by JC Gatlin
“Crap! It’s the fuzz.” Juanita Evita threw up her arms, letting several dollar bills fly into the air. “I’m outta here!”
Abbie watched her run down the street as the security guard raised his hands, palms up. His eyes shifted from one person to the other. “I’m sorry folks, but you can’t be harassing students and teachers, and asking them for money.”
Abbie smiled when she realized who he was. “Josh.”
“Abbie Reed?” His face brightened. “I’m surprised at you, ma’am. I didn’t have you pegged as a disturber of the peace.”
“I’m not, usually.” Abbie walked over to him. “My roommate and some other people I know planned a surprise party for me, and they’re daring me to do all this stuff tonight.”
Susan came up beside her. “British, young lady. You’re breaking the second dare.”
“Bollocks.” Abbie rolled her eyes. She motioned toward Susan, then McKenzie and the rest of the group. “This is my party posse. Posse, this is Josh.”
“Josh Parker, campus security.” He touched his forehead slightly in a mock salute, then turned back to Abbie. “You can’t panhandle on campus property.”
“I know. I know. University rules.” Abbie removed the tiara from her head and held it in her hands. “Since it’s my birthday, I was kinda thinking…”
“What?” He moved closer to her.
“I was kinda thinking…” She wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to say. Her mind raced. “I was thinking about that joke you told me. Hose A and Hose B. It cracked me up.”
Josh cocked his head, easing into a smile. “Oh. Then I got another one for you. Why didn’t the toilet paper cross the road?”
Abbie shook her head, biting her lower lip. “I don’t know. Why didn’t the toilet paper cross the road?”
“It got stuck in a crack.” Josh grinned, and seemed to be waiting. Abbie gave him a shy smile.
“That’s awful,” McKenzie said, standing beside them. She shook her head. Josh laughed.
“I got a million of them.” A mischievous grin crossed his face, then his eyes melted into Abbie’s and prolonged the moment. Finally, he broke the silence. “How much are you short?”
Abbie looked surprised by the change in conversation. For a second, she wasn’t sure what he was referring to. Then she remembered the collection of one dollar bills. “Six dollars.”
Josh pulled out his wallet and opened it.
“Look at that,” he said. “I have exactly seven dollars. There’s one to grow on.” He handed her a five dollar bill and two ones.
“Thank you,” she said, as McKenzie tugged on her arm.
“It’s against the rules, but I’ll allow it.” McKenzie pulled harder. “Now, c’mon. We have to go inside for the next dare.”
“I take it you know what it is?” Abbie looked over at McKenzie then back at Josh to find him still watching her.
“Maybe,” McKenzie said. “We’ll have to run inside to find out.”
McKenzie hiked up her Qipa and made her way up the steps. Susan and the twins followed, passing through the library’s massive columns. Abbie walked toward the steps, then hesitated. She turned and waved to Josh, who still stood at the curb beside his golf cart. He shot her a conspiratorial wink.
McKenzie and Rocky led Abbie, Susan, the twins and Mr. Sherman through the library entrance and past the reference desk librarian. Abbie just knew the old woman behind the desk was staring at her stupid fake tiara. She could feel the woman’s eyes melting the cheap plastic as she caught up with Rocky and McKenzie. Walking arm in arm, McKenzie whispered something in Rocky’s ear. It must’ve been funny. He laughed and the librarian glared at him. Pausing beside an old fashioned card catalog, Susan took out her phone and turned it back-on. The New Horizon Cellular jingle blared loudly as the phone rebooted. The librarian shushed her.
Susan followed Abbie into the library’s center great-room, a large area with a soaring ceiling above eight long mahogany tables. Green shaded banker’s lamps sat atop each end and in the center of each table. There were students reading, others typing on laptops. Many were just focused on their phones, in the huge quiet room.
Aisles of packed bookshelves surrounded them. Thousands of books lined the downstairs walls. Students walked between the rows, some browsing, some reading. The aisles continued upstairs, were there were more shelves and hundreds of more books.
Abbie sent a text to the Surprise Guest, stating “Mission Accepted and Completed.”Almost immediately in response, the cell phones beeped and the group simultaneously looked at their phones. Abbie said, “Oh, I can’t do this.”
Susan shrugged, waving her phone as the red squiggly lines returned, racing across its screen. “My phone died again. You’re gonna have to read the dare,” Susan said, then added. “Using that god-awful accent, please.”
Abbie cleared her throat. She looked around at the quiet library, then read the text message, out loud.
Chapter 15
Abbie lowered her phone and headed for the library exit. “I can’t do that. I won’t do that.”
McKenzie ran to Abbie, catching her before she was out the door. “You have to,” she said.
“I don’t have the nerve.”
McKenzie scrunched her face a second, as if thinking about something.
Susan put an arm around Abbie. “Aw, lay off her McKenzie. This one could get her arrested.”
“But it’s the rules,” McKenzie insisted.
Rocky raised a hand as he spoke. “You’re right. It’s the rules,” he said. “So what if you do something to get the librarian out of the room?”
McKenzie smiled, then looked at Abbie. “I know exactly what to do. And while we’re gone, you get everyone in here to sing you Happy Birthday. And, remember, no cheating.”
Abbie nodded as McKenzie marched to the front reference desk and started a discussion with the librarian. Abbie had no idea what McKenzie was saying, but there seemed to be a lot of arm waving and pointing, from both women. Then, surprisingly, the librarian got out from behind the desk. McKenzie raised the hem of her Qipa as she and the librarian headed up the carpeted staircase. Abbie turned back to Rocky.
“I’m still not going to climb up on a desk and get everyone’s attention in here.” She yanked the tiara off her head and held it with both hands as if it was some kind of shield between her and everyone in the library. Rocky put a hand on her shoulder.
“Okay, here’s the deal,” he said. “With the librarian out of the room, we can do this dare.”
“No, I just can’t. I just don’t have the nerve.” She gripped the tiara tighter, her knuckles turning white.
“I know,” he said, smiling and taking the tiara. He handed it to Susan. Susan took it and patted Abbie on the back.
“You can do this, kid,” she said.
Abbie nodded as Rocky led her to the center of the main reading room between two mahogany tables. He whispered as they walked. “And with the party police out of the room, I can do this one dare for you. Help you out, you know?”
Abbie wasn’t sure if he was referring to his fiancée or to the librarian, but either way, she knew she needed the help. She noticed him look over at Susan.
Susan shrugged, holding the cheap tiara. Another fake diamond plopped onto the carpet. “It’s her party,” Susan said. “Who am I to care if she gets a little help with the dares?”
Rocky nodded and walked to one of the mahogany tables in the center of the room. He removed his glasses and slipped them into his shirt pocket, then pulled a chair away from the table. He held out a hand toward Abbie. She took it. Together, they stepped onto the chair then up onto the large table. Abbie stood, shaking beside a green banker’s lamp, holding out both arms for balance. Rocky whistled.
“May I have your undivided attention, please,” he called out. Students looked up from their books and away from their computers. Rocky cleared his throat. “This is my fiancée’s oldest friend, Abbie Reed. They go way back and today
is Abbie’s twenty first birthday.”
Everyone sitting in the library clapped, and Abbie blushed. She looked over her shoulder to see if either McKenzie or the librarian were returning. When she saw neither, she turned back around.
“So I was wondering,” Rocky said. “I was wondering if I could get you all to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to her.”
There was chatter and more clapping, and Rocky started the first verse, singing, “Happy Birthday to you…” The rest of the library crowd joined him. The mood seemed suddenly buoyant and Abbie felt a warm glow flow through her. She couldn’t believe she was standing up there, in the center of attention, while the whole library sang.
As the strangers in the library came to “Happy Birthday dear whats-her-name,” Abbie heard an unhappy voice above her. Looking up, she saw the Librarian’s head peer over the edge of the balcony. McKenzie’s head popped out beside her, and she waved down to Abbie. The librarian shook her fist, demanding them to get down. However, her voice was drowned-out by the students finishing the chorus of “Happy Birthday.” When they completed the song, Abbie could finally hear McKenzie yelling, “No fair, Rocky. She has to do the dare all by herself!”
The librarian’s head disappeared over the balcony. Rocky and Abbie hopped off the table. The two followed Susan, Mr. Sherman and the twins toward the exit.
“I want your names,” the librarian yelled as she rounded the staircase. McKenzie shook her head, passing the old card catalog and ran after her friends out the library. The librarian chased them, screaming. “I want all your names. I’m calling campus security.”
The group ran through the exit doors, passing the large columns onto the stone steps down to the sidewalk. Night had fallen and they rushed around the block behind the science building before they stopped. The cover of darkness would conceal them, hopefully. Mr. Sherman seemed out of breath and the twins were rubbing their sore heels.
“I’m sure Josh will be getting a call from the library real soon,” Abbie said, as she sent the mission completed text to the surprise guest.
“He’s kinda cute.” Susan twirled the tiara on her index finger as she spoke. “Maybe we should wait for him.”
McKenzie ran a hand down her red satin dress and smoothed the fabric, then adjusted the pink ribbon in her hair. When she was done, she scowled at Rocky and pointed a finger. “You aren’t supposed to help. Those are the rules.”
“Relax.” He pulled his glasses from his shirt pocket and placed them back on his face. “It’s all just for fun anyway.”
Their phones went off again, and the girls looked down at the screens.
“We’ve got the sixth dare,” Susan said, holding the tiara with both hands, her cell phone in her purse.
“Read it,” McKenzie said to Abbie.
Abbie looked down at her screen. It glowed green in the dark.
She looked up from her phone. “I’ve got to take twenty-one pics with total strangers?”
“The Sail Pavilion?” Susan grabbed her phone and shook it. It lit up then faded. “That’s kinda far, isn’t it?”
“It’s no problem.” McKenzie fixed the ribbon in her hair then motioned to the group. “We’ll drive to downtown, park and head across the Tampa Riverwalk. We can get the pics with people by the river.”
“I thought all the dares were taking place on campus.” Rocky looked at McKenzie. A devilish grin raised the corners of her red lips.
“I added a few surprises,” she said.
Mr. Sherman threw up his hands. “I’m out. It’s past my bedtime.”
“The Sail Pavilion?” Abbie asked. “Is that where my surprise guest is? Clinton Reed is waiting there for me, isn’t he?”
McKenzie shrugged, not giving up any answers.
Mr. Sherman approached Abbie and gave her a hug. “Happy Birthday, Abbie,” he said in her ear. “An old man like me isn’t really up to going downtown at this time of night and strolling along the Riverwalk. That’s a young man’s game.”
Abbie returned the hug. “Thank you for joining in with us though.”
She waved to him as he left, and Rocky yelled, “Don’t forget what I told you. Vitamin Ritamin is the best business to get in and your skills are what’ll make it happen!”
Mr. Sherman continued walking, without turning around.
“Remember, it’s not just the money, but the fulfillment of a dream, passion and the lifestyle you deserve,” Rocky yelled.
The old man raised a hand, waving him away as he disappeared through the dark parking lot, headed back to the apartment building.
“Okay,” Rocky yelled back. “I’ll call you.”
McKenzie laughed. “Let him go,” she said, then turned to Abbie. “The Surprise Guest is not your father and, even if it was, he wouldn’t be waiting for you at The Sail. That place is just one stop in the journey.”
“It’s a journey? Is that a clue?” Abbie’s face lit up. A new and unexpected energy surged through her. “The journey is the things that shape you. Oh, my God. The journey. It Sarah Michelle Gellar, isn’t it? Buffy is my surprise guest?”
“Sarah Michelle Gellar?” McKenzie’s mouth fell open. “How did you get that out of the journey?”
“It was Mayor Richard Wilkins the Third’s speech to the high school graduates. He told Buffy and the other students that at the end of the journey, you’re not the same. Then he turned into a giant snake and tried to eat everyone.” Abbie paused and looked at McKenzie. “It is, isn’t it? Oh my God, I’m going to meet Buffy Summers.”
Susan folded her arms, seeming to enjoy the turn of events. “You’re supposed to say that in a British accent.”
Abbie laughed. “Saucy! I'm gon'a meet Sarah Michelle Gellar. Buffy da Vampire Slayer is waitin' fer me as me birthday soooprise.”
Looking a little frazzled, McKenzie put her hands on Abbie’s shoulders. “Now I didn’t say that, exactly. All I said was it’s a surprise guest.”
“Well, I guess I’ll have to start asking people to take a picture with me, if I’m going to meet Buffy, er, I mean my surprise guest.” Abbie headed back toward the stadium and walked up to a couple strolling hand in hand through the parking lot.
“Pardonne-moi,” Abbie said, now mixing in some French with her abhorrent British accent. “Would yew mind terribly if me friend an' allk a picture ov us together? It's me birthday, yew see, an' me friends are darin' me ter do dis?”
The couple posed with her as McKenzie took the photo.
“Thars number one,” Abbie said. “Guess’n we gaut twenny mo’ to gawer.”
“We have to walk all the way down the Riverwalk?” Lindsey sighed and looked down at her feet. “In my Christian Louboutins?”
Lindsay looked down at her sister’s feet. “Oh please. You got those Louboutins on sale.”
“They’re still Christian Louboutins.” Lindsey lifted her foot to show off the shoe.
Lindsay rolled her eyes. “They’re cheap Christian Louboutins.”
“Blimey! Who cow-eeers?” Abbie yelled at them. “We’re gon'a meet Buffy da Vampire Slayer. Nuff said, yeah?”
Abbie left the campus parking lot and headed across the street to their apartment complex. Rocky followed, taking his keys from his pocket. He unlocked his green Camaro. The color of money, Abbie thought.
“We’ll have to take two cars.” Rocky opened the driver’s side and unlocked the passenger door.
“Saucey! Two cowers. Let’s gawer.” Abbie slipped into the Camero’s backseat as McKenzie leaned into the front passenger side and shuddered.
“You don’t know that it’s Sarah Michelle Gellar who’s waiting for you, so stop saying that.” McKenzie plopped down in the seat and slammed the door shut. “And I’m getting really tired of the British accent. Whose idea was that anyway?”
From the back seat, Abbie watched Susan carry the stupid plastic tiara into her little blue Honda. The twins piled in behind her. They had wine earlier, she thought. All three of them. Abbie climbed over McKenzie
and opened the car door. She got back out of the Camaro. She made her way to Susan’s little Honda and knocked on the driver’s side window.
“Gimme me the keys,” she said to Susan through the glass. Susan looked up, then opened her door. She climbed over the center console to the passenger seat as Abbie sat down behind the wheel. “Not for nothin’,” Abbie said. “But I didn’t drink any of the Pino Grigio.”
Susan shrugged. “Go for it, sister.” She picked up the tiara and placed it on Abbie’s head. Abbie’s eyes narrowed. She grabbed the tiara and pitched it out the open window.
“I’m done with being a birthday princess tonight,” she said. She heard the plastic crown hit the pavement with a sharp crack. Grinning at the possibility of it breaking in two, Abbie backed out of the parking space. Her smile widened. She was certain she heard a satisfying crunch as the left back tire crushed the sparkling plastic into fine, shiny birthday dust.
She rolled-up the window as the Honda lunged forward.
Something suddenly felt wrong. She looked at the parked cars around her, at the shadows between them. Someone was out there, watching them. She could feel it. Or maybe it was just her imagination. She laughed at herself, then, for some reason, thought of Gareth the Goodhearted Ghoul.
* * * *
As the blue Honda Civic, with the bright green Camero tailing, pulled onto the street, a figure stepped around the corner of the apartment building. Wearing a tan trench coat and brown hat, he paused in the parking lot and watched two sets of taillights round the corner.
He held a notepad and pen, and jotted down the time, make of the two vehicles and the direction they were headed. Before he could finish, something in the parking lot caught his attention. It glittered in the moonlight.
Walking to the spot where the roommate’s Honda had just been parked, he knelt and studied the broken tiara. Using his pen, he moved a plastic band away from the crown. Glistening letters spelled the word “B-DAY GIRL.”