Black Jack's

Chapter 1: Withdrawal

Shayna Oakley didn't know fear. As she walked away from the adoption house for the first and last time, she knew the wait had been worth it. With her jet black hair tied in a ponytail and her navy blue backpack over her shoulders, she carried what little belongings she owned.

She took a glance over her shoulder at the brick house as she got to the corner of the intersection closest to it. No one was rushing out the front door to chase after her and tell her she was making the biggest mistake of her life. They wouldn't even miss her now that she was finally eighteen.

The sudden urge to run came over her and so she turned and looked both ways before darting across the intersection to the other side. Continuing under a large tree as she passed a hedged yard, she felt free. There would be no more waiting for a family to come adopt her, she didn't need one now that she was legally old enough to take care of herself. From that moment forward she was on her own and she was fine with that.

When she slowed down some ten minutes later, she came to a stop several blocks away. Peering around, she didn't recognize the area anymore. All the times she had been out of the house had been in vehicles and she rarely ever took notice of her surroundings. She had accepted the fact that someone had abandoned her a long time ago and was never coming back. All those years in the adoption house she watched as the younger children were chosen first, picked one by one until they were all gone and only the rejects were left. Shayna didn't feel like one of them, but she knew she was different. She didn't belong there anymore.

An hour later after asking an older lady for directions, she arrived at the bank. She stood in line like everyone else, keeping her head down for the most part to not attract any unwanted attention.

Eventually the line moved enough that it was her turn to speak to a teller. She walked up and stared across at the thin woman.

"Good afternoon, how may I help you?" The woman greeted as she sat in a skirt on the edge of her swivel chair.

"I need to make a withdrawal from my account," Shayna announced.

"All right, do you have your bank card with you?"

"Yes," she replied pulling her backpack off her shoulders and setting it on the counter. Shayna rummaged through it quickly and pulled the card out.

"Insert it into the machine and enter your pin, please."

Shayna did as the teller instructed and then waited as the pin was denied.

"I'm sorry, you entered in the wrong pin. Would you like to try again?"

"Yes," she replied with a nervous sigh as she once again entered what she thought was her access code.

It was denied a second time.

"If you enter it wrong a third time the account will be locked and you will also need a new card. Do you have your ID with you?"

Anxiety was building up as Shayna feared she would lose access to the money in her account. It was the only thing she had to live off of and from what she remembered it was a mere five hundred dollars.

She found her birth certificate and handed it to the woman. A few minutes later she asked her to enter a new pin. Shayna used what she had been entering in the first two tries and then waited.

"Great, your pin has been changed, Shayna. What would you like to do with your account today?" The woman smiled, but Shayna didn't smile back. It looked fake to her.

"I want to make a withdrawal," she declared with a straight face.

"Okay," nodded the teller. "For how much?"

"All of it."