Page 45 of Tank

I narrow my eyes at him. “Are you banking on him bitching to Pres about how busy we are over there?”

“Fuck yes. We’ll have someone on reception in no time and won’t even need to take it to Church,” Judge grins.

“I like the way you think, brother.”

Mira

I follow the Ol Ladies around the mall as they all oohh and ahh over the styles on offer. I can tell by watching their interactions that they’ve been a unit for a while. Chewy is the longest standing DRMC Ol Lady. The others sort of all landed at the DRMC in quick succession after that.

“Do you know what you’re looking for?” Blanche asks Lovely as she holds up a flannel shirt. Blanche’s style tends more toward tough mom mixed with covert spy clothing.

Chewy seems more alternative with her darker colors and her ever present Doc Martens boots. Remy and Nat seem to veer toward more biker chick which makes sense as they’ve been in the lifestyle longer. Ana is classy and high end and then there’s me. Not that I’m an Ol Lady or anything, but I’m joining the outing and definitely not blending in with my floral wide leg pants, purple blouse, big pink plastic hoop earrings and green sneakers.

“Well, would it be weird to say that I want something that expresses my personality and not the cult we were in?” Lovely says in her soft voice.

“Fuck no! That cult had the ugliest clothes I’d ever seen in my life!” We all spin at the sound of Pops’ voice to find him behind us, holding a glazed donut in his hand. “What? I stopped at Dunkin’,” he shrugs.

Ana stares at him unblinking for an awfully long time, Pops mirroring her position.

“Who do you think is gonna win?” Nat whispers.

“My money is on Pops,” I whisper back, Nat nods sagely.

“I’m picking Ana,” Remy says, tipping her head in their direction.

“She would have learned that move from Mama Debs and I bet that look works on Pops all the time.”

“Ugh fine! I’m here for security. AND you know I always come on the girls’ trips and girls’ nights! You’ve been leaving meout lately and I don’t appreciate it,” Pops huffs, donut forgotten as he waves it around to get his point across.

“We always invite you! It’s not our fault you got an Ol Lady and now you’d rather make moony eyes at her than hang out with us,” Ana argues.

“Can you blame me? She’s fucking perfect!” Pops argues back.

Lovely rests a hand on Pops’ shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “I’m happy you could join us. I need help to try to figure out my new style. Do you have any ideas?” She tilts her head sideways and smiles up at him. The man is putty in her hands. I hope I’m still around when the inevitable happens and Marx and Lovely act on their feelings. I have a hunch that the Pres will fold like a house of cards.

“Well, I think you need to find something that actually fits you properly. Since you escaped that shit hole you’ve been in hand me downs from your brothers,” Pops replies, rubbing the stubble on his cheek.

“Then that’s what we’ll do. Mira, would you mind helping me choose some colors that might look good on me?” Lovely asks, eyes wide as if she’s afraid I would ever tell her no.

“Heck yeah!” I say, fist pumping the air. “Let’s do this!”

***

I’m exhausted and we’re only halfway there. We’ve discovered that underneath all the layers of baggy denim, cotton and flannel, Lovely has a totally banging body.

“I cannot believe you’ve been hiding this the entire time!” Remy says, admiring Lovely’s shape in a pair of purple leggings topped with a black off the shoulder top, similar to the ones I like to wear.

“I know! I’m so jealous!” Blanche laments, although I have a feeling that under her oversized sweatshirt she is probably hiding the same thing. Just on a shorter body.

“Well, in Eden’s Keep women had to be modest at all times, so even I didn’t know I could look like this in clothes that fit properly,” Lovely giggles. “OK, I’m bushed, so I say we buy all the keep outfits -” she waves to the colorful pile next to me, filled with all manner of things: leggings, sweats, dresses, fitted jeans, blouses, the gamut. Lovely wanted to shop for comfy mom things but also things that would make her feel cool and hip. “-and then let’s get food and drink. I’m starving!”

“I agree! Let’s blow this joint, ladies,” Pops says, eating another glazed donut. I have no idea where he’s getting them from, as I’m pretty sure he’s been with us the whole time, but who knows.

I help Lovely carry her things to the counter and notice that the Tombs seem to be holding back. Throughout the shopping trip Pops and Chewy have been murmuring to each other, eyes watching something outside the store. Blanche joined them in conversation a few times and I notice her eyes darting to a different spot outside. I think maybe something is going on, but I can’t tell if it’s a scary something or an exciting something. Or maybe both! Maybe they’ve spotted a threat and they need to find a way to distract us so they can neutralize it? Although I have no idea what type of neutralizing an old man and two little ladies, one of which is pregnant, can do, but I’m down with it. Oh, what if it turns out that they’re actually really dangerous? Like trained in jiu jitsu or something? Didn’t Pops say he was in ‘Nam? I bet he knows a thing or two.

“Ready, Mira? You kinda checked out a little there,” Remy asks, her dark brows furrowed.

“Oh yeah, sorry, I do it all the time. Have a thought and my imagination runs away on me.” I wave it off.

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