Batteries and instant ramen. Who knew that such ordinary products could be of so much importance? As Alfonso looked out his barred window at the desert surroundings, he wondered how long much longer the prison lockdown would last. There was a riot again last week and the prison population was on lockdown and confined to their cells. Luckily, he had gone to the prison store before the riot and stocked up on batteries and instant ramen, the most valuable items in prison. Batteries would keep the radio going so that one wouldn’t die of boredom during a lockdown and the ramen could be cooked with warm water from the sink. Alfonso actually felt blessed to be stocked in these items. This false feeling of contentment showed how truly he had fallen from his former life.

********

“Dr. Alfonso Tamaguchi,” said Alfonso’s mom. “I like the sound of that.”

“Mom, I’m not a doctor yet. I’ve got three more years of medical school left,” Alfonso replied irritated.

“Three years? That’s nothing. My boy is gonna be a doctor just like his daddy was. What’s your specialty going to be? Internal Medicine? Maybe you’ll become a plastic surgeon and fix your mom up haha!” she laughed hysterically.

“Yeah mom, no problem,” answered Alfonso with trepidation. “I gotta go now mom. Got some studying to do,” he lied. He kissed his mom on the cheek and left. He had a mission today.

Meeting his mother was the most excruciating part of every week. She had been so proud when he got into UCLA Medical School. It would break her heart if she found out that he had dropped out after the first year as his grades were atrocious and he had met Pearl. Pearl the devil in disguise.

As Alfonso pulled into the bank parking lot, he scanned the lot and then parked right next to the exit. Easier for a quick getaway. He put on his beanie, sunglasses and stuck his glock .40 in his waistband. He had done this so many times now that he wasn’t even nervous anymore. Now it was a quick in and out, whereas the first time, he had spent over an hour in the car before he got the courage to go inside.

“Hi, how can I help you,” the auburn haired teller asked.

Alfonso pulled his glock out and placed it on the counter. “Don’t be scared and put only hundreds in the bag. Just be cool and hand over the money.”

It was as easy as that and Alfonso jumped back in his car headed home to Pearl. He knew she would be disappointed in the amount. A bank robbery at the teller only got a few thousand bucks, but Pearl had demanded more. She wanted a takeover robbery like the movies where the robbers hit the vault. But Alfonso wasn’t ready for that yet. He was also a one man operation and did not have a crew to pull off something that crazy.

The apartment was as dark as midnight as Alfonso walked in the front door of the apartment. The curtains were always shut tight as Pearl usually slept all day. Their bedroom reeked of weed and the floor was strewn with empty bottles of alcohol. He could barely make out her silhouette on the bed and knew she was knocked out cold from the drugs and booze. For a split second he put his hand on his gun and imagined murdering Pearl right there. But, of course, Alfonso knew he couldn’t do it. She meant everything to him and had him locked in her spell. Then he raised his gun to his own head as he had countless times before and closed his eyes.

“Baby, you home,” Pearl called out wearily?

“Yeah just got here,” Alfonso responded hurriedly as he stuck his glock back in his pants.

“How much?” she asked without hesitation.

“Thirty-four hundred.”

“That’s it! That new Chanel bag I want is over seven thousand,” she said matter of factly. “You need to step your game up.”

Alfonso flicked on the light and stared at her. Even after a long night of drugs and alcohol, Pearl looked stunning. She looked just as she did the night he met her at that club in Las Vegas. He had drunkenly blurted out that he was trying to become a second generation physician like his father and her ears had perked up. She smelled the money and cast her spell on him.

The next few months were a rollercoaster. She moved into his place in L.A. and they partied so hard every night that his medical school studies went down the drain. Alfonso had little experience with the opposite sex and this was his first true girlfriend. Most females didn’t pay much attention to him and suddenly one with model looks was living with him. It wasn’t too long before he fell in love with her. When she threatened to leave one night because he didn’t have the money to support her lifestyle, he knew drastic action was required. Maybe he could steal pharmaceuticals from the hospital and sell them. When she first suggested banks, he thought she had lost her mind. He didn’t even drive over the speed limit and now she wanted him to rob banks. Before he knew it though, he was taking down banks all over Southern California.

“Listen, Pearl. If you want me to go all the way with these banks, you’re going to have to help me.”

“Finally! I’m ready for some Bonnie & Clyde action,” she yelled out referencing the infamous bank robbing couple from the 1930s.

The plan was made. Alfonso would go in fully armored with an assault rifle and take down the bank’s vault. Pearl would be his getaway driver and monitor the police radio to make sure they escaped in time.

They finally decided on a bank in an Orange County shopping mall with easy escape routes to two nearby freeways. Pearl listened to the police radio religiously to understand the police jargon and the fateful day finally came.     

“Keep in radio contact with me and let me know when the cops are coming,” Alfonso said in the car in front of the bank. “No matter what, do not leave until I’m out. Do you understand?”

“You can do it. I’ll be waiting,” Pearl assured him.

The next few minutes went by in a blur as Alfonso burst into the bank and first subdued the security guard. The bank alarm had been triggered but Pearl let Alfonso know that the police were at least 10 minutes away. After stuffing as much cash as he could into two large duffel bags, he rushed out of the bank doors thinking that he had hit the jackpot.

“We did it baby!” Alfonso yelled as he threw the bags into the trunk.

After closing the trunk, he heard, “Put down your weapon!”

A shopping mall security guard had come upon them and had his gun pointed right at Alfonso. That’s when the unthinkable happened. Pearl hit the gas and sped away with the cash. As he watched the car leave the parking lot, Alfonso’s heart felt like it was crushed in a vice. As the handcuffs were fastened on Alfonso, his warped mind even imagined Pearl driving back with guns blazing to rescue him.

********

The past two and a half years in a federal prison had crawled by in slow motion. Alfonso passed the first year actually expecting a letter from Pearl; he had even gotten her name tattooed on his chest by paying an inmate tattoo artist. If he had an address for her, he would have sent her the dozens of letters he tearfully wrote on nights when the loneliness was too much to handle. Eventually though, after a year or so, he finally came to his senses and tried to erase her from his mind.

Alfonso tried to adjust to the criminal environment as best as he could as a former aspiring physician and learned a few things about himself. First, he had no one to blame but himself for the predicament he was in.  Second, if he was going to make it out of prison about eight years later, he would have to keep his nose out of trouble. Finally, and most importantly, batteries and instant ramen were invaluable to lead any semblance of a comfortable life.