, he was going use some of it to open up a Hawaiian style restaurant. He'd always wanted his own business. To be his own boss. Wasn't that the true American dream?
Gail came home a little after 11. She was exhausted and her feet hurt. Rome gave her a foot massage and then hopped in the shower with her. She sighed at the sight of the steam rising from his wet, herculean body. He grabbed her closer to him and ran his large hands up her smooth, honey brown skin, letting the hot water pour down on the both of them. He kissed her, not only in a passionate way, but in a reassuring way. Letting her know that it was all going to be alright. Their financial worries would soon be over...
Will parked around the corner from Fliehr's Jewelry stopped. He popped the trunk and got out the car, retrieving the ski masks, a Walther P99, and two mini Uzis from it.
"Keep the engine running," he said to Rome, "this won't take long."
He turned to Jonny and said, "let's do this."
He and Jonny made sure there was no one passing by before they put on their ski masks. They half walked, half ran to Fliehr's. Once they were close enough, they stormed in. The security guard immediately sprang into action, reaching for his pistol, but before it was clear of its holster, Will shot him once in the chest. People screamed, making a beeline for the door, but Jonny pointed his Uzi at all of them, stopping them in their tracks.
"On the floor!" he shouted, "Get down on the fucking floor or I'll turn you into Swiss cheese!"
As people got on the ground, Will shot the surveillance camera and pointed the Walther at the Attendant.
"To the back!" he barked, making her jump. "You have 10 seconds!"
She hastily ran to the back of the store as Will put his finger on the trigger. Will saw that Jonny still had the crowd under control. Wasting no more time, Will smashed the display cases, snatching up necklaces, bracelets, watches, earrings, and rings, the most expensive ones first, stuffing them all into a military bag.
After snatching up the last of the jewelry, Will shouted to Jonny to come on. Jonny went, still pointing his Uzi at the customers until they both were clear of the store.
"OUT OF THE WAY!" he shouted at a passerby, nearly knocking him over as they both turned the corner where Rome was still parked. Will tossed the bag of jewelry in the back of the car before jumping in the back himself. Jonny got in the passenger's seat.
"GO! GO!" shouted Will, Rome pushed the pedal to the floor and made a sharp U-turn, speeding off as fast as he could.
A couple of miles later, Will, Jonny, and Rome ditched the car in an alleyway. They changed into their civilian clothing and left the coveralls and ski masks in the trunk. Then, they hotwired another car and drove to a pawnshop where Will delivered the jewels to his friend Eddie.
"It'll take a couple of days for him to move the jewels," he said to Jonny and Rome. "I'll call you guys when he has the money."
"How do we know you won't keep the money for yourself?" asked Jonny.
Will gave him a withering stare.
"I've done just about everything," said Will, "I've robbed, I've maimed, I've killed. But there's one thing I'll never do is fuck someone over. If I said we're all going to have a little cash, then I mean it. You have my word."
"What do we do now?" asked Rome.
"Work on our alibis and then split up." said Will. "Lay low until we have the money."
After they came up with a satisfactory alibi, the three men split up. Will went back to his motel room, his mind on the gold and jewels. He hoped they were still in that wall. He hadn't heard any news of it being retrieved, so it must still be. But, and there was always that but...what if they tore down the building and the person who destroyed it had and it kept it for themself? He had to go to Maplewood soon.
But not before he got the money from the score earlier that day.