Marshall: A Short Story, Page 3

Chapter 3

  Marshall twisted the doorknob with his hand, careful not to touch the wood and earn himself a splinter. It wasn’t quite dark yet outside but the way the house sounded it might has well have been the middle of the night. Marshall walked to their bedroom to find Sarah pacing back and forth with baby Emily in her arms. “Hey honey.” Sarah greeted smiling from ear to ear. “Hey darling.” Marshall replied. “Did you do some over overtime? You’re home a few hours late, everything okay?” Sarah asked. She was happy to see him, even though her life was terrible and she could’ve been with someone so much better she was happy to see him. “Listen darling we need to talk.” Marshall started. Sarah’s smile faded away into an unsure wrinkle, she walked over to Emily’s crib and softly laid her down. “What’s up Marshall?” She asked not attempting to hide her concern. Marshall sat on their bed and patted his rough hands down next to him motioning for her to sit. Sarah sat down next to him and put herself in his arms. Marshall wrapped his arm around her letting her sweet smell and soft skin shift him into a calmer state, Marshall closed his eyes “I lost my job.” He revealed. Sarah pulled away from him, at first she said nothing and she let the pained expression on her face do the talking. “I’m sorry.” Marshall apologized. “What happened?” She asked. Marshall hesitated. “What happened?” She asked again louder. “I was on my break and he told me to move some heavy boxes.” Marshall explained. “And you couldn’t do that?” Sarah shook her head. “I was going to, Sarah, you need to understand that I was going to, but then he started talking all this crap about how I wasn’t as good a man as he is and how I’m not going to be a good father.” Marshall tried to make her see where he was coming from. “So what I’m hearing is that you completely let your own pride get in the way of you keeping the job that acts as our only source of income.” Sarah had tears running down her face. “Honey it’s alright I can always get another job.” Marshall tried to comfort. Sarah shook her head “No Marshall you don’t get it, this was more than just a job, this was symbolic for us, this was you showing me that you can man up and do whatever it takes for your family.” Now it was Marshall’s turn to look confused “I can do that no problem this was just a onetime thing.” He defended. “Was it Marshall? Was it really? I don’t know what else to do, I’ve given up everything for you, a life of peace and wealth just so I could be with the person I love, I figured it wouldn’t be luxurious but I at the very least expected it to be decent. I can’t lower my standards any more than they already are!” Sarah cried. “It’s not like I wanted to quit, if you heard the way he was talking about me you would’ve quit too.” A tear ran down Sarah’s face “No I wouldn’t have quit, not if it meant letting you down again.” Baby Emily was moving in her sleep, disturbed by the noise. “Don’t you get it?! He was insulting us!” Marshall yelled. “Maybe he was right questioning how much of man you are!” Sarah yelled back. “What you’re taking his side now?” Marshall asked. “I don’t know he’s the one who still has a job.” At that moment Emily started crying. Without saying another word Sarah got up to go check on her. Marshall breathed heavily as sweat ran down his face. “You think I don’t try?! You think I don’t want you to have everything you’ve ever dreamed of?! You think I don’t love you and Emily?! I do! I don’t know what else to say but I do! With every inch of my heart I do and I’m sorry! I’m so damn sorry!” Marshall threw his fist into the wall making a large hole appear. Blood ran down his forearm and his teeth grinded as they tightly clenched together. Emily cried louder as Sarah bounced her in her arms. “I’m sorry!” Marshall yelled again, taking his bloody hand and smashing it to form another hole in the wall. “Get out!” Sarah yelled as Emily’s cries became almost impossible to speak over. Marshall looked over at her. “Get out Marshall, Get out! Can’t you see you’re scaring her?” Sarah pointed towards the door. Marshall hung his head down low and walked out, he wouldn’t argue with her if Emily was involved. The chilling air outside nipped at Marshall’s fingers, he should’ve brought gloves, or at least washed his hands so that the blood that dripped down them wouldn’t stick to his skin, now it was too late for either of those things. He could see his breath in the air; it was barely anything because he was out of it. Marshall knew that Sarah was right but he didn’t want to think about that now, what was on his mind now was finding a way to get money to support her and Emily while he searched for a new job. Lamarr’s house wasn’t too far away and it only took about ten minutes for Marshall to get there. When Marshall did get there Lamarr was already outside the door waiting for him. “You’re lucky; I was just about to leave.” Lamarr said walking down his front steps. Marshall stayed silent. “What happened to your hand Marsh?” Lamarr asked pointing to a stale streak of dull blood that lined Marshall’s finger. “Don’t worry about that, right now I need to know what the plan is.” Marshall requested. “Alright then, it ain’t rocket science Marsh. It’s just a standard robbery for the most part. Dominic will be in the getaway car and activate the jammer which will shut off all signals, then we’ll enter and make the cashier get into the back vault were they keep the funding money for the program and if we have time we’ll loot the cash register too, but the back vault is the main priority.” Lamarr explained. Marshall nodded; it would be pretty straight forward, precise and simple. Dominic pulled up in a generic black car. Dominic was nerdy and it showed. He had big boxy glasses and structured unmoving afro that looked like it could only be picked with the teeth of a shark. Nevertheless Dominic was articulate and smart when he spoke as Marshall quickly learned when he got in the car. Dominic was the kind of guy who people paid to do homework in high school. He was incredibly intelligent and he went over the plan again, not that there was very much to go over. Dominic pulled out a small smartphone from his pocket, “This is what I’ll be using to jam the signals in the station, no emergency signals out and no emergency signals in, once I activate it you’ll have exactly five minutes to get the money and get out.” Dominic reviewed. “And you’re sure no one will be alerted?” asked Marshall. “For those five minutes you might as well be invisible.” Dominic assured. Marshall couldn’t afford to get caught; he had too much to lose if he did. He reminded himself that this was for the good of his family. “Good! Now that we know what’s what let’s get our gloves on.” Lamarr handed Marshall a pair of black rubber gloves, aside from concealing their fingerprints the gloves wouldn’t cause suspicion because of the cold weather that loomed over the city. Dominic had taken the precaution of researching the hours where the gas station would be least active to avoid witnesses, it appeared that his research had proved accurate because as they pulled up to the station they weren’t surprised to find that no one was there. Marshall took a deep breath, he promised, promises weren’t meant to be broken but sometimes that had to be. “You ready Marsh?” Lamarr asked. This was one of those times. Marshall nodded his head. “Just like old times.” Lamarr laughed as he opened the car door. “Just like old times.” Marshall repeated as he followed after.