Los Gatos: A Short Story

“Once again, the duo of thieves we can only call the Lovers In Crime have struck again, this time robbing a convenience store in Los Gatos. The shop owner claims that the thieves stole all the money in the cash register, which ‘wasn’t much in the first place’, and treated themselves to a couple of free slushies, before signing their signature graffiti heart in the window of the store. Police searches have been extensive but unsuccessful.”
“They’re right, y’know,” Angie started, shuffling the cash in her hands like a deck of cards. “This really isn’t much.” Jenn tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as she pondered how they could make more.
“We could try a larger scale store, but they’ll have more security. Is it really worth it?” she asked
her partner. “I mean, do we really need new tires right now?”
“I guess not, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt if we got them,” Angie responded, watching out the window as the redwoods passed by in a blur. Behind them, sirens whirred, and Angie looked over at Jenn. “With new tires, we could outrun these guys.”
“But we don’t need to because they aren’t looking for us,” Jenn retorted with a roll of her eyes, pulling over to let the cop car whiz by. “They’re looking for a male and female duo. Good idea cutting your hair, by the way.”
“Thanks,” Angie said hesitantly, “though I’m not sure it really makes a difference when it’s under a ski-mask.”
“Eh, whatever works,” Jenn said, starting back onto the road again.
“Either way, you look beautiful.” Angie bit her lip, the tips of her ears warming while her thoughts danced to where they usually did after a heist. These thoughts had never really escaped her mouth before, but there was a first time for anything.
“Why are we doing this?” Angie murmured. “Is this really the life we should be living? I don’t even feel safe enough to marry you or whatever. People will figure out it’s us eventually, Jenn.”
“And before that happens,” Jenn cut in, “we’ll stop. We aren’t going to do this forever. Just until we have enough cash to last us a while.”
“And then what?” Angie questioned. “Are we going to get normal jobs? Get a normal home instead of our little house-on-wheels trailer? I don’t even remember what it feels like to sleep in a building that isn’t moving.”
“Where is this even coming from, Ang? You’ve never said you had any qualms about this before,” Jenn huffed, wishing her partner would just go with what, as she saw, was necessary.
“I just want to live a normal life with my normal girlfriend in a normal house,” Angie sighed, picking at her fingernails. “This isn’t what I expected out of
life.”
“We’re famous, Ang! Isn’t that good?”
“We’re infamous, Jenn. It’s not good.”
“Fine,” Jenn said decidedly, pulling over once again. After coming to a stop, she looked over at her girlfriend. “If you don’t want this life, then bail. You can go live your normal life while I live my imfamous-”
“It’s infamous-”
“one. If you really don’t want to do this, then leave. But I’m not giving up this one good thing I’ve got going. Your choice now.” They sat in silence for a minute as Ang contemplated what consequences either decision would leave her with. On the one hand, leaving would give her a lot more security, and she wouldn’t have to fear the law anymore. On the other hand, if she left, she would lose her favorite person. All things considered, it shouldn’t have been such a hard decision. And yet..
“I’ll stay,” Ang said, trying to hide her reluctance. “I love you, Jenn.”
“I love you, too, Ang. I think you made the right decision.” Jenn pulled out onto the road again, driving towards the next town and the next heist. “After all, having a partner in crime is a lot more fun than doing things yourself.”