Thin Luck

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

New Mexico - Section 35-10-1

Unlawful Entry

AFTER TWO DAYS of loafing on Sherry's couch I was making myself useful in the kitchen by making a late lunch before she had to go to work at the restaurant. When she went to the market I asked her to pick up fettuccini noodles as well. Her pantry had all the other makings of the best faux Alfredo I knew how to make.

The phone rang. A few minutes later Sherry called out to me from the living room, "Cynthia?"

I popped my head out through the Formica opening between the kitchen and the living room, "Yes?"

"Lunch will have to wait. That was my boss. I gotta go to a catering gig." Sherry started scrambling through the house.

Since I wasn't too far into making lunch I turned off the stove and went to the living room to get out of her way. The past two days she'd been like a tornado ripping through the house before leaving for work, and that's when she knew when her shift started. With an unexpected shift in her work schedule I knew better than to be an obstacle. The last two days she'd taken more than half an hour to get ready, even in rushed mode. But she rushed slower than I'd seen other people take their time.

She walked out into the living room mostly naked-just a pair of panties and one sock. She'd already grown accustomed to my presence, apparently. "Have you seen my eyeliner?"

I moved a heavy nursing textbook, clothes, and a dirty dinner plate aside and then handed her the eyeliner. She had a tendency to leave things wherever they were used last, like those boots in the yard.

"Thank you." Her perky breasts were hard not to notice, but I tried not to stare. Her eyes got wider showing off her bright green contact lenses. "You know what? You should come to the museum tonight. You could make some quick money and get on the train to Seattle like you wanted to. I know you wouldn't be able to find that guy, but-"

I interrupted her, "I don't think-"

She interrupted me back with a wave of her arm, "Three girls called in sick. It'll just be me and Josie, and someone needs to tend the cash bar."

"I've never tended bar." I knew this was a lame excuse the moment I muttered it.

"There's nothing to it," she said while marching back down the hallway. "We don't serve anything fancy," she shouted from her room. "Just wine and beer and stuff mixed with a few standard boozes. Two minutes of training and you'll be on your way to at least a couple hundred."

A couple hundred dollars would probably get me all the way to San Francisco. "I don't have anything to wear," I said.

"You can wear something of mine," she said before switching on the hair dryer.

The thought of being in public unnerved me, but I couldn't tell Sherry that. What if I'd been in the news and people recognized me? But didn't Wayne say that was ridiculous? The manhunt for Robyn Hughes wasn't to the point of shutting down the airports. I didn't think my story was all that interesting. It would hardly be interesting beyond Connecticut, and certainly not out in New Mexico.

Sherry came out with a pile of clothes.

I stared at her. I could use the money, and what kind of ungrateful person would I be if I didn't help her out after sleeping on her couch for two days? At least I no longer felt like I'd been run over by a steamroller.

I changed into the thin, white cotton dress she gave me. My breasts were way too big for the bra she let me borrow, but I stuffed them in just the same. The sandals were a bit snug, but no more than a half size. Beggars and thieves couldn't be choosers. I put my makeup on as best as I could without making her even more late and then jumped into her truck. The whole process took me less than fifteen minutes.