39

 

That Friday, I rode with the Lady Eels to Indianapolis to shake off the drama of the past week. We needed shopping therapy. After a day at the mall, we decided to stop at a Harley Davidson dealership on our way home before they closed.

As we headed out of the mall parking lot Reba hollered, “I have a hankerin’ for a new shirt and maybe even a jacket.”

The showroom overflowed with beautiful motorcycles and gear. It was difficult to know where to look first. I finally decided to start with a shirt rack.

“Oh no.” Lily ducked behind me. “Don’t move.”

“Why?” I stood in front of her and didn’t budge.

“It’s my sister-in-law. I haven’t seen her in twenty years. She hates me. I can’t let her see me. Stand still.”

“But, Lily…” I scanned the clothing racks and saw a rough looking woman wearing a motorcycle gang jacket I didn’t recognize. “Don’t you think twenty years is an awfully long time to be estranged from your husband’s brother?”

“We’re not estranged from him, just her. I’m serious, Kirstie. If she sees me, she’ll probably hurt me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” I resumed looking through the racks with Lily hiding right behind me.

Reba stood nearby and heard our conversation. “She’s probably right. Look at the colors she’s wearing. She’s riding with the Malevolents. That’s a pretty tough gang. Steer clear.”

“What are we supposed to do?” I froze when the woman looked my way. I didn’t know whether to smile or look tough.

“Just avoid eye contact,” Reba said.

“Too late for that,” I spoke without moving my lips.

Reba stood beside me and pretended to look at pink halter-tops with Harley Davidson written in sequins across the chest. “Just act normal. We have every right to be here, too. Don’t act scared or strange around them.”

“Tell her that.” I jerked my head toward Lily, who still ducked behind me. Opal went to the other side of the store to look at the jackets hung along the back wall.

“Let’s go look at jackets with Opal while they’re over there in the bike parts.” Reba grabbed my arm, and I followed with Lily hanging onto me like a parasite.

I’m not known for my stealth, but it’s doubly hard to slink across a room with someone hanging on to your belt loop, holding a sack over her head. I took a few steps toward the jackets keeping my eyes on the women who were with Lily’s sister-in-law and bumped into a Harley Davidson Instant Coffee kiosk. I knocked the display onto the floor. Dozens of packets of instant coffee slid across the floor.

The entire store turned to look.

Lily scampered off and slid underneath a circular rack of rain jackets.

At least I provided some distraction for her getaway. I righted the kiosk as employees scurried to help me. We got the kiosk all back together when—I did it again.

I decided at this point I would just walk away backward and let the employees handle it.

But I couldn’t find the Lady Eels. The Malevolents were staring at me. I smiled, waved, and backed toward the jacket section where I couldn’t be seen. I stood staring at a pink jacket hanging against the wall amidst other gorgeous ones wishing I could fit into a size six when I heard someone speak to me.

“Pretty, ain’t it?” I heard a low raspy voice whisper.

“Uh, yeah, it is. I love it.” I tried to sound cheerful. I didn’t dare turn around and make eye contact. “Too small for me though, I think I’m in the wrong section.”

“No, you’re in the right section.” Another voice. An arm reached out from behind the pink jacket and pulled me inside the display.

“What on earth…?”

“Shhh, don’t move and don’t say anything.”

Reba.

“Good gravy, Reba, you scared me.”

“Better me than a Malevolent,” Reba whispered.

I looked down the side of the wall to find Lily and Opal sitting on their haunches waving at me.

“Smooth move over there by the coffee,” Reba said. “I think my name for you from now on is gonna be Dancer. You’re incredibly graceful. The whole store was staring at you.”

“I know that. Thanks for sticking around and helping me.”

“Shhh,” Lily said. “Here she comes.”

“This is ridiculous,” I whispered. “Nothing’s going to happen to us. This is a public store, for goodness sakes.”

“Shhhhhhh. Be quiet.” Reba clasped her hand over my mouth.

I wiggled free. “You sound like a stabbed tire.” I wanted the last word.

I was about to say something more, but a group of boots walked toward us, so I thought better of it. The burrito I’d eaten at El Mesquite was taking its toll on my innards. I needed relief in the worst way.

“Pink, huh.” The boots walking toward us had voices. “Next thing you know, they’ll be selling pink boots, too.”

I gave a thumbs up to Reba on that point. Everyone scowled at me. Personally, I wasn’t scared and was feeling pretty silly hiding. The dealership was huge, but we’d managed to be cornered. It was so like us.

We’re not lady eels, we’re lady heels.

My stomach gurgled.

Oh no.

Burrito.

“I need to fluff,” I whispered to Reba. “I’m dying here.”

“Don’t you dare,” Reba spoke through clenched teeth.

Lily and Opal looked at me with lasers.

“What? You know what I ate for lunch. Don’t tell me you never have gas.”

“Shhh.” Reba glared at me.

“What did you say?” A Malevolent’s boots turned toward another set of clompers. “Did you shush me?”

“No,” the clompers said. “It wasn’t me.”

“Wasn’t me either,” another set said. “Hey, look at this jacket here. Pink sequins? Lame, man.”

How long could they stand there criticizing jackets? Didn’t they have somewhere to go—something to pillage?

Oh. That. Burrito. I was going to explode. I groaned. “I’ve got to get to a bathroom. And I don’t care who sees me. I’m gonna die whether I stay in here or whether the Malevolents see me,” I whispered in Reba’s ear.

“Just wait until they go around the corner, and we’ll all go together. The bathroom is right down that hall there past the gloves.”

I waited as long as I could possibly wait and right before the last Malevolent rounded the corner to the next section of clothing, I scooted out of the jackets, down the hall, and into the bathroom faster than a biker running from the law.

What. A. Relief.

“Ewwww.” Lily held her nose and waved a hand in front of her face. “Man, Kirstie, that’s not ladylike at all.”

“Like I don’t know that? Try being the one in the throes of it.”

We kept our voices low and didn’t turn on the lights. A small window of glass bricks let in a little bit of daylight. The door opened, and I assumed someone peeked into the bathroom and left. We couldn’t see who it was because we hid in the stalls. I stood alone, Reba was in the stall next to mine, and Lily and Opal shared the third one down.

We stayed hidden for a long time before we thought it might be safe to come out.

“You know we’re cooked if a Malevolent has to go to the bathroom.” I thought hiding was silly and left my stall.

“Hopefully they didn’t eat Mexican before they came.” Lily giggled.

I adjusted my doo-rag in the mirror. “I have to tell you, ladies, I’m feeling a little guilty running from them instead of trying to get to know them and minister to them or something.”

“They’re probably gone by now.” Lily walked out of the stall. Reba and Opal emerged, and we all leaned against the wall.

“I’m sorry, Kirstie, but I’m just not in the frame of mind to deal with that woman. Especially with Milo being sick.”

“No problem, Lily. What are friends for if not to hide behind jackets and endure Kirstie’s fluffing. Friends stick together no matter what.” Opal patted her on the back.

Everyone giggled.

We peeked out the door and made our way down the hall.

“That’s strange,” I said. “The lighting in here is different now.”

“Oh, no.” Reba gasped.

“What?”

“They’re closed.”

We ran to the front of the store and tried the doors. They didn’t budge. The store was closed, and we were locked in. Our bikes sat in the parking lot alone and vulnerable.

“What do we do?” I couldn’t believe this.

“We call someone. The police.” Opal ran for the phone on the front counter.

“No, not the police!” I cried. “If you call the police, they might arrest us, and I don’t need that. We’re already having enough trouble at the church.”

“Why didn’t they realize someone was still here when our bikes were sitting out there?”

“Maybe they thought we caged it with somebody somewhere,” Reba said.

“I’m going to have to call Aaron. He isn’t going to like this. What about Atticus? Opal, he knows everybody. Does he know the owners?”

“I don’t think so,” Opal said. “And look.” She handed me a flyer. So this was why the store closed early. A bike rally in Bloomington.

“Looks like we’re spending the night.” Reba moaned.

“Oh, no,” Lily and Opal whimpered in concert.

“Look on the bright side,” I said.

“What bright side?” Reba growled.

“At least we know where the coffee is.”