Джанет Кантрелл - Fat Cat At Large

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On Friday morning,it was almost time for Vi’s break. Chase asked Anna if she could spell Vi. Anna said she’d finished baking for the day, so she’d be glad to. Anna didn’t get out front as often as Chase did, being the main baker, and she welcomed her chances to do so.

When Vi came to the kitchen, she drooped onto a stool. Chase pushed a glass of lemonade in front of her, noting the strain on Vi’s face and the circles under her eyes, poorly disguised by her makeup.

“Vi, I’m worried about you. What’s the matter?”

Vi sat straighter and flashed her saleswoman smile at her boss. “Everything’s fine. Nothing’s the matter. It’s you I should be asking about. I know you hurt your back the other day.”

“Never mind that now. Where’s your car?” The truth was, her back didn’t feel very good at the moment.

The starch went out of Vi and she slumped, bowing her head until it almost touched the lemonade glass. “I . . . lost it.” She sounded forlorn.

“It’s stolen?”

“No. Not stolen. I missed too many payments.”

“Why didn’t you say something? We could have helped you out. A loan, maybe.”

Vi sat silent for a good long while. Then she raised her head and seemed to make up her mind about something.

“Ms. Oliver, you and Anna have given me a loan.”

Chase wrinkled her brow. Had Anna given her money? Then her eyes widened with comprehension. “ You’re the one filching cash from the drawer.”

Vi looked down at her lemonade and nodded.

Chase struggled to contain herself. “Why? Why did you do that?” Chase pictured how easy it would be for Vi to stash the money in her huge tote bag that she kept under the counter that held the cash register.

“I needed to pay for things. My car, my apartment, things. Clothes, shoes.”

“You’re buying things you can’t afford. I thought you must have a lot of money from your family, the way you live.”

“No. My family doesn’t give me anything. They don’t have anything to give. I’m making my own way.”

“This isn’t how to do it.”

Chase slid off her stool and went to fetch Anna from the front. There were no customers. “Anna. Please come into the kitchen. I don’t know if I can talk civilly to her.”

“To Vi?”

“Just come back here. I’ll keep an ear peeled for the front door.”

Anna joined Vi at the counter. “What’s going on, Violet?”

Chase didn’t let Vi answer. “She’s the one who has been taking money from the cash register. It’s Vi!”

“I don’t have enough money,” Vi wailed. “I can’t make my car payments. I can’t buy any new clothes. I didn’t know what to do. I was being evicted. I was going to be homeless.”

Anna took Vi’s thin, cold hand. “Would you like us to help you set a budget?”

Vi gave Chase a wary sideways look. “Maybe.”

“You’ve lost your car,” said Chase. “Do you still live in the expensive apartment?”

“For now. I’ll probably be evicted at the end of the month.”

Chase and Anna exchanged a look. Chase decided to let Anna handle this since she was about to explode with anger.

“We’ll think of something,” Anna said. “Let’s find a place you can afford, and maybe a secondhand car.”

“I have one. I got a used Hyundai in White Bear Lake. But I don’t know how I’ll make the payments on it either. My credit cards are maxed out and I can’t get any more. I don’t know why. I’ve sent in some more applications, but they won’t give me any more cards.”

The poor girl knew nothing about supporting herself, about budgeting, about living within her means. “We have to sit down and do a budget for you. The next time you have a payment coming up, let me or Charity know. Don’t just take the money from the drawer.”

“I was going to repay you.”

“How?” Chase demanded. Anna was right. They should fire Vi. Maybe Laci, too.

Vi shrugged and squeezed her eyes shut. “I had some money coming.” Her eyes flew open and there was white-hot anger in them. “I was promised that money.”

“What happened?” Chase asked.

Vi’s face turned ugly. “It, well, it fell through. And the job . . .”

“What are you talking about?” Chase put her face close to Vi’s. She wanted an explanation for her actions.

Anna gave Chase a look that said back off . “Do you want me to help get that stain out of the pretty blue blouse you wore yesterday?”

“No. I can do that much myself.”

Chase didn’t think Vi was going to let either of them help her with budgeting either.

“My break time’s up,” Vi said, slipping off the stool and hurrying to the salesroom.

Oh brother, thought Chase. What now ?

TWENTY

“I wonder how she thought she was going to pay us back.” Anna said. The three women had gathered at Anna’s place after closing on Friday for a confab. She lived on Nokomis Avenue, an easy drive from the Bar None. Her modest white clapboard house had pastel blue shutters on the first-floor windows and two dormers poking from the roof on the smaller second story. Anna loved the location, a very short walk away from Minnehaha Creek, Lake Hiawatha Park, and the walking trail around the lake.

“I tried to get her to tell us, but after you warned me off—”

“Did I really?” Anna asked.

“You know you did. That look you gave me. I didn’t bring it up again before she said her break was over.” Chase stood at the tall double windows, watching a neighbor’s red pickup truck go past as dusk fell. “She rushed off to return to the sales floor.”

“Poor girl. I guess this is what’s been eating her up.”

“I’m not sure we can help her, Anna.”

“I’m not sure you shouldn’t prosecute her,” Julie said. She’d come from the kitchen and joined them for the discussion of what to do about Violet Peters. She sat beside her grandmother on the pale blue couch, sipping the light white wine she’d brought along after work. Anna’s preference for vibrant colors in her clothing didn’t carry over to her decorating tastes. She chose pale blues and mint greens for every room in her house.

The dessert bars from the shop that would expire the next day were stacked on a plate and the three women picked at them. Business was slowing down to the extent that there were enough leftovers for the homeless shelter and a few for them, too.

“You think so?” Chase paced the room, too agitated to sit, let alone drink the wine. “That wouldn’t help get the money back.”

“Now we know who took the money, Grandma.” Julie nudged Anna gently with her elbow.

“I could never press charges against poor Vi.” Anna bit her bottom lip and gazed at Chase with tears in her eyes. “I thought you had stolen the money, Charity. I don’t know how I could have even entertained the idea for a minute.”

Chase stopped pacing and saw the stark emotion on Anna’s face. Her own eyes teared up. “You know what’s crazy? I thought you might have taken it, too.”

Anna bolted up from the couch and the two women hugged, long and hard.

“We have to trust each other, Anna. We’re in this together,” Chase mumbled into Anna’s soft gray hair.

They separated after a final squeeze. “I know,” Anna said. “You are absolutely right.”

“I’m beginning,” Chase said, “to agree that we should look for new employees.”

Anna chuckled. “And just when you’ve convinced me we should keep them.”

“So when are you going to tell me the rest about you and Doris Naughtly? It might be ancient history, but it’s still affecting you, when you don’t want to be in the same room with her.”