Thievery

“I tell you of this friend of mine. He is criminal. All of his life. He tell me he will always be criminal. He will always steal.”
“That is so sad.”
“It is, but he say it is all he know. That since he little boy, he steal.”
“And now he is grown, yes?”
“Oh, yes, he is a man now. But I tell you, I watch my stuffs around him. Even though he my friend.”

They laugh. PP stretches her arm up and over her head, the warm wood soaking into the sore muscles. She’s not going to participate today. It takes too much energy. But yet….

This resolve only lasts till Is So Sad Woman leaves. Friend of Criminal remains in Hilltopia. Alone with PP. So, the conversation must go on.

“I tell them upstair not to let children in here,” FOC scoffs.

PP sits up for this. She hates hates hates the kids in the women’s locker room.

“What did they say?” she asks. “You know, I also swim at Oakland, and no way do any kids even step foot into the women’s locker room. Those women would not stand for any screaming children in their domain!”
“They steal from me!”
“Really? What did they take?”
She glances through the glass window at her pink plastic Lily Wongs bag. “I not find anything missing. Yet.”
“So you saw them trying to take something?”
“Yes! I see them bending over my bag, going through it, and I chase them away. I say, 'HEY! YOU!! GET AWAY FROM THERE!'”
“And they ran away?”
“Oh, yes. But then when I go upstair to tell them about it, they ask me what they look like and I say, I don’t know. They have dark skin…..”




Her voice trails off. Does she know what she’s just slipped into? PP always finds it interesting how people of ‘minorities’ are often biased against each other. In this case, it’s an Asian woman being, dare PP say? racist? against ‘dark skinned’ children, presumably African American, but they could have been Mexican kids or Indian Kids…..or any number of ‘dark skinned’ races.

“Well,” PP nods, obviously she won’t point out the racism—way too taboo. Esp. since PP is a member of the golden blond race. Who also all look the same. Seen one blond, seen them all. “…..at least you were able to chase them off before they took anything.”




“That is true,” she agrees, sighing loudly, settling back into the warm wooden wall.
"Let's hope they don't make their lives one of Crime!" PP jokes.

But FOC turns toward her, nodding. "Yes. But if no one catch them, they get away with it, who know? They could be in Life of Crime."

"That would be so sad," PP repeats.

FOC nods, heaves another long sigh before PP rises and heads out of the sauna.