Desperate Measures(10)

 

Aimee felt her face getting red. “That’s okay, really. I don’t need to.”

 

Elizabeth nodded her head. “No, Aimee, you should. Go ahead. I counted it three times, but you should make sure.”

 

Aimee felt herself starting to sweat. “No, I’m okay. We have a meeting anyway.”

 

Kiki crossed her arms. “Why don’t you want to count it? Now I’m curious, so you have to tell me. I can be very annoying when I don’t get my way.”

 

Aimee looked at Kiki, visions of an Amazon warrior flashing across her mind’s eye. Kiki could be pretty intimidating when she wanted to be, apparently. “I just ... I don’t want to be rude, I guess.”

 

Kiki snapped her fingers and then held out her hand, palm up. “Hand it over, Rover.”

 

Aimee looked at Elizabeth, noticing that she merely raised her eyebrows at Kiki’s command, saying nothing to disagree with it. Aimee only thought about Kiki taking her money and running away with it for half a second before she handed the bundle over to her. She glanced down at Kiki’s boots and decided that she had a pretty fair chance of catching Kiki, even if she did decide to take off, since Aimee herself was wearing her very well-worn ballet flats. Kiki’s legs might be a mile long, but she couldn’t possibly go very fast with those heels on.

 

Kiki reached into the bag, pulling out the four stacks of bills. She flipped through them almost as fast as the bank’s counting machine at Aimee’s favorite branch. She liked the people at that bank because they didn’t know her husband, and she didn’t feel like she was suffering under anyone’s scrutiny when she walked in to deposit what turned out many times to be rubber checks that he’d write on purpose, just to make her life miserable.

 

“Wow, you’re good at that,” said Elizabeth, her mouth turned down in a frown of respect.

 

“I count a lot of bills every night,” she offered, without further explanation.

 

“Do you work at a bank?” asked Aimee.

 

Kiki raised one eyebrow at her. “No.” She shoved the money back in the envelope. “If you’re looking for ten Gs twenty, it’s all there.” She handed the envelope back to Aimee.

 

“A casino?” asked Aimee.

 

“No,” said Kiki, still looking at Elizabeth.

 

Elizabeth frowned. “No, that’s not right. You made a mistake.”

 

Kiki shrugged. “No, I didn’t. See for yourself.” She stood there, arms folded, waiting to see what Elizabeth would do, the toe of her boot tapping lightly on the asphalt.

 

Elizabeth held out her hand. “Do you mind, Aimee? I’m pretty sure I counted correctly.”

 

“Sure, go ahead,” said Aimee, mystified. She wasn’t exactly certain what was going on. Kiki had said ‘ten geez twenty’. What does that mean? And why is Elizabeth upset about it?

 

Elizabeth counted the money again, much slower than Kiki had, and then looked up when she was done, taking a twenty dollar bill out of one of the stacks. “You’re absolutely right.” Her expression and voice said she couldn’t believe it. “How could I possibly have made that mistake?”

 

“What mistake?” asked Aimee.

 

Elizabeth handed her the envelope, minus the twenty-dollar bill. “I had miscounted somehow. I was giving you an extra twenty dollars.”

 

Then it hit her. Aimee smacked herself on the forehead. “Ooohhhh ... ten Gs twenty, not ten geez twenty! Now I get it.”

 

The other two looked at her like she was nuts.

 

She shook her head. “Never mind. I’m a space cadet. We’re all good.” She shoved the envelope into her bag. “Want to go inside now? Book club?” She looked hopefully at the two women in front of her. This was the most interaction she’d had with another woman in months – other than the cashier at the grocery store – and it felt great. She didn’t want it to end yet.

 

Elizabeth turned and slammed the trunk down on her car and pressed a button on her keychain, locking everything and turning on a car alarm. “I’m ready.”

 

Aimee turned to Kiki. “Are you coming?”

 

Kiki hesitated, looking from Aimee to Elizabeth and then over at the front door of the store. “Mmmm, I don’t know. I really have to go see a friend.” She bit her lip self-consciously, making her seem suddenly more innocent to Aimee – maybe even a little shy.

 

“Can your friend wait an hour?” asked Elizabeth, clearing her throat and smoothing down the front of her suit pants.