'Morning, ma'am,' he said to her.
Miss Sink didn't like his eyes. They were so intense, more like a stare, and there was something in them that spoke to her but she didn't want to listen. The young woman was standing oddly to one side of the machine, as if avoiding the camera. Miss Sink was beginning to feel frightened. She wanted to believe the young man would protect her.
'Worst thing ever invented. Spits out money like it's Monopoly,' the young man said as he also stayed out of range of the camera.
'Tell me about it,' the young woman said. 'I go through it like candy these days. Or would if some people'd hurry on up.'
He seemed like the sort of boy who might live in Miss Sink's part of town. He was probably getting money on his way to school, and she bet he went to one of the private schools like Saint Christopher's or Collegiate.
'You know, some of us gotta be somewhere,' the young woman said loudly. She was making faces, sighing, looking around and rolling her eyes. 'I can't be standing here all day!' She glared at Miss Sink.
'I'm sorry,' Miss Sink stammered, her nervous hands fluttering through her purse. 'I just hope I haven't lost it. Oh dear, oh dear.'
'You can't find it, old woman, then just get outta the way!'
'Hey, cool it,' the young man suddenly said.
He stepped closer to Miss Sink, but still off to the side.
'She was here first,' the young man told the little tramp.
'Well, I got my Visa card out, ready to go. Nobody tells Divinity what to do. Why you think they call me that? Because I am as divine as Jesus, that's why.'
'A terrible way to talk!' Miss Sink exclaimed. 'You better pray for forgiveness.'
'You better pray I don't take that tongue of yours and tie it around your old-ass neck.'
'That's enough!' the young man said to her.
'Fuck you, pretty boy.'
Miss Sink was trembling when she finally found her credit card. She promptly dropped it on the sidewalk. She almost lost her balance as she snatched it up, her heart drilling. She fumbled and dropped it again while the nasty young woman named Divinity made exaggerated sighs and swore.
Miss Sink managed to insert her MasterCard into the machine, and typed in her PIN and answered all questions. She could smell Divinity's cloying perfume and feel her evil spirit as ten twenty-dollar bills were ejected from the machine.
'That's a lot of bus money,' Divinity said to her sarcastically.
'Please leave me alone,' Miss Sink said in a shaky voice.
'Don't you tell me what to do, old bitch,' Divinity said in a tone mean enough to break the skin.
'Come on,' the young man said to Miss Sink. 'I'll walk you to "your car, ma'am.'
'Oh thank you.' Miss Sink almost grabbed his hand. 'Oh you're so nice. I can't thank you enough.'
Miss Sink caught a glimpse of Divinity tearing off a strip of duct tape and slapping it over the money machine's camera.
'We should call the police!' Miss Sink whispered to her escort as he opened the driver's door for her.
She didn't understand why he went around and opened the passenger's door, too.
'I want to ride with you maybe half a block just to make sure you're okay,' he explained as Divinity hung around the money machine, waiting to cause trouble for the next poor person who showed up, Miss Sink assumed.
She turned around to check on Loraine. Thank goodness she was sleeping. Miss Sink started the engine and locked the doors.
'I don't like the looks of that girl,' the young man said. 'Sometimes people like that work in pairs, like snakes. I'm worried there might be someone else around. You know, there's just something about all this that doesn't feel right. And I guess you've heard about these ATM robberies.'
'Oh, yes!' Miss Sink exclaimed. 'Thank God you came along when you did! You must be my guardian angel. I don't believe I know your name.'
'People call me Smoke.'
'Well, I hope you don't. Once upon a time I did. Can't tell you how hard it was to quit.'
'That's not why they call me that.'
Miss Sink backed up as the camera's blind eye observed nothing.
'They call me Smoke because I used to burn up things when I was a kid,' he said between clenched teeth as he snatched a gun out of the back of his pants and rammed it hard into her ribs.
'Oh dear God!' Miss Sink exclaimed. 'Oh no!'
'Keep driving,' Smoke snapped. 'That way. Around the back of Kmart.'
'Oh please, for God's sake,' Miss Sink begged. 'There's a child in the car. Just take what you want and leave us be.'
'Shut up, bitch!' he said.
Smoke watched Divinity drive the Escort from behind the bank, where it had been hidden. She inserted herself into the solid line of traffic creeping toward downtown, early morning light winking off windshields. He smelled shit and pee and at first thought it was the kid in the back seat.
'Fuck,' he said when he realized his victim had lost control of her bowels and bladder. 'I wish you hadn't done that.'
'I'm sorry. Please don't…'
'Shut the fuck up, bitch. You're going to drive real normal and you try anything I'm gonna blow your sweet little baby's brains all over the back of the car while you watch.'
'Take anything,' she cried. 'Just don't hurt her. Anything you want. Oh please! Anything…!'
'Shut up!' Smoke hissed.
Miss Sink was crying so hard her teeth were chattering. They drove behind Kmart and parked where asphalt gave way to acres of woods. Smoke grabbed her wallet out of her purse. He took the ten crisp twenties she had gotten from the money stop.
He robbed her of an additional two dollars and sixty-two cents, and quarters and tokens for tolls. Her watch and necklace weren't worth the trouble, and pawn shops were risky. She stunk so bad he was about to gag, and the fucking kid was waking up and beginning to cry.
'Loraine, it's all right, sweetie. Please be quiet, honey. My name's Miss Sink and this is my grandniece, Loraine,' Miss Sink prattled on. 'You don't want to hurt us. For God's sake, you must have a mother, a grandmother 'SHUT UP! QUIT NAGGING ME, YOU UGLY OLD BITCH!'
Smoke turned the radio up loud. The kid began to howl.
'SHUT THE FUCK UP!' Smoke yelled at the baby.
'Oh God in heaven! Please don't hurt us! Dear God! Think about what you're doing! You look like a smart young man. You don't want trouble like this!'
'I hate ugly old women like you. So you better shut the fuck up and consider yourself lucky I don't do other things to you. But you stink too bad,' he said in a low, cold voice. 'So now you're gonna bend over. So you don't see me when I get out. Okay?'
'Okay,' Miss Sink whimpered.
She pressed her face against the steering wheel. She squeezed her eyes shut and tightly covered them with her hands. She didn't move. She barely breathed. Annie Lennox was stepping on broken glass on the radio as Smoke dug through the glove box and the kid screamed. Smoke emptied the purse on the floor mat and helped himself to a pack of spearmint Freedent gum, fingernail clippers and a prescription bottle of Atavan.
'Thanks, Miss Sink,' he said. 'Grow up to be a good girl, Loraine. Y'all don't forget me, promise?' He laughed.
He popped a stick of Freedent into his mouth and scanned the area. No one was around.
'You know what I look like, bitch?' he said. 'I mean, you gonna recognize me on the street?'
'No. No. I didn't see you! Please,' Miss Sink begged.
'What 'bout that ugly little motherfucker of yours in her little seat back there. She know what I look like?' 'No! She's just a baby! You don't want to hurt us!' Miss Sink was shaking as if she was having a seizure. 'Let me think about this. What's a guy to do?' Smoke smacked his gum. He pulled back the slide of his Glock and it snapped forward with a loud clack. He felt the power. Smoke was high and hard with it as he pumped three Winchester hollowpoints into the back of Miss Sink's head.
Chapter Twenty-Six