Now or Never

Haas, Pete. "GTA V: 5 Reasons to Be Excited." <i>Cinemblend.com</i>. Cinemablend.com, n.d. Web. 07 Jan. 2016.

The plan was set: get in, do what we have to, get out. It was now or never. It seemed fairly straightforward, but there was more to it than that; there were 5 of us, including me. We waited outside the bank in the car, guns loaded, masks on. It was now or never. 

My life flashed before my eyes. I can still recall the day vividly; my father came home, disgruntled, unmotivated because he lost his job as a bank manager that day. Ever since then, it was just petty crime after petty crime. I hardly ever saw my dad growing up, he was always working; he loved his job, but everything changed after that day. I saw a new side of him that I had never seen before.

I was shaking. The thought of pointing a gun at someone to extort money out of them sickened me. But we didn’t have a choice. We were outlaws, being hunted by authorities. If we made it big, we would be free forever; new lives, new identities, no one would know about the past. Otherwise, everything that lead up to this point was gone, and the only other way was spending the rest of our lives in prison. It was now or never. 

I was sitting in the back. My father looked at me from the driver’s seat. He could see that I was nervous just from looking in my eyes. 

“You ready?” he asked. 

I stayed quiet and just nodded. 

“Alright,” he said. 

I could see people entering and exiting the bank. It had the regular light peach color like all bank buildings do, with windows through which I could see the inside. Some people were opening accounts, others were depositing money. 

“Everyone listen up,” my father announced, “If we stay out here much longer, people are going to get suspicious so we are going to go over this one last time. When we go in there, Jerry, I want you to take the left side, James, you will take the right. You and I will go together,” he said, pointing at me, “and Mark,” he continued, “I want you to wait for us in the car”. 

In the corner of my eye, I could see a couple walking in with their newborn child; the child was hardly 6 months old. That’s when I thought to myself, what did that little kid ever do to me that I should make him go through this? In fact, what did any of these people ever do to me that I should make them go through this? 

“Let’s go,” my dad said, there was no turning back, it was now or never. 

“Stop,” I said. “We can’t do this”. 

“Shut up and come with me,” he said. 

I knew he wasn’t going to change his mind. I followed him into the building, masks on, guns loaded. 

“EVERYBODY GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR,” Jerry, James, and my dad shouted. 

They raised their weapons and pointed it at people, I did too. I raised my weapon and pointed it at my dad and pulled the trigger, I saw my own father’s lifeless body on the floor. Jerry and James were next. I pointed the gun at them, one after the other and within seconds they were all dead. I looked around, the frightened look on people’s faces, I pointed the gun at myself and pulled the trigger. It was now or never, I chose never.