The Bank Job – a short story for English reading comprehension

And we all charged in as one.

We had done this a hundred times before; we were well-practised at it.

Colin raised his shotgun and made sure all the people in the bank could see it.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a bank robbery. Everyone get on the floor and you will not get hurt. All the staff — out front now.”

He spoke calmly and quietly.

Jason, always good with technology, had disarmed all the alarms and cameras. And me, I stood at the door, keeping nosy people out and the customers and staff in.

This was a piece of cake.

“You,” said Colin, and pointed to a middle-aged man by a desk. “Give me the keys to the vault.”

The man faltered and tried to speak, but Colin approached him and waved the shotgun in his face.

“This is no time for heroics, my friend,” he said.

The man produced a set of keys, and Colin took them from him.

From behind me, Jason let out a laugh. “Sweet,” he said.

We had done all our homework on the bank. We knew exactly how much they had in the vaults. We would be raking it in.

I looked around at the people. They were all lying down on their fronts. Some peeked up at me and Jason.

We must have looked pretty intimidating with our masks on — I was Donald Duck. Jason was Goofy. And Colin was Mickey Mouse because he was in charge.

And then something came over me. I don’t know what it was, but I looked down at all these people lying on the floor of the bank — a man in a suit, a middle-aged woman, her hands trembling, and a security guard. And they were all ordinary people going about their lives.

Just normal people trying to get on with life.

And here we were, robbing the bank and making everyone’s life really difficult.

I looked at the gun in my hand. It was loaded.

Would I use it if I had to? I don’t know. But it now looked so evil, so bad.

I turned to the side and placed the gun on a counter where people fill in forms.

Then I removed my mask.

The security guard looked up at me in amazement. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Jason stared ahead at all the cashiers’ windows. He turned his head and saw me with my mask off.

“What — what are you doing?” he said. He stepped forward. “Put your mask on. Where’s your gun? What the hell are you doing?”

I shook my head at him.

“This is wrong,” I said. “This is all wrong. We shouldn’t be doing this.”

Jason called out to Colin. He didn’t say his name, of course. But he shouted out to him.

Colin rushed out from the door leading to the back of the bank. He saw me and stopped moving.

In a stage whisper, he spoke to me. “What’s wrong with you? Why have you taken your mask off?”

“I’m sorry, guys,” I said. “But this is all wrong. We should not be doing this to these poor people. Look at them. They’re decent, hard-working people.”

Colin came towards me in three large steps. He put his face close to mine. His Mickey Mouse mask grinning back at me.

“I don’t know what you think you’re playing at,” he said. “But if you don’t put that mask back on, one of these people will recognise you. And they will tell the cops.”

I shook my head.

“I will accept any punishment that is brought to me.”

It just seemed right that I should be punished.

Colin grabbed me by the arm and yanked me towards Jason.

“This is madness,” he said. “This is completely insane.”

He turned back to all the people lying on the ground.

“Everyone stay calm —”

Then, by the counter, I saw her.

One of the cashiers, a young woman, she had my gun in her hand. She must have moved so fast.

She was pointing the gun at Colin.

“Don’t move,” she said.

The security guard groaned. “Don’t be stupid,” he said. “Please, don’t”.

The middle-aged woman started to cry.

“Listen, young lady,” said Colin. “You don’t know how to use that gun in your hands. So why don’t you put it down and get back on the ground?”

She shook her head. “I know how to use the gun,” she said. And she moved her hands two centimetres to the right and pulled the trigger.

A loud bang filled the cavernous interior of the bank. People screamed and yelled out.

I watched in absolute amazement at this woman. This was an act of sheer bravery.

She looked at me and smiled.

“I think you’re so brave,” she said, and she smiled again. It was the most genuine smile I had ever seen in my life.

There was something about this young woman, something pure and kind about her. Something that seemed so right.

“My name is Joe,” I said.

“Hi, my name is Karen,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”

Colin called out to the room. “Everyone calm down,” he screamed. “You.” He nodded his head to the woman. “Give me the gun.”

She shook her head. “No. I am not giving you anything.” She looked at me. “Joe. Get over here. Stand behind me.”

At that moment, I would have done anything she asked me to do. She looked so wonderful.

Behind me, Jason was freaking out. “Colin, what’s going on?” he wailed.

“Don’t use my name, you idiot,” yelled Colin. He waved his shotgun at the people in the bank. But I could see he was losing his cool.

Then, in the distance, the sound of police car sirens.

I stood behind Karen. It seemed like the safest place in the world to me.

I could already see our future together.

And Colin and Jason… Well, we wouldn’t be seeing them for many years.