Read Online Doreen by Ilana Manaster - Free Book Online

suppose.”
    â€œThat’s all you’re going to need, my pet. Now up and at ’em. I want to get to the shops by eleven if we can.”
    The two girls spent the bus ride huddled together studying fashion mags. Once they arrived at Port Authority, Doreen blinked into the bright lights, disoriented by the complexity and tumult around her. She had not been to New York since she was a girl, but Heidi was a sure guide. They made quick passage through the station and down into the subway.
    â€œWhere are we going? Uptown?” Doreen asked, squinting at a map.
    â€œNaturally,” Heidi said with a wink. “Come on!” She pulled Doreen through the turnstile on a single swipe of her card and they hopped on a train.
    The shops Heidi referred to were not of the department store variety, nor designer boutiques or chain stores. They were thrift stores—charity shops on the Upper East Side.
    â€œYou see,” she explained as they walked arm in arm down Third Avenue, “Upper East Side ladies have the most luxurious clothes and the largest closets and the most attentive staff, probably in the universe. They spend gobbles of dough, wear everything once, then toss it to make room for next season’s must-haves. These foundation stores are here to help the ladies feel worthy for discarding their barely used designer duds. It’s win-win.”
    â€œBut Heidi,” said Doreen, “even if it’s cheaper than the stuff in the stores, I really don’t have any extra—”
    â€œDon’t worry about it. Look.” Heidi pulled Doreen away from the center of the sidewalk. She stopped and, looking into the rearview mirror of a parked Mercedes, reapplied her lipstick and fixed her hair. She gave Doreen the lipstick and gestured that she do the same.
    Heidi felt the adrenaline rush through her. As many times as she had made the rounds through the Upper East Side charity shops, she had always been alone. She hid her familiarity with things like thrift stores and buses and subway systems from normal Chandler society. But she would share it with Doreen. She would show Doreen everything she’d learned.
    â€œAll you have to do is seem moneyed and bored, like you’re not impressed. I’ve got the honking Louis Vuitton and you’ve got my giant fake Chloé. If you see something you like, just be quick-wristed and unafraid. I’ll show you. It’s easier than you think.”
    â€œThis bag is a fake?”
    â€œWhat? Yeah. But a good fake, isn’t it? Tell anyone and I’ll have you eliminated. Now be cool and follow my lead.”
    â€œOkay.”
    Heidi resumed her quickstep toward the first stop.
    â€œWait. Wait! Heidi!” Doreen called.
    Heidi stopped and waited for Doreen to catch up.
    â€œSorry, I don’t mean to, but . . .” Doreen pulled Heidi aside. “So are we stealing from charity shops? Is that the plan here?”
    â€œHa! Charity shops? No! That’s outrageous. These aren’t really charity shops. See that place right there? The Arthritis Foundation?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œTheir gala is next week. Just getting in the door costs over a thousand dollars a person. Famous people go. There’s a silent auction. Sting played last year. What I’m saying is, it’s not like we’re taking food out of the mouths of the needy.”
    But Doreen just shook her head. “I don’t know. It seems wrong.”
    Doreen shifted from foot to foot and looked around at the passing traffic. She was uncomfortable, that was plain. Heidi had not considered the possibility that Doreen would not have what it took to participate in her innermost inner circle. And now it was too late. She’d exposed herself. Clueless, naïve Doreen would now be armed with information—about who Heidi Whelan really was and what she was capable of, namely shoplifting, posing, acting as if. Deployed to the right channels, that