Scalding Hot Chocolate

by Jaliza A. Burwell

  Their eyes widened, and they furiously shook their heads.

  “Fine. But don’t worry, if you ever act up, I’ll be here to punish you. It’s my job after all. So be kids, and let’s do kids stuff. Besides, I adore Halloween. It’s my chance to go all out. Don’t ruin it for me.”

  That seemed to do the trick as the two of them relaxed. I wanted to say some not so nice things about that little girl, but she was little. She didn’t know any better. She most likely repeated something her mother had said, which was unfortunate. Still. She put thoughts in my babies’ heads that they didn’t need because they were far from true.

  “So, Halloween, what are we thinking?” I asked.

  The rest of the morning passed by as we talked about possible costumes for them. They weren’t in for the Thing One Thing Two idea, and I didn’t want to dress them up as superheroes. We were at an impasse. It stayed that way until we got to the costume store and found the perfect outfit for those little buggers.

  Ghostbusters. And I got to dress up like a ghost, with a fun dress and lots of makeup. Between the three of us, we were buzzing by the time we got out to Newton to check out the fair that Dayton mentioned.

  “Whoa,” I said after finding parking. It took a while, but I managed to wedge my car between a truck and a van, parallel parking style. I knew there was a reason I spent so long trying to figure out how to do that annoying maneuver. My exceptional parking talent allowed the three of us to stand in shock and awe at the scene before us. It really was like walking into a little fair. There were booths set up for different foods, people in costumes weaving through the crowd and being creepy. For the brave souls who didn’t run to their parents crying, they were given a piece of candy as a good job for surviving against their encounter with the scary character.

  “I vote food,” I said.

  “I vote games,” Lawson challenged.

  The two of us turned to Lee, waiting for the final verdict. He looked like a deer, his eyes massive as they flicked between the two of us. I schooled my expression just right to let him know what would happen to him if he didn’t vote my way. I reminded him that I was the adult.

  He got the message.

  “Food,” he answered.

  “Yes!” I did a fist pump and led the way to a booth selling corndogs.

  Just as I went to take a bite out of my corndog, a warm voice broke into my fantasy as he said, “Oh, you were able to make it.”

  I turned to face Dayton with the corndog inches away from my mouth. Blinking at him, confused, and unable to stop the trajectory of my mouth to my food, I sunk my teeth in. Unfortunately, at the same time, I was about to respond to him so my words came out muffled and full of food. Good food, but still full. Which meant I choked.

  Going into a coughing fit, a hand slapped my back as I tried to breathe around the food lodged in my throat. My corndog disappeared, and a bottle of water appeared. Not caring where it came from, I took a long drink, washing the food down. My face flamed in embarrassment as my gaze flickered between the owner of that wonderful voice, Dayton, and his companion, Koen.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  Dayton grinned. “I’m sorry to have surprised you. I just wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

  “Why not?” I asked. “You told us about it.”

  “Yeah.” He shrugged. “I still didn’t think you’d show up.”

  “Well, I’m here.”

  I looked over the two guys. They looked yummy. Dayton wore a dark blue, buttoned coat to fight against the cold, along with dark jeans with a slight fade on them and matched with boots. Koen’s light gray wool jacket fit him perfectly as a lawyer. He had it unbuttoned to show off the light blue sweater underneath. His outfit was completed with black slacks with a belt and nice shoes he was going to regret wearing. The man looked like a yummy dressed-down lawyer. Still formal, but as casual as he could be.

  “Have you been around?” Dayton asked.

  I shook my head. “We just got here.”

  “And the first thing you get is food. I probably shouldn’t be surprised.” He chuckled as he looked me over. I wore a sky-blue tulle skirt with my big boots and a long cream-colored peacoat with black buttons. While the weather was cold, the wind was calm, and the sun was peeking out from behind the fluffy white clouds.

  “Mr. Killison, are you here to play too?” Lawson asked, looking up at his teacher.

  “I sure am, buddy.”

  Lawson’s eyes got bigger. “Will you play with me? I wanted to play games first, but Sissy and Lee said food first. But I really want to play the basketball game and the shooting game and the fishing game and the one where you climb the rope ladder.”

  “If Maddie doesn’t mind, I can keep you company.”

  “Didn’t you come here to enjoy yourself, not to play babysitter?” I asked.

  “We don’t mind,” Koen said.

  “But didn’t you guys come here to relax? Maybe meet dates?”

  Koen raised an eyebrow. “No, no dates. Just taking in the town festivities, meet our neighbors. Have some fun.”

  I nodded and bit my lip as I looked at Lawson who stared back at me with big puppy eyes, waiting for my permission. Shoulders slouching, I nodded and used my corndog to point at him. “Fine. But stay within sight of me. Don’t make me hunt you down like the time we went to the flea market. I don’t mind embarrassing you again.”

  Lawson shuddered. “No thank you, I’ll behave, I promise.”

  I passed my corndog to Lee. “Hold this and protect it with your life.” After digging through my purse, I handed a couple of bills to Dayton. “I refuse to try to keep up with him, so he’s all yours. When he bleeds you dry, come back for more.”

  He pushed the money away. “Don’t worry, I got this.”

  I raised an eyebrow, my smile slipping away. “Mr. Killison, take the money that will be used for my child.”

  His expression grew serious. “Of course, sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  I flashed him a smile. “None taken. Just remember he’s your student too. You don’t need to be spending money on him when I’m more than capable of handling it. When he uses that up, I can give him more.” I turned to Lee and grabbed my delicious treat back. “Did you want to go too?”

  Lee shook his head and grabbed my skirt. “I’ll stay with you to make sure you don’t get lost.”

  I squeezed him close. “My man. I knew I raised you right.”

  Lee’s face turned red. Meanwhile, Lawson dragged Dayton away. We followed behind slowly as I munched on my food. There was another stand with lemonade, so I got Lee a drink. Of course, he was required to share it with me.

  The silence between Koen and I stretched. I didn’t know how to break it between us to get rid of the discomfort. I didn’t want to talk business because that wasn’t what today was about. Anything related to lawyery stuff could wait until Monday. But I also didn’t know him all that well. Just from his clothes, I knew he came from money and he was used to it. There was a casualness around him that meant he was comfortable with attention on him. He didn’t even notice the four women who had already checked him out as we continued following Lawson as he took his victim to their first game.

  Not knowing what to do with Koen, I paid attention to Lee instead. He stared at a game where you had to fish a duck out of the water. I nudged him gently. “Want to try?” I asked.

  “I’m okay,” he said.

  I frowned at Lee, wishing he would relax. We were here at a fun Halloween event. He needed to have fun. “Well, I want to try, so you can just stand back and watch my awesomeness then.” And that was how I got Lee to try with me for five rounds.

  Koen was kind enough to hold on to our meager winnings, and by the end, I was bummed and frustrated that I couldn’t win the massive pink unicorn. I had plans for that gorgeous creature that involved scaring the twins. It just wasn’t meant to be in the end.

  We lost sight of Dayton and Lawson, but I found myself tru
sting Dayton to keep my boy safe. Normally, in this situation, I would be freaking out, not able to see Lawson’s messy mop of black hair. I’d be screeching his name out, demanding him to show himself, maybe shaking people, asking them to find my baby.

  But he was with Dayton, and Dayton knew kids, probably better than I did.

  Lee halted, and I nearly bumped into him, which meant Koen nearly bumped into me. To stop himself from taking the two of us down, Koen rested his hands on my waist.

  “Sorry,” he said in a smooth, apologetic voice.

  “You’re fine.”

  When he let me go to move around to face Lee, I felt the need to reach out to touch the man. I still owed him a hug for what he’d done for me yesterday. I had to curl my hands at my sides before my limbs betrayed me.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked Lee, trying to shake off the way Koen’s touch had seeped into my skin, marking me forever. I wanted more of him touching my body.

  “That.” Lee pointed at a makeshift building. “I want to do that.”

  It took a moment to realize he was talking about a haunted house. I did not do well with those. At all.

  “Um, are you okay going on your own?” I asked.

  “He needs an adult with him,” Koen said, pointing at a sign that said just that.

  I groaned. I really did not do well with haunted houses. They gave me nightmares forever.

  “I’ll go with him,” Koen volunteered, and I gaped at him, not expecting that.

  “No, I’ll go too,” I said and swallowed my fear. I’d do anything for Lee. I reminded myself of that as we approached the booth and purchased tickets. The line didn’t take long. Apparently, other people were smarter about avoiding scary places where monsters tried to kill them.

  “You’re shaking,” Koen said, humor in his voice. “Are you really that scared?”

  “They’re going to eat me.”

  He chuckled. “They won’t. They aren’t allowed to touch you.”

  “Really?” I asked, not knowing that.

  “No. They’ll get in your face, as close as they can, but touching is a no-go. Just remember there are humans underneath their masks, and you know what that means?”

  With wide eyes, I shook my head no.

  He leaned closer. “They get scared too. So scare them back.”

  My eyes widened at that idea, and then I grinned. That could be fun. Oh, how the tables had turned. I rubbed my hands together, pumped to go through now. Lee was the same as we waited our turn. When it was time, the woman in a bloody nurse outfit opened the door for us.

  “The doctor is ready to see you now.” She cackled as we stepped through, and the blackout curtain stole all the light.

  I grabbed on to the closest person—which ended up being Koen—and we made our way through the maze. They used fake burning lanterns on the walls to give us a soft glow. The inside looked like we were walking through a decrepit city with cobblestone flooring and bricked walls designed to look like buildings that had fallen into ruins. I refused to look too closely at the walls. They looked like there were bloody streaks on them.

  “Fudge,” I whispered, grabbing on to Koen tightly. “This is creepy.”

  “This is cool,” Lee said as he led the way. Better him than me. If we ran into a trap, they could take him, and while he distracted them with his tiny body, I’d take down Koen and leave him behind as the next course while I ran away. With that solid plan, I followed behind, eyes wide, trying to see into dark corners and through half boarded-up windows. As we passed by one, I didn’t see anything but then there was a loud torturous screech as a long arm stuck out and a burned hand tried to grab at me. I screamed and jumped back, shoving into Koen. He grunted as he steadied me and nudged me forward to keep us going.

  “Nope. Don’t want to,” I said.

  “What did I say,” he said in a soft voice.

  “They can’t touch us.”

  “And?”

  I swallowed. “They’re human and humans get scared too.”

  “Good, now keep going before we leave Lee to deal with all this on his own.”

  “He’s been going on about how he’s an adult now. This can be his time to shine. While he’s there, I’ll just take this emergency exit.”

  “He’s only six.”

  “He’s a big boy. He even took a karate class. He’ll just punch them in the balls and run away.”

  Koen chuckled, and I elbowed him. My fear was no laughing matter. Dr. Adam agreed with me too.

  “Come on, princess, let’s get you through this.”

  We managed to catch up to Lee, or maybe he was just too scared to move through the room on his own. I didn’t blame him. The room was full of dangling chains that clanked as they swayed. Fog rolled out from the corner, and I was pretty sure something was living in it, ready to devour us the moment we stepped into the white cloud of doom. It looked like a hospital room meant for torture rather than healing. Surgical tools hung on the walls, and there was a very bloody table off to the side, blood fresh on its surface.

  “Go.” I nudged Lee.

  “Your turn to take the lead,” he said and managed to get behind me.

  “Uh uh, no way. There is no rule about new leaders.”

  “Sure there is,” Koen said. “When the person in lead needs a break from the stress, someone else needs to step up to take it on while they recover. Otherwise, the other person’s body will grow weak and they’ll get sick from being overstressed. Do you really want Lee to get sick?”

  “No! Of course not. That means it’s your turn.” I tried to push Koen ahead of me, but he was having none of it—the wimp.

  “I’m after you. It goes by order that we entered.”

  “The both of you are big fat liars. I’m telling Dayton and Lawson on you. They’ll beat you up for me if I ask nicely.”

  “Sissy, just go.”

  I sighed and took lead, trying to curl into myself with each step. The fog was cold as it touched my skin, and I made my mind go into tunnel vision as it surrounded us. Something feeling too much like cobwebs brushed against my face, and I had to try really hard not to screech and do the grossed-out dance. I really wanted to do one of those.

  Instead, I settled on gagging as my mind conjured up images of spiders crawling in my hair, leaving its eggs, and then the babies hatching and eating their way down to my brain. Or were those flies? Worms? I didn’t know, but either way, bugs were so being laid in my hair so they could eat their way to my brain. That was so a thing.

  Lee nudged me forward and just as we got to the end, something dark rose out of the fog from the ground. It was tall, huge, and it moved with jerky movements as it came toward us. I screamed and dove for the next room, every man for themselves. Koen could sacrifice himself for Lee. He wasn’t going to die in vain. I grabbed Lee and dragged him with me, leaving Koen to the beast.

  I didn’t stop until we made it outside and I fell to my knees taking in huge gasping breaths, trying to draw in enough air to calm my thudding heartbeat. I glared at the door I had spilled out with Lee at my side, rubbing my back. The seconds ticked by, and I was beginning to think the monsters got Koen.

  “Do you think we need to go back in and save him?” I asked.

  Lee bit his lip, his eyes just as wide as mine. We were both thoroughly scared.

  “I hope not.”

  “We might have to,” I whispered.

  “Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Koen said in a dry voice as he stepped out.

  “Thank goodness.” There was no hiding the relief in my voice. “I thought the fog monster thing got you.”

  He laughed but stopped when he realized how scared we both really were. His smile slipped into concern as he came over and helped me to my feet, even brushing the dirt off my skirt. That right there told me he was a good man, taking care of my dress for me.

  “I’m glad the fog monster didn’t get you,” I said seriously. My mouth clanked shut when I realized I said that out loud.


  Koen’s lip twitched. “I’m glad too. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

  I shook my head. He turned to Lee, showing that same concern, and my heart got all warm and bubbly. “Lee, are you okay too, little man?”

  “I’m fine. I don’t want to do that again though.”

  “Me either.” I shivered.

  “How about we find what the other two got up to?”

  The two of us nodded enthusiastically as he sent off a message to Dayton. A few moments later, his phone buzzed and he checked.

  “They’re doing a scavenger hunt where they have to find all the Halloween characters on a list,” Koen said. “They’re by the water fountain. Apparently, that’s where a water dragon is supposed to be hiding.”

  Koen led the way to the water fountain, and we found the other two right away. They were getting a stamp from a woman dressed as a blue looking dragon, her arms painted like shimmering scales and a small tail whipping around behind her. She looked awesome. I gaped, wanting that talent.

  “How is everything going?” Dayton asked.

  “Koen dragged Lee and me into a haunted house and scared us, even when we said we didn’t want to go.” I nudged Lee, and he nodded along with me.

  “Really?” Dayton raised an eyebrow and glared at his friend. “Why would you do that?”

  Koen just shook his head. “Man, do you really believe I’d do that. You know me. I don’t do haunted houses unless you’re dragging me through.”

  “True. Nice try, Maddie.”

  “Fine, Lee did. And then he made me leader! The two of them are cheaters.”

  “Sissy! Not true. I’m not a liar.”

  “You made me take lead.”

  Dayton laughed as Lawson came over with his newly stamped booklet.

  “This is so much fun. I got to find a zombie, Freddy Krueger, The Terminator, Chucky Doll, a nurse, a police officer, a shark, Nemo, and even a dinosaur.” Lawson kept going on about all the different costumes he was able to find and all the games he got to play.

  Which then led to video game systems, because they were a lot better than fair games.