Bess invited me to meet them and Meg at a park and walk around, but my knees were acting up so we decided to move it to a nearby bakery.
I parked next to the sidewalk, and noticed a nice museum a little bit down the street. I got out and reached back in to get my purse.
“Hey Thel!” I heard Bess call.
They jogged up to me with a big smile.
“Hey. How are you? Are you ready?”
“Ready for what?”
I notice a camera hanging around Bess’s neck. Bess leans in close so that I feel the heat of their breath on my ear.
“To plan a heist.” they whisper.
My face went blank as I processed the information. We had talked about this. I had agreed, or rather, insisted that I do this with them. To show Bess and myself that I had changed. I wasn’t going to be that self righteous church lady anymore. I just hadn’t expected this to be today. Bess had told me this was just a casual meet up.
Bess smiled at me as they held the door open. I gave them a small smile in return and entered, spotting Meg waving from a table by the window.
“Hi. I saved us a table. It has a great view of the museum.” She said motioning for me to sit down.
“Thanks Meg.” Bess said.
They sat down next to her and gave her a quick kiss.
“They have great cinnamon rolls if you want one Thel.” Bess said. “I can go order for us. What do y’all want?”
“I guess I’ll have a cinnamon roll, and some tea if they have it.”
“I’ll have a chocolate croissant.” Meg said.
“Okay then. I’ll be right back.”
“So, how does this work? Bess mentioned something about planning for the, thing.” I said looking around to see if anyone could hear.
“Yeah. I have some notes already.”
Meg pulled a black backpack onto her lap and the cool zwip of the zipper sliding revealed a laptop, two notebooks, and an assortment of pens and pencils that were quickly unloaded onto the table. Meg flipped open one of the notebooks and handed it to me.
“Here, read that. That page should get you up to speed.”
The page was titled job notes, and had everything listed below about what was going to be stolen and where.
“Here’s the layout of the building.” Meg said, turning her laptop to face me, showing a slideshow of floorplans and photos. “This is where we’ll enter on the ground floor, and this is where the safe is on the second floor.” She pointed to it with a purple pen. There were so many hallways and places. It was hard to tell what things were.
“Which way is which. I don’t really understand the way this is layed out.”
“Here’s the front of the building, so there.” she pointed down the street.”This is the back of the building. There’s an alley there that the view of is blocked from the street. So unless you stand in a very specific place there you couldn’t see who’s in the alley.”
“Here you go.” Bess said pushing everything onto the table from their overly full arms.
“Thanks. Oh, careful.” Meg said taking a plate from the crook of Bess’s arm.
“Yeah thanks.” I said taking my cinnamon roll.
Bess set my drink in from of me and sat down.
“So are you all caught up?”
“Pretty much. I think we can get into it now.” Meg said.
We spent a few hours going over things. Deciding when was the best time for the heist and triple checking to be sure we hadn’t missed anything to avoid hiccups along the way. Meg did the research, Bess asked a lot of the technical questions since they were going to be doing the safe cracking. Apparently Meg is usually the get away driver. I tried to stay out of the way, but Bess encouraged me to ask as many questions as possible and promised to teach me how to pick locks. They both walked me through the part I would play in the heist. They had never done a job like this. Usually they did smaller ones with less security, but since I was there they thought they could get through it all faster. They made sure things weren’t too hard, that I didn’t have to climb or squeeze or do anything else that I wasn’t able to.
I drove home and went to bed replaying everything I had learned that day. I wish I had taken notes, but I have always been a slow typist or texter. Whatever you call it, and I hadn’t thought to bring a notebook or pen. I tried to suppress my anxieties. I had to do this. I wasn’t going to let myself get scared out of it. So I locked up my fears in a back corner of my mind and tucked away the key.
We spent the next week planning. Double and triple checking to be sure everything was accounted for. I had never known Bess to be so meticulous about anything, well, except maybe when they worked on their motorcycle. Bess taught me how to pick locks and showed me the safe that we were going to have to crack. They taught me how to walk quietly and how to tie very secure knots (just in case) even though we weren’t supposed to need them.
It was getting close to the date we decided on. I was at home for once. I put on a loose dress with an old fashioned big white collar. The ensemble hung from me like a limp sack. I pulled the ties to the back and tied them into a bow. That helped the bagginess problem some, but was still too loose. I had lost weight since Beth died. Then I added one out of 2 of my necklaces that I had had for years that Tom bought me. They were my favorites. I put on a pink lipstick and a little blush. I didn’t usually wear makeup unless I was going out, and even then it was very minimal. I grabbed a bunch of bobby pins and stuck them in my mouth as I wrapped up my long gray hair into a tight bun. I stared at myself in the mirror. My wrinkled face marked the years gone by. The dark circles under my eyes betraying the sleep lost. The brown eyes that always looked slightly downwards causing them to look smaller.
The room concretized in front of me, becoming more real than it had been to me for a while. I turned and looked at the blue floral wallpaper I had put up when Beth was a toddler. The edges of the panels had started to peel in places. I turned to make my bed. Tucking one corner of my quilt in I noticed the scribbles in the corner made up of mostly purple crayon. A wavering smile came to my face. A few tears escaped as I immediately wiped them away and continued my task.
Ding. I picked up my phone off of the sidetable.
(Bess) hey
(Bess) do you have any black clothes to wear
(Thelma) Not really.
(Thelma) Just a dress that is too big, and some tights.
(Bess) I just got you a mask
(Bess) we should get you the rest of your kit
(Bess) LETS GO SHOPPING TODAY
(Thelma) Today?
(Bess) YES
(Thelma) I have a few things to do, but I guess I can do them later.
(Bess) okie dokie
(Bess) lets do it!
(Bess) meet at the mall
(Bess) see you soon <3
(Thelma) Okay. See you soon!
I enter the mall and look for a map of the place. Bess said they were in the food court. There it is. I readjusted my purse and tightly gripped it as I made my way there.
I spotted Bess with their long gray braid and sunglasses perched atop their head, catching some dripping icecream with their tongue before it made it onto their hands.
“Bess.” I called.
“Mm, oh hey.” Bess said, mouth full.
“Do you need some napkins?”
“No, I’ve got it.” Bess said grabbing a few.
I waited for Bess to finish the last of their cookies and cream icecream cone.
“Let’s start there.” Bess pointed to a store nearby with a lot of minimalistic style clothes on the mannequins.
“Alright.” I nodded.
Bess tossed their napkins in a trash can as we walked by it and licked the last of the sweetness off of their hands. We passed a few windows, and I studied each one. Quickly looking away from the loud skimpy styles, and pausing at the more modest pieces with floral patterns and bits of lace. Then, the last store before we got to the one Bess wanted to go to caught my eye. Elegant gowns and suits filled the display. A young model with bright cherry red lips smiled and laughed on a poster as the wind blew their shiny perfectly curled hair and a long flowy blue summer dress. I stopped to look closer. Bess walked a few more steps before realizing I wasn’t still following and looking back.
“What are you looking at?”
“Oh, nothing.” I said reluctantly moving on from it.
We continued to the next store. Bess had very specific items in mind. A long sleeve turtle neck shirt, and a fitted pair of pants. We found some that fit well. Then, walked out of the store and began to pass the store that had caught my attention. I stared longingly at the elegance and glamour of the models.
Bess stopped.
“We can go in if you want to look at something.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Oh, come on. You’ll like it.”
Bess tugged at my arm.
“Alright.” I said, rolling my eyes.
We entered the store and something floral smelling wafted by my nose. An employee was spraying perfume onto a customers’ wrist leaning over the perfume counter. I gently brushed the clothing we passed with my hands to feel the delicate lace, and puffed sleeves. We passed a few more before I paused. I had made a circle around to the window. A pink, subtle floral patterned, fit and flare dress with a delicate peter pan collar dressed the mannequin. A pair of white pumps was paired along with a woven basket-like purse. I looked around to see if anyone was around and moved closer to touch the fabric. It felt smooth and soft.
“Do you want it?”
I jumped at the sound of Bess’s enthusiastic voice suddenly at my side.
“Oh, don’t do that. I didn’t know you were there.”
“Sorry. We can get it if you want.”
“Oh, no. It’s fine.”
“But don’t you like it?”
“Yes, but…”
“We’ll get it. I’ll pay.” Bess said flipping through the rack.
“No, no, no. We don’t need to get it. I don’t need any new clothes.”
“Trust me you need it. Come on. You never get anything for yourself. Have a little fun.”
I looked at the dress again.
“Alright, okay. You’ve talked me into it. But I’m paying.” I said looking Bess straight in the eyes.
I walked out of the store with a new dress and shoes, and when I got home I found a tube of red lipstick that had made its way into my bag that had probably been slipped in by Bess. Whether or not it had been paid for was a mystery.
