by Rainey Daye
Chapter 10
First, though, they had to get through Halloween itself. Because their neighborhood was affluent, many parents felt it necessary to pack their little darlings in the car and drive them over here for what they thought was better swag. When Maggie found out about this tradition, she had been nearly incoherent in her outrage. It didn’t seem right that they were inundated with unknown kids just because their parents wanted to gawk at the houses and sneak a peek inside the front door or would be so greedy as to think that their kids would get more or better quality candy here. How many neighborhoods were emptied of kids on Halloween because their parents took them elsewhere? How many houses sat empty of parents giving out candy, cheating the kids of that particular neighborhood whose parents didn’t take them somewhere else? How many grownups purchased multiple bags of candy and decorated their yards and houses for the sheer enjoyment of little kids who would never show up? It didn’t seem right that people didn’t go trick-or-treating in their own neighborhood. What was wrong with people? Didn’t parents realize that they were instilling materialistic values in their kids? When she had kids, she said you could be damn sure that they would stick to their own neighborhood, and she was going to start a campaign to make sure that the adults in that neighborhood did the same!
Jess and Alex wisely stayed quiet during her rant, though there were many of her small-town values that they fervently agreed with and found that this was one of them. They both resented having to stock up on more candy than the number of neighborhood kids called for simply because some opportunistic parents invaded their street each Halloween. And since it wasn’t fair to the kids to be refused or denied, they gritted their teeth and bought the extra damn candy.
This year, though, Maggie had worked feverishly in the office on the computer when they explained about this tradition and had then gone to all the neighbors with stacks of paper in her hands. Just before Halloween officially began, Maggie grabbed several bags of candy and a thick folder before she stalked out the door and to the end of the drive. Perplexed, the guys grabbed their jackets and followed her. To their amazement, they saw their neighbors also congregating at the ends of their driveways, and a couple of them came over to talk quietly to Maggie for a few minutes, taking some papers with them before they moved off and spoke to others, doling out the papers to the others.
“What’s going on, Mags?” Jess asked, suddenly worried. He noticed that Alex was scanning the cars along the street and knew he was watching for Troy.
“We’re taking back our neighborhood from the interlopers,” Maggie declared righteously. “You and Alex go back to the house and give out candy.”
“Uh, sweetheart, you took the candy with you,” Jess pointed out.
“Not all of it,” Maggie replied with a smile. “Now shoo.”
Jess and Alex exchanged a look and then took a long look at the neighbors who were standing on the sidewalks. They had grim looks on their faces, and Jess suddenly decided that he didn’t really want to get involved. They shot Maggie one last look, but she was deep in conversation with Dale Richards from next door, so they returned to the house, which Maggie had insisted that they decorate in the spirit of the holiday, even though she was pissed. Chalking it up to the irrationality of women, they had shrugged and decorated with fake spider webs, Styrofoam tombstones, black and orange colored lights, a CD playing spooky noises, scarecrows, carved pumpkins, the whole bit. Maggie had a flair for the dramatic, and they had to admit when they were done that the front of the house looked appropriately creepy. Should scare the pants off some of the kids, that was for damn sure.
Once they were behind closed doors, Jess turned to Alex. “Do you think Troy will show tonight?”
“Not until after trick-or-treating is over,” was Alex’s guess.
“He could wear a mask and we wouldn’t recognize him,” Jess pointed out.
“Where’s he going to find some kids to escort?” Alex wanted to know. “No, I don’t think he’ll chance showing up until later, if he shows at all tonight.”
“Why wouldn’t he show?” Jess asked, confused. Now that he had been convinced that Troy was spying on them, he couldn’t imagine Troy taking a night off.
“Cause he won’t know how many people are still going to be wandering around even when Halloween is over. He won’t want to take the chance that someone will spot him and call the cops.”
Jess thought it over. “He’s been watching the house, so he knows it’s decorated. So he’d take that as a sign that we’re planning on celebrating and giving out candy. He might show up just long enough to make sure we’re here, or he might attach himself to a large group of adults walking their kids house to house. We wouldn’t recognize him if he wore a costume like some parents do.”
“Do you really think he’d take the chance of Maggie recognizing him? She can identify us across the quad simply by the way we walk,” Alex pointed out.
Jess grinned at him. “She told me that she can identify me by my ass. That she can tell it’s me just by the way my jeans hug it.”
Alex smacked him, disgruntled. “She loves my ass, too, moron,” he griped.
“Yeah, but can she pick it out of a lineup?” Jess needled him further.
Alex grunted while Jess grinned like a loon before he went into the kitchen to check on the apple cider he had warming on the stove. He poured out two cups and added cinnamon sticks before taking them into the living room where Alex was idly channel surfing waiting for 7:00 p.m. and the start of Halloween.
The sound of “trick-or-treat” from the front door had him rising with a grunt as he headed out to the foyer, Alex behind him. He grabbed the bowl of candy off the table there and swung open the door to the first rash of ghouls and goblins looking for a sugar fix.
The next couple of hours passed quickly, and both of them gave up trying to watch television to keep up with the stream of kids yelling out their “trick-or-treat” in singsong voices on the front porch. They finally wound up just pulling up two chairs and sitting outside, sipping their cider and handing out candy while chatting with the adults who accompanied the kids down the driveway. To Jess’s surprise, they either recognized the adults as neighbors or the kids from the neighborhood.
“Uh, Alex, where are the strangers?” he wanted to know.
“I think Maggie and her platoon of angry adults are taking care of that problem,” Alex replied, nodding toward the end of the driveway. Intrigued, Jess followed the last batch of kids back up the driveway and halted by Maggie’s side, offering her a sip of his apple cider. He noticed that her bags of candy was significantly emptier than theirs and then blinked in surprise as he saw that the bags she had brought out were off-brand. The good stuff had been left back in the house for him and Alex to give out.
He was about to question her when a group of kids approached their driveway, and Maggie moved to intercept them.
“Hi there,” Maggie said sweetly as she smiled at them. “Where are you from?”
The kids looked at her blankly before turning their heads to peer at the accompanying adults.
“Uh, Brandywood,” one of the men replied uncertainly.
“Ah, that’s on the east side, isn’t it?” Maggie asked, still smiling.
“Yeah,” the man replied sullenly. “Why’s everyone asking us that question?” he wanted to know.
“Haven’t you received a flyer yet?” Maggie asked, and she nodded to Dale, who moved in on the adults and handed them each a piece of paper while Maggie smiled at the kids and said, “Here you go,” as she placed a single piece of cheap candy in each of their bags
Curious, Jess took one of Dale’s flyers and stepped into the light so he could read it. And then he burst into laughter, startling some of the kids who were rounded up by their equally startled parents.
Dear Total and Complete Stranger,
Next year, stick to your own neighborhoods. We are sure that there are just as many people willing to give out candy there and are
fairly confident that you will find it to be of a better quality than your kids will get from us. If you have the money to afford to drive across town to take your kids trick-or-treating in a strange neighborhood, then you can afford to stay home next year and not deprive the more unfortunate kids in your own neighborhood of the candy they were looking forward to getting but didn’t because you didn’t bother to stay home!
Trick or Treat!
“So this is what you’ve been up to,” Jess said, trying to sound severe, but he was unable to keep the admiration out of his voice.
“It was a great idea,” Rebecca Gaynard from across the street said as she joined them.
“And it’s working,” Dale said with pride. “Heard some of the grown-ups arguing and bickering together after they read the flyers. Even saw a couple give up and climb back into their cars, even though their kids started crying.”
“Well, hopefully they’re taking them home and letting them hit the houses in their own neighborhoods,” Maggie said softly, biting her lip.
Jess put his arm consolingly around Maggie, hating to see her so upset about being the cause of children’s tears. But really. Were they expected to give candy to every kid in the city? The three of them had to live on a budget, for crap’s sake, and they had been forced to spend over one hundred dollars in past years for Halloween candy alone. Hell, the first year he and Alex had lived here, they had no idea what to expect and Alex had been forced to make a candy run less than an hour into Halloween. A candy run that they really couldn’t afford. And who knew if their neighbors could really afford it either? In this day and age, outward appearances could be deceptive. They could very well be living paycheck to paycheck.
“So you’re just letting neighborhood kids through to the houses?” Jess asked to clarify.
“Yep.” Maggie grinned. “That’s why there’s at least one adult from each house out on the street tonight. To identify who is here legitimately and who’s an interloper. If they aren’t recognized, they get the cheap candy, and if there’s no adult with them, they get a flyer stuffed in their bag. Those that live around here get passed up to the houses where the good stuff is.”
Jess laughed again at her victorious grin. “Well, long live the revolution. Strike a blow against the morally bankrupt!” He then returned to the house where Alex was doling out candy to some more of their neighbors’ kids.
Jess passed over the flyer as the kids left, and Alex shook his head as he read it. “I wouldn’t be surprised if some irate parent called a news station to complain about this,” he pointed out.
“Well, the good news is, if a news van pulls up to get coverage, it’ll scare Troy off tonight and we can all rest easy,” Jess pointed out.
“You’ve got a point,” Alex said. “I think we should pour our lady a thermos of cider and take it out to her.”
“Already ahead of you,” Jess said as he stepped into the house, chuckling over Maggie’s unique solution to a long-vexing holiday problem.
* * * *
Troy wasn’t anywhere near their house that night. He correctly assumed that there would be nothing to see and that the risk of discovery was too high, so he lay on his poorly sprung mattress and stared at the water spots on his ceiling. He finally rolled off the bed and groaned as his back protested. He was going to have to put a board under the mattress or find a new place to stay before that shitty mattress did irrevocable damage to him and left him unable to play ball.
He walked in a hunched position to the small refrigerator and pulled out a beer, slowly straightening up with each step until he was a Homo sapiens again. He sat down at the scuffed vinyl table and reached for the bag of chips lying in the middle of it. His arm brushed against a slip of paper on the table and caused it to flutter to the floor. Carefully bending over, he retrieved the paper and then stared in surprise at Maria’s phone number.
After dropping it on the table a couple of days ago, he had effectively banished all thoughts of that night from his mind. But as he stared at it again, his cock twitched and reminded him that although he had been hungover when he had had sex with her, it hadn’t been bad at all. And apparently, he had been good enough the night before while shitfaced that she was willing to let him come back for more.
Hmmm. What the hell. He had been ashamed to find himself masturbating to those naked pictures of Maggie. He was trying to stop anyone from masturbating to them, for shit’s sake. He had no right to be a hypocrite, so why not provide some distraction for his cock and give Maria a call? Hell, he’d probably be able to think more clearly once all that blood that was currently centered between his legs returned to his brain where it belonged.
Decided, Troy took the piece of paper with the brunette’s phone number and went over to the phone next to his bed. Sitting down, he dialed her number, and while he waited for it to ring, he mentally crossed his fingers that it wasn’t for Dial-a-Prayer or Alcoholics Anonymous. His breath whooshed out in relief when the vaguely familiar voice of Maria answered on the fifth ring.
“Hey,” he said like a moron. “Remember me from The Inferno? You told me to give you a call sometime.”
“Of course I do. We fucked like bunnies. Wanna do it again?” she replied in a no-nonsense voice.
Troy’s brow rose at those words, and he figured that he wouldn’t have to pussyfoot around with this woman. “Sure,” he said, figuring what the hell? It would make his cock happy.
“Cool. When do you want to meet?”
Troy rubbed his now-engorged cock and said, “The sooner the better.”
“Then come on over, sugar. Grab a pen and some paper and I’ll give you my address.”
Five minutes later, Troy was in his car, address and directions in hand. Thirty minutes after that, he was standing in Maria’s claptrap apartment, kicking the door closed behind him as he gathered her into his arms and started unbuttoning her blouse. Within moments, he had her naked, turned her around, pressed her up against the now-closed door, and thrust up inside her, sans condom once again in his eagerness to assuage the pressure.
Maria lifted her legs and wrapped them around him. Troy repositioned himself to distribute the extra weight her action caused him and began to thrust in earnest. Within moments, the tendons in his neck corded and he was blowing his wad inside her slick pussy.
With a shudder, he withdrew from her and stepped back. “That was just to take the edge off,” he reassured her. “My name’s Eddie, by the way,” he said, deciding that anonymity was the name of the game here and shortening his last name of Edelsten so he wouldn’t get too confused. “Where’s the bedroom?” he added, reaching for her hand.
Looking amused, Maria said, “Nice to meet you, Eddie. The bedroom is this way,” and she slipped her hand in his and guided him down the short hallway and into what was going to be his own den of inequity for the next few hours.
He was wrong. He wound up staying either in her or in her bed for the next three days.
Chapter 11
Maggie was uneasy. Her boyfriends had been acting strangely for the last couple of weeks, ever since Halloween. She would frequently walk into a room to find their heads pressed together in earnest conversation only to jump apart looking vaguely guilty and uneasy when they registered her presence. Since they no longer harbored any secrets from each other since that clearing the air and all misconceptions conversation that they had shared last June, Maggie was definitely getting worried. They had only been dating each other for just under five months now. Were they beginning to regret their decision to not only share a girlfriend but also to live with her? Were they missing their alone time? They rotated dates, so every third date was an Alex and Jess one-on-one. She even retired to her own room on those nights so they could be alone in the huge master bedroom that they shared.
To further her unease, after the five days that she spent sleeping in her own bed due to the inconvenience of having her period, when she made no move to return to their shared king-size bed in the master bedroom,
neither man seemed to mind. They usually pounced on her the minute they knew her period was relegated to the past. But not this time. This time when she yawned and stood up from the couch saying, “I’ll see you guys in the morning,” they’d simply nodded their heads and wished her sweet dreams. She admitted to herself that she had been testing them and felt uncomfortably upset that her test was proving her fears to be true, after all.
She fell face first onto her bed and tried to keep herself from crying. She knew that no successful relationship was built around sex, and she was trying to build a successful one with not one but two men whose personalities were on the opposite ends of the spectrum most of the time. They were both unfailingly nice and courteous, so they were probably taking her removal to her own bed as a hint on her part that she actually wanted to spend some time sleeping rather than indulging her carnal nature with them. That was so like them, but they were also two extremely sexual men and were very physically demonstrative with her, so it was unlike them to restrict themselves to chaste kisses and not even try to cop a feel.
Depressed, afraid that she was losing them, she forced herself to take a good hard look at her life and her relationship with them. They were both great. Both were mind-numbingly attractive, intelligent, humorous, caring, attentive. What wasn’t to love about either of them? And she did love them, she really did. And they had told her often enough that they were both in love with her, so what was the problem?
With a gasp, Maggie sat up suddenly, clutching a pillow to her stomach. They were in love with her while she simply loved them! She had been holding back, forcing herself to keep an emotional distance, because she knew deep down that there was no future for them as a threesome. How could there be? Society would frown mightily on them if it ever found out. Polygamy was outlawed. Okay, technically it would be called polyandry since their relationship consisted of two men and one woman. Still, as Christians in North America, they weren’t behaving according to cultural norms. And she was subconsciously cleaving to those norms, convincing herself that she was going through a stage, enjoying her attraction to two men without being forced to feel guilty for it. And really, it was way too early in their relationship to make a real commitment to each other, wasn’t it?
