“Where are you boys all from?” she asked, as if making small talk.
“Roundabout,” the driver said.
“Your friends?”
They all said a different place. The chuckler in the backseat was from Hillsboro. The passenger side guy was from Tigard. The super silent one in the back was from Cottage Grove. Quite the disparate group of young men, if you ask me. The only thing they had in common was their age bracket. Legally, she was only interested in the driver who had been speeding for no reason beyond, “Guess I didn’t notice.” That earned him a firm warning. Had they been mouthy or disrespectful – or, God forbid, lied – she would have written him up. Yet since his record showed no other infractions yet, she let him go. She might be seeing him around, anyway.
As for the other boys… if they really were from where they said they were, then Candace was intrigued. She couldn’t put her finger on why she cared, though. Was it the feeling in the air? The threat of mischief? Or was it the fear of something bad happening, although at least one arsonist was caught already?
“They’re everywhere,” Dill had said. “Take a look outside, and you’ll count the number of kids getting off on this stuff.”
That was the soundbite playing in Candace’s head every time she saw a group of young men – or women – that she didn’t recognize. What had they been hiding in the backseat before they pulled over? Candace should have asked more questions. A part of her also considered that there were four of them and one of her. Perhaps she was stronger than all four of them combined, but did she want to take her chances?
She sat in her cruiser after letting the boys go. A part of her hoped she wouldn’t come to regret it.
Chapter 15
SALLY
If Sally thought the twins’ birthday was a living madhouse, she had no idea what was in store that Halloween.
The most important thing? Getting the kids off to school. In costume.
“Raise your hand if you haven’t forgotten your hat.” She had donned a witch’s hat for the occasion of driving her children to school. Tucker, however, had sauntered to the front door with his backpack and coat, but had conveniently forgotten the one thing that would keep his head warm that day. “Not so fast, Tuck.”
“Ah, darnit!” He raced back upstairs while the twins danced around their mother’s feet.
“I’m gonna get so much candy at school!” Gage tossed his Captain America shield into the air, while his sister played with her homemade Wonder Woman tiara. She wasn’t allowed to take the magic lasso (also homemade) to school, however. Something about it being a very dangerous weapon. The good news was that kids that age couldn’t care less, so off she went into the car with barely a jacket and shoes on her feet. Sally chased after her, and Gage continued to prattle about toys and candy.
The one thing Sally was thankful for? She didn’t have to take them out trick or treating that night. She would be in a different kind of hell as soon as the party began at the American Legion Hall, but at least it was contained hell!
Tucker was the last to throw himself into the car. Sally pulled into traffic and immediately regretted the hat slipping down her face.
No rest for the weary. That’s what she glibly told everyone she bumped into after dropping the kids off at the elementary school. She rushed to the supermarket and picked up the candy now on clearance. Never know if we might get trick or treaters! Nobody would be home, but the least Sally could do was leave out a bowl of candy for whatever enterprising child came by with a bucket or a bag. Or the teenagers will ransack it. It’s the spirit of Halloween!
She already foresaw some issues with the twins’ costumes and turned back to the craft shop. Joan wasn’t in that day. Instead, she bumped into two of the least likely people helping the crafty owner keep her store open while she was on bedrest.
“Don’t put those up there!” Abby Marcott jabbed her cane against her granddaughter’s legs. Unfortunately for Mik, she was halfway up a ladder, and a jab to the legs meant she almost went down. “Are you daft? They go in reverse rainbow order! You start with violet, not red!”
Mikaiya apologized as she scurried down the ladder and offered to get Sally whatever she needed. As soon as she found it. Somewhere. Around the shop…
The bank lines were the most ridiculous, and Sally had forgotten about their strict no hat rules. One of the tellers laughed to see the lopsided witch’s hat on top of Sally’s head, but another not-so-nicely asked her to please take it back out to her car.
The only moment of reprieve she had that busy Thursday was when she dropped by the police station. Candace was far from drumming her fingers against her desk. She only had time to confirm with her wife that she would, in fact, call her if she would be out late that night. “Aren’t I always out late on Halloween?” Candace asked with a shake of her head. “Even if I don’t get any calls, I have to park outside the bars and wait for some drunk idiot to get into their car. Every year like clockwork.”
“If it’s getting close to ten, I want to know if you’re gonna be home or not.” Sally adjusted the hat on her head. “Now, if you excuse me, I have to go pick up the twins from kindergarten. I’m expecting a full knock-down Marvel fight in the schoolyard with how many Iron Men and Aquamen I saw filing into that school.”
“Aquaman? Thought he was DC?”
“You know I have no clue.” Sally gave her wife a kiss on the cheek and took her leave of the station. “Good luck, hon. Be safe tonight!”
“That goes double for you! You’ve got all my babies!”
Your babies, huh? Sally slipped into the driver’s seat of her car and started the engine. Never mind they all leaped out of my womb. That’s right. Leaped!
Before she released the brake, she picked up her phone and checked her notifications.
There was a voicemail from the school.
“Hello? Mrs. Greenhill?” That had to be the secretary. Sally would recognize that snooty voice from anywhere. Only a woman who has worked around kids her whole life yet never had any of her own can sound this snooty! “So sorry to bother you, but I’m afraid Tucker isn’t feeling too well. Could you drop by? We currently have him in the nurse’s office.”
Sally could only think of one thing as she put down her phone and took off for the school.
Since when did they have a nurse’s office?
***
The twins were screaming up and down the hall with the other kindergarteners by the time Sally found her oldest son in the infirmary. He had removed his jacket and his distressed hat, his face pale and his overall demeanor sending Sally straight to his side.
“What in the world is wrong, huh?” She slammed her wrist against his forehead. No fever. “Do we need to take you to Dr. Meyer?”
She was informed that her son didn’t have a fever, but had been complaining of an upset stomach all morning. Paige screaming that she was “gonna kill” her twin brother wasn’t helping Sally’s headache, that was for sure. While the nurse took Paige aside and told her “we don’t say those things to our siblings,” Sally looked Tucker in the eye and asked, “This isn’t an excuse to go home early and eat candy, is it? You’re not just excited about Halloween, are you?”
“Mom…” he said with a disbelieving scoff, “I’m missing out on the party in my class this afternoon. You know what that means? No prizes for the games.”
“Yes, I heard Ms. Sutter went all out for the party this year,” the secretary said. “Bobbing for apples and pin-the-boo-on-the-ghost.”
“Sounds like what they’re doing at the hall tonight,” Sally said.
“Only I would get more prizes since it’s a smaller class!” Tucker wailed.
“All right, all right.” Sally helped her son up from his chair. “Let’s get you guys home.”
She had that sinking feeling that there was something Tucker wasn’t telling her. Call it my motherly intuition. Sally took one look at her son and realized there was a story beneath that pale complexion. Somehow,
she doubted he was legitimately sick. Not with the crud, or from something he ate, anyway. He’s got anxiety. Sally saw it in his inability to meet her gaze and the way he clamped his mouth shut the whole ride home. This was a kid who often couldn’t shut up about how his day went, and he wasn’t above out-shouting his siblings if it meant his mom heard him first. Tack on the fact it was Halloween and he was missing a big party in his class…
What in the world was he so anxious about?
Sally knew better than to prod him about it. Besides, she was busy with Paige and Gage, both of whom wouldn’t settle down for their afternoon naps they would sorely need if they were to go to the party tonight and get up for school in the morning. On the rare occasion Tucker was home at this time of day, he often kept to himself and let his mom do her chores. Today, however, he was the saddest zombie-cop in the room wherever they went.
“You can put your costume back on later,” Sally reassured her daughter. “Right now I need you to put your head down and close your eyes. I don’t care if you think naps are stupid! You can stop taking naps when you’re in first grade! Until then, it’s nap time!”
“Mom?” Sally heard her son’s pathetic plea for attention, but she was too busy checking in on Daisy’s nap that she almost didn’t register his words. “Mom?” He followed her into the next room, where she slammed down into an armchair and took a well-deserved break. “Mom?”
“What is it, Tuck?”
He stared at her for a few seconds before wandering away again. “Nothing. I’m gonna go lie down, too.”
Sally should have been thankful for the peace and quiet she got for one whole hour. Instead, she listened to the silence and wondered when the other shoe would finally drop.
***
Paige and Gage tore up the American Legion Hall as soon as they arrived, their costumes instant hits with every teen and adult in the room. Sally barely had the chance to send Tucker off to have fun with his friends from school before other parents were asking how she painted the Captain America shield or got Paige’s hair to flow like that beneath the Wonder Woman crown. When she told them her daughter was wearing a wig, they did a double take.
That wig was soon on the floor, however, since Paige was so excited to bob for apples she dunked her whole head into the tub. Cindy Smith, the woman in charge of the game, was quick to yank the wig off Paige’s head before it contaminated the tub. Sally picked it up, brushed the debris off, and told her daughter she’d hold onto it until it was time for the contest. With her head free to be the way it was born, Paige raced down the aisle of games and prizes.
“The last thing that girl needs is more sugar.” Sally turned to Tucker, who was still attached to her hip. “Well? Are any of your friends here?” Usually, this boy separated from his crazy family for some quality game time with his friends. “Or do you still not feel well?”
“My stomach hurts a little…”
Sally put a reassuring hand on his head. “If you really don’t feel good later, let me know and I’ll let you sit in the car.” They weren’t going home until the twins entered the contest which, thankfully, was only in an hour. By then they would have their fill of the games and be ready for their one horror cartoon at home. And by “horror” Sally meant a Peanuts Halloween special. They could eat their candy corn to tales of the Great Pumpkin. The end.
Tucker eventually saw a small group of friends and joined them in the rest area, which was a meager five-by-five space of folding chairs and a single table. One of his friends had brought a Switch and regaled his friends with whatever game he had brought from home. Guess I should scrounge up some candy for him later. No way were the twins sharing, and Sally didn’t count on there being candy outside the door when they returned home.
“Hey, Sal!” She nearly leaped out of her skin when she saw Mayor Karen Rath waltzing toward her. Neither of her children were young enough for this event, but as mayor, she probably thought it pertinent to make an appearance. Either that, or she wanted to show off her Cleopatra costume. Isn’t that the same one you wore a couple years ago? Someone had lost weight. “Been a while! Since I saw you, anyway. I see Candace all the time… anyway, how are you doing? Oh, my goodness, look how big this baby is! How old is she now?”
“Little over a year.” Sally thought herself mighty clever with her and Daisy’s costume. The baggy, black witch’s costume couldn’t hide the giant orange costume attached to her torso. Daisy was half-asleep against Mom’s chest, but that only made her more adorable – and more likely to be mistaken as Sally the Witch’s pet pumpkin she carried around with her. Everyone who had seen her so far had commented how cute they both were.
“My goodness! Time really flies. Next thing you know, I’ll be up for reelection.” Chuckling, Karen gently touched Sally’s shoulder. “Where are your other kids? I hope they’re enjoying the fun. We kinda went all out this year.”
She said that the moment another group of grade-school kids burst through the doors, their haggard parents stumbling in behind them. “They’re around here somewhere,” Sally said. “Not sure about Tucker, but the twins keep reappearing to ask me for another bag to put candy in. You’d think they were squirrels stocking up for the winter.”
“I remember when my son was like that…” Karen said, referring to her oldest child, Xander. He’s in college now, right? Sally could barely keep up with the aging of other people’s children when hers kept her preoccupied enough. “Christina was never much into Halloween. Half surprised you don’t have her babysitting this little nugget here so you can have some fun of your own tonight.”
“It’s all right. We won’t be out too late at this rate, and you know how Halloween is… Candace will be working late, so it’s better for me to get home, anyway. I need to make sure she’ll have hot water to use and a warm meal to eat after God-knows-what happens tonight.”
Karen nodded with appreciative understanding. “I’ve raised two teenagers. I know what they get up to.”
They parted soon after, Sally to track down her twins and Karen off to hobnob with other members of their town. It didn’t take long for Sally to find Paige shooting nerf balls into hoops and earning candy while Gage played Avengers with an Iron Man and a Thor. She took a little pride in that her son’s costume was the only homemade – and well made, thank you – of the bunch. The Iron Man and Thor came straight from a factory. Sure, they looked nice, but they didn’t look great. Bless their parents for trying, though.
Gage slammed his hand-painted shield onto the floor and posed as if he had single-handedly reversed Thanos’ handywork. Unfortunately for him, Iron Man was frightened of the noise and knocked over Thor. Soon, two six-year-old boys were crying and their parents came rushing forward.
“Gage!” Sally snapped. “Remember what I said about throwing? You almost hurt him.”
She didn’t recognize the kid playing Iron Man. She did, however, recognize his mom as someone who made PTA meetings a pain in the butt.
“Your son almost killed mine!” Greta Williams, dressed as Ray-of-Light era Madonna, bleated like a goat. “Dangit, Sally!”
The kerfuffle between parents drowned out the cry of alarm ringing behind Sally. It didn’t help that Daisy soon started crying from all the commotion. At least it gives me an out. While Greta demanded an apology from Gage, Sally grabbed him and hauled him to the restroom where she intended to calm down her baby and settle her own nerves.
Instead, she found her oldest son and one of his friends. They were huddled over the older boy’s phone, their foreheads knocked together and voices low.
“Well! Looks like a busy bathroom!” Sally waved to Tucker’s friend, who shoved his phone beneath his costume. He rushed out of the room before Sally had the chance to ask him his name or what he was dressed up as. “Mind if your family uses the facilities, Tuck?”
He looked at her as if common sense no longer existed between them. The poor boy, with his pale face and shrugging shoulders, crawled off the plastic chair in the c
orner of the bathroom and acted like he was about to follow his friend into the other room. Didn’t bother Sally any. She was busy with a crying baby and a six-year-old boy who still wanted to kick Thanos’ ass.
“Mom,” Tucker said as Sally lowered the diaper changing table. “I need to talk to you.”
Daisy was still crying when Sally removed most of the pumpkin costume and thanked God it wasn’t soiled. Not like the diaper which, again, made her thankful it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. “What is it? Oh, would you mind looking after your brother over there? He really thinks he’s Captain America.”
Tucker didn’t go any closer to Gage, who kept to himself in the far corner. He occasionally punched the wall or made explosion sounds with his mouth, but for the most part, he didn’t need minding. He needs a sedative. Tucker needed something to perk him up.
“It’s really important,” Tucker muttered. “Something bad is gonna happen.”
Sally looked up from her daughter’s naked bottom. “Excuse me? Don’t do that to me. Remember the story of the boy who cried…”
“I’m serious, Mom!” Tucker slammed his hands against the changing table. Daisy gurgled in apprehension. Gage turned around from his corner. “Some kids are gonna set fire to the city hall!”
Sally slowly turned her torso toward her son, whose cheeks were so red they faded through the pale vampire makeup on his face. “What was that?” she asked.
“Give me your phone and I’ll show you.”
She gestured for him to grab it out of her purse. First, I need to get this diaper on my baby. Then, she needed to grab Gage and have a firm talk with him about getting too excited while in costume. By the time she gave Tucker her undivided attention, he was sitting in the plastic chair with his face glued to his mother’s phone.
“Here.” He showed her a web-based chatroom. A popup asking her to download the app – which would be faster, easier to navigate, and more secure – appeared every few seconds, but Tucker continued to X out of it until his mother saw the conversation.
October Twilight (A Year in Paradise Book 10) Page 10
