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Luz tucked her hands into her jacket pockets and wandered down through the air conditioned mall. “I love how cold these indoor malls always are,” she said. “It’s so hot outside. How are you still wearing that coat?”
“The regalia was worse,” Belos said, his hands clasped behind his back.
“Right,” Luz said, slipping snacks into her pockets as she walked past the center displays of the promenade. “Be cool.”
“The air conditioning is set very high,” he said. She had introduced him to the concept of air conditioning while they were hitchhiking east from Quartzsite to Phoenix.
“Not what I meant,” Luz corrected him with a glance to the side. “We probably shouldn’t stick around long. I don’t have any change on me. I would have used the payphone to call my mom. She could have gotten us a bus ticket or something. That would have been a lot easier than hitchhiking.”
Belos scowled at a couple walking along on the other side of the walkway. They were holding hands and chatting idly, but Belos took issue with the woman’s low cut crop top and loose shorts tied tight around her hips. “Her husband is just letting her walk around like that?” He scoffed, nose scrunched in distaste.
Luz leaned over and caught a glimpse of them passing. “No rings on those fingers,” she pointed out. “I think they’re just dating. It’s hot out here. That’s just how people dress when it’s hot out now.”
Belos tore his gaze away from them and focused on moving along with Luz. “Disgusting. Haven’t you got any respect for God? You shouldn’t be putting your bodies out there like that. And you really ought to be saving your hearts for marriage.”
“Yeah, no. You sound like a ghoul when you talk like that,” Luz told him. “Things have changed. Bodies are just bodies. Some people like to get mad at them for it, but it’s still an old-fashioned way of thinking. You’re better off not talking like that in public. The last thing you want to do is draw any more attention to yourself.” She continued to slip small things into her pockets as they walked along.
“Everything here screams indulgence,” Belos commented, eyeing the brightly decorated storefronts. “So much to take in. It’s like it’s meant to give you a headache.”
“I think that’s the point, but I never really understood how marketing works,” Luz shrugged. “Mom could only ever stand one lap around our local mall before we had to go home. It’s a lot.”
A hand settled on Luz’s shoulder. “Hey, there, young lady,” a quiet voice said, looming over Luz from behind. She could see the blue security uniform from the corner of her eye. “Could you come with me for a moment?”
She glanced up at Belos. “We’re busy,” she said, taking in a breath. “Run!” Breaking away and tripping over her feet, she made a break for the automatic doors of the mall with Philip in tow and a security guard in hot pursuit. “I thought shoplifting was supposed to be easy!”