Boutique Business (500Words Round 2, Week 2, Day 5, 1/26/18)
“Now!”
Ina flinched and kept her eyes on the gun. She wanted to get out of this alive. She took a step closer to the register and raised her shaking hands before saying, “I need to get the key. The drawer is locked. I need to get the key to open it.” She was impressed with how calm her voice sounded.
“Damn it, MOVE. Get the key, open the drawer, and give me the money. Now.” The woman’s last word came out as more of a growl.
Ina nodded and took another step to the right and away from the gun. She would have to look away to get the key, and she dreaded that moment. “I don’t care about the money – You can have whatever you want. I just want to make it home safely.” She shook her head and continued. “Ok. Look – you and your gun are making me nervous. I need to turn away to get the key and I’m scared. I have a baby at home and she needs me – I don’t want to die. You can have the money. Please – don’t hurt me.”
“Bitch, if you don’t move your ass and get the damn key I’m not making any promises.” The gun did lower, just a bit, as she talked and Ina took that as a good sign.
“Right. I’m moving. The key is down here, on the bottom shelf. I’m going to crouch down to get it. It’s tucked away so that Sophie, my baby, doesn’t get it when she’s here with me, so I’m going to have to root around for a moment.” Ina kept talking and still had her eyes on the gun.
The woman started shifting around, checking over her shoulder, and looking out of the windows as she muttered something to herself. Ina couldn’t tell what she was saying, though she could tell that she was getting more anxious the longer she stood there. With a silent deep breath, Ina turned away from the gun and found what she was looking for. Her right hand wrapped around her gun and she felt her heart rate slow down. Years of practice had trained her, and being armed felt more right than wrong. She said a quick and quiet prayer before resuming her chatter.
“Ok. I have the key and I’m going to stand up now.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Ina saw the woman turn slightly towards the door. In a rapid succession of steps, Ina popped up from her crouch, took aim, and shot the woman in the right shoulder. The scream of anger and pain filled the small shop and was punctuated by the clatter of the gun falling to the floor.
Ina, keeping her gun trained on the woman walked out from behind the counter. “It looks like you found the wrong store today. That shoulder is going to need some attention, and soon.” She kicked the dropped gun away from the two of them and watched as the woman dropped to her knees clutching her shoulder with her left hand.
* All 500Words are fiction. Any resemblance to people or events is strictly coincidental. *