Broken

by Oliver T Spedding

***

  I had expected Cindy to be excited and pleased when she got home but when she walked into the lounge where I was sitting on the couch with the shopping bag of money she looked sad. She sat down next to me. She pointed at the money.

  "Have you counted it?" she asked. "Was my figure correct?"

  "To the cent." I said. "Your idea of sending me that SMS was brilliant."

  "I'm glad." Cindy said. "I'm also glad that you didn't have to use any violence."

  "Yes." I said. "It went off like clockwork and Mister Whiteside was so shocked when I gripped him and shoved him into the alley that he let go of the shopping bag as soon as I grabbed it. And he didn't even shout for help, he was so shocked. When I got to the far end of the alley and looked back, he was staring at me with his shoulders slumped. But what's wrong with you? Aren't you pleased with our success?"

  "Garth." Cindy said quietly. "Those two old people are broken. Mister Whiteside arrived back at the depot, walked into the office and sat down at his desk. He began to cry quietly. Misses Whiteside came into the room. He told her what had happened. She also began to cry. "We're ruined." she said quietly. "That's the last straw. The business is gone and now all the people that work for us will lose their jobs. We won't even be able to pay them the wages that we owe them." Misses Whiteside looked at me. "Cindy." she said. "We've been struggling for almost two years now to keep the business afloat. Our overheads were killing us. We'd used up all our life's savings to keep the business going. But times have changed. Dry cleaning isn't as popular as it used to be. The pressure on us has been unbearable. And now this. We're finished; ruined. I'm afraid we won't be able to pay you for the work you've done for us, so you'd better leave. I'm sorry."

  Cindy looked up at me as tears began to trickle down her cheeks.

  "What are you crying for?" I asked. "That's life. You win some; you lose some. I'll bet that their business would have closed anyway. A business that size doesn't close because it lost fifteen thousand Rand. They're trying to use the robbery as an excuse. I don't understand you, Cindy. Yesterday you hated those people and now you fell sorry for them."

  "Garth." Cindy said. "I've experienced a great deal of despair in my life, and I'm sure that you have too. But the despair that I saw in those two old people's eyes today was appalling. We were young when we experienced despair and were able to recover from it. Those people are too old to recover from what has befallen them. Regardless of how they treated me I can't help feeling sorry for them."

  "You'll get over it." I said. "Life goes on. We've got our whole lives ahead of us. Now we can pay off our debt to Mister Bogdanovic and start anew. The future's ours. Let's make the most of it."

  Cindy took a deep breath and smiled weakly.

  "I suppose you're right." She said. "I will get over it. It may take a while but eventually it will fade into the past."

  She stood up from the couch.

  "I'll get some beers." she said. "Let's celebrate."

  ***

  "Your Honour." Cindy's attorney, James Foster said, addressing Judge Bester. "My client, Cindy Bedford, assures me that she has recovered her composure and can continue with her testimony. Perhaps this is a good time for Garth Gilmore to step down from the witness stand and allow Miss Bedford to continue."

  The judge nodded.

  CHAPTER 11

  "Cindy. Are you sure that you're able to continue?" James Foster asked me as I looked at him from the witness stand.

  "Yes, thank you." I said.

  ***

  Garth paid back the money that he owed to Mister Bogdanovic and I began looking for another job. But the economic climate had changed drastically. The housing bubble in the United States had been burst by the sub prime mortgage crises and this had impacted harshly on the rest of the world, especially developing countries like South Africa. Companies began cutting their budgets and tens of thousands of workers were retrenched. Misses Phillips, from the Child Welfare Department came to visit us late one afternoon. We sat in the lounge. I could sense Garth's hostility towards the woman and I thought that this was unfair. Although she had reprimanded him for forging the document to the bank and fraudulently withdrawing the funds, she was only doing he job which was to look after Garth and his estate until he reached the age of eighteen.

  "Garth, your estate's in serious trouble." Misses Phillips said. "The original amount of money that your aunt left you in the investment account earned sufficient interest to cover the cost of the rates and taxes on the house, the domestic worker one day a week and a part of your daily allowance of a hundred and fifty Rand a day. The balance of your allowance had to come out of the capital amount thus reducing it by almost a thousand Rand a month. I had hoped that by now you would have found employment and this allowance could be discontinued. Do you understand?"

  Garth nodded, still looking down at the carpet.

  "The problem is that the capital in the account has been so drastically reduced that the interest that it now earns won't even cover the rates and taxes on the house. For this reason I'm going to have to terminate the domestic's employment as well as your allowance. If I don't, all the money in the investment account will have been used up in about six month's time. You can see therefore, just how important it is that you find a source of income as soon as possible. I've spoken to the bank about a mortgage on the house but they've told me that the only way that they can do this is if you can show them that you have sufficient income to pay the instalments."

  "As far as the domestic worker's concerned, that's not a problem." I said. "I'm quite happy to do the washing and ironing and keep the house clean and tidy."

  "That's very good of you, Cindy." Misses Philips said. "But will you be able to do that and still do your work at Checkers?"

  "I don't work at Checkers anymore." I said. "At the moment I'm also unemployed. But I'm looking for a job. It's just that finding work is becoming more and more difficult. The economy changed for the worse. There just aren't any jobs that I can do."

  "Oh, dear." Misses Phillips said. "I am sorry to hear that. So now you're both unemployed. And you're quite right. It is becoming more and more difficult to find work. But it's vital that the two of you do find work. It would be a tragedy if you were to lose the house. And even if you did have to sell the house it wouldn't solve your problems as you would now have to pay for your accommodation as well as your living expenses. Even if you invested all the money from the sale of the house, the interest that it would earn wouldn't nearly cover your expenses. On top of that, the bottom has fallen out of the housing market. The prices of houses are falling drastically. There are far more sellers than buyers. This is a very bad time to have to sell the house. Garth, Cindy. It's vital that both of you find a source of income."

  "We'll keep trying." I said.

  After Misses Phillips had left, Garth and I went into the kitchen and I began preparing our supper. Garth took a beer out of the fridge and sat down at the table. The water in the pot on the stove began to boil and I dropped in two handfuls of spaghetti. I sat down at the table opposite Garth.

  "What are we going to do?" I asked.

  Garth shrugged his shoulders.

  "I don't know." he said. "But I'll think of something."

  "Another robbery?" I asked.

  Garth looked at me intently.

  "Do we have a choice?" he asked. "Neither of us has a job and the chances of finding one are remote. And I'm determined not to lose the house."

  ***

  I continued to search for a job but the task was hopeless. Even temporary jobs like a steakhouse or bar waitress were almost impossible to find. And, even if you did find a job as a waitress the earnings were pitiful. Fewer and fewer people were eating out, and those that did were becoming less and less generous with the tips that they left.

  I also worried constantly about Garth and his implied intension to commit another robbery. I loved him dearly and I didn't know what I would do if I lost him. He'd been extremely lucky w
ith the two crimes that he'd committed so far and, even though he believed that this was the result of his good planning, I believed otherwise. All criminals eventually made a mistake that cost them dearly. There were just too many inconsistencies in human behaviour so that even the most meticulously planned crime could easily go wrong. People were just too unpredictable. Eventually though, I resigned myself to the fact that Garth would continue to resort to crime to see himself through life.

  About a week after Misses Phillips had visited us, my worst fears were realised. Garth and I were in the kitchen, he was sitting at the table drinking a beer and I was standing at the stove with my back to him heating up what was left of the stew that I'd cooked the previous evening.

  "I've found someone that I think will be a suitable target to rob." Garth said.

  I continued to stir the stew, too disappointed to say anything.

  "It'll be a lot different than the previous two robberies though" Garth said. "It can't be a grab and run robbery. This time I'll have to rob the guy on his premises. The problem is that I can't do that on my own. I'm going to need your help."

  I switched off the stove and returned to the table with the pot of hot stew. I ladled it onto our plates and took the empty pot to the sink. I washed it and placed it on the drying rack, all the time conscious that Garth was watching me carefully to see how I was reacting to what he'd just said. I returned to the table and sat down opposite Garth. Suddenly I didn't feel hungry at all. I forced myself to pick up a forkful of stew, but before I put it into my mouth, I looked up at Garth.

  "What would I have to do?" I asked.

  "Okay." Garth said. "This is my plan. The man that I think that we can and should rob is that money lender Bogdanovic. Apart from the fact that I think that he's a thief for charging such high interest rates, when I was in his office in connection with my loan from him, I noticed a large safe. Each of the times that I was there it was open and I could clearly see that there were stacks of one hundred Rand notes inside as well as a great deal of jewellery. I've no doubt whatsoever that there's a small fortune in that safe."

  "But how will you get to it?" I asked. "Are you thinking of breaking into the shop one night? And, if so, how will you open the safe? Bogdanovic won't leave it open at night."

  Garth shook his head.

  "Breaking into the place would never work." he said. "For the reasons you've just mentioned. And there'll be a very efficient and intricate alarm system, without doubt. And, I wouldn't be surprised if those two goons of his sleep in one of the back rooms at night. No. We'll have to rob the place during the day while Mister Bogdanovic's there."

  "But even if you wear your ski mask he might recognise you." I said. "And anyway, how will you get into the shop wearing your ski mask? Bogdanovic won't let you in; that's a certainty. And what about the door? Isn't there a security gate? Are you going to try and break it down?"

  "No." Garth said. "That would never work. And, unless I was disguised, he would recognise me. And a disguise is far too risky. He would probably recognise my voice. But, he doesn't know you. He'd let you in, especially if you were there to ask for a loan."

  "And once he's let me in?" I asked.

  "By opening the gate for you he'll give us a chance to block the lock so that, when the gate closes, it won't lock itself." Garth said. "And we'll do that by you sticking a strong piece of tape such as mirror tape over the cavity that the bolt of the lock goes into when the door is closed. Thus, the door will close after you enter the shop, but it won't lock itself. Then, while you and Bogdanovic are discussing your loan in his office, I'll be able to enter the premises without him knowing. Then I'll pull down my ski mask and rush into the office."

  "Are you sure that he won't be able to see you come in through the door?" I asked.

  "Yes." Garth said. "The office is on the left side of the door as you enter and the doorway can't be seen from it. Each time I visited Bogdanovic he came out of the office to see who'd rung the doorbell so I'm sure he can't see the doorway from the office. So I'll be able to get into his office before he knows that I'm in the shop."

  "And then?" I asked.

  "Then I'll hit him over the head with my truncheon." Garth said. "He's seriously overweight so his reactions will be very slow."

  "And what if you kill him like you killed that book maker?' I asked.

  "I've told you before, Cindy." Garth said angrily. "We don't know that Mister Eksteen died because I hit him with the truncheon."

  "Okay. I'm sorry I said that." I said. "So, you knock Bogdanovic out. Then what?"

  "Then we take all the money and jewellery out of the safe, put it into my rucksack, I'll roll up my ski mask and put on my fake glasses and we'll leave the shop as if we're two ordinary customers."

  "But even if Bogdanovic doesn't recognise you, he'll know what I look like." I said.

  "Not if you're wearing a wig, fake glasses and heavy makeup." Garth said. "And as we leave the shop we'll pull off the tape that had prevented the security gate from locking, so nobody will know how we got in. But we must be very careful not to touch anything so that there are no fingerprints to betray us. When you open the door use your handkerchief. I'll do the same."

  "And what about those two big thugs that work for Bogdanovic?" I asked. "What if they come into the office while we're stuffing the money and jewellery into the rucksack? You can't fight them."

  "They're usually in one of the rooms at the back of the shop." Garth said. "And I know that each time I was there the door was closed. I remember hearing the sounds of a snooker game so they probably spend all their time playing snooker. I don't think that they'll be a problem."

  "Garth." I said. "That's crazy! I'll admit that your plan up to there sounds feasible but you can't ignore those two thugs. And if they do come in, they'll kill us!"

  "Slow down." Garth said. "This isn't the final plan. It's just the beginning. We're not going to do anything until we've covered all eventualities. What we'll have to try and find out is if the door can be locked and if the key is in the lock on the outside. If it is then I can quietly lock the door as soon as I've knocked out Bagdanovic."

  "And how can we find that out?" I asked.

  "You may have to make two visits to Bogdanovic so that you can find that out on the first visit." Garth said. "Then, if the door can be locked from the outside, we'll do the robbery on your second visit. But remember; we're not going to do this unless we're both satisfied that we can pull it off. So, like you did today, try to find flaws in the plan. That's the only way we'll perfect it."

  ***

  I thought about Garth's plan to rob Mister Bogdanovic constantly, trying desperately to find something that would force him to abandon the scheme, but eventually I had to admit that it all hinged on whether on not we would be able to lock the door leading to the back of the shop. I also resigned myself to the fact that I would have to visit Mister Bogdanovic to find this out. In a way I felt more comfortable with this. At least I would be familiar with the shop if and when we did do the robbery and I wouldn't be going into it blindly.

  I was also tempted to tell Garth after my visit that the door didn't have a key on the outside, even if there was a key there, and that we would therefore have to abandon the scheme. But then I realised that I was vaguely in favour of the plan because, if it did come off, our financial problems would be over, at least in the short term, and that by the time we needed more money we would both have good jobs.

  We discussed the robbery plan every day at least once, going over the plan in minute detail and trying to find any flaws that would lead to disaster. Eventually we were down to two stumbling blocks; the possibility that someone would come to the shop while the robbery was in progress and would test the security gate as people were prone to do with these barriers and the possibility that we wouldn't be able to lock the door leading to the back of the shop. We finally solved the first problem.

  "I'll print out a "CLOSED" notice on my computer that we can st
ick on the glass front door which I'll close after I'm in the shop." Garth said. "Because it's a glass door, closing it won't be noticeable."

  "Yes." I said. "Just be careful not to leave any fingerprints on it or the door."

  Now the whole robbery depended on whether or not we would be able to lock the door into the back of the shop and to find this out I would have to visit the shop and apply for a loan. I went to the supermarket and bought a cheap black wig and a pair of cheap reading glasses with the lowest magnification available.

  "I'll have to leave the lenses in." I said. "If I wear glasses without lenses in them Mister Bogdanovic will quickly notice this and become suspicious. Glasses like yours that don't have lenses in them are okay if people are only going to see you from a distance. And as I'll only be wearing them while I'm in the shop I'll easily be able to see with them, especially with such low magnification."

  "Good thinking." Garth said. "And with enough make-up you can change your complexion, making it either darker or lighter than it really is."

  Garth coached me on what I should say to Mister Bogdanovic during the meeting.

  "Just keep everything simple." he said. "Act like you don't know anything about finance. As we won't be paying back the loan, or even taking it, it doesn't matter what interest he charges you. Ask for a two thousand Rand loan to be paid back in ten days time and if he asks what you need the money for tell him that it's to help your sister who's in hospital and is coming out in three day's time and can't pay the hospital fees until she gets back to work a week after that when she'll be able to pay you back. You're going to lend her the money in the mean time. And your sister's name is Anne. We'll also have to make up a fictitious name for you as well as a fictitious address. We can use the address of one of the apartment blocks in Hillbrow. Tell him you live on your own and you don't know where your parents are. He'll also ask you for your identity document. Look in your handbag and tell him you've forgotten it at your flat but that, if he does agree to grant you the loan, you'll bring it with you to the next meeting. We'll also have to buy a cheap cell phone and a SIM card and some air time as he's bound to ask you for your cell phone number. After the robbery we can throw the 'phone away."