The kitchen telephone rang in a series of high pitched beeps. Humming, Aggie wiped her hands off on the stained apron that was tied around her neck and waist.
“Hello?”
Grace stepped into the kitchen and listened to her sister’s half of the conversation.
“Hi Ricky, how’s the little boy doing? Oh dear, that’s too bad. What can we do? Uh huh. Of course. How about around six? Make sure to bring Jack with you. Don’t worry about that, I’ve got it covered. See you then. Bye.”
“Well, what did he say?” Grace had sat at the kitchen table waiting for her chance to grill Aggie. “What’s going on?”
Aggie began to untie her apron, mumbling to herself.
“Agatha, tell me what’s going on!”
“Oh, Ricky, Jack, and the boy from last night are coming over for dinner. Before you start with the 20 questions, no, he doesn’t know where the child is from, and no, I don’t know anything else. Now we need to go get changed to run to the grocery store. What do you think…Mexican or Asian cuisine?”
“Definitely Asian- I’m dying to try out our new outfits. Let’s get ready to go.”
Thirty minutes later, both women were buckling themselves into the front seat of a (1940 jet black Mercury sedan). Each was dressed in a long silk kimono and topped off with a black geisha wig. Their costumes were complete with white powdered faces, black liner, and painted red cupie doll lips.
Aggie flicked open a fan that had a scene of a Japanese village painted on the front. The back was covered in pearlescent lavender flowers that complimented her deep purple kimono. As she fluttered the fan to keep herself cool, the engine purred to life.
“Gracie, red is such a good color for you; especially that particular shade of red. I love the hair comb that you added, it’s stunning.”
Grace dipped her head. “Thank you. You look rather elegant yourself; and purple always brings out your eyes so beautifully.”
“Why, thank YOU. Should we be off?”
The engine hummed quietly as the car was put into drive. The vehicle smoothly backed out of the driveway and on to the street. In actuality, the store was only 5 blocks away, but Grace always took a longer route, just for the pure enjoyment of driving a classic automobile. Engines of all kinds had always fascinated her. There had been many days that she had been discovered underneath some type of vehicle with grease up to her elbows. She had even souped up the engine on the Mercury to coax more horsepower from the already impressive machine.
The car pulled into the half full lot of Safeway, their store of choice. Grace liked the wide selection of organic fruits and veggies that were available, never mind the wonderful natural foods section. Aggie was more impressed by the large array of specialty ingredients and the bulk candy isle. The store even came fully equipped with a small coffee house that made sinfully chocolaty cocoa and buttery cinnamon scones.
As the women made their way to the store’s entrance, they stepped up to a long table set up to the side.
“Konichiwa.” Grace bowed her head to the group of girl scouts that were manning the table.
A blonde woman that could safely be assumed to be a mother to one of the girls, smiled.
“Those are gorgeous kimonos! They must be new. I love the hair and makeup. Where on earth did you find them?”
The group of little girls all tried to speak at the same time.
“Is that Chinese?”
“Do you wear anything under the robe?”
“Is your face supposed to look like that?”
“Will you buy some of my cookies?”
They all seemed to suddenly quiet at the same time, as a little redheaded girl whispered to her neighbor.
“What’s with the crazy ladies?”
The blonde woman looked at the child, aghast. She turned to the aunts, blushing and trying to apologize.
Aggie held up her hand to calm the woman.
“It’s fine dear, don’t worry yourself. Hello girls! How’s business today? I can’t believe that it’s Girl Scout cookie time already! Anyway, we got these off of e-bay, aren’t they fabulous?”
Grace winked at the redheaded girl that was peeking out from between the fingers that she had covered her face with, in embarrassment.
“Hi there, you must be new. I’m Auntie Gert and this is Aunt Aggie. Here’s your lesson for today ladies. Konichiwa is Japanese for hello- at least according to the book on tape we found at the library. These are geisha outfits, although, in no way do either of us condone the geisha lifestyle, which…um, you should definitely ask your parents about later.”
“We would love some cookies!” Aggie enthusiastically began gathering up cookie boxes.
Grace sighed, “how about we keep it under a case this time, alright?”
Waving her hand dismissively, Aggie asked the blonde woman “how much do we owe you, Crystal
As the two “geishas” walked through the automatic door, they were serenaded by a chorus of “okays
“But, WHY are they wearing that stuff?”
The silk clad ladies quickly gathered what they needed from the various isles; greeting people as they went. After they had paid and placed all of their goodies, including the cookies, into the trunk of their car, they waved to the girl scouts and took off for home.
After the aunts unloaded the car, they headed up stairs to change out of their kimonos. The door to what had once been a large bedroom that had eventually been turned into a closet, still stood open from the pre-shopping primp session. Whenever a guest got their first look at the very full closet, the shocked observer usually stood and stared for a good minute or two. At first glance, the room looked like someone had thrown a bunch of fabric and feathers everywhere and then squirted two dozen tubes of paint all over the whole mess. Of course, as your eyes became accustomed to the many different colors, it was easier to start seeing all of the various textures as well. There were feathers, but there were also crystals, faux fur, velvet, silk, satin, plus a plethora of other things as well. There was an entire wall covered in hats and headwear of all shapes and sizes; from Indian headdresses to dainty tiaras. Another wall housed all of the accessories, such as shoes, sashes, and gloves; basically everything and anything that the two women felt was necessary to authenticate each of their particular outfits. The outfits themselves were hanging on rods that had been mounted on the third wall; it was almost impossible to distinguish between all of the different styles. The fourth wall was completely covered by a mirror that was surrounded by bright round light bulbs. The mirror’s reflection showed the island that was centered in the room. The island’s many drawers conveniently housed all of the ladies’ undergarments and smaller items that couldn’t be conveniently hung up. Pushed up against the huge mirrored wall was a make-up table that had drawers underneath to store all of the different make-up, jewelry and hair products that they used. The top of the table was cluttered with jars holding make-up and hair brushes. There was also a lighted magnifying mirror and a couple of vintage jewelry boxes. The room looked like everything was thrown all over the place; there seemed to be no set system for keeping things organized. Most people were very surprised when the aunts showed them the binder that held their “inventory lists.”
Grace led the way into the colorful room and began taking off her black wig. “Are you happy with these new wigs?”
Aggie nodded, following Grace. “I am; I love how soft they feel. I also appreciate the fact that they’re not itchy at all. I must admit, when we got such a good deal, I wondered if we’d been scammed.”
Grace placed her wig on a white plastic head that was attached to the accessory wall. “It just goes to show you that people are learning that if you misrepresent yourself on e-bay, the negative feedback can come back to really bite you in the rear.”
After changing into a t-shirt and jeans, Aggie wandered over and fingered a hula skirt that was hanging from a hook. “We really need to think about throwing a beach party soon. Don’t you think it would be fun to make it a luau? “
Grace’s response was muffled as she hung up her kimono. “I’m not sure that anyone would be too eager to see us in hula skirts. Heaven knows, I’D be afraid to look in the mirror.”
