Mandy stared at the mysterious young man at the door. Well, he wouldn’t be that mysterious if you knew the story of the robbery thirty years ago. But Mandy had one big problem. His husband, Barry, didn’t know the story, at least, not the full story.
And here is the full story.
30 years ago, Mandy and Barry found each other in a local cooking class. First was friendship, and they went over to each other’s homes and made lunches, which turned to making dinners, which one night led to making breakfast the next morning.
They both always wanted to own a bakery. So after they married, they skipped their honeymoon to save money, wrote a solid business plan, and bought a small bakery with an upstairs apartment. And with lots and lots of support from friends and family, Mandy and Barry opened the ‘Cookie Cabana’, a little bakery just off the beach that drew in snacking tourists.
All was sunshine and happiness until the day of the robbery, which was not sunny, but rainy. That was probably because of coincidence or lazy scene building. Barry left to run errands, and Mandy worked on inventory in the back. After a while, Mandy heard the shop door chime. At the front stood not three customers, but three troubles.
The three strangers had blue fur and wore all black boots, pants, and long sleeve shirts, not exactly beach wear, rainy day or not. And this was a tipoff; they wore black eye masks over their googly eyes. The masks did little to conceal their menacing glares. These robbers weren’t messing around.
One was much larger than the other two and wore a diamond. The second one was smaller, but still pretty big. And the smallest one wore feathers in her hair. But Mandy’s attention was on their revolvers.
Through a dry throat Mandy said, “Welcome to Cookie Cabana. How can I help you?”
The big one, with the diamond, snarled, “Do we look like customers?”
“No sir,” Mandy said, and put his hands in the air.
“Now you get it. Give cookies!” Each robber held up a large burlap sack.
Mandy’s voice shook, and he asked, “Any particular cookies you would like today?”
The big one said, “no care. All cookies. Rico not like snooty celebrity cousin, can get whatever cookies he want on set of children show.”
The medium-sized robber whispered, “Rico, you say we not use real name, remember?”
“Tony, real names no matter. We wearing mask, idiot.” Rico growled back at the medium-sized one, apparently named Tony.
Rico tossed his bag to Mandy, who filled it with cookies. Mandy’s shaking arms held out the bulging sack. Rico grabbed the sack and pulled out a sugar cookie. He scraped off frosting and rubbed it against his gums. “That frosting been cut. What the hell is this? You trying to rip Rico off?” He shook furiously and the pupils of his googly eyes spun madly around. Clearly, Rico was as dangerous as he was unpredictable, and dangerous.
Again, Mandy’s hands went to the air. “No. No. That’s our standard recipe. I promise!”
The smallest robber, with feathers in her hair, spoke up. “Hey, hey mister. We believe you. You doing good job. But here deal. Lola not just looking for standard cookie.” Mandy assumed one, this was Lola, and two, these weren’t criminal masterminds.
Tentatively, Mandy asked, ”What are you looking for, Lola?”
”Hey! How you know Lola name?” Rico roared, but Tony calmed him down. “She just said it, Rico. We all gave names away.”
”Yes, but remember, we wearing masks.” Rico tapped his temple smartly.
Lola got a faraway look in her eyes and said, “I looking for the big score. The one where I can get out of two-bit town and start over. Maybe be showgirl, wear dress down to there, do merengue and/or cha-cha.”
Mandy lowered his hands a bit, appraised Lola, and asked, ”What is the big score?”
Lola nodded her head, as if agreeing with herself about something. Her googly eyes sparkled as she said, “The Vault. We want cookies from the Great Cookie Vault.”
As if the words ‘The Great Cookie Vault’ cast a magic spell; all three robbers froze for a moment. Then Tony said, “Yeah, mister. We rag tag group looking to fulfill dream. Great Cookie Vault will fix everything. Maybe start new life, maybe new life… together.” Tony stared at Lola for just a moment, but long enough.
Mandy sighed. “We don’t have the Great Cookie Vault. I too have heard the rumors, but think it is a myth. And even if the Great Cookie Vault is real, it isn’t here. “ Mandy, who knew love and what it meant to have someone to love, spoke directly to Tony and Lola. “If you’re young and you have each other, who could ask for more?”
Rico gave a piercing howl. His pupils shook all higgledy-piggledy in a sort of of funny, but mostly terrifying way. “You liar! You like all rest! We know you have Great Cookie Vault. We case bakery for weeks, find no evidence that you don’t have Great Cookie Vault. That proof.”
Mandy cocked his head and muttered, “that doesn’t even make sense.”
Rico didn’t reply. At least not with words. Instead, he shook with rage, but then calmed eerily, almost serenely, as his furry blue hands carefully trained his revolver on Mandy’s face. Mandy could see down the barrel of the gun, and wondered if that would be the last thing he ever saw. He thought of his husband, Barry, and how they had just started their lives together, their dreams, having a family, growing old. His eyes welled up. ”I would take you to the Vault. I really would. Search the place. It’s not here. I swear it.”
Tony, watching this situation escalate, said “Me believe you. We believe you. We all -“
”Me not believe you,” Rico grinned and cocked his revolver.
Tony slid between Mandy and the revolver. “Rico. Think it through. We cookie robbers, not monsters. We not kill. You taking too far. Me not let you hurt – “
Bang! A deafening gunshot reverberated through the tiny shop. Mandy flinched. He reflexively shut his eyes, and when he dared to reopen them, the scene changed. Rico was still standing, but Tony crumpled to the ground. Blood covered his chest, and his breathing became short and raspy. Lola fell down next to him and cradled his furry blue head. “Tony! Tony no! Me not lose you.”
Tony looked up at her and smiled, then coughed up blood. “We get away, right Lola? Like you said?”
Lola gently stroked Tony’s head and nodded, “Yes Tony. Also. Me wanted to surprise you. But… well… Me pregnant. Me name baby Tony Jr, after father, or Toni with an ‘i’ if girl. It work out pretty well either way.”
”Baby? Me going to be father?” Tony coughed up clotted blood. He smiled, then went limp. His googly eyes froze. Crying, Lola tried the thing in movies where someone passes their hand over the dead person’s eyes and they close. She tried about four or five times before remembering they don’t have eyelids.
She turned on Rico and in a voice soaked in hatred said, “You took everything from me. And Tony done nothing but help you. You are not brains of operation. You big and dumb. Tony try talk reason and you shoot him. You a word that start with C… coward!” She screamed “Coward!”
Rico smiled, basking in his own cruelty. “You sleep with Tony? Now pregnant? You useless to operation. Woman like you make me think of another word that starts with C. C is for -“
”You no say that word. You no dare say it!”
Rico glowered. “C is for Cu-“ Another loud gunshot, then five more. Mandy watched Rico’s smug smile twist into confusion. Then, in the slow motion gained by shock, Rico’s face rippled, and a moment later, the left half of his head disappeared, simply gone, replaced with an explosion of blood and tissue. The force spun Rico, and he landed against the glass counter, smashing it. His body fell with blood and broken glass, but his eyes focused on Mandy in a malevolent glare.
A ringing followed the report, mixed with Lola’s sobs. She dropped Tony’s revolver and hunched over him. Mandy, who always had great hearing, made out the faint sounds of police sirens. Someone must have heard the gunshots and called the police. And what about Barry? In all the chaos and confusion, Mandy forgot Barry would soon return.
Mandy saw Lola, not as a robber, or a killer, but as a young woman who just lost everything. He remembered, just minutes ago, the faraway look in her eyes when she talked about starting over. Mandy realized he was only alive because of Tony’s sacrifice and knew what he had to do. He ran to the back and grabbed a large t-shirt, baseball cap, and all the cash from his wallet. Then he ran back and emptied the cash register. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough. Then he shoved the cash, t-shirt, and baseball cap into a small bag, and returned to Lola.
”Lola. Listen to me. You don’t have time,” he panted.
Lola pushed him away and shook her head. “Me lost everything!”
”Listen up, now!” Mandy barked. “This isn’t just about you. Not anymore. This is about Tony Junior, or Toni with an ‘i’.”
Lola looked up.
”Take this. There isn’t time to argue with me. Take it!” Mandy shoved the bag into Lola’s hands and helped her up. “Go to the back, take off your bloody shirt and put it in the trash bin. I’ll get rid of it. Put on the fresh shirt and cap, and take the money and get on a bus.”
”And go where?”
”Anywhere. Anywhere but here. Get away. It’s not much, I admit, but it can get you out of here and keep you out of prison.“
The police sirens grew louder.
”Go out the back door and down the alley to your left. That will get you out of here.”
Lola was coming out of her trance, but still confused. ”But we robbed…”
”I am going to tell the police Rico and Tony came in to rob me, got into a fight, and shot each other. You were never here.”
”You saving me. How me thank you?”
”You can thank me by raising little Tony to be a good person, like Tony Senior. Oh, but maybe not a criminal. Can we at least try for that? Now go!”
Lola, fully alert now, started to give Mandy a hug, but he pushed her back. “Gotta keep the blood off my shirt, so my story matches.“
Lola looked down. Mandy lifted her chin and gave a warm smile. ”I tell you what. You owe me a hug. Someday. When this has all blown over. Promise?”
”Promise!” Lola said, and ran to the back. And not a moment too soon, as the store bell chimed and both Barry and the police rushed in. Mandy ran to his bewildered husband and gave him a hug. “It’s okay. These two came in to rob us. Then they started arguing and shot each other. I’m okay.”
One police officer said, ”We got a report of three suspects entering your shop.”
”No, officer. Just these two.” Mandy, with his keen hearing, heard the back door quietly click closed, and he let out a sigh.
That was thirty years ago. Mandy and Barry eventually sold the bakery. The trauma of that day was too much. They made a sizable profit off the sale, invested wisely, and retired early.
The doorbell rang at their beachside condo, and Mandy opened the door. There stood a young man, around 30, with blue fur and googly eyes.
Mandy took a step back in surprise. “Yes?”
”Mr. Mandy Mandilow?” Asked the young man in a husky voice.
”Yes. That’s me. Can I help you?”
The young man cleared his throat. ”Did you own the ‘Cookie Cabana’ about thirty years ago?”
”Yes.” The pieces fell in place and Mandy invited the young man in.
“Me name Tony Jr., or TJ. Me mom, she just passed away. Had diabetes. Probably because we only eat cookies.” Tony Jr. rubbed the back of his neck, not sure what to say.
”I’m sorry to hear that. I only met her once, briefly. But she seemed like a lovely woman.”
”Me thank you.” Tony Jr. rubbed his furry blue hands together.
”Can I ask? How… How was your mom’s life?”
”Good, me think. Her single mom. But able to raise me and go to school. Became nurse and helped lots of people.”
Mandy’s eyes welled, and he offered Tony Jr. a seat, but he politely declined. ”No, thank you. Me not stay long. If okay. This not easy.”
”I understand. Is there something you need?”
”Mom ask me, before she died. She say she promised to give you something, but being so busy. Then time go by fast. Then… anyway. Mom want to give you this.” Tony Jr. lunged forward, almost knocking Mandy over, and hugged. After a moment, Mandy felt Tony Jr. shudder and cry and hugged him back.
Barry walked in and his eyebrows raised. “Oh. Hi. I’m sorry. I didn’t hear the door.”
Tony Jr. released the hug and wiped tears from his eyes. ”That okay. Me need to get going. Thank you for time.”
Mandy’s voice choked. ”Thank you. And you take care. If you need anything… “
”Will do, Thanks.” and Tony Jr. walked out.
”Hon, what is going on?” asked Barry.
Mandy wiped away tears. ”Oh, it’s fine. Everything is fine.”
“Clearly it isn’t.” Barry said and took Mandy’s hand.
Mandy nodded. “It’s about that robbery years ago. I didn’t tell you and the police everything, and I’m sorry. But I had to hide someone from the police, and I didn’t want to get you involved or put you in danger.”
Mandy saw the worried look in his husband’s eyes and led him down the hallway. “Come with me into the kitchen and I’ll tell you the entire story. I suddenly feel like baking cookies.”