by Rusty Kontos
“The guy in the car, he is back, and I think he is watching us.” Nickole said in a worried voice.
“What? Where?” Sally said as she squinted her eyes trying to scan the playground.
“He’s in the street, in front of the park. Do not let him see that we see him. Just pretend we are just talking.”
“What’s he doing now?” Sally asked.
“He’s just sitting in the car, staring this way. No, wait, he’s getting out, and he’s walking this way.” Nickole said, trying to keep her voice to a low whisper.
Sally looked up toward the man as he was walking closer to them. “Oh my god, what a hunk! He is gorgeous!” Sally squealed.
“Sally,” Nickole punched her on the arm. “Remember what you said a while ago? He might be a pervert.” Nickole once again remind her.
“I also said he could be a G man or a bank robber.” Sally said a little dreamy eyed. “Let’s stop guessing and find out once and for all,” she said.
“What? Sally what’s going on in that beady little mind of yours?” Nickole demanded.
“You go get Tiena off the swing and get ready to make a break for home, and I will just walk up to him and confront him.” Sally told Nickole.
“Are you nuts? I am not going to leave you alone with him,” Nickole said with a worried sound in her voice. “Let’s make a run for home together.” She suggested.
“You go,” Sally said as she stood up from the table.
“Sally, get back here!” Nickole said trying to stop Sally. Nickole was not fast enough. Sally was on her feet and walking straight for the man. Nickole turned and took Tiena off the swing. “We got to go home now, Tiena.” Nickole told her as she lifted her off the swing.
Sally walked aggressively up to the man. He stopped and gave her a little smile as he looked down at her. She took a hard swallow as her heart pounded in her chest. “Why are you watching us?” Sally demanded.
He looked a little stunned at her directness. “Well, are you some kind of fucking pervert?” Sally asked, looking at him straight in the eye.
“Whoa, is that any way for a lovely young lady like you to speak to a stranger?” He replied.
“Never mind, just answer the damn question!” Sally demanded.
“Well, first off young lady, I’m not watching you, and I am not a pervert. I am just looking for my little girl.” The man explained.
“Oh yeah, then what’s her name?” Sally asked with suspicion in her voice.
“I don’t know,” he replied as he dropped his head down.
“You don’t know, what the hell kind of father are you who doesn’t know his own kid’s name?” Sally asked as she was drilling him for an honest answer.
“Her mother left me before she was born and I have been looking for them. She would be about your age.” He told Sally.
“So that is why you have been hanging out at our school, and now in the park?” Sally asked.
“That’s right. Do your parents know you use such nasty words?” He asked.
“Nickole, relax. He is a damn parent!” Sally called out to Nickole.
“How would you and your little friend like to make ten dollars?” The man asked.
“Who do we have to kill?” Sally asked. Her head was cocked, face scrunched as she pushed her round-framed eyeglasses back to the correct position on her nose with her middle finger as she looked up to the man.
“No one,” the man chuckled.
“Well, what do we have to do?” Sally asked as Nickole and Tiena approached her side.
“Just find out what little girl in your school has a step-father.”
“Oh, is that all? Then it’s twenty bucks.” Sally said in a firm voice.
“Twenty bucks! That is an awful a lot of money for a little girl like you.” The man said with surprise in his voice.
“Twenty bucks each. Twenty bucks for me, twenty bucks for Nickole. Half now, and half when we find out.” Sally said in a cunning voice with sly grin on her face.
“You really drive a hard bargain for such a lovely young lady. You’re straight to the point and I like that!” He smiled down at her.
He held out his hand to Nickole. “Hi, I’m Nick. Your friend calls you Nickole. Is that your name?” He asked as he gave her a warm smile as his heart pounded in his chest.
Sally cleared her throat to get Nick’s attention back to her. “I’m Sally, now that we all know who we are, do we have a deal or not?” She said with her head cocked to one side.
“Okay, it’s a deal. But how about if I just give it all to you now? And, if you find out who she is, I will give you a little bonus.”
“Wow that is great! But what if we don’t find her?” Sally quizzically asked.
“Well then, I guess you keep the money, and I keep the bonus. How does that sound?” He asked.
“Wow, did you hear that, Nickole?” Sally squealed.
“Yes, I heard. But do you think our parents are going to let us keep that much money?” Nickole wisely inquired.
“Well, we don’t have to tell them, do we?” Sally said with a devious look on her face.
“Do you really think we can keep this from them? Don’t you think they are going to wonder where we got so much money?” Nickole asked.
“We hide the money and just spend a little at a time, and it will be our secret.” Sally said to Nickole trying
to convince her to go along with the plan.
“May I say something here?” Nick interrupted. “Look, you can do as Sally said, and I prefer you keep this between just the three of us. It is best you do not tell anyone. This way you can help me out and keep the money to help you out, too. I won’t tell if you don’t.” Nick said with a smile.
“Come on, Nickole, please say yes, please!” Sally begged her. Nickole gave into Sally’s pleading
eyes.
“Okay, okay, I’ll do it,” she said as she reluctantly gave in.
“Nickole Martino, you better not tell anyone! You
have to promise.” Sally said with a very serious look on her face.
“I swear on my mother’s grave and cross my heart.”
“Your mother isn’t dead, stupid!” Sally screeched.
Nickole groaned. “Okay, my great-grandmother’s grave, okay?”
“You better not mess up,” Nickole warned Sally.
“Let’s all shake on it.” Nick said as he held out his hand toward the girls. The girls took hold of Nick’s hand as they shook on the pack they just made.
Nick took out his wallet. As he opened it to take out the money for the girls, Sally watched the wallet closely. “Wow, what a wad of money. You must be rich!” Sally gasped.
“Well, not rich. Just say well off.” He said as he handed a twenty-dollar bill to each girl.
Tiena had wandered over to the sand box and was playing in the sand. She never heard the discussion
about the new secret the three now shared between them.
“How long do we have?” Sally asked.
“You have until the first week of December. I have to go out of town until then. I will come by the park and check to see if you are out here.” Nick said as he started to leave for his car.
“Boy, that’s an awfully long time from now.” Sally said.
“It gives you lots of time to find her.” Nick politely replied with a glowing smile on his face.
“Nickole! Sally! Mama says it’s time to come home now!” A little boy called to the girls. It was Nickole’s little brother, Paul. He was eight years old. He had dark brown eyes and coal-black wavy hair. He looked up at Nick as they passed each other on the bike path. “Who was that guy?” Paul asked as he approached the girls.
“Just some guy looking for his kid.” Sally quickly said.
“Oh well, Mama said you have to come home now and set the dinner table.” Paul informed Nickole.
“We were on our way as you called out to us. Take hold of Tiena’s hand so I can push my bike.” Nickole told him while putting Tiena’s
little hand in his.
“Think you can come over to my house after supper?” Sally asked.
“I don’t know. I will, if Mama says I can. I will have to do the supper dishes.” Nickole said as she watched Nick walk slowly to his car.
“See you later, Nickole!” Sally called out as she headed for her house.
“Yeah, later, Sally!” Nickole called back as she took her bike to the back of the house, parking it by the garage.
While Nick was slowly walking toward his car, he had a warm feeling in his heart with hope that the girls would follow through on the plan the three had just made for December. Suddenly, Nick had a strange, spine-tingling cold chill sensation as he was opening his car door. He had a feeling someone was watching him. He looked around in full circle before he opened the door fully to get into the car. He saw no one, but his intuition kept sending signals to him that someone was there. Nick’s intuition was right. Little did he know, someone was watching. A man was standing behind a tall hedge a block down the street. He watched Nick and the girls interact. He was more interested in the girls. As soon as Nick drove off, the man that was watching Nick and the two young girls walked to his car and got inside. His beady eyes followed the girls as they each entered their homes. He was in no hurry to go anywhere. He sat in his car and stared at every move that went on inside and outside of the two houses into the dark, cool, autumn evening.
NICKOLE FOLLOWED HER brother and little sister into the house. “Nickole, honey, set the table. Paul, you go upstairs with your little sister and wash up for supper.” Mrs. Martino said as she took her tasty dish of meat balls out of the warming oven. Nickole went to the sink, washed, and dried her hands. Then she took the dishes down from the cupboard. As Nickole was setting the table, she asked her mother if she could go over to Sally’s house after the supper dishes were done.
“You two girls! You should be sisters. Don’t you ever get tired of each other?” Her mother joked.
“No, Mama, Sally is my friend. We like to be with each other.” Sally said.
“I know, honey, I was your age once, you know, and I had a best friend, too. I was just kidding you.” Her mother smiled at her as she sat down the big platter of spaghetti and meat balls in the center of the table. “You know, your favorite radio show is on tonight?”
“I know, I thought I could hear it with Sally, if that is okay with you, Mama,” Nickole answered.
“Oh, I guess it’s all right. However, you have to be home before ten o’clock. If it were a school night, I would say no. Tomorrow is Saturday so you
can go,” her mother said in a kind, loving voice.
“Oh thank you, Mama! I promise I will be home
before ten.” Nickole said as she put the silver on the table. Thoughtfully, Nickole asked, “Papa won’t
get mad, will he?”
“I am sure he won’t. He may not show it, but he likes Sally and her family. I will just let him know I told you it was all right to go.”
“Thanks Mama.” She said again, with a little sigh.
Nickole had finished the dinner dishes and walked over to Sally’s house. They were sitting on Sally’s bed, chatting about the day’s events and listening to the radio.
“You know, Sally, you took a real chance today. What if that Nick guy would have been a bad guy?” Nickole said with a scolding tone.
“Well he wasn’t.” Sally replied as she leaned back on her pillow.
“Yeah, but what if he was? You didn’t know that when you confronted him.” Nickole reminder her.
“Well, I gave you chance to get Tiena out of there and run home to get help. Besides, if he had been a pervert, I would have kicked him in the nuts and scratched his eyes out. That’s what I would have done.” Sally said in a tough-guy voice.
“Sally, do you hear yourself? That guy is over six feet tall, and you are what height? All of four feet!” Nickole said with a chuckle.
“Well, it turned out to be okay, and we each have twenty dollars. I think we had a pretty good day, don’t ya think?” Sally said folding her hands behind her head on the pillow.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Nickole smiled.
“Have you thought of what you’re going to buy with the money?” Sally asked.
“Yes, I think I will save it to buy Christmas presents,” Nickole said in a happy voice as she thought about the upcoming holidays.
“I’m going to buy me a movie magazine, a big ice cream soda with whipping cream and a big red cherry on top. I guess I will save the rest to buy presents too.” Sally smiled as she thought about the ice cream soda.
“Have you thought about how we are going to find this girl?” Nickole asked.
“Well, I figured we would just ask around on the playground. We will ask kids that we really don’t know if they have stepfathers, or no fathers.” Sally answered. Then with a devilish look on her face, she looked over to Nickole as she continued on to say, “You know you kind of look like Nick. You got the same eyes, hair, and smile. You could be his kid if I didn’t know better,” she giggled as she teased Nickole. “Hell, you even have almost the same first name!”
“Sally! How could you even think that?” Nickole said with a little hurt and anger in her voice.
“Geeze, I’m just kidding with you, Nickole.” Sally
quickly said as she saw Nickole starting to get mad.
“Well I don’t find that very funny. I have a father. He may be a little mean, but he is my real father,” Nickole said with a little pout.”
“Oh come on, Nickole, I was just teasing you. Don’t get mad. I am sorry. I know your father is your real father. After all, I have known you all your life. Come on, friends?” Sally begged as she held out her hand to Nickole.
“Yeah, friends and forever.” Nickole said as they shook hands.
“Hey, I just got a great idea!” Sally said with wide-opened eyes as her excitement rose.
“Oh boy, here we go again...” Nickole groaned.
“No, no, Nickole, hear me out! This is going to be great. Just listen!” Sally said all fired up over her
idea.
“Okay, I’m listening,” Nickole said as she sat up cross-legged on Sally’s bed.
“Halloween is just two weeks away, right?”
“Yeah, so?” Nickole said.
“Why don’t we fix up the hide out and make a haunted house out of it and scare the hell of my brother and his friends!” Sally said with devilish excitement in her voice.
“That’s a great idea, but what if they don’t go near the hide out?” Nickole asked.
“They go down by the hide out every Halloween and drink beer and make out with their girlfriends. This year we’re going to scare the shit out of them.” Sally grinned wide.
“You know something, I think you might just pull it off! I really would like to get even with that brother of yours and his dumb friends.” Nickole said.
“Me too.” Sally said in a devious tone of voice.
Nickole arrived at her house five minutes before ten ‘o clock. She went into the living room where her father and mother were. Her mother sat on the couch sewing. Her father, Benny Martino, sat in his big over-stuffed chair, reading a newspaper, his feet propped up on top of the matching footstool. He was a stocky-built man, with black hair that he kept combed straight back. He had a long wide nose with rugged features to his face and high cheekbones. His neck was thick. He always kept himself clean-shaven and neat in his appearance. His jet-black eyes were close together with thick bushy-like eyebrows. He was a very strict man that ruled over his family when he was home. He worked six days a week at the big steel mill that was a few miles from his home.
“Oh, I didn’t hear you come in, darling. Did you have a good time at Sally’s?” Her mother asked as she gave her a warm smile.
“Yes, Mama.” Nickole said as she bent down and kissed her on the cheek.
Nickole went over to her father and gave him a little kiss. He looked up from his paper. “What did
you two girls do tonight?” He asked as he took a puff off his cigar.
“Well we talked a while, listened to the Burns and Allen Show, and then The Jack Benny Show. Then I came home and here I am!” She grinned.
“What do you girls find to talk about?” Her father asked.
“Lots of things... school, what we are going to dress up like for Halloween...” Nickole explained as best as she could.
“They are girls, darling.” Her mother added with a little chuckle.
“May I have a glass of milk before I go up to bed?” Nickole asked.
“Yes, honey. Would you like to have a piece of apple pie with the milk?” Her mother asked. “Oh yes! I really would like that.” Nickole said smiling.
“Me, too, Mary. I could go for that with a cup of coffee.” Benny smiled at his wife as she got up to go into the kitchen with Nickole.
“Would you like to have a little whipping cream on top?” She asked him lovingly.
“You better believe I would.” He said giving her a big grin.
“Come on, Sweetie, let’s go into the kitchen and I will cut the pie for you. After you finish, you wash up and go to bed.”
“I will Mama.” Nickole answered.
Mary took the pie from the icebox and cut a piece for Nickole and one for Benny. She topped them both with whipping cream. “So what are you going to dress up as for Halloween?” Mary asked as she handed Nickole her pie.
“I’m not sure yet. I thought about being a witch.” Nickole answered as she took a bite of her pie.
“Well Halloween is just two weeks away. If you want me to make you a costume, you will need to decide soon.” Mary said as she poured a cup of coffee for Benny.
“I will, I promise. Thank you Mama, for the milk and pie. Thank you for offering to make me a costume.”
Nickole gave her mother a wide smile. Mary put Benny’s pie and coffee on a wood serving tray and took it into the living room to him.
Nickole finished her pie and milk, then washed her plate and glass. She kissed her parent’s goodnight and
went up to her bed. Benny and Mary went to bed an hour later.
SALLY WAS FAST ASLEEP as her mother, Kate Malone, looked in on her. She went into her bedroom as her
