All That Jazz

 

Velma honked at the coal truck that cut her off. "Hey, watch it buster!"

She pulled to a stop in front of Cohen's Deli. Roxie was waiting out front, looking like she was ready for a golf date and checking her face in a compact. She put a big bag holding her 12 gauge pump in the back seat and climbed in the front. She held a paper sack on her lap.

"What's in the bag?"

"Lenny made us a couple of Reubens. We should eat them before they go cold." The bag clinked.

"Pickles?"

"Uh huh. And some sodas."

Lenny always packed the girls a nice lunch ever since they helped his cousin out of a jam.

Velma pulled back into traffic,  getting honked at by a delivery van.

"Sure thing. We can park by the river and watch the ducks. Lester the Lecher ain't goin' anywhere."

Roxie looked in the back seat. "Bring your gat?"

Velma smiled and flicked her cigarette out the window. "You bet your bippy. Les ain't gonna be a lech for much longer."

These are a couple of figures from the Pulp Figures Gangland Gals set that a good friend gave me last summer. I painted Velma, the fedora wearing one, pretty quickly but was stumped by shotgun wielding Roxie. The definition on her clothing was soft and I wasn't sure how to approach her outfit. I didn't want to do a plain solid dress and trying to paint a floral pattern was intimidating.

Velma

Then inspiration struck and I gave her a sweater vest. I'd wanted to give her ironic knitted hearts, but Mrs Rabbitman says knit patterns like that weren't a thing in the 30s, however Argyle was the height of fashion. So this is my attempt at a pink and white Argyle sweater vest. The fashionable knitwear and the yellow blouse also tie her in with Velma.

Roxie

With all these bright, possibly anachronistic, colours I decided that they should have a bright yellow car with whitewall tires too.

I've named them Velma and Roxie because I quite like Chicago and their hair reminds me of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zelwinger from the movie.

The thunderous roar of Velma's Tommy gun stopped suddenly when the breech block sat open on an empty magazine. Roxie ejected a spent shell from her 12 gauge. Velma tossed her cigarette on the bloodied heaps that had, until a few moments ago, been Lester and his four heavies.

"C'mon Roxie, I need a drink."

Roxie looked down. "Gosh darn it! I got a run in my stocking!"