Opening the back door, he flung himself inside the car. “I’ve got to change.” He pulled out a loud mu’umu’u and dropped it over his jeans and shirt. Taking out a long wig, he tugged it over his hair. “Can you put some makeup on me?”
“All I have is lipstick.” She wished she had the makeup Fawn had given her. Annie rooted through her bag and pulled out the maroon lipstick she’d dropped in her purse that morning.
Tomi pulled away from her. “That’s too dark. It will be hard to wash off.”
He had a point. “How about just a touch?” He nodded and submitted to her dabbing a bit of color on his lips. “You need some, uh, shape to you,” she told him. She suppressed a chuckle.
“Got it covered.” He pulled out two small pillows and pulled up the dress, then stuffed the pillows under his T-shirt. Tugging the dress back into place, he preened. “What do you think?”
“You look hot,” Mano told him. “You’d stop traffic.” He winked at Annie.
Annie covered her smile with her hand. “Don’t encourage him,” she said. “How are you going to get them to give you the money? The name on the account is a man’s.”
“That’s where I need you.” He pulled out another dress. “We’ll look like sisters when we go in and will stand out. Then we’ll go into the ladies’ room and pull off the dresses and stroll to the teller window as brother and sister. No one will be the wiser.”
“You can’t go into the ladies’ room!”
“You can scout it out and make sure no one else is in there. Mano can stand guard.”
“Oh, that will look good.” Mano’s grin stretched across his face. “I’ll look like some pervert staking out the women’s restroom.”
“You fit the part, buddy.” Tomi punched him in the arm.
Annie smiled to see them falling back into their old camaraderie. “It might work. There’s rarely anyone in the restrooms.” A giggle welled up, and she clapped her hand over her mouth, but it bubbled out anyway. “We’re going to look ridiculous!” She grabbed the dress he handed her and pulled it over her head.
“I’m going with you,” Mano said. “It will look natural for me to be escorting you.”
They all got out of the car and began to walk toward the bank. Annie glanced at Tomi out of the corner of her eye. “You’re walking like a man,” she hissed. “Try a more fluid motion. Don’t stomp.”
“Yeah, sway your backside,” Mano said. Tomi’s swagger changed a bit. Annie began to laugh. “Your boobs are falling,” Mano said with a fake leer.
Tomi grinned and hiked up his pillows. “Just get me to the ladies’ room and out of this gear.”
“Walk between us,” Mano suggested. “Maybe no one will notice you walk like a sailor.”
“I am a sailor,” Tomi retorted.
Mano grinned and linked his arm with Tomi’s. “Want to rest your head on my shoulder, darling?”
“You’re sick,” Tomi hissed.
Both men were laughing. Annie giggled. Maybe they could find their way across this lava bench of intrigue and danger to the way things used to be. She had to cling to that hope.
They reached the bank. “See anyone watching us?” she asked.
Tomi kept his gaze on the doors. “The black car parked in front of the fruit smoothie place.” He started to open the door, and Mano stopped him.
“I’ll be a gentleman and hold the door open for you two ladies,” he said.
Black Sands
Tomi rolled his eyes, but stepped back and let Mano get the door. Inside, Annie glanced around. There were five customers. “The restrooms are down this hall.” She led the way past the water fountain to the ladies’ room. The building smelled of fresh paint and carpet from the recent remodeling. She liked the new seafoam green color that had replaced the institutional beige.
The hallway was empty. “Wait here a minute.” She stuck her head inside and looked around the restroom, newly papered with hibiscus-print wallpaper. There were two stalls but no feet under them. She went back to the hall. “It’s all clear.”
Tomi ducked inside. “Stand guard at the door.” He washed his face, whipped off the wig and dress, and stuffed them in his satchel. “Give me your dress.” She pulled it off, and he put it in the satchel.
“I’ll see if it’s clear while you wash off the lipstick.” She stuck her head out the door.
“I told a woman the restroom was full,” Mano told her. “She looked at me like I was a slug.” Though he was complaining, his grin told a different story.
She chuckled, then motioned to Tomi, who was wiping off his mouth. “All clear.” They stepped out of the restroom and moved toward the teller window. They got in line behind a woman with two children. Mano began making faces at the baby on her shoulder and had the little girl giggling and hiding her face in a few minutes.
The mother turned around. “You must be a dad to be so good with kids.”
“Not yet,” he said.