One Quiet Morning

One Quiet Morning

“I’ll see you tonight, honey.” Officer Jerry Allen patted his wife lovingly on the backside, laughed and grabbed his jacket as he went out the door. Today was his last day at the department before they could go on vacation and he was a happy man, he knew his wife had a lot of work to do getting things ready though. Maybe I can leave a little early today, he thought, if things are slow enough.

*************

Roberto Gonzales was having a hard time calming his daughter, Katrina. He knew she missed her mother, but there was no getting around the fact that their household needed the extra money that Angela made at her part-time job. “There, there,sweety.” He tried soothing the toddler. “Say, maybe we’ll stop by and see Mama for a minute before we go home.”

“Mama?” Katrina immediately quieted. “See, Mama?”

“Yes, honey.” Roberto smiled down at her. “We’ll stop and have a coke and see Mama.”

************

Ben Greene, glowered across the kitchen table at his wife. “Don’t give me that shit!” He barked. “I don’t have fifty bucks extra, what the fuck, you think I’m made of money?”

“I know, honey,” Barbara said, “it’s just that, Kenny needs a new pair of shoes. His poor feet are all cramped and there are holes in the soles.”

“Jesus Christ, woman!” Ben growled, “I just told you, I don’t have it!”

Slamming his coffee cup across the table, Ben stood up, glowered at the cowed woman once more and grabbed his coat.

“Where are you going?” Barbara asked.

“Crazy! You’re driving me fucking crazy!” Ben growled again. “I’ll be back later!” Slamming the door, Ben stomped down the sidewalk. Glowering once at his broken down car in the driveway, he turned and strode towards town center.

**************

Carefully, Roberto removed Katrina from her car seat and the two of them walked into the McDonald’s restaurant where his wife Angela worked.

“Mama work!” Kristina crowed, pointing to the large golden arch.

“Yes, honey.” Roberto smiled proudly down at his daughter. “Mama works here.”

*************

Ben Greene fumed as he walked. “Damn women and damn kids, always there’s something!”

**************

Inside the McDonald’s restaurant, Angela scooped Katrina into her arms in violation of work rules, but she couldn’t help herself. Katrina was their first child and though it was hard at times to make ends meet, she wouldn’t have wanted any other life but the one that included her husband and daughter.

***************

Ben Greene stopped in front of the McDonald’s restaurant, looking around, he saw that the parking lot was nearly empty. Peering through the dark windows, he only saw a couple of people inside. Pulling the gun and mask out of his coat pocket, he quickly slipped the mask over his head and burst through the door.

“All right!” He bellowed at the startled man and woman standing beside the counter. “No one move one God damn inch!” Pointing the gun at the woman wearing the restaurant uniform, he bellowed once more. “Get behind that counter and give me all the money!”

“MAMA, PAPA!” The startled baby in the woman’s arms screamed!

Startled by the piercing scream, Ben’s finger tightened down on the trigger. “BANG!” The noise from the gun was so startling that Ben fired again, catching the man as he moved forward.

“Roberto!” Angela screamed. As she turned to run, Ben’s gun fired once more.

Watching the woman slump behind the counter, Ben thought she might be hiding or going for some kind of alarm or weapon. Leaping over the counter, he slipped in the pooling blood from the woman and child. Ben looked around in terror before realizing that three people were dead in the space of the mere five minutes he had burst through the door.

“Oh, FUCK!” Ben cried out. “FUCK, FUCK, FUCK! Goddamned, fucking Beaner bitch! What did you make me do?”

Spotting the open cash register, Ben quickly scooped out the sixty-two dollars that made up the day’s starting cash. Leaping over the counter, he almost tripped over the body of Roberto Gonzales before running through the front door.

****************

While on patrol, Officer Allen decided that he had time for a quick cup of coffee and pulled into the McDonald’s parking lot just as Ben Greene ran out the front door directly in his path.

“Hey!" Officer Allen shouted, his good mood vanishing in an instant. “What the hell?”

Seeing the man look at him in what appeared to be abject terror, Officer Allen immediately jumped from his car. “Stop! Hey!”

Ben Greene took one look at the large policeman and brought his gun up. Before he could center the gun, he felt the thud in his chest as the policeman fired his own weapon.