Anna dropped Faith at the supermarket in the morning to buy some supplies for the next couple of days and parked the van near the bank. She received a few sideways looks from business people as she locked Rizzo and a loud tut from an elderly man when he noticed the spray-painted penis but thankfully nobody approached her and asked her to fix their leaky sink or install a new shower head. It’s not like she looked like your typical plumber this morning in her ‘visit the bank manager’ clothes — black skirt and heeled boots with her freshly washed angora sweater. The weather had turned cool, the air brisk, and she was glad she’d thought to pack a scarf.
The smell of coffee — real coffee, not the cheap stuff the twins drank — taunted her as she passed a cafe and her stomach growled. They hadn’t eaten before they’d left that morning and she decided she’d treat herself and Faith to breakfast before they got on the road, after she’d sorted everything with the bank.
Greg had gone quiet the last couple of days and when she talked to someone with the ridiculous title of ‘Relationship Manager’ she found her suspicions were correct. He had indeed cut her off and removed all the money from their joint account. She still had some funds in her personal savings account and she quickly transferred the address to her parents while the bank issued her a new debit card. It wasn’t ideal and she wasn’t looking forward to having to deal with lawyers when she got home but for now she was going to enjoy the trip. At least she’d be able to contribute her share with Faith now.
Faith was waiting outside the bank when Anna came out, so she suggested breakfast and they headed for the little cafe Anna had passed earlier.
“I got us some wine, red and cheap, some snacks, drinks and underwear for you,” Faith told her.
Anna scrunched up her nose, which made Faith laugh.
“They’re fine, silly. I buy them all the time. Very comfy actually. What’s the point in spending a fortune on something nobody’s going to see? Triple pack for fifteen dollars.”
“How can they even make them for that?” Anna was shocked. She thought of her lovely matching underwear sets. One pair of knickers cost more than three supermarket ones.
Faith inhaled the steam from her Japanese lime tea, eyes closed and a blissful expression on her face. She opened her eyes and smiled at Anna as she poured. “Don’t knock ’em till you try them.”
“I’ll give them a go but I’ll bet you I’ll be hand-washing my good ones as we go.”
They both ordered full breakfasts and ate with relish. The bacon was perfectly crispy. She thought briefly of Jen and Flax as she chewed.
“Do the commune … is that the right word? Do they farm?” Anna asked.
“Yes, they farm, mostly dairy and chickens. They sell the eggs locally. My family wasn’t really involved with that side of things though. My dad is a builder.”
“My parents had cattle,” Anna told her. “Near Otorohanga. Still do, but my older brother Mark pretty much runs it now.”
“Do you see them much?”
“Not as often as I should. I used to when the kids were little. But Mark and Greg have never gotten along.” She paused to finish off her coffee. “I see my younger brother a bit. He lives in Raglan. He’s a surf instructor, but he has a daughter a year younger than Ben who lives with her mum in West Auckland, so he’s up our way a fair bit.”
“Do you surf too? “Faith asked.
“Yeah, but badly,” Anna said with a grin.
“I’d love to try,” Faith said. “Maybe I’ll put that on my list.”
“I’ll get Josh to give you a lesson.”
Anna ordered a second coffee and paid the bill.
“So, what about your brother?” Anna asked.
“Now that’s a long story,” Faith said. “I’ll tell you on the way.”
After breakfast they wandered back to the bank car park. The wind had picked up and Anna pulled her dark scarf up around her chin to keep warm and tucked her other hand into her pocket. An armoured van was pulling into the mostly empty lot, the guards giving them an odd look as they clambered into theirs. Anna put the key into the ignition. It took several tries to get the engine to turn over, which was a bit of a worry. She gave the accelerator a good rev to make sure it kept running and looked in her mirrors to back out. There was a massive BANG and then the guards were shouting. She could see them in the rear-view mirror lying on the ground, arms over their heads. One of them was shouting into his walkie-talkie and the doors to the bank were suddenly closing, large metal grilles sliding down. An alarm sounded, its piercing pulse sounding like it was in the van with them.
“What the heck is going on?” Faith said nervously, pulling off her black beanie and opening the door to look out.
“Stay where you are!” a guard shouted. “The police are on the way and we have no access to the back of our vehicle.”
“What on the earth?” Anna said. Was the bank being robbed? She wound down her window and called out, “What’s going on? Are we in danger?”
A guard called back: “Are you willing to surrender your weapon?” She and Faith shared a confused look. Weapon? They thought she might have a gun? Did they think they could borrow it?
“Us? Why on the earth would we have a gun?” One of the security guards looked up from where he lay on the asphalt. He gave his partner an exasperated look. Then he called back to Anna.
“Did you just fire a weapon, miss?” Anna thought it was nice he’d said miss, not Mrs, and gave him a warm smile. Then remembered he was waiting for an answer.
“Ahh, no. I didn’t. I’ve never even held one. Even though my dad always wanted me to go hunting with him …” she trailed off as the guard got to his feet, giving his partner a disgusted look as he brushed down his pants and then started speaking into his walkie-talkie again. The other guard, blushing furiously, went over to the bank entrance.
“Sorry, looks like we overreacted,” the guard continued. He was very cute, Anna noted. “I think maybe it was just your engine backfiring.”
Anna started to laugh. The idea of her and Faith as bank robbers was hilarious.
“Did you really think we’d rob a bank and use this as a getaway car?” she said. “It’s hardly inconspicuous, is it?”
He looked rather mortified.
“It’s Ritchie’s first week,” he muttered as if to explain things. “Sorry for the misunderstanding.”
Anna and Faith laughed all the way out of Christchurch.