The Man In The Bank

There he was. The man who I hated the most was standing there in front of me. He was one of those people that with one stare would destroy the rest of your day and bring you bad luck for the next seven years. He had no courtesy or respect for anybody not even his dog. And his name was Lucius. 

He had a beefy chin which was somewhat covered by a patchy beard. His eyes were pitch black, midnight, and his eyebrows were bushier than most. And as he was opening his mouth to tell me how much money he wanted to extract from his bank account, a foul waft of reeking breath escaped. That was only the start. I had to give at least 10 minutes attention to each client before I could proceed to the next.

“Fifty-five thousand dollars in cash.” No please, no thank you - but what can you say, I was only a banker and had no right to say anything because, well, I was noone. I would otherwise be out of the door in the pouring rain with no job.

However, as I was counting the money out because Mr-I-hate-you did not want a check, I noticed he was carrying a rather odd bag with words imprinted on the side saying KEEP OUT OR ELSE FACE PUNISHMENT. Once I gave him the money, he counted it not once, not twice but thrice to make sure I hadn’t short changed him. Finished counting sir? I enquired using the strongest voice I had but sounding more like a squeaky mouse. I was in shock when he didn’t reply to me with a nasty comment. In fact, he opened his bag and dumped the money.

He was just about to leave when the doors flashed bright red and an alarm rang out. A pre-recorded voice spoke: “The bank is going under a lock down, please remain calm as we are assessing the situation now” it said repeating itself over and over again.

Distracted by men shouting at each other, I lost sight of Lucius. Then, lurking in the shadows, I saw him. He was heading towards the rooftop. Cautiously, I followed him making sure he didn’t notice me. After running up flights of stairs, at the corner of my eye, I noticed that the bag didn’t just have fifty-five thousand dollars like he asked, it had triple that amount at least. Then suddenly he tripped and fell, dropping the bag, the money spilling out across the floor. Thoughts rushed through my mind. I was clueless, I didn’t know what to do. Should I help him, or should I report him to the police? The man that I hated my entire life was right there in front of me helpless. I could apprehend him now or delay his escape so that he would be surely caught. However, my train of thoughts were interrupted by sounds of the police on the floor below. I looked for one last time at Lucius, held his gaze and then turned to head downstairs.

They escorted me back to my same old desk and asked me if Lucius was the one who had set the security alarm off. Was he the man they should be pursuing? I was appalled when I heard what came out of my mouth. Countless nights had been spent thinking about Lucius, the hatred that I had for him was beyond anything in this universe.  But what came out of my mouth was the single and solitary word no.