Page 36 of The Witching Hours

He looked at me full on with a mean smile. “Nothin’.”

I decided to let it go. I couldn’t turn R.W. into a decent human being in one visit. “I’m not promising anything, but I’ll see what I can do. What kind of cupcakes do you like?”

“All kinds.”

“Well at least you’re agreeable about something,” I said. And on that note, I got on my bike and rode off.

It took a lot of convincing to get my friends to agree to my plan. Mainly because they thought they’d have less time to fill their trick or treat pillowcases. But I said Halloween is the best time to do something scary like going to the creek at night. I also had to convince them not to tell Susan ‘cause she’d sure enough go running to her folks and ruin it for all of us.

I asked Auntie Nan if we could make cupcakes for R.W.’s birthday. I knew she’d say yes. She was always ready to do thatkind of stuff. I just didn’t tell her when or where I’d be taking them.

We didn’t get to wear Halloween costumes to school back then, but as soon as school let out, we hurried home to start getting ready. It took more time for girls because we wore real costumes our mamas made us. We turned into ghosts or witches or fairies. But the boys just put on scary masks and called it done.

I usually went for lots of net skirts and glitter, but that year I gave some thought to riding my bike on a path in the dark and decided I was gonna be an outlaw. I dressed all in black. Black pearl button shirt, black cowboy boots, and black cowboy hat. The best part was the fat holster that went around my hips. It had silver studs on it and held my two cap guns that had mother of pearl handles. I looked just like Hopalong Cassidy except that he was a man and had white hair.

Trick or treaters would start coming round just before dark. We decided we’d trick or treat for an hour and then meet up at Crawdad Creek.

I put the cupcakes in the basket between my bike’s handles and covered them up with a pillowcase so nobody would think anything of it. Nan gave me three birthday candles and I took one of those little boxes of matches like we used to light the gas wall stove in the bathroom when it got cold in winter. Then I took my bike and left it over at Cherry’s house. That’s where we were gonna meet and go together. We knew her daddy would be gone. We also knew her mama just wouldn’t care what we were doing because Cherry’s mama never cared much about anything.

We all lied to Susan and told her we had to be home early. I felt bad about leaving her out, but it was her own fault. I mean, it’s possible for a person to just betooChristian.

The night was custom designed for Halloween. Just right for being out. Not hot, but no need for sweaters or jackets. The air was popping like currents of electricity joined the collective excitement of every kid between the ages of six and twelve, especially the older kids who were ten like me. Halloween was always the best night of the year, next to Christmas maybe. But it was even more fun to have an adventure planned that only we kids were in on. No grownups allowed. What could be better?

The usual thrill of trick or treating was overridden by the anticipation of R.W.’s party in the woods. I knew I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. I could tell by the secretive shared looks I caught from other kids in streetlights and porchlights. Every one of us held the same thought.

We can’t wait!

When the hour finally arrived for us to sneak away from the mob that resembled a childhood version of Mardi Gras, we grabbed our bikes from Cherry’s house. If there’d been an onlooker, they might’ve mistaken us for some ancient pagan precession. Instead of torches, we held flashlights that bobbed in the darkness as we rode the uneven path to the Creek.

“Watch out for tree roots!” I shouted.

“Okay,” somebody yelled back, I don’t know who.

When we got close enough to see the little clearing under the peach trees, we could tell there was a campfire burning. I didn’t know who’d gotten there before us and I didn’t know who built that fire, but I did know we’d all be in deep doodoo if our parents found out we were sneaking awayandbuilding fires. I mean, gosh. Rebellions can only go so far.

Plus, I sure didn’t want anybody burning down our peach trees.

“R.W.” I said in a loud voice. “Happy Birthday and put out that dang fire!”

He laughed. So did Billy Ben and Ronny Arnaz. I didn’t know he was bringing more people. I didn’t make enough cupcakes for that. Leave it to R.W. to throw a curve ball and a double-cross at the same time.

I noticed that the girls who came with me were looking nervous. None of them had even gotten off their bikes. They were just waiting, like they hadn’t decided if they were staying.

“Look. You’re scaring people away from your own birthday.” It wasn’t easy to reason with a kid who was obviously nuts. I knew something about reasoning because my dad put in some effort at doing it with me.

One of the boys said something rude about one of the girls. I don’t know what it was, but boys had a special nasty snigger they shared when they said bad things about girls.

I could sense the tension behind me and knew most of the guests R.W. had asked for were about to leave.

“You got cupcakes?” Ronny asked.

Before I could answer, from behind me, Cherry said, “We’re going.”

I didn’t beg them to stay. Truth was, my inclination was to mount up and ride with them. I don’t know why I didn’t. I wish I had.

My flashlight found R.W. and I shined it right in his face.

“See?” I said. “Told you people were gonna leave.”

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