The Heist
On the last day of the summer vacation, Lil Johnny awoke to the sound of heavy boots thumping on the stairs. His father was at work, leaving him the man of the house.
Peeked out the window, a white van stood outside. Listened at the door: men talking, tools clanking. He had no doubt about what was developing here. All that time spent watching the news made him clever. This was a heist.
He was also confident that their flat must be the coveted objective. There were a bunch of ordinary families out there. People who were not as clever as his mommy and daddy and were struggling for a mobile phone or a candy bar and who would stop at nothing. Not everybody lived in the penthouse of a period building. Even the people residing on the 3 floors beneath them seemed beggars compared to them.
He didn’t know how they got in the building in the first place. Maybe the super let them in, he’s such a moron. Or maybe one of those simpletons living beneath us are in cohorts with them. His daddy always instructed him not to be frightened of anyone. They are all cattle, he used to declare. We are better than them in every way. Even if they want to get out of line, once you show your authority they will return to their natural position of servitude. Lil Johnny manned up, pulled up his jammies and arrogantly walked out the door to confront the agitators.
‘What can I do for you, gentleman?’ he inquired, with the authority of a seasoned foreman.
‘Good morning, little fellow. How are you?’ Asked the real foreman. He didn’t get a response, just a stern stare, so he continued. ‘We are here to replace the tiles on the roof, you don’t want a leaky roof once the rains set in, do you?’ And the foreman ruffled Lil Johnny’s hair. The boy was visibly bothered by the foreman’s familiarity.
‘Unquestionably a heist’, he stated, as he locked the door behind him. ‘I will defend our home’, he murmured. He could have called his daddy, or mommy or one of their many employees, but he understood that it’s time for him to prove he’s worthy of his name. He saw Kevin protecting his home alone countless times and he knew he’ll have to do the same. Assured they will try and breach their flat through the ceiling he kept on running from one room to the other. Bathroom and kitchen included. Soon he had to realize that he required a different way to keep an eye on all areas as he was quickly running out of steam jolting from one room to another.
A surveillance system seemed the obvious solution, but how to set one up on such short notice? Luckily Lil Johnny with his rich imagination and lackluster social skills had a host of imaginary friends. He didn’t want to leave them wanting for anything, so they all had their own email accounts with a formidable presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram too. And yes, they all had their own Skype accounts. He kindly borrowed their phones – his old phones – and arrayed them in each chamber. Bathroom and kitchen included. Then he set up a split screen conference call, and presto, the mother of all DIY CCTV systems was up and running. Just for good measure, he scattered a few pins and nails in front of the windows in case they chose to pop in through the 4th-floor window.
He established his HQ in the living room. He wasn’t sure but always thought that the safe was in there. The big screen TV was definitely there and he saw no reason not to watch TV while maintaining a vigilant eye on the rest of the house.
The commotion from the stairwell got stronger, so Lil Johnny thrust his head out.
‘Are you just about done here?’ He inquired.
‘We are sorry for the inconvenience, little man. We’re only halfway there. We took off the old tiles and now we need to take them down and bring the new ones up. It should take about three more hours or so. ‘ To evade his hair being ruffled again the boy withdrew to his fortress.
He was confident that it’s all a ruse. Probably when they’ll carry up the new tiles, tucked away at the bottom of the crates will be the drilling equipment. And when they do breach the ceiling Lil Johnny will be there to intercept them. It wasn’t clear how exactly he can achieve that, but his mommy always claimed that being great is in his blood and he was positive that a great idea will occur to him when the time is right.
Self-assured in his brilliance he resumed his guard, in front of the TV. He kept the volume low and glanced over his DIY surveillance system from time to time. But the breach just wasn’t happening and gradually boredom crept in. As his apathy grew, so did the volume on the TV and he soon forgot about the heist.
Unbeknownst to Lil Johnny, the robbers were sitting in a van, calmly driving away from his pompous penthouse flat. Their loot, while not too much, would still be sufficient to cover their small house and keep them dry as the rainy season sets in.
Since I can’t compel you to stay as there are laws against it why don’t you do it on your own? Stick around and read more of my short stories. All of them are amazing. Well, most of them are. OK, honestly, some of them are. Why don’t you decide for yourself? Take a look around –> Here’s a map!
Or, if you’re really adventurous, get off the beaten track and read a random story!