Greed

Police officers' yells ringed in my ears as I ran away from the bank, thousands of dollars stashed inside my backpack. I had accidentally left a zipper open, and dollar bills flew out of the exposed hiding spot. I picked up what I could and kept running, my thin legs carrying me far away from the scene faster than I thought possible. Officers jumped into their cars to chase me down. I quickly slid into a sewer pipe, a place that I knew the officers wouldn't dare go in.

In the shelter of the wet underground system of filth, I zipped up my backpack and walked nonchalantly down into the system. A sort of fortress, I climbed some scaffolding, set down my pack, and cracked my knuckles. I unfolded a map that lay on the floor of the scaffolding, and crossed a landmark, known as Eastwood Bank, off of the map. Many other crosses were on the map, and I dare not go near any of them.

I plotted where the nearest bank was, circled it, and folded the map again. I would drop in for a visit in about a week, then repeat my cycle with a sewer pipe connecting with this one.

“All in a good day's work.” I told myself with a smile on my face. I looked at a small clock I had set on the edge of a small shelf in the scaffolding. It read 8:30 pm.

I walked over to a small sack on the floor, and slipped inside it. I closed my eyes, and quickly fell asleep. Everything went black.

I slipped the virtual reality visor off my face and told the man standing next to me: “Very realistic, but I did see a couple of glitches with the police scene. The voices were warbled and distorted.”

“I will fix that Sir.”

“I expect it fixed by next Monday. Jean, put a kettle on, I want my tea when I get to the bedroom.”

I walked over to the large marble staircase, and began to climb, sliding my hand on the rail as I went. I was always scared, but I never showed it. I knew the virtual reality showed me what I wanted, whatever was in my head. I didn't wish to relive my poor childhood, stealing to make a living. I wasn't ready to go back and face history.

I reached my bedroom in a matter of minutes, and flopped down on my bed, Jean with his half-hearted expression glued to his face.

“Your tea, Sir. I brought you all of your favorites.” Jean recited blankly, not a single expression on his face. He set the tray of teabags, a warm teapot, and a mug at the foot of the bed. I leaned forward and selected my flavor: Peppermint.

I opened the teabag, placed it in the cup, and poured the steaming water into it. I placed the mug on my nightstand to the right of my bed. Jean left the room and closed the door behind him as usual. I flicked on the television, scrolled through the channels looking for something interesting, found nothing, and turned it off.

I laid flat on my back, wondering if I'd ever get out of this mess. I planned my day after getting bored with the last topic. My day would result in “borrowing” money from a local bank, LotusLily Bank. I would bury the money next to an old birch tree near my mansion, and collect it three days later, making it look like payday.

I didn't have a job to call my own, but instead robbed banks and called it a living. My servants and maids asked no questions, and I was grateful they didn't. If they had found out, it would all be down hill from there. I took a sip of my tea after pulling the bag out from the bottom of the cup. Over the course of an hour or so, I had finished my tea and fallen asleep on the covers.

I woke up the next day, putting on my best suit and telling my servants that I was going to work. As soon as I had left the area where the security cameras had been watching, I ran towards the bank. Police were waiting outside the LotusLily, and I walked slowly into the bank, greeting most of them like a law-abiding citizen. The moment I stepped foot in LotusLily, the windows had steel plates close over them, and the door was flooded with police officers.

“Stay where you are and put your hands where we can see them!” yelled a police officer, a new one at that.

“You are new aren't you? You should know that I don't do anything you guys tell me to. You know this is a free country, so I should be able to do this!” I informed the officer as I whipped my hand into my coat and pulled out a .45 pistol. “You got nothing on me!” I screeched at the police, laughing while doing so.

A gunshot rang through the marble hallways of the LotusLily Bank. Blood spilled on the tile floors, seeping through the cracks between the tiles. Police officers stepped aside, not wanting their shoes to get a wet, red stain. Jean stepped between the crowd of civilians to get a closer look.

Jean dropped his gun and ran towards me and picked up my lifeless body, holding me and shaking. He couldn't believe what he had done. “My brother! My brother! What have I done to you?”

Jean set me down and ran to fetch his gun. He came back with the gun in his hand, crying and shaking. He held the gun in one hand, me in the other. Jean cocked the gun, raised it to his head, and fired. We met once again in heaven, the Almighty forgiving our sins.

We talked once again, relieving each other's pain of the past. We hugged each other and faded off into the blue abyss of heaven.