“I’ll sleep better knowing that I made a trade instead of outright stealing.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? Cause it makes perfect sense to me. Are you with me once more? Please.”
He looked at me and then the bag in my hand. “As my dad always said, ‘In for a penny, in for a pound.’”
“You’re the best accomplice.”
I stood in the middle of the diner admiring my handiwork and wondered if anyone would notice.
All that climbing made me hungry, so I walked over to the counter, lifted one of the glass domes, and helped myself to two doughnuts. I grabbed napkins and wrapped the contraband
in them.
I stood on the potato box and stuck my head out of the window. “Teddy, here, take these.”
“Your rap sheet is getting longer and longer.” Teddy caught me again, but this time he held me in his arms like I was his bride. “But we do make a great team.” He grinned.
“I agree. What will our next caper involve? I know, let’s have breakfast tomorrow at the diner.”
“Cheeky.”
Teddy and I walked back through the parking lot, munching on doughnuts and licking our fingers.
“It seems like there are more people snogging out here than drinking inside,” Teddy said.
I noticed JoJo’s iridescent long blonde hair under the streetlamps. She was wrapped around Julia, the survival counselor.
I heard lots of heavy breathing and some moaning.
“It’s been a very long time since I made out with anyone in a corner,” I said.
“Personally, I think that some things should be done privately in aroom.” Teddy shouted the last word.
There was laughter and then from somewhere to our left we heard, “Hey, Mooney, piss off and mind your own bloody business.”
“I’m telling you, Lori, kids today have absolutely no respect for their elders.”
“Lori, is that you?” Gilda yelled from across the parking lot. “Hey, where have you two been?”
Teddy whispered, “Don’t feel like you owe anyone an explanation. It’s better to keep people guessing.”
“Are you two fooling around?” Gilda asked. Before I could respond, she said, “Lori, you’re all disheveled, what’s that white stuff on your shirt and, wait a second, your leg is bleeding.”
Teddy’s black polo shirt was speckled with sugar, and I looked down to see that my purple top had white flecks down the center. I tried to dust away the evidence with the napkin, but it only smeared the powder. I looked down and indeed my right shin was trickling blood.
“What happened?” Gilda asked.
I fumbled for a second before I said, “It was dark, and I walked into some bushes. I didn’t notice I’d cut myself. Do you want to go back to camp? I think I’m done for the night.”
“Can you drive?” Gilda asked.
I was insulted by her question until I realized that there was no way I could drive a straight line, let alone a winding uphill road in the pitch black. I was tipsy from the gin, my hands were shaking from the robbery, and I’d been wounded during the evening’s escapades. I was a hot mess. “No, I don’t think so.” My reply came out somewhere between a giggle and a sob.
“Okay, hand over your keys,” Gilda said.
I put my hand in my left front pocket where I’d kept my keys ever since I’d learned to drive back in high school. They weren’t there. I panicked. I hoped I hadn’t dropped them in the diner because I didn’t have the energy to break in a third time.
