Chapter 8
After a week of relaxing around Pine Hills and keeping a low profile, it was now August 1st, 1932 and Hud started planning their next bank job.
Pete’s brother, Wally, was okay with Hud and the gang staying once he learned that he was getting $20 per cottage per week.
It was 10:00 that morning of August 1st, and after the gang ate breakfast at Pappa’s Diner, they met in Hud’s cottage.
Hud had the Missouri road map spread out on his small kitchen table.
He studied the various cities on the map. He grabbed a pencil and placed an “X” through where Polk City was located on the map.
Hud looked in the northeastern part of the state. He smiled when he saw the town of Old Haven.
“We’ll hit this place next,” he said while he placed his right index finger by the town on the map.
Jack, Willie, and Harold looked and saw the town of Old Haven on the map.
They all nodded in agreement with Hud’s proposal.
“Good. We’ll shoot for Friday,” Hud said then he looked serious. “Now, continue to maintain a low profile around Pine Hills until then. You’ve been doing a great job of that during the past week,” he said and looked proud of the guys. “After that job, we’ll head back to St. Louis for a little fun,” Hud added.
“Some more pussy!” Harold called out.
Jack and Willie were all smiling while they thought about visiting Madam Harriett’s again, even if they had to wear rubbers.
After a week of maintaining a low profile in Pine Hills, the morning of August 5th, 1932, rolled around.
Hud and the gang got up early this morning.
After a quick breakfast with coffee at Pappa’ Diner, Jack filled up the car at the nearby gas station.
The gang went back to their cottages and got dressed in their suits and Fedora hats.
They discreetly walked out of the cottages with their weapons and got in the Ford.
Jack drove away, and soon they headed north to Old Haven located thirty miles north of St. Louis.
It was a quiet ride while Jack drove.
Once they arrived in town and scoped the place out, they found the Farmers Saving Bank.
Jack parked the Ford down the street a bit so they could check out the bank.
No cops were in sight along the street.
“It’s time,” Hud said.
Jack started up the car and slowly drove down the street. All eyes in the car were on the bank while Jack drove past it.
Then Jack made a sudden U-turn in the street and headed back to the bank.
He stopped the car just past the entrance of the bank.
Hud, Willie, and Harold all rushed out of the car and ran to the doors of the bank.
Once Hud, Willie, and Harold entered the bank, Hud and Harold fired their Colt 45s into the ceiling.
Plaster rained on the customers causing them to duck to the floor for safety.
“This is a holdup,” Hud yelled out while he rushed over to a scared to death male teller who had his arms in the air.
Willie stood by the door with his Thompson machine gun aimed at everybody. “No sudden moves and nobody gets hurt,” Willie instructed everybody.
The customers stayed crouched down on the floor.
“Take us to your vault,” Hud instructed the teller while he rushed back behind the teller’s counter.
The one teller peed his pants; the second Hud walked over with his Colt 45 aimed at his head.
The bank manager got up from a desk and rushed over to Hud behind the counter.
“It’s over here,” the manager said.
Hud and Harold walked with the manager to the vault that was opened.
The second they got in the vault, Hud removed the potato sack from under his suit. “Cash in here,” he said then handed the manager the sack.
Harold stayed outside by the vault door with his Colt 45 aimed at the teller who was still scared to death by his window.
The manager’s hands trembled while he started shoving bundles of twenty-dollar bills into the sack.
“That’s enough,” Hud said, not wanting to spend too much time in the bank.
“Let’s go,” Hud told the manager.
Hud rushed the manager out of the vault.
“Down on the floor,” Hud instructed the teller and the manager.
They dropped to the floor and got on their stomachs.
Hud and Harold ran out from behind the counter and over to Willie.
Willie had a smirk on his face when Hud and Harold ran out the door.
“Don’t move for ten minutes,” he said then he sprayed the ceiling of the bank with his Thompson machine gun.
The customers hugged the floor in fear while plaster rained on their bodies.
Willie ran out of the door.
Willie ran to the Ford where Hud and Harold were already inside in the rear seat.
Then Willie heard a police siren and saw an Old Haven cop car racing down the street toward the bank.
He ran out and stood out in the street.
From inside the car, Jack, Hud, and Harold watched while Willie fired his Thompson machine gun at the oncoming cop car.
Steam poured out of the radiator of the cop car. The two front tires blew, and the car swerved to the left and flipped over.
Willie laughed while he ran back to the idling Ford.
He jumped on the passenger running board and fired his Thompson machine gun at the cops while they crawled out of the cop car. Jack raced the Ford down the street with Willie spraying bullets at the cops while they ducked behind their vehicle.
Jack made a left turn down another street.
Willie climbed back into the Ford when he felt the threat from the cops was over.
A little while later, Jack raced the Ford out of Old Haven.
He soon slowed down so that they would not attract other cops.
The second they got back to Hud’s cottage in Pine Hills, he dumped the cash out from the sack onto the kitchen table.
Hud divided up the money into four piles of $6,000. “That’s six thousand each,” he told his buddies.
Jack, Harold, and Willie stared at the four piles in awe. They truly loved their new careers and knew that they would be rich in no time.
The guys each snatched up their piles of cash and shoved them into their pants pockets.
“We’ll head out to Saint Louie tomorrow for some partying,” Hud told the guys.
Jack and Harold did a little victory dance around the cottage.
“I’m going to get some pussy. I’m going to get some pussy,” Harold sang out.
“I’m going to get some pussy. I’m going to get some pussy,” Jack sang out along with Harold.
Hud cracked a smile while he watched the two dancing around the room.
That night after the gang ate some dinner at Pappa’s diner, Hud paid Peter for another week’s stay at the motor court. This time, he gave him $80, which made Peter and Wally extremely happy.
And of course, the two brothers did not ask any questions.
Hud and the gang relaxed that Friday night and got a good nights sleep.
The morning arrived, and after some breakfast and lunch at Pappa’s diner, Hud and the gang drove off to St. Louis.
When they arrived in St. Louis, Jack drove around until he found another Ford Tudor Sedan.
Once he found one, he made another switch with the license plates.
Then they drove around until they found a gun shop that Peter recommended.
He recommended that place knowing that the owner would not ask any questions for bullets. But you did pay a premium price for this discretion.
Afte r dinner at a nice restaurant, the gang headed back to the Jazzy Tones Club.
After an hour of drinking and listening to some smooth jazz, they headed over to Madam Harriett’s House of Pleasure.
Hud revisited Ester, and they had a great time fucking and talking in her room.
Jack, Harold, and Willie each tried a different whore this month.
After they satisfied their urges at Harriett’s, Hud and the gang headed back to Pine Hills.
During the rest of August, Hud and the gang maintained their low profile in Pine Hills. They were, in fact, becoming a familiar friendly sight amongst the residents of the town. Hud loved this as it helped them to hide after a bank job.
Also during that month, all the members of Hud’s gang bought small black lockboxes from the Pine Hills Hardware store. They all wanted a safe place to store their earnings from their money acquisition career.
Besides, Hud monitored the newspapers and discovered that the police still did not have a clue on the identities of Hud and his gang. He liked the way things were going.
The next month arrived, and Hud planned another job on September 9th, 1932, in Winston. During this bank job, Willie and Jack had to use their Thompson machine guns at the threatening cops. Nobody was injured or killed except for two Winston cop cars.
When they got back to Pine Hill, Hud equally divided up the $21,800 loot.
And to keep up with their tradition, Hud and the gang went to St. Louis for a night at the Jazzy Tones Club and some sex at Madam Harriett’s House of Pleasure.
Hud, of course, had to visit with Ester while Jack, Harold, and Willie again tried different whores.
The next month arrived.
It was October 3rd, 1932, and Hud studied his road map of Missouri for their next job. Then his eyes widened when he picked the next location.
Harold took a nap on his bed.
Hud gathered up his map and headed out of his cottage.
Hud knocked on the door for Willie and Jack’s cottage.
Jack opened up the door. “Hey, Hud.”
“I have our next location,” Hud said.
Jack moved aside, and Hud went into the cottage.
Hud and Jack walked over to the kitchen table.
Hud spread opened the road map. He looked again and found the spot.
“There,” he said while he placed his right index finger by the city.
“Gallatin,” Jack said when he looked at the map.
“Yeah, Gallatin. That’s the same city where Jesse James and his gang robbed a bank in eighteen sixty-nine,” he said and smiled while he thought of his hero robbing banks.
“Jesse James. I like that,” Jack said with a smile, as he was also a fan of that famous outlaw.
“We’ll do it again on Friday,” Hud said then he paused and thought about that for a few seconds. “No, we’re starting to show a pattern. “We’ll do it on Thursday,” he said, and the more he thought about it, the more he liked the change.
“Sounds great, Hud,” Jack replied and was really looking forward to another job since he was getting bored.
The morning of October 6th, 1932, arrived, and it was raining.
Hud and the gang rode off to Gallatin and arrived in the afternoon.
The job inside the bank went off good inside, and Willie had a blast spraying the ceiling with his Thompson machine gun.
But once they got outside, Willie and Harold fired their Thompson machine guns at the two cop cars that gave chase.
But this time, one of the cops driving the lead car was wounded in his shoulder. That caused his car to skid around on the rain-slicked road then it flipped over. The other cop car smashed into the flipped over car.
Hud and his gang escaped without injury again.
Once the gang got back to their cottage in Pine Hills, Hud immediately divided up the loot. They each got $8,000 and were ecstatic.
Then that Friday night, Hud and the gang returned to St. Louis.
When they first arrived, they again switched their license plates o the Ford with another Ford.
Then they headed off for fun at the Jazzy Tones Club and sex at Harriett’s House of Pleasure.
During this visit, Hud could sense something bothered Ester. He tried to get her to talk, but she remained tight-lipped. So they fucked instead then cuddled and chatted.
The rest of October flew by, and Hud and his buddies still remained a low profile in Pine Hills.
When the first part of November rolled around, Hud decided to change things up a bit and decided to do their next job at the end of the month.
He decided to go just before Thanksgiving.
So in the wee hours of the morning of November 21st, 1932 Hud and the gang headed off to the northwestern area of Missouri.
Then a little around 2:15 p.m., Hud and the gang arrived in the town of Malvern.
After driving around town to get a feel for escape routes, Jack finally drove the Ford to the First National Bank of Malvern.
Like an old habit, Jack parked across the street. Hud and the gang scanned up and down the street for any signs of cops. The coast was clear, so Jack drove off, made his usual U-turn in the street, and headed back to the bank.
He stopped a little past the bank entrance.
Hud, Harold, and Willie rushed out of the car and headed to the doors of the bank.
The second they arrived inside the bank, Willie sprayed the ceiling with his Thompson machine gun.
Plaster rained on the customers and the two male tellers. They were all scared stiff while they dropped to the floor.
“Good afternoon, this is a holdup. So if everybody remains calm and don’t try to interfere, you’ll make it out alive,” Hud yelled out with his Colt 45 aimed at the two tellers.
Hud walked over to the one teller. He removed that potato sack out from under his suit coat and handed it to the teller. “Please put all the money in this sack, please,” he said in a kind and courteous voice for once.
The teller’s hands trembled while he grabbed the sack, opened his cash drawer, and shoved all the bills inside.
“Give it to the other teller,” Hud instructed.
That teller gave the sack to his coworker.
The other teller started emptying his cash drawer and into the sack.
“Now the vault,” Hud ordered while he walked around to behind the counter.
Hud followed that teller into the vault while Harold and Willie kept a watchful eye on the remaining teller and the customers.
Hud kept a watchful eye on the teller in the vault and saw that it was low on money.
After the teller placed eight bundles of twenties into the sack, he motioned for them to leave.
Hud then snatched the sack out of that teller’s hand and ran to the door.
Harold ran to the door while Willie provided cover.
After Hud and Harold ran out the door, Willie ended the job with his usual spraying the ceiling with his Thompson machine gun.
He left while two women sobbed on the floor.
Once Willie got outside, there was a gunfight in progress with Jack, Hud, and Harold with four Malvern cops.
The officers only had 38 Specials and were no match for the machine guns.
Willie joined in the gunfight with his Thompson machine gun.
One of the Malvern officers named Bob McCauley stood up in a stupid brave move. He suddenly dropped to the dirt street when Willie’s Thompson pelted his body with bullets.
Hud rushed behind the wheel of the Ford.
Harold rushed over and sat in the passenger seat upfront.
“Hop on,” Hud called out to Willie and Jack.
Willie jumped on the rear part of the running board on the left side of the Ford.
Jack got in the rear seat the started shooting his Thompson machine gun from the rear right window.
Hud floored the Ford, and it took off down the street with Willie and Jack firing their Thompson machine guns at the cops that cowered behind their cop car.
Hud made a left turn down another street almost flipping the Ford over.
A little while later, Hud raced the Ford out of Malvern and slowed down when they felt they made a safe getaway.
Later that night, Hud pulled into their cottage at the Pines Motor Court.
They got out of the car and rushed over to Hud’s cottage.
Once they got inside his cottage, Hud dumped the sack onto his kitchen table.
He divided up the money into two equal piles. “That’s four thousand each,” Hud told the guys.
They each snatched up their share of the loot and shoved them in their pockets.
“Booze and pussy tomorrow night?” Harold asked Hud.
“Of course. We have to keep up with tradition,” Hud replied.
The guys all looked excited.
“Let’s get some sleep. I’m exhausted. We’ll head off to Saint Louie tomorrow afternoon. We need some more bullets before we have some fun,” Hud told the guys and then yawned.
Willie and Jack left Hud’s cottage.
Hud and Harold started to get ready to sleep.