by Charles Day
Here we go. Get ready, Nick. Get ready!
He knew why Lou had started messing with his younger sister. He wanted to get Nick angry, angry enough to start a fight. And the party tonight was probably just another way to get Nick where Lou wanted him. But it seemed Lou couldn’t wait till tonight and had instead decided to settle some unfinished business in the school cafeteria, of all public places. Perhaps he knew that Nick had caught on to him about this so-called party
Lou marched toward him, tossing chairs and students out of his way like King Kong on the run in New York, throwing cars and trucks aside, Except the bully wasn’t grunting or scratching under his armpit. Nick stepped back and clenched his fists as his longtime nemesis approached.
Mrs. Needlewhitter had just finished a few of her chores and prepared to venture outside for the mail. She still had her pink robe and matching slippers on her elderly body as she made her way toward the door. Baxter, who had been sound asleep on the couch, jumped up and ran past his mommy, grazing her legs as he slammed up against the door.
“Give me a chance to open up the door there, Baxter boy, you’re so darned impatient. Keep this up and you’re going to wind up with a concussion from all the times you smack your noggin on the wood.”
As she opened the door, a flash of brown and black flew past her and outside. “And don’t you wander off now, you hear?”
Mrs. Needlewhitter’s vision was much better in daylight than at night. Although she knew her eyesight had worsened over the years, she was still able to see most of the things that were a few feet away from her. As long as it was within arm’s reach, she didn’t have a problem.
“Gosh darn, it’s colder than a snowman’s butt out here.” She looked around for Baxter after retrieving her mail. “Baxter boy, where are you? Come to Mommy.”
But Baxter didn’t come on command. Maybe he’d wandered to the backyard, hunting for any squirrels or kids that might’ve been hiding in her bushes. Mrs. Needlewhitter didn’t see him return until he smacked up against her legs, sending her into the air. She kept from falling flat on the grass by grabbing the fence post.
“What did I tell you, Baxter? You’re not half blind like me. Slow down before you approach me. I don’t need those local EMT guys from the firehouse dragging my old self to the ER on account of you.” She noticed Baxter had something in his mouth, a piece of blue fabric. Curious, she grabbed hold of it, pulling to get it out of her mutt’s tight grip.
“Let it go, Baxter, let Mommy have it,” she said, pulling harder, but being careful not to fall back if he let go. She planted one pink-slippered foot in front of her body, and the other behind, ready for a tug-of-war. She pulled. Baxter tugged. She pulled again. Baxter let go, and she fell on her rump.
“You dirty rat dog. How could you do that?” She slowly stood up, rubbing her soiled rear and wiping off dead grass and a few leaves caught in her bathrobe’s pink, fluffy fibers. She lifted the blue dangling fabric in the air. It was a small piece, but enough for her to recognize that it was from a pair of jeans. Who did Baxter get hold of?
Mrs. Needlewhitter placed the piece of ripped denim in her pocket, then returned inside her home, leaving Baxter outside for another few minutes. She sat in her rocker, but took it slowly, since she felt some pain in her rear. She pulled the ragged piece of fabric out to look at it again.
She thought hard. It’s that dirty rat punk from up the road. He was here last night. He must have stepped onto my property. Well, I’ll be making sure I’m ready for him if he comes again. And this time, Baxter will have more to play with. I promise him that.
Lou approached Nick and stepped over that invisible line, the line where one starts to feel like their personal space has been compromised, invaded. Any closer, and their noses would rub against each other. Nick could smell the bully’s lunch.
Hot dogs.
“Why you so tense, Nicky? You look like you’re ready to roll with me.” Lou backed up, leaving enough distance to make sure Nick didn’t try to hit him in the gut again. That day in the woods, Lou told himself it was a sucker punch, a lucky punch that was all. He clenched his fists in preparation.
“Lou, what are you doing with my sister? You got a problem?” Nick gritted his teeth and cautiously watched Lou’s hands and feet, then stared firmly into the bully’s eyes.
“No, hey, I’m sorry about that. My hands slipped and the tray fell on their table. I told them I was sorry. I approached her just to make sure you’re still coming to our Halloween party, right?”
Lou asked the right question. Nick had hoped he would bring it up again. Now was the perfect time to confront the situation. He looked down and saw Jenny and Maria staring up at him from their table. As long as he looked tough and stood his ground while he handled the situation, he’d come out okay. He’d still be respected.
“Listen, since you’re asking me again, I want to know why you want me at your party so bad.” Nick paused, looked around, and noticed the students had all focused their attention on the back of the cafeteria, where he and Lou would possibly rumble at any second. He needed to shine.
“Why do you want me there so bad? You’re not going to be playing some prank on me, are you? Because if you are, I’d—”
“No, no, what makes you think that?” Lou interrupted. “I’m trying to get better acquainted, since we both live on the same block and you and I didn’t start off so well.” Byron, Ralph, and Norm smiled while standing by their friends side..
Nick heard the words come out of the bully’s mouth, but he became distracted when he saw his sister and her friends come back inside the cafeteria and move toward him. He realized she was about to see him get into a fight. He turned his attention to Trevor, who’d been acting like a stupid sock puppet.
Trevor jumped in, squeezing past the tall bodyguards and his brother. “Yeah,” he said. “We wants to be reacquainted and all, yeah, so come on over tonight and we’ll all have a good, g-g-good time.”
It seemed to Nick that Trevor stuttered whenever he became excited. Lou grabbed Trevor by his shirt collar and dragged him back behind Ralph, Byron, and Norm, who made a human blockade to keep the boy from interfering and possibly embarrassing his brother.
Nick saw Samantha trying to get to him as she squeezed through the gathering of curious-minded kids. He quickly focused on Lou again, staring dead straight into his eyes. “You messed with my sister, Lou. In my book, that’s not cool. You and I are done. And I’m not going to your Halloween party.”
Nick placed the ball firmly in Lou’s court.
Lou’s face turned red, a clear sign that he didn’t like what he’d heard, and he pushed the chair between them out of the way. Just then, Nick noticed a teacher making her way toward them. He was glad she was coming.
“Listen, runt, you don’t want to show at my party, fine, don’t show. You’re a nerd, anyway.”
Nick didn’t back away. “You’ve had a beef with me since I beat you in that fight, what, like six years ago—”
Lou lunged at him like a starving tiger ready to pounce on its cornered prey, before he let out any more information, anything that would make Lou look weak.
Nick heard a scream. His sister’s voice in the distance rang through his ears.
Lou grabbed hold of Nick, tossing him to the floor. The impact of the floor against his ribs hurt. He watched as Lou made a fist with his name on it, prepared to land a serious blow. But when Lou went to deliver, his arm was held back by the music teacher.
“Get off him, Lou, and follow me!” the teacher yelled as she yanked his arm. “You need to cool off in Principal Lynch’s office.”
The teacher tried to hold Lou back, but the bully was stronger. He pulled away and stood up, looking down at Nick, still on the floor.
After a quick kick to Nick’s ribs, he walked away, smiling. “I ain’t done with you yet, Nicky boy. You and I have unfinished business. I’ll see you tonight. Hope you find me among all the cos
tumed freaks walking around our street, punk. Maybe I’ll be a ghost, or Freddy, or I’ll have a Jason mask on.”
He laughed as his posse followed him toward the double doors of the cafeteria.
Nick heard Samantha yell Lou’s named followed by some cool choice words. “You’re an idiot! Nick would have kicked your fat butt
He also heard Lou tell his sister to back off. “You look like a stupid doll with those pigtails, little girl. See you out on the streets tonight. Boo!”
Nick eventually stood up, holding his ribs, and the music teacher assisted him to the nurse’s office. He glanced at Jenny; she watched him being helped away. Samantha ran up, and Nick looked at her. He was holding back tears, although his eyes did get wet. He wasn’t about to let anyone see him cry, but the pain in his rib cage was extreme. The whole situation was not good, not good at all.
Nick finished up at the nurse’s office, where he was informed by Nurse Johnson that he was to avoid any strenuous activity and be sure to follow up with his doctor tomorrow. He said he’d be okay, and would go to his last class before the school day ended.
Luckily, he’d received just one kick from Lou’s boot, which landed just below the rib cavity, saving his ribs from cracking. But it did leave a black and red bruise on his stomach. The pain alone was sharp, and when he touched the bruise, it felt even sharper. That made him really angry. How could I let Lou kick me when I was down? That fool. He came at me too fast. I didn’t see him jump for my midsection. Well, guess I deserve it for not watching. I still want to kick his butts, though. Shit, wonder how Jenny took all this?
There was a bigger problem on the horizon—Lou would be looking to finish what he started. But Nick already had a plan, especially since getting back at Lou was now on Nick’s priority list of things to do before Halloween was over. He also figured that, to be a great detective, he had to accept the fact that along with his job came evil, danger, and bad people who wanted nothing more than to hurt others. Fighting and solving crime had their repercussions. Criminals would do their best to cover up their unlawful activities, and if that meant taking out someone by force, then Nick had to be ready.
As he daydreamed about all this detective stuff, Nick recalled being told many times over by concerned relatives that too much daydreaming was no good: You could damage your brain Nick, wind up in some mental institution, tied up in a white straitjacket, banging your head against four cushioned walls that make it look like you’re surrounded by king-sized mattresses.
That convinced Nick to snap out of his imaginary world. Before he went to his math class, he’d stop by the activities and clubs office to ask about this Jeffery Beamer guy from the Journalism Club.
A thin guy with glasses and long hair, definitely the nerd type, greeted him. “How can I help you?”
Nick asked.. “I’m trying to find a Jeffery Beamer. He used to work on the school newspaper and was part of the Journalism Club.”
“Could you hold on a sec?”
Nick agreed.
The nerdy kid disappeared into an inner office.
An older guy came out, possibly the director of the program. Small and heavyset, he wobbled a little when he walked toward Nick with his arm extended for a handshake. “Name’s Mr. Santos. I hear you’re looking for Jeffery?”
“Yep, wanted to ask him about an article he wrote on the legend of that Pumpkin Thief guy.” Nick felt a sharp pain go up his side. He’d be sore for a while.
Mr. Santos asked him to step into his office. “Have a seat right there, son.”
Nick sat down in a soft, brown leather chair. Santos kept his eyes focused on him as he went around a large wooden desk and took a seat. It was only when he opened his drawer and pulled out a file that Nick felt some relief that the guy’s eyes were finally off him for a few. What’s with the staring?
“You have a class to be at?” Santos asked, while rummaging through a yellow manila folder. He didn’t look up at Nick this time.
“Yes … math in room 101.”
Mr. Santos placed the folder on his desk and pulled the chair he was sitting in closer so that his pudgy stomach hit the desk. Some sort of a grunting sound similar to that of a pig followed. He leaned forward, scratching his thick, dark mustache. “Funny you came to ask about that article and about Jeff. Problem is, after it was published in the school newspaper, later that same year, on Halloween actually, Jeff never showed up for school.”
Nick was totally curious about what was coming. He wanted to hear more. Santos continued to stroke the thick fur below his nose and he let out a small grunt again, before he continued. “I liked the kid. We got along. So, of course, when three days went by, a Friday if I remember correctly, and he still hadn’t shown up to school, I started to worry. I called his house but there was no answer. When I went to check the school records, that’s when I found out. His parents had moved out of our town. No explanation, just a phone call stating they decided to move to another home outside of good ole Chesterville. A place they owned farther up in the Adirondack Mountain region. Weird, I tell ya.”
Nick became concerned. How weird is that? His family just packs their bags and leaves on such short notice. “So, there’s no way to get in touch with him?”
“Nope, just vanished … poof. Maybe the Pumpkin Thief’s not a legend after all, and he took Jeffery’s article the wrong way. Snatched him and his family. It is strange, though, right?”
Nick felt like a real detective. The disappearance needed further investigation. Santos could be right. Maybe the legend is real, and Jeffery was getting too close to exposing the creature. We’re talking creepy here.
A cool breeze wafted through the office, and the bulbs flickered under the light brown shade of Mr. Santos’s desk lamp.
“You see?” Mr. Santos asked. “Take a look over my shoulder, son. The window’s closed. I told you.” He grabbed hold of a crucifix hanging on a gold chain around his neck, then squeezed it tightly, as if he wanted to crush the small cross with his pudgy fingers.
An uneasy feeling came upon Nick. He wanted to leave—now. “I have to get to my math class. I’ll be in touch.”
Mr. Santos stood up, pale as a ghost. “Actually, I’d rather we drop it, okay? There’s really nothing else I can help you with.” He escorted Nick out of his office, through the lobby of the activities and clubs department, and into the hallway.
Nick said thank you, but the fat guy just went back into his office without a reply.
As Nick started down the hall, he felt a tight grip on his shoulder. The first thing he thought was, Lou. The bully came to start another fight. But he was wrong. Instead, Mr. Santos, trembling and breathing as if he’d run a marathon, appeared at his side.
“Is this some kind of a joke?” He held a small, evil-looking, grinning pumpkin in the palm of his hand. “You placed this on my desk, didn’t you? Didn’t you?”
Nick looked at him. Something in the distance caught his eye, a shadow moving through the hall, then it was gone. Did someone just pay a visit?
By the time she reached last period, Samantha had discovered from her friends the parts she wasn’t able to hear about what happened in the cafeteria, why Lou was determined to give her brother a whooping. She hated her brother with a sisterly hate, which meant she couldn’t stand him, but she loved him just the same. I mean, come on. We share the same blood.
She worried about him, the way a sister should. She also worried that since Lou would be wearing a costume tonight, her brother wouldn’t stand a chance. With all the trick-or-treaters out for Halloween just in their neighborhood alone, and in so many different costumes, how would her brother see Lou before Lou found him?
Samantha admitted to herself that he was an average detective, and average was not going to save her brother when Lou came up to him with a hockey mask and an axe. She needed to find out what the bully would be wearing tonight. Somehow, some way, she needed to get this information and pass it on to her bro
ther, so he’d know which Halloween character to look out for. She needed to locate her friends and see if they could offer her some help.
Lou gathered outside his last class with Ralph, Byron, and Norm.
“Damn lucky, that’s all I can say right now, guys. Damn lucky I didn’t beat him to a bloody pulp.” Lou still looked angry. His buddies just listened. “That’s okay, though. Tonight, the little nerd is mine.”
Ralph was the first to open his mouth. “How you gonna do it, Lou? You gonna find him in the street? But you won’t know what he’s wearing.”
Byron chimed in. “And what if he doesn’t come out tonight?”
“One step ahead,” Lou said. “You need to be one step ahead of your enemy.”
He also believed that keeping your friends close and your enemies even closer was important. Lou already had a plan in place.
“No problem, boys.” Lou had a smile that ran across his face. He shoved a finger in Byron’s chest. “I have your little sister and her friends. They’re going to be dressed up tonight in Tinker Bell and bunny costumes, looking all cute and pretty as they go knocking on Nick’s door. All they need to do is catch him wearing his Scooby Doo or whatever goofy costume he picks for tonight, and I got him. Hey, you like that?” Lou asked, smiling. “I just made a joke. You know, Goofy, from Disney. Yep, he’d look real funny wearing that costume as I’m smacking him around with my bare hands.”
Lou may have been joking, but he was dead serious about finding out what Nick would be dressed as. That’s why he had another plan up his dirty sleeve. These young girls were going to hang around Samantha as well, see if they could gather any clues as to where Nick would be. The little turd is not getting away from me tonight. He’s all mine!
Nick stayed in his room, door locked, music turned up loud enough that he couldn’t hear the rest of the world, and sat on his bed, wondering how everything had gone wrong. The day had been nothing but torture. The only thing that turned out right today, he supposed, was meeting Jenny and having her ask to go with him to the Halloween party. But that was no longer happening. He wouldn’t be going to Lou’s Halloween bash after almost getting his own head bashed in.