After I hung up the phone, I didn’t waste a second and ran straight to the bank, barely a hundred yards from my front door.
Sure enough, it was market day, and the place was packed. People were jammed in at the entrance, some waiting to finish their business, and others were just there for the drama.
“Excuse me, could you please make some space?" I called out over the crowd.
I managed to squeeze through a small opening, and just as I got to the ticket machine, unexpectedly, a shoe flew in and hit me directly on the forehead.
“They stole my money! They’re trying to kill me!”
The shrill, piercing voice cut through the bank.
I looked up and saw Nancy Walker, the woman who had caused the scene.
Two security guards working together held her back, but she wouldn’t have it.
Standing beside the guards, our supervisor tried to calm her down. “Ma’am, we have cameras everywhere, and every step is recorded. We’ll take you to the back and review everything. There’s no way a mistake happened.”
But Nancy snapped back, “No mistake? So you’re saying my money just disappeared? My account should have $2 million. That’s the money I saved for my son’s wedding. Now there are only $20,000 left. What am I supposed to do? I might as well just die. Your bank is the one driving me to this.”
She threw herself toward the wall like she would slam her head against it.
I dashed over, holding my head as if to protect it.
Then, I butted in, “Ms. Walker, I’m here now. I handled your deposit. Let’s calm down and talk this through. It’s the New Year. Whatever the problem is, we can work it out peacefully.”
I was panting, nearly blurting all my words out in one breath.
When Nancy saw it was me, she eased up a little. I exchanged relieved looks with my coworkers.
But before we could catch our breath, she shoved the security guard aside and suddenly lunged at me, swinging hard and slapping me twice.
My forehead scraped against the zipper on her shoe, and my head was already pounding.
Trying to collect myself, I told her calmly, Ms. Walker, you can’t hit people."
My vision went black for a moment.
I barely caught myself on the sofa so I wouldn’t fall, but she didn’t give me a chance.
Nancy lunged again, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and yelled, “You little brat! I did business with you! Now my money’s gone! It’s you, that cold-hearted girl, who stole it!”
“No—”
I barely got the word out before Nancy slammed my head into the wooden armrest of the sofa.
The security guards rushed over to grab her, but Nancy pressed me in front of her and screamed at the crowd gathering, “Look! The bank staff stole my money, and now they’re covering it up! This is the hard-earned cash of everyday people! They want me dead, and they’re trying to gag me in the back!”
My scalp was on fire from her pulling, but when Mr. Bradford, our supervisor, heard that, he stopped the security from moving in and tried to reason with her.
“Ma’am, we don’t mean that. Our bank may not be one of the big national chains, but we’ve been here for years. Ask around. Has anything like this ever happened before?”
Nancy gritted her teeth, her voice rising. “Don’t give me that! All I know is my money’s gone, and you’re making people take time off to cover it up so there won’t be any proof when I’m dead!”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd, people whispering back to her.
“If this weren’t true, she wouldn’t be making such a fuss.”
“Yeah, there are cameras everywhere nowadays. I bet it’s true.”
“My uncle’s youngest daughter works at a bank and told me about all these shady deals.”
“If she didn’t make noise, that money would surely be gone. Don’t you believe me?”
The crowd started to believe her, buying into her version without question.
I tried to loosen her grip on my hair and shouted, “That’s not true! We can check the cameras right here, in front of everyone!”
Hearing me still talking, Nancy suddenly removed her sock and shoved it into my mouth.
“I told you to shut up and lie!” she yapped.
This terrible, indescribable smell assaulted my nose, and I was so overwhelmed that tears began streaming down my face.
