Chapter 1

My Life As A Thief - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

    I watched the cars drive down Dale Evans Parkway. I have lived in Apple Valley, California since 1995. Apple Valley's claim to fame is that Roy Rodgers and his Wife, Dale Evens, had lived there in the last part of their life's. Roy and Dale had been stars of many cowboy movies and The Roy Rodgers Show. Roy has always been my hero. I use to sit in front of the TV just mesmerized by his shows, like many children in the 1950's. I wanted to be a cowboy when I grew up. I guess in a way, I am.
    Apple Valley is located in the Mojave Desert. It is a pretty good size town of about 70,000 people, last I heard. Juniper bushes and Joshua trees are scattered among the houses. The sandy tan color of the ground makes the valley seem very bright. There were no clouds in the sky today, making the blue contrast drastically against the browns and mute greens of the desert. I always loved the spring here. The nice warm days and cool nights before the attack of the summer's heat. I'll miss this place.
    I turned away from the street and toward the building. It was the Apple Valley Police Department. I was finally gonna do it. I had made a promise to Judith elven months ago, and here I was. After 38 years as a wanted fugitive, I was gonna turn myself in.
    "Well, might as well get it over with." I mumbled to myself and headed for the front door.
    As I walked in the air conditioning felt nice. The room was pretty barren. A few chairs, a big plant in the corner, and a small table with some magazines on it. I walked up to the reception window. There was a African-American lady, in her mid-30's, behind the glass. She was very attractive. She spoke through the small sound hole in the glass.
    "Can I help you, sir?"
    I froze for a second, regretting my decision. But I saw Judith's face flash across my mind. I needed to fulfill my promise. I took a deep breath.
    "Um yes, I would like to turn myself in today." The words echoed inside my brain after I said them. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. I'd never been so afraid in my whole life.
    "I'm sorry, Did you say turn yourself in?"
    "Yes."
    "For what, sir? What did you do?"
    I could see she was getting nervous and she started shooting glances back towards her fellow officers.
    "My wife and I ... We um.... We've robbed 50 banks since 1972."
    "You what?"
    "We robbed 50 banks in 20 different states between 1972 and 1995. I'm here to turn myself in." My hands were sweating profusely.
    "Ok, Sir I need you to stay right there, ok?"
    "Yes."
    She turned around and called out to two of her fellow cops. They came out from behind the glass through a door that was off to the right. They searched me, but I had no weapons on me. They then lead me through the back room into a small interrogation room. They told me to sit down and to wait for the detectives, who would question me and get my whole statement. I could hardly think.
    A short time later, two men walked in and sat down. I told them the same thing I had told the lady officer in the front.
    "Ok, well here's what we're gonna do." The fat, bald one said. "Were gonna put you in a holding cell until Monday. Detective Wayne is going to be back from vacation on that day and he's gonna deal with your case, ok?"
    "Um, yeah. Sounds good." Two days wasn't that bad. I'd be in jail the rest of my life so I better get use to it now. They lead me out of the room, Through the station and into the holding cells. They put me in a one-man cell all the way at the end.
    "Well bring you dinner in a little bit, In the meantime, make yourself at home." He chuckled to himself as he walked away. I walked over and sat down on the bed. I was tired. I wasn't very hungry, I might as well go to sleep now. Besides their food is gonna suck, which is why I ate a big bacon cheeseburger and fries right before I came here. I'll miss that.

Author's Note

Version 2 of the first chapter. First draft of Chapter 2. I have a basic idea where the story is going but I'm coming up with a lot of things as i write it. I want to get the story all written out and then I will go back and add on once I have all the story elements figured out. Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks.

Reviews

[brenda]

i like it !!:)

[Vanessa Rico]

Ok, I admit the first paragraph got me a little lost, but I perservered. I do enjoy your descriptions which are quite accurate and give me a clear picture in my mind. I am not sure if you are writing this just for fun or if you are writing to one day get published. If it is for the latter reason, then this is very short for a chapter. Most chapters in published books are at least 2,500 to 3,000 words. As for the story, it was an interesting beginning and made me want to find out what happened next to our protagonist bank robber! Let me know when you have more chapters up!