obdurate
[ob-doo-rit, -dyoo-]
1. unmoved by persuasion, pity, or tender feelings; stubborn; unyielding.
2. stubbornly resistant to moral influence; persistently impenitent:
an obdurate sinner.
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“Don’t do this, please.” Lora begged again.
“Sorry,
but I have to.” Eddie said while checking his equipment for the third
time. It was exactly the same as it had
been the previous two.
“No,
you don’t. There’s plenty of
options. Like not robbing a bank.”
“We
need the money.”
“But that
doesn’t mean you have to steal it. You
can, I don’t know, get a job? I real
job.”
“I
tried doing that.” Eddie set his shotgun
down next to a bag that would eventually, hopefully, contain enough cash for
the two of them to live off of for several months. “It didn’t work out.”
“You
didn’t try hard enough. Just please, try
again. For me?” Lora placed a hand on his arm, trying to
transmit all her feelings about him not getting arrested into the touch. Eddie sighed and looked away from her.
“I’m
sorry, but there’s just no jobs for guys like me out there. This is the only thing I can do.”
“No, it
isn’t. The whole idea is wrong, and you
know it. Committing a robbery like
this? It isn’t just wrong, it’s stupid.”
“I
know, I know. But the guys have a
plan. A good one. One that can work. We get in, do the job, and get out with the
money. Nobody gets hurt, nobody see my
face. It’s all clean.”
“Except
when has that ever worked for anyone?
They’ll find you and they’ll take you away.” Lora was on the verge of
tears.
“Then
they take me away.” Eddie said solemnly.
“You get the money and hide it.
It’ll last one person longer than it will two.”
“No! No I won’t do that.” Lora shouted. She slapped Eddie’s shoulder hard. He flinched from the blow, but did not stop
his preparations. “Look, if you do this,
I’m leaving you.” She said after a moment’s thought.
Eddie
stopped. “Baby, no. No, you can’t do that. I’m doing this for you.”
“Right,
so if I leave, there’s no point in it, right?”
Eddie
worked it over in his head. If he did
the job, she would leave. But he needed
to do the job for her sake. It was not
an easy thing to think about.
“Look,
I’m sorry, but I have to.” He said. “I
already told the guys I would, and they’re counting on me.”
“Forget
them. Let them get arrested.”
“If
they get put away because I bailed, I won’t be able to live with myself. I’m sorry, but I have to go now.”
Eddie
put all the supplies he could into the bag and headed towards the door with his
head hung. Lora stuttered, trying to
find something she could say that would make him change his mind. She unconsciously placed a hand over her
stomach. She knew what she had to
say. She had been hoping to save it for
a special moment, but this would have to do.
“I’m
pregnant.” She said. Eddie froze. That was the one thing he could not ignore. “Don’t you dare leave me. Leave this child. I will not have it growing up without its
father, just because you were too stubborn to listen to reason.”
Eddie’s hand was on the door. He no longer had any idea what he should
do. He would need money to raise a child,
and this was the only way he could see to get it. But, Lora was right. Even if he and his cohorts pulled the heist
off successfully, there was a strong chance he’d be doing a lot of jail
time. But, then again, there was still the
chance, however slim, that he could get away with it. And if he had money, he could use it to get
what he needed to get a real job. But
first, he needed the money.
“I…I’m
sorry.” He said. “But it’s…it’s the only
way.”
He
left the small apartment. He could hear
Lora wailing as he closed the door behind him.
************************************************
Robbing banks is bad. You probably shouldn't even try. They're also pretty secure. At least most of them are. It's generally seen as a bad idea overall.
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