Read Online One Foot Off the Gutter by Peter Plate - Free Book Online

of the women and stared helplessly at her. The hollows under his eyes were smudged with sleepless, charcoal streaks. Barbie zipped the best faked smile she had across her mouth and nudged the women out of her way with a sharp elbow. She didn’t have a second to lose. The women looked at her and in their faces, she saw confirmation: it was like a dream that had been waiting to happen.
    Free Box had turned the corner into another section of the store. When Barbie caught up with him, he whispered, “Over there, right?”

    She jerked her chin wordlessly, saying yes.
    Free Box whipped out the revolver from under his sweatshirt. He stuck the tip of the barrel into the nose of a young woman standing behind the cash register in the clothing department. The clerk was a short haired brunette with a multitude of zits on her chin. Reflexively, though she knew something was wrong, she smiled and asked Free Box, “Hello. Do you need any help?”
    â€œYes, please,” he said. “Open the drawer.”
    His request took a moment to dawn on her. It sank into her mouth and washed away her rigid smile. Then it registered in her eyes, wiping out their warmth. Her hands hovered at her waist, not knowing what to do. Barbie sized up the situation and saw it was going to be a problem unless she did something about it. Someone had to make a move. She pushed Free Box away from the counter.
    â€œI’ll take care of this. Now, miss, you have to do what he said. Don’t be scared.”
    There was a wan grin on Barbie’s face. Her eyes were like agate marbles, distant and slightly out of focus. Then she reached over the glass counter top and grabbed a handful of the girl’s hair, gurgling, “The money, miss. Do you hear me?”
    The girl blanched, but still managed to oblige. She reached for the button that opened the cash register’s drawer and pressed it. The tray slid open with a solid bang. Barbie stood up on her toes and took a peek at it. She licked her lips and swallowed. The clerk was waiting, chalk faced. Barbie smiled and let go of the girl’s hair.
    There was a stack of cash in that drawer.

    Without saying a word, she took the gun from Free Box. She aimed the weapon at a couple standing nearby; several other customers gawked at her. No one said a word, and nobody moved.
    â€œGet down on the ground!” she barked.
    She waved the gun back and forth. One heart beat later, everyone did as she asked. It was easier than she’d imagined. She squinted over the top of the gun sights. The ugly muzzle was trained on the couple as they lay face down on the carpeted floor. The woman’s ankle length dress was hiked up around her knees. It made Barbie sad to see the woman’s bony and tender kneecaps.
    â€œI got it,” Free Box said from behind her.
    His voice was feverish. It made her think of snakebites and how painful they were when you got one in the face.
    â€œDid you put it in a bag?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œThe girl?”
    â€œDon’t worry about her. Let’s get out of here,” Free Box panted.
    Barbie fired three shots into the ceiling on her way out of the clothing department. There was so much she wanted to get off her chest. She squeezed off another round and brilliantly, the shot crashed through a window. By the time the two of them got past the service desk, pandemonium was breaking out across the store. It was becoming impossible to get out the front door. Someone had fallen down and another person had tripped with still more people stepping on them trying to get away.
    Free Box grabbed the door’s handle bar. Two workers
came at him, swinging haymakers. He opened the door, and Barbie muscled her way past him. She dashed onto the sidewalk and he leaped out after her, hooking his long legs around the metal frame, then slamming the door behind him.
    Barbie was standing there with smoke weeping from the gun’s barrel. Free Box took her hand