Page 29 of All The Happily Ever Afters

“Fifteen minutes,” he announces, throwing the bag over his shoulders and looking back at Vinny and me. “We gotta get this over there.”

Vinny looks down at me, and I know he’s going to tell me to stay here. But that’s not happening. No fucking way.

“Cherry-” he starts, but I’m not letting him finish.

I shake my head and say, “No, I’m coming with you.”

Vinny’s eyes are hard, but the moment is broken by the laughter coming from Toni.

“Yeah, she’s definitely your girl,” Toni says.

Vinny puts his hand on the small of my back and leads me toward the doors as he says, “Let’s go then. We gotta make this fast.”

“Leave the keys on the counter so they know it wasn’t Cherry,” Vinny says, and Toni nods. He leaves the keys and then slips a note under them. I walk over and reach down to touch it, but Toni stops me, grabbing my wrist.

“No prints,” he says easily, and I nod my head. I suppose they’d run fingerprints on employees first. I could see that.

“What’s the note say?” I ask him.

An asymmetrical smile kicks the corner of his lips up. “Merry Christmas, Grinch.”

VINNY

She keeps watching Toni and I can practically see the wheels turning in her head. She doesn’t trust him.

“Yo, Toni,” I call out to him as we walk past the two cars we planted and head through the parking lot to the other side of the vacant strip mall. We drove Cherry’s car around the block first. It added on a few minutes to the walk, but I don’t want her car out front just in case they find the money gone before Thursday morning. I can’t be too careful. It was awkward as fuck driving in the car. She’s tense. But she’ll be better once this is over with.

The orphanage is close. A five-minute walk if we step on it, and that’s the perfect amount of time. But I don’t like the way Cherry seems to be so damn uneasy. The faster we get this shit done, the better.

Toni takes a look over his shoulder, he’s leading the way. We have to go this way to avoid the cameras. The direct path goes right through the convenience store, and there’s surveillance in that parking lot. So we’re gonna avoid that and take the long way around.

Cherry’s keeping a safe distance from Toni. I wish she’d knock it off, but she has no reason to trust him.

“Whatcha want, Vinny? I’m not slowing down,” Toni answers as he hops over the chain link fence on the edge of the parking lot and turns to wait for us.

It’s a clear shot from here on over to the other street.

“Give her the backpack,” I tell him. He looks at me with a bit of confusion as I swing my legs over the fence and hop over easily. My sweet cherry is struggling a little. She’s on the petite side and I’ve got my hand out for her ready to brace her body, but she’s gripping the chain links of the fence.

“Alright sure, it’s a little heavy though.” He walks quietly over to Cherry as she tries to right herself. She almost landed on her ass, but I’ve got a good grip on her waist.

“Here little mama,” he says, holding it out for her to take. We’re hidden behind the bushes, but as a car passes, we all freeze. No one’s out this late on Christmas Eve unless it’s to go to the parade on the other side of main street. There aren’t any houses over this side of town either. The orphanage is basically on its own on the outskirts of town.

I hold my breath as the car passes, the lights from the headlights peeking through the bushes. I step in front of Cherry and Toni huffs a small laugh at me.

“Calm down, we’re home free.” He looks relaxed and happy. Truthfully, this is an easy heist. We’re so close to being done. I can taste it.

The car passes without incident and Cherry reaches for the bag, her eyes on Toni.

Her expression falls as he drops the full weight in her hand and she hunches forward to get a better grip.

“Holy shit,” she mumbles and then shakes her head, shoving the bag back at Toni. “You take it.”

Toni looks up at me, and I give him a nod. I just wanted her to see that it’s not about the money for him.

It was never about the money. It’s about the fact that the town wanted those kids to have a chance. That money isn’t for toys. It’s for the electric bill, the hot water. It’s to put food on the table and shoes on their feet. I know how much those simple things in life can make a difference. And I know that Mrs. Pilcavage is struggling and that she’s worried about the money that was supposed to come from the donation, but never came.

My anger rears up inside of me and I lead the way, my hand splayed on the small of Cherry’s back. “Let’s go,” I tell them.

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