say.
“Girls,” they said together, in a tone of voice indicating they had been hit with a steaming pile of unnamed substance.
“Mom. We want something real. Pirates are all Disney—Captain Hook and Tinker Bell. Vampires are real, I’ve been reading all about them on the internet. They even have… well, they’re cool.”
Whatever Sean had been about to tell me, Rusty shut down with a glance and shake of the head. I’d have to get Sean alone to pry it out of him. The good-old-boy network was alive and well at ten and eleven. God help us when they grew up. Once again, I wished Sean hadn’t latched onto Rusty as a best friend. He wasn’t a truly bad kid but he was the one who’d talked Sean into trying to steal a gumball machine from the Laundromat last summer. I didn’t trust the kid. He reminded me of the one on “Leave it to Beaver” who always told the mom how nice she looked. Where Sean was all bones and angles, Rusty was stocky and redheaded. Somehow, the brains and brawn thing worked with them.
I waited in the checkout line while the boys went ahead to check out something in the sports logos specialty shop. I reached forward to push a costume farther down the conveyor belt as the person in front of me reached back, and we touched hands. It was like touching ice. I had a flash of cold red so strong I staggered, grabbed the edge of the counter, and waited for the black spots to clear. My ears roared, drowning out all sound. What the hell was that? I looked around. The person in front of me gathered his sacks to go and still had his back to me. Maybe I hadn’t touched the guy after all.
“Miss. Are you okay? You look pale. Should you sit down?”
I shook my head at the checkout girl, who looked at me as if I’d grown horns or something, and shoved the packages forward, straining to watch the person I’d touched. He left the store before I got a good look.
My knees shook as we walked to the PT Cruiser I’d just bought to replace my old car. That car had never recovered from ending up in the ditch during a flash flood a couple of months earlier.
I couldn’t figure out what I’d touched that affected me so strongly. How weird was that? Another strange part of the long day, and it wouldn’t be over for hours, since I now had to go to the Country Club for the blood drive.
Chapter Two
I’d organized the food and everything with Renée. The ballroom had become the blood donor center with several stations for blood draws, testing, vital signs, and actual donation. All I had to do was look like a vampire to go along with the theme “Blood with a Bite.” The tee shirt every donor would receive had a picture of a vampire on a cot donating blood, with the theme in red, dripping letters. In the reception area, our long table groaned with gourmet snacks so all the donors could build up their strength before and after giving their all, or at least a pint. We had a DJ, in case a few people wanted to dance in the dining room or sit at the tables instead of balancing food on small plates.
My costume, a Morticia Adams long black dress with a high slit, clung all the way down, trailing sleeves, trailing skirt, deep v-cut neck. A long black wig covered my kinky auburn hair, and pale makeup turned my olive skin white. Eyeliner, red lipstick, and I was ready. The red spike heels were actually comfortable and looked sexy. The split skirt allowed me to walk and even drive in comfort.
I slinked my way through the donor room to the food table. Renée and Cherilyn Masters—my other best friend from high school—were already there, finishing the arrangement of snacks on the trays. We’d assembled the usual suspects—tortilla rolls, chips with hot queso dip and guacamole, cheese and cracker assortments. Another table held fresh fruit, taquitos, fresh salsa, sopapillas, pita sandwiches, and on to the sweets like fruit pizza and chocolate tarts. No one would faint away after this spread. Renée had outdone
“Girls,” they said together, in a tone of voice indicating they had been hit with a steaming pile of unnamed substance.
“Mom. We want something real. Pirates are all Disney—Captain Hook and Tinker Bell. Vampires are real, I’ve been reading all about them on the internet. They even have… well, they’re cool.”
Whatever Sean had been about to tell me, Rusty shut down with a glance and shake of the head. I’d have to get Sean alone to pry it out of him. The good-old-boy network was alive and well at ten and eleven. God help us when they grew up. Once again, I wished Sean hadn’t latched onto Rusty as a best friend. He wasn’t a truly bad kid but he was the one who’d talked Sean into trying to steal a gumball machine from the Laundromat last summer. I didn’t trust the kid. He reminded me of the one on “Leave it to Beaver” who always told the mom how nice she looked. Where Sean was all bones and angles, Rusty was stocky and redheaded. Somehow, the brains and brawn thing worked with them.
I waited in the checkout line while the boys went ahead to check out something in the sports logos specialty shop. I reached forward to push a costume farther down the conveyor belt as the person in front of me reached back, and we touched hands. It was like touching ice. I had a flash of cold red so strong I staggered, grabbed the edge of the counter, and waited for the black spots to clear. My ears roared, drowning out all sound. What the hell was that? I looked around. The person in front of me gathered his sacks to go and still had his back to me. Maybe I hadn’t touched the guy after all.
“Miss. Are you okay? You look pale. Should you sit down?”
I shook my head at the checkout girl, who looked at me as if I’d grown horns or something, and shoved the packages forward, straining to watch the person I’d touched. He left the store before I got a good look.
My knees shook as we walked to the PT Cruiser I’d just bought to replace my old car. That car had never recovered from ending up in the ditch during a flash flood a couple of months earlier.
I couldn’t figure out what I’d touched that affected me so strongly. How weird was that? Another strange part of the long day, and it wouldn’t be over for hours, since I now had to go to the Country Club for the blood drive.
Chapter Two
I’d organized the food and everything with Renée. The ballroom had become the blood donor center with several stations for blood draws, testing, vital signs, and actual donation. All I had to do was look like a vampire to go along with the theme “Blood with a Bite.” The tee shirt every donor would receive had a picture of a vampire on a cot donating blood, with the theme in red, dripping letters. In the reception area, our long table groaned with gourmet snacks so all the donors could build up their strength before and after giving their all, or at least a pint. We had a DJ, in case a few people wanted to dance in the dining room or sit at the tables instead of balancing food on small plates.
My costume, a Morticia Adams long black dress with a high slit, clung all the way down, trailing sleeves, trailing skirt, deep v-cut neck. A long black wig covered my kinky auburn hair, and pale makeup turned my olive skin white. Eyeliner, red lipstick, and I was ready. The red spike heels were actually comfortable and looked sexy. The split skirt allowed me to walk and even drive in comfort.
I slinked my way through the donor room to the food table. Renée and Cherilyn Masters—my other best friend from high school—were already there, finishing the arrangement of snacks on the trays. We’d assembled the usual suspects—tortilla rolls, chips with hot queso dip and guacamole, cheese and cracker assortments. Another table held fresh fruit, taquitos, fresh salsa, sopapillas, pita sandwiches, and on to the sweets like fruit pizza and chocolate tarts. No one would faint away after this spread. Renée had outdone
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