Chapter 16. Alice
ALICE
Jenny and Simon sat whispering at the table, while Alice stayed in the driver’s seat.
She glanced up at the rearview mirror when she heard rustling.
Jenny was showing Simon what she had bought, but she didn’t pull anything all the way out so Alice couldn’t see the items. She knew what Simon had asked for, though, and she had a bad feeling that he was planning to rob something.
That feeling only grew stronger when Simon moved up to the passenger’s seat and spent the day ordering Alice to drive them around the town of Golden and the outskirts, having her slow down near corner stores, markets, gas stations, a liquor store.
Each time Alice thought Simon was going to ask her to stop, he’d gesture for her to keep driving.
“What’s going on?” Tom broke off into pained coughs; the strain of raising his voice must have compressed his ribs. Alice flinched in sympathy.
“Take a chill pill, old man. Or you’ll get my foot in your face.”
Tom didn’t say anything else, but Alice knew he had to be furious. He taught kids not much younger than Simon—and they respected him. Simon didn’t respect anyone. That much was clear.
When they found a two-pump Chevron just off the main road that was backed by a small thicket of trees and bushes, Simon leaned forward. “Circle behind the building. There’s a lane.”
They drove through a quiet neighborhood of older houses, most with mature yards and fences that gave the homeowners privacy from the road, which also made the opposite true.
“This is it,” he said to Jenny over his shoulder. He turned back to Alice. “Head to the Chevron. We’re getting gas.”
Alice followed his instructions, but her mouth had gone dry, her pulse spiking with adrenaline. There had to be a reason he had chosen this gas station. While the attendant, a shaggy-haired teenage boy whose bangs fell into his eyes, filled up the RV, Simon studied the building.
Alice was sure now. He was going to rob it.
After they paid for the gas, Simon ordered her to park behind the station on one of the side roads, where the trees blocked them. She could see one corner of the building.
“Turn off the engine.”
She followed his instructions, her knees bouncing with nerves, the key chain clinking against the steering column. Simon shot her an annoyed look. She stopped the chain with her hand. The gas attendant was just a kid. Would he be working tonight? What if he got hurt?
“See what time they close,” he told Jenny. “But be casual. Catch my drift?”
“Yeah.”
After a few minutes, she came back, flush-faced and nervous looking as she slammed the RV door. “It’s open until eleven,” she said. “The boy who pumped our gas is the only worker.”
“Right on,” Simon said.
They drove north of town until they found a gravel area with a few picnic tables.
Simon, who was consulting the map, announced that they were at the junction of two rivers—Columbia River on one side, and Kicking Horse River on the other.
Like it mattered. Like he wasn’t hours away from doing something terrible.
Simon made Alice go outside with him while he replaced their current license plate with another that he must’ve stolen from the campground. He tossed theirs into the water. She watched it disappear. One more part of them gone for good.
They’d missed lunch, and it was almost dinnertime, but there wasn’t much left in the fridge to make a big meal with, so Alice cooked up a couple of boxes of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.
She stirred and mused. Was Simon doing the robbery alone or with Jenny?
They might get caught. Someone might enter the store.
She imagined a burly trucker tackling Simon to the ground.
Jenny might escape, but she didn’t have the gun. Alice would refuse to drive.
When the food was ready, everyone ate quietly. Both Simon and Jenny seemed lost in thought. They sat close, arms brushing. Alice was too anxious to finish her pasta. When Simon noticed, he gestured for her to pass her plate over to him, and he dug his fork in.
“I want to feed Tom,” she said.
Simon nodded with his mouth full.
Tom didn’t eat much either. She fretted about the sweat on his forehead, his pained breathing. They were nearly out of Tylenol. He met her eyes, mouthed, “Robbery?”
She nodded, then whispered, “Maybe it’s good. He’ll get caught.”
“What are you two talking about?”
She turned. Simon was watching from the table, fork gripped in his hand.
“Nothing. He said the pasta’s good.” She got up to wash the dishes.
When she was putting away the last plate, Simon said, “Sit with us, Alice.”
She turned, drying her hands on the towel, and lowered herself onto the seat.
Simon and Jenny were across from her. Simon lifted the thrift store bag from under the table and took two items out.
Guns. Alice jolted back before she realized they were toys.
He set them on the table and spun one around with his finger.
It slowed, pointing between Alice and the kitchen.
“You’re coming with me tonight,” Simon said.
“Where?”
“We’re going to rob the gas station. You and me.”
Tom made a noise, a bark of shock. “You can’t be serious.”
Alice was facing away from Tom at the table, but she could hear him shifting on the bed and knew he was fighting the restraints.
“Deadly serious.”
“I’m not robbing anything,” Alice said. “Take Jenny.”
“She’s pregnant. It’s not safe.”
Alice stared at him. Did he not hear the irony in his words? He was already on the run with his pregnant girlfriend, and they had committed Lord knew how many crimes.
“I need someone to grab the cash while I keep a lookout.”
“You expect me to help you?”
“She’s not doing it!” Tom yelled.
“Yes, she is.” Simon sounded so calm. So confident. Alice balled her hands into fists under the table, and tried to think, but she couldn’t see any way out of this. If she continued to refuse, Simon would hurt Tom. He’d torture him, maybe break more bones. Whatever it took.
She had no choice.
Simon wanted to wait until closing time, but he didn’t want the RV noticeable, so they found a dirt road near the railway tracks and parked in the shade. Simon let Alice and Tom use the bathroom.
After Simon had tied Tom back up, Alice rested on the bed next to him.
She rolled onto her side and carefully slid her hand into his, linking their fingers.
She studied his face, the dark stubble on his jaw.
He hadn’t been able to shave for three days.
She tried to fall asleep so she didn’t have to think about what was going to happen, but it was impossible.
The sun disappeared, and with it Alice’s hopes that Simon would decide on a different course of action.
Simon wanted a snack before they went into town, so Alice made crackers with peanut butter, helping Tom eat a few and drink some water.
They were allowed to use the bathroom one more time.
Simon’s annoyed expression when he dealt with Tom’s knots worried Alice.
He was beginning to resent the extra task.
They drove back to the gas station and parked behind it on a side street.
“Someone might notice the RV driving away after,” Alice said. “There are houses.” He had to see the risks. Did he not care at all, or was he just that confident?
He laughed. “No one thinks that robbers are driving an RV. That’s why it’s perfect—and these small towns have like two cops.” He sent Jenny into the store to buy a pack of gum and see who was working. When she came back, she reported that the young man had left.
“There’s a woman now.”
“How old?”
“I don’t know.” Jenny looked at Alice. “Maybe a little older than Alice.”
A woman, working alone. She’d be so scared when they burst through the door.
Simon began pulling items out of the thrift store bag and held up a faded pair of denim overalls and a plaid shirt.
“Get over here, Alice.”
She buttoned the plaid shirt over her top. The overalls were so big she was able to put them on without taking off her shorts. Simon handed her one of the toy guns.
“What if the cashier has a gun?”
“She isn’t going to open fire on two of us.”
“You can’t guarantee that.”
“You’ll be the one in front of me.” He smiled. “That I can guarantee.” He handed her a baseball cap, told her to tuck her hair under, and then passed her a pair of knit gloves, and oversized glasses with yellow-tinted lenses that colored everything strangely.
Alice had stomach cramps. Sharp shooting pains under her rib cage and belly. She took a few slow, deep breaths, flexed her fingers inside the gloves, licked her dry lips.
Simon pulled on the cowboy hat that Jenny had given him.
Nothing about Simon looked Western to Alice, but the hat seemed to give him extra confidence.
He stood straighter and pretended to draw his gun as if he truly was a cowboy.
Alice moved out of his line of fire. Jenny was picking at her nails.
When she caught Alice’s gaze, she dropped her hands.
“Be careful,” Jenny said to Simon in a strained voice.
“Always am, babe. You don’t have anything to worry about.” He opened the cupboard where Alice had stowed their extra bed linens and pulled out two pillowcases.
He handed one to Alice.
Alice had never done anything wrong in her life. She didn’t speed. She didn’t steal. As a teen, she’d never broken curfew or drunk alcohol. And now she was going to rob a store.
She followed Simon out the RV door—after giving Tom a kiss and whispering to him that she was going to be okay, even if their eyes said that neither of them were sure about that.
Simon kept to the dark side of the street, hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched, and his head tucked so that his face was hidden. They each had a bandana around their neck. When they got closer, he instructed Alice to pull the bandana up over her mouth and nose.