Pay It Forward
1
“I’m Angie.” She held out her hand to the stranger, an athletic black girl with beautiful eyes.
“They said no names.” came the girl’s response.
She stared for a second at the face of abruptness. The girl looked back at her with a tight smile.
“You’re right, I’m sorry.”
Angie sat further away form the girl than she needed to, and waited in silence.
Another girl entered the room, followed by one more a few minutes after. They sat nearby each other, eye contact, a nod of acknowledgement, but no words were exchanged.
Angie’s eyes darted left and right as she took in the people surrounding her. One of them, a plump, blonde girl, fidgeted with her bag strap. Another, mousey and bookish looking, stared straight ahead at the space in front of the seats. The black girl sat with her head down.
The blonde girl looked over to Angie and flashed a shy smile. Angie returned the friendly greeting. The plump girl shuffled over and sat beside her.
“I’m Marie, fine arts studen-“
“No details please.” came the voice from the front as a woman, early thirties walked out in front, paper rustling in her hand. Her hair was tied up high and tight, the colour an unusual grey.
The girls sat up, their attention piqued.
The woman’s eyes skipped across the room, the four girls staring back in silence.
“Are you ready to begin?”
The small group said nothing, silence suggested consent.
“Before we discuss anything, you all need to sign a document.”
She handed the papers to the black girl, who took one and passed them back to the group. Angie took two, for herself and Marie, and handed the other back to the brunette. She didn’t smile.
“Read and sign this document before we start.”
Angie looked at the document. It was the strangest thing she ever read.
... I have never met nor interacted in any way with others in my actions.
She scanned further down.
... I partook in my actions of my own accord...
... am solely responsible for the consequences...
She signed her name at the bottom, eager to find out how it would work. The woman collected the papers, flipping through each one.
She placed the papers on the desk beside her.
”You have our guarantee that we will pay off your student loans,”She paused, letting that sink in, “provided you fulfill your end of the deal.”
Three of the girls shuffled uneasily in their seats.
“What’s that?” Asked the black girl, sitting bolt upright.
“We need you to rob a bank.”
2
Angie felt a moist sickness spread in the seat of her guts as the woman explained how it would work. Bank robbery,
unconnected robbers,
different robbers each time,
untraceable,
the next robbers pay off your debt,
you pay off the last ones...
She stood up, having heard enough.
The grey haired woman paused at the interruption. “Is there a problem?”
Angie struggled to find her words. Clutching her bag to her chest, she felt all eyes on her.
“I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”
She made her way to the exit, the chair screeching on the marble floor as she hurried from her row.
“Before you leave, answer my question.” The woman said behind her.
She turned her head. “What?”
“Don’t you want to pay off your student loan?”
“Yes, but not like this. This is so... illegal.”
“Isn’t slavery illegal too?”
“Yeah but...” Angie groped in her mind for an answer.
“What’s your job? Fast food? Office job? Escort? Got enough to cover rent this month?”
Angie squeezed her bag.
“Living costs? transportation? Anything left for entertainment? How will you pay?”
“I’ll live within my means.” Angie said, an anger burning in her stomach.
“How long will it take you to pay back your loan, plus interest?”
Angie’s heart sank.
“Where’s the high paying job that will give you work life balance and enough cash to pay back your loan?”
Angie’s bag sunk to the ground.
“If you start paying back on their rates today, you might have it paid off by the time you are sixty, working as many hours a week at least. This way, you can pay it off before you even leave university.”
Angie turned to face the grey haired woman.
“What if we get caught? That’s got to be... twenty five years in jail? That’s a huge chunk of my life gone.”
“True, or you can pay it off until you are fifty or sixty, and be at exactly the same point in life.”
Angie took a step back.
“You can pay it all off now, or do you like being in debt?”
“And if we get caught?”
“We have a 100% success rate so far. A lot of our STEM participants help us with the numbers.”
“STEM?”
“Science, Tech, Engineering, Medical... everyone plays a part.”
”What about me? I’m an arts student.” Said Marie.
”You were selected for a reason.”
Angie swayed with uncertainty. ”I can’t do this.” She headed to the door and grabbed the handle.
“It would be a shame for you to leave without hearing the best part.” Said the woman on stage.
Angie stared, waiting to hear more.
“I guarantee when you hear what I have to say you’ll be in.”
Annie turned back, but kept one hand on the door handle. “Go on.”
The grey haired woman smiled. “Here’s the thing...”
3
“Hey look, it’s a third-world convoy.” Said the guard into his walkie talkie as three niqab clad women entered the bank, each one pushing a pram.
The guard glanced at his colleague across the bank, a tight grin across his lips.
The women split up. One stayed by the door tending to her child, the other two continued inside, one stopping at the center to rummage through her bag. The other marched to a closed counter, a young teller counting money at it.
“This counter is closed, please join the queue.” He said, banknotes flipping through his deft fingers.
“Where is the bathroom for my baby?”
The banker lost count, His impatient demeanor changed as soon as he saw the niqab. Looking at the pram, he jumped out of his seat.
“Uh, maybe you can speak to our security.” He said, beckoning for help over her head.
A heavy set guard awoke by degrees, his paunch jiggling as he emerged from his stillness.
“What is it Steve?” The guard asked as he ambled his way over
“Lady wants to use the bathroom. Her baby I mean.”
“Sorry miss, we don’t have baby changing facilities here. The mall nearby has-“
“My baby is dirty. We need to change him.” She put her hands into her pram.
“If you’ll follow me miss I’m sure we can find you a-“
Her head rising from inside the carriage, she revealed a tightly swaddled baby in her arms.
“My baby, here, hold!”
She threw it forwards, the baby tumbling.
The guard thrust his arms out and caught the baby. His eyes wide with fright, he grabbed it at waist level, his heart pumping.
“Whoa, Miss I...” It was too light to be real. He looked down at the crude face painted on the model baby. Papier-mâché?
The other two women who reached into their prams.
The black girl was the quickest, her shotgun was out and an inch from the door guard’s chest. Marie was second, pulling her gun out so quickly she had little time to untangle it from her clothing. Angie pulled hers out from under the blanket and thrust it into the guard’s face, his trembling hands still clutching the fake baby.
There was a moment of frozen disbelief from everyone else in the bank, eyes darting to and fro at the unusual sight of fully covered women aiming guns at the guards. Was this real?
“Everybody get down, now!” Shouted the black woman at the door. She lashed the guard across the face with the butt of her rifle. He staggered backwards, but didn’t go down. “Lose the gun and get on your knees!” She said as he held his cheek. The guard turned his hip to her revealing his pistol. She took it and then ordered him to the ground. He got nose to floor, his bald head an angry red. A woman screamed as the reality of the situation hit her. “Shut up bitch! Everyone hit the ground!” People dropped, leaving only one guard and the three robbers standing, shotguns commanding over all.
“Not you!” the black woman shouted, pointing to the group of women near the door. “Up! stand in front of the door.”
The women did as they were told, faces grim and taut.
“Block the door, face inside.” They did so, blocking the view from the street. “We’re good.” She shouted over the sea of prone bodies to Angie.
Now it was her turn. “Hold my baby above your head.”
“But it’s...”
“Hold it up please.”
The guard held the faux baby high above his head, exposing the sweat patches under his armpits. Marie stepped over and slid the gun from his belt holster, tossing it in her pram. She wrapped the niqab clothing around her hand and patted him down. Lie down like the others.
“What about the-”
“Keep hold of the baby.”
“Are we clear?” The black girl shouted.
“Clear!”
Angie turned back to the teller, pointing the shotgun in his face. She handed over a slip of paper.
“Be a sweetheart and get this for me please.”
The clerk looked down at the paper, then up at her with a sweat-glazed frown.
“Quit stalling or I’ll start popping people! The black girl shouted.”
The teller got to work.
4
As the car sped away, the girls shouted and cheered, the adrenaline of the experience pumping through their bodies.
“No way I’m paying my student fees now bitches!” Said Marie, pointing at people whizzing by the car.
“Quiet! We aren’t out of it yet!” Shouted the mousey driver.
“Who’s got the papers?” Said the black girl.
“I do.” said Angie.
“Give them to me.” said the black girl, removing her niqab, revealing the sweat drenched face beneath. “Man, how do they wear these?”
“I’d better hold it for now.” Said Marie.
“No, hand it over, you were too soft in there, I’ll take them.” Said the black girl.
“No!” Shouted Angie, wrapping her hands around the stack of papers. “Let’s get somewhere safe first.”
The black girl leaned over the seat and made another grab at it.
Marie pushed her back. “No! Sit down!”
The black girl groped at the papers, through Marie’s arms. She pushed the black girl back, knocking the driver’s head with her shoulder.
“Hey!” Shouted the driver, “watch it!”
The black girl clambered a top the seat, throwing a slap at Marie. “Eat it bitch!”
Marie took the slap and responded, grabbing at the girl’s hair and shouting.
“Get off me bitch!” She shouted, pulling her hair from Marie’s grip.
Angie reached forward, grabbing at Marie’s hand. “Stop it or else we’ll-”
As the black girl freed her hair, she flew backwards into the driver. Their heads clattered together with a thud. The car swerved. They clipped something. Everyone was thrown back and forth. The driver screamed. Marie slammed into Angie and then they were all against the ceiling of the car.
Glass.
Sparks.
Smoke.
Dust.
The car stopped.
5
Angie’s crawled out of a foggy tunnel. She could hear someone repeating the same thing over and over, like a prayer. Realising where she was, she looked over to the voice.
“Oh shit! Oh shit!” Said Marie as she pulled a piece of metal from her forearm. Blood oozed out of the open wound. It looked so dark against her pale flabby skin.
She looked at the others. The black girl was crawling out of the car, the driver was already gone.
Angie tried to move and felt a strange disconnect with her leg. She rolled up her niqab and immediately saw the problem with her foot. It was twisted at an odd angle, with a very large, round lump where it shouldn’t be. For a moment she wondered if it was really her leg.
The black girl, now out of the car, walked over to Angie’s upturned side. She reached in and grabbed the document. They exchanged a glance before the girl scurried away through gravel and broken glass.
Angie turned back to Marie, who was now crawling elbow over elbow through the broken rear windshield.
“Marie help me, I’m hurt!”
Marie looked back at Angie, eyes wide with fear. “I’m sorry.”
Angie watched as the dusty hem of the niqab left the car.
She had to do something.
Glass pressed into her palms as she crawled, all the while the sounds of sirens grew louder in her ears. She felt hands grip her arms, heaving her from the wreckage.
Her eyes cloudy form dust and smoke, she couldn’t make out the faces of the people standing over her.
“Mam, you’ve been in an accident,” came a woman’s voice, “everything’s going to be ok. an ambulance is on the way.”
“Do you want me to call anyone?” Came a man’s voice.
Angie rubbed her eyes and looked up at her rescuers.
“I need to go.”
“Just sit here miss, don’t move. Help is coming.” Said the woman.
“Where’d the others go?” Said an old man to another helper, wearing a cap.
“Ran over that way.” Said cap, pointing off to the side of the road.
“What the hell were you doing driving crazy like that?” Asked the old man.
“Let her be.” said the woman.
The man wearing the cap squatted down and looked into the car. Inside he saw three shotguns, glistening with diamond like shards of glass.
“Sweet Jesus!”
“It’s not... they made me...” Angie’s head bobbed, adrenaline wearing off.
“She’s going into shock, said the woman looking into her eyes, Give her some room!”
6
She woke up in the ambulance with a jolt. Looking to her right, she saw a paramedic. Realizing where she was, she tried to sit up in her seat. The restraints pressed against her foot, sending white hot heat through her leg and up her spine. She gritted her teeth and rode through the pain.
“Relax, you’ll be alright miss.” Said the paramedic.
“Let me go!” She said through grinding teeth. “Please... I’ll do anything!”
“Miss, you’ve been in an accident, stay calm, you’ll be at the hospital soon.”
“I can’t go there, the police...”
“we’ll treat you first.”
It was over. she was going to jail for the rest of her life, and when she got out, her debt would be waiting for her.
7
The paramedic opened the door revealing the hospital. Another stood outside and helped to wheel her in.
“Please, let me go!”
“Shh! He said, You’ll be fine.”
Angie couldn’t tell if the sinking feeling was herself or the elevator they were travelling in.
The elevator stopped. As the doors opened they were hit with the coarse smell of gasoline. Peering over her mismatching feet, Angie saw a car park, filled with ambulances and various cars.
They took her out of the lift and switched her to a wheelchair by the lift.
“Get rid of the stretcher.” Said the medic to his colleague. He left without saying a word.
“Where are you taking me?” She asked.
“Your ankle is pretty busted up,” said the medic, “but we’ve shot you up with enough painkillers to get you out of here. After this, you’re on your own.”
“You’re not taking me to the hospital?” He wheeled her past a row of ambulances. A nearby car’s locking system beeped, lights flashing once as they approached it.
“Medical school’s expensive too you know.” He opened the door for her and held out the key, smiling. “On your way, and don’t forget your end of the deal.”
Angie dumbfounded, took the keys from his hand.
8
“I’m not gonna steal anything!” Said The young man standing by the door. Angie smiled, she knew exactly how he was feeling.
“You won’t be stealing. What you are taking is the Student Loan Company’s Bonds.”
Those that were still seated said nothing, but their eyes were on fire. She continued.
“It’s still stealing.” He said, pulling at his rucksack strap.
“Twenty years.” she said.
He frowned.
“Working an average job, it’ll take twenty years to pay off the interest on your loan. Isn’t that stealing? Stealing the best years of your life?”
A look of resignation spread across his face.
“The whole system is rigged. You’re never meant to get out of it.”
“It’s messed up, but I’m not robbing a bank!”
“Relax. You’re paying back your loan, with their money.”
His hand slid from the door handle. “You mean we give their money back to them?”
“Exactly. Now sit down and I’ll tell you the plan.”