Rev 1: General fixes, and changed the end of the chapter
Tina had stayed late at work helping her boss dress up as a giant blue loofah. Janet had loved the costume because it covered her “trouble areas,” mostly a slight tummy that she only thought was huge, and the inescapable dilemma that she was no longer eighteen. It also accentuated her legs, which Tina had to admit looked better than hers even at eighteen. It was probably from all the running Janet did. Last week, she’d put a 13.1 sticker on the back of her Prius.
A lot was riding on this costume. To further emphasize where every eye should go, they’d spent at least fifteen minutes looking for the perfect pumps. For the third time in the last month Janet had found “The One,” and was hoping that this party tonight would get everything moving in the right direction.
Tina was less optimistic. “The One” and Janet never seemed to add up to anything. This would just be another loser man in a long list of loser men. He would soon join the other most recent “Ones.” There was the musician who lived in his parent’s garage, followed by the man who took her to the breastaurant because he liked their “barbecue sauce.” There would be more tears and more late nights at work trying to recover, but a week later she’d be at it again. Her romantic notions ran hot, but when they did she seemed to lose her short term memory regarding men. Though Tina reflected, given her own divorce, it’s not like she was in a place to give anyone relationship advice.
By the time she did manage to get home, Tyler had already gone to the Lock-in. She wondered if he’d decided on a costume. Probably not, why do anything fun? It was so hard to talk with him right now. Everything was a shrug, or a grunt. What had she done to deserve this?
She shivered. Cold air was blowing through the vent. The thermostat read seventy. So both freezing and a waste of money Tina thought. She dialed it up ten degrees.
She kicked off her high heels, and bent down to briefly massage each heel and arch on the way to check the phone’s blinking light. Someone had called but left no message. She checked caller ID. Speaking of divorce, it was Nick. What now? She dialed his number.
A woman’s breathy voice answered, “Hello?”
Her shoulders felt tight. “Hello Sherry, its Tina returning Nick’s call.”
“Tina?” She sounded confused, and adopted that annoying lilt that made everything sound like a question even when it wasn’t. “Nick doesn’t want to speak with you.”
She struggled to keep the edge out of her voice. “Then why’d he call?”
Her voice shifted to something like smoky phone sex. “Oh, he didn’t call.”
Tina doubted the other woman was trying to seduce her. It was just another habit of hers, another grating annoying habit. She reminded herself to text Nick in the future. She tried again, “Look Sherry—“
“I called you,” she said.
“What? Why?” She sat back into one of the kitchen chairs.
“Well, you know we’ve moved in together? Not waiting for an answer she continued, “Nick has decided to make an honest woman of me.” Her voice practically bubbled. “We’re engaged! I wanted you to be the first to know.”
I’m sure you did, thought Tina. The floor felt like it was shifting under her feet. “Co—“
“Oh, Thanks. It’s sweet of you to congratulate us.”
Tina felt a headache starting. She bit off each word. “Could you put—”
“I was calling though about your son Trevor; he was going to come over for Thanksgiving. I was wondering if we could have a rain check. Nick’s still working through some of his baggage, oh well you know. We should really make the next few weeks about the two of us. You understand, right?”
Tina thought about screaming, but said, “Can I speak to Nick?”
“Actually,” she said, “we were sort of in the middle of something when you called.” Her voice went smoky again. “It’s been great talking with you. Send Nick’s love to Trevor. I’ll have him call you when he’s… able to.” She laughed and hung up.
Tina pushed the Do not Disturb button on her phone, and tossed it on the kitchen counter. “. She didn’t trust herself to talk to Nick right now. Halloween truly was from the Pit of Hell.
The doorbell rang.
Who could possibly have the perfect timing to be here now? She thought bitterly.
Opening the door, she saw a girl of maybe six dressed as a bumblebee holding the hand of a younger boy wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a straw hat. “Trick or Treat,” they shouted. She smiled despite everything going on.
“One second,” she told them, going to the kitchen to retrieve a bowl of candy. There were little tracks, Christian pamphlets, about the true nature of Halloween on top of the chocolate bars. The church had distributed them last week to hand out. She scooped them off the bowl placing them on the counter. Returning she said, “You are such a cute little bumblebee.” The girl began to buzz. Tina stooped down to look at the boy, “And what are you?”
“I’m a Hawaiian…” he searched for the word.
The girl whispered, “Tourist, tourist.”
He looked at her, and nodded. Turning to Tina he said loudly, “I’m a Hawaiian Artist.”
She laughed and gave them each a generous helping of candy. She knew she should probably agree with the church that this night was “all trick and no treat,” but she couldn’t stand to see the children disappointed. They were too cute. There was nothing sinister in them. If it had been surly teenagers, Tyler’s age, she’d give them something to read. Hopefully, it would be more little kids.
Over the next hour, Tina gave out candy at an 8 to 1 ratio over the tracks. She’d seen the expected princesses, and pirates, and the best costume so far was a hedgehog.
The doorbell rang.
She opened the door with the bowl of candy in her arms, and her smile died as she saw Pastor Ray and his wife Nicole. The pastor eyed the candy meaningfully but said nothing.
“Hi Tina, sorry it’s so late. Can we come in?” Nicole asked.
“Sure Nickie,” she put the candy bowl down on the coffee table as it were burning her hands.
They gave each other light hugs, and Tina motioned for them both to sit down.
As soon as they were seated, Pastor Ray cleared his throat, “We tried calling but your phone—“
“I had it off the hook. Crank calls.” Great lying to the pastor now, she so didn’t want a lecture on marriage.
He nodded “Well, the reason we’re here is about Tyler.”
“Is he okay?” asked Tina.
“He never came to the Lock-In,” Nickie said.
“What? Hang on.” She returned with the phone turned it on and hit a button. The theme song from some sci-fi show Tyler watched started playing loudly from his room. She hung up when his voice mail came on. “He left his phone at home.” He didn’t want her to be able to call him.
She dialed another number. After a few seconds she said, “Violet, it’s Tina. Did you drop the kids off at the church tonight?”
There was a pause.
“I see. Oh, Ally’s home with a girlfriend from school.”
Another pause
“Yes, I think I should come over.”
She hung up, went to the closet, and got out a pair of clogs. “He was supposed to go with his friend Ally. She’s at home. Maybe she knows what’s going on.”
“He went out with his friend, ‘the girl’.” The pastor shook his head. “Tina, this is what I’ve been sharing with you. With Nick out of the house there are a lot of things a boy might get into without a man’s influence. Would you like us to come with you?”
“I don’t think—“
He spoke over her, “What a boy needs is a manly example of Christianity. Jesus always gets portrayed as some limp wristed hippie eating tofu. He was a man’s man. I think Tyler would benefit from having a true godly man there.” He stood up a little straighter. “Come on Honey,” he said to Nickie, “we’re going to help Tina.”
“Wait, I think this is something—”
The doorbell rang.
“Hang on.” Tina dropped the clogs, picked the bowl of candy of the coffee table.
She opened the door to a rail of a man with a shovel slung over his shoulder. He looked like a gravedigger from a Dickens’ novel.
“Trick or treat,” he said.
Tina rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you a little old for this?”
“Trick it is,” he said. His smile was a thin line.
Chapter 12
Tina had stayed late at work helping her boss dress up as a giant blue loofah. Janet had loved the costume because it covered her “trouble areas,” mostly a slight tummy that she only thought was huge, and the inescapable dilemma that she was no longer eighteen. It also accentuated her legs, which Tina had to admit looked better than hers even at eighteen. It was probably from all the running Janet did. Last week, she’d put a 13.1 sticker on the back of her Prius.
A lot was riding on this costume. To further emphasize where every eye should go, they’d spent at least fifteen minutes looking for the perfect pumps. For the third time in the last month Janet had found “The One,” and was hoping that this party tonight would get everything moving in the right direction.
Tina was less optimistic. “The One” and Janet never seemed to add up to anything. This would just be another loser man in a long list of loser men. He would soon join the other most recent “Ones.” There was the musician who lived in his parent’s garage, followed by the man who took her to the breastaurant because he liked their “barbecue sauce.” There would be more tears and more late nights at work trying to recover, but a week later she’d be at it again. Her romantic notions ran hot, but when they did she seemed to lose her short term memory regarding men. Though Tina reflected, given her own divorce, it’s not like she was in a place to give anyone relationship advice.
By the time she did manage to get home, Tyler had already gone to the Lock-in. She wondered if he’d decided on a costume. Probably not, why do anything fun? It was so hard to talk with him right now. Everything was a shrug, or a grunt. What had she done to deserve this?
She shivered. Cold air was blowing through the vent. The thermostat read seventy. So both freezing and a waste of money Tina thought. She dialed it up ten degrees.
She kicked off her high heels, and bent down to briefly massage each heel and arch on the way to check the phone’s blinking light. Someone had called but left no message. She checked caller ID. Speaking of divorce, it was Nick. What now? She dialed his number.
A woman’s breathy voice answered, “Hello?”
Her shoulders felt tight. “Hello Sherry, its Tina returning Nick’s call.”
“Tina?” She sounded confused, and adopted that annoying lilt that made everything sound like a question even when it wasn’t. “Nick doesn’t want to speak with you.”
She struggled to keep the edge out of her voice. “Then why’d he call?”
Her voice shifted to something like smoky phone sex. “Oh, he didn’t call.”
Tina doubted the other woman was trying to seduce her. It was just another habit of hers, another grating annoying habit. She reminded herself to text Nick in the future. She tried again, “Look Sherry—“
“I called you,” she said.
“What? Why?” She sat back into one of the kitchen chairs.
“Well, you know we’ve moved in together? Not waiting for an answer she continued, “Nick has decided to make an honest woman of me.” Her voice practically bubbled. “We’re engaged! I wanted you to be the first to know.”
I’m sure you did, thought Tina. The floor felt like it was shifting under her feet. “Co—“
“Oh, Thanks. It’s sweet of you to congratulate us.”
Tina felt a headache starting. She bit off each word. “Could you put—”
“I was calling though about your son Trevor; he was going to come over for Thanksgiving. I was wondering if we could have a rain check. Nick’s still working through some of his baggage, oh well you know. We should really make the next few weeks about the two of us. You understand, right?”
Tina thought about screaming, but said, “Can I speak to Nick?”
“Actually,” she said, “we were sort of in the middle of something when you called.” Her voice went smoky again. “It’s been great talking with you. Send Nick’s love to Trevor. I’ll have him call you when he’s… able to.” She laughed and hung up.
Tina pushed the Do not Disturb button on her phone, and tossed it on the kitchen counter. “. She didn’t trust herself to talk to Nick right now. Halloween truly was from the Pit of Hell.
The doorbell rang.
Who could possibly have the perfect timing to be here now? She thought bitterly.
Opening the door, she saw a girl of maybe six dressed as a bumblebee holding the hand of a younger boy wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a straw hat. “Trick or Treat,” they shouted. She smiled despite everything going on.
“One second,” she told them, going to the kitchen to retrieve a bowl of candy. There were little tracks, Christian pamphlets, about the true nature of Halloween on top of the chocolate bars. The church had distributed them last week to hand out. She scooped them off the bowl placing them on the counter. Returning she said, “You are such a cute little bumblebee.” The girl began to buzz. Tina stooped down to look at the boy, “And what are you?”
“I’m a Hawaiian…” he searched for the word.
The girl whispered, “Tourist, tourist.”
He looked at her, and nodded. Turning to Tina he said loudly, “I’m a Hawaiian Artist.”
She laughed and gave them each a generous helping of candy. She knew she should probably agree with the church that this night was “all trick and no treat,” but she couldn’t stand to see the children disappointed. They were too cute. There was nothing sinister in them. If it had been surly teenagers, Tyler’s age, she’d give them something to read. Hopefully, it would be more little kids.
Over the next hour, Tina gave out candy at an 8 to 1 ratio over the tracks. She’d seen the expected princesses, and pirates, and the best costume so far was a hedgehog.
The doorbell rang.
She opened the door with the bowl of candy in her arms, and her smile died as she saw Pastor Ray and his wife Nicole. The pastor eyed the candy meaningfully but said nothing.
“Hi Tina, sorry it’s so late. Can we come in?” Nicole asked.
“Sure Nickie,” she put the candy bowl down on the coffee table as it were burning her hands.
They gave each other light hugs, and Tina motioned for them both to sit down.
As soon as they were seated, Pastor Ray cleared his throat, “We tried calling but your phone—“
“I had it off the hook. Crank calls.” Great lying to the pastor now, she so didn’t want a lecture on marriage.
He nodded “Well, the reason we’re here is about Tyler.”
“Is he okay?” asked Tina.
“He never came to the Lock-In,” Nickie said.
“What? Hang on.” She returned with the phone turned it on and hit a button. The theme song from some sci-fi show Tyler watched started playing loudly from his room. She hung up when his voice mail came on. “He left his phone at home.” He didn’t want her to be able to call him.
She dialed another number. After a few seconds she said, “Violet, it’s Tina. Did you drop the kids off at the church tonight?”
There was a pause.
“I see. Oh, Ally’s home with a girlfriend from school.”
Another pause
“Yes, I think I should come over.”
She hung up, went to the closet, and got out a pair of clogs. “He was supposed to go with his friend Ally. She’s at home. Maybe she knows what’s going on.”
“He went out with his friend, ‘the girl’.” The pastor shook his head. “Tina, this is what I’ve been sharing with you. With Nick out of the house there are a lot of things a boy might get into without a man’s influence. Would you like us to come with you?”
“I don’t think—“
He spoke over her, “What a boy needs is a manly example of Christianity. Jesus always gets portrayed as some limp wristed hippie eating tofu. He was a man’s man. I think Tyler would benefit from having a true godly man there.” He stood up a little straighter. “Come on Honey,” he said to Nickie, “we’re going to help Tina.”
“Wait, I think this is something—”
The doorbell rang.
“Hang on.” Tina dropped the clogs, picked the bowl of candy of the coffee table.
She opened the door to a rail of a man with a shovel slung over his shoulder. He looked like a gravedigger from a Dickens’ novel.
“Trick or treat,” he said.
Tina rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you a little old for this?”
“Trick it is,” he said. His smile was a thin line.
#
The secret of poetry is cruelty.--Jon Anderson