Page 66 of Hockey Halloween
I turned around. I wasn’t looking for serious right now, and anyone who was modest enough to wear a Halloween costume that hid most of her figure was unlikely to agree to a casual hookup. Not that tonight was about that, anyway.
“Come on.”
Mom crossed her arms when we entered the house and she saw the handcuffs. I almost blurted out it wasn’t my fault before she’d done more than lift an eyebrow.
I didn’t know a lot about my Japanese/Korean heritage. My dad’s family cut him off when he married my mom. I’d been told it was because of Japan’s colonization of Korea, something that happened ages ago but his family didn’t forget. Or forgive. I didn’t know what Japanese mothers were supposed to be like: Mom’s parents died not long after I was born, and the rest of her family was still in Japan. But for a tiny woman she could really scare people.
“It’s not his fault, Mrs. Han,” Kelli said. “My brother did this for a joke, and then the key fell down the grate. He’s looking for it now.”
Mom rolled her eyes. “That boy…”
“We brought the seam binding tape.” I held it out to her.
“Good. I can start. Let’s see what we can do.”
My mom had been a figure skater as a teenager. She’d never been a serious competitor, but she still loved skating. She’d found a way to continue to be part of the skating world, making costumesfor competitors. If anyone could make my 3XL costume work, it was her.
She took us down to the basement where she had her sewing room set up, and picked up the costume.
“Why do you have such a big clown suit?” Kelli asked.
I lifted my hand to run it through my hair but ended up jerking her arm. “Sorry. I told the rental place I needed a clown costume that wasnotlike Chucky, but they’d reserved a Chucky costume for me when I stopped there today. I had to take anything else they had that was a clown.”
“You don’t like Chucky?”
“The event I’m going to tonight has kids, and some could be pretty young, so Chucky wouldn’t work.”
“Okay, pants first,” Mom said, shaking out the ginormous striped bottoms I was supposed to wear.
I reached for them, jerking Kelli’s arm again. “Sorry,” I repeated.
“Iwill do it.” Mom made me step into the pants one leg at a time.
Kelli was fighting back a grin and I couldn’t blame her. The costume billowed around us. Mom attached the suspenders and passed them to Kelli to hold while she tightened the waistband with the tape so that the pants wouldn’t fall down and make me trip. There was enough fabric that I looked about twice as big around as I really was. Yeah, this wouldn’t be a night to impress anyone. I glanced at Kelli from the corner of my eye.
It was weird, having my mom taking in the costume, using only the tape that could be removed later, all while Kelli was standing so close.
Mom got out a stool to drop the top over my head. I could only put my free hand in a sleeve, so she started tucking in the material around my waist. After, she took the suspenders from Kelli and clipped them to the pants.
“What are you doing that needs a clown costume?” Kelli asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
I lifted my arm when Mom poked it. “It’s a drop-in for kids forHalloween. We booked an arena with two rinks, and the older kids will play hockey and the younger kids can skate for fun. We’ve got skates and equipment for everyone, and we’re ordering in pizza and drinks. The idea is to have an option for kids to enjoy themselves without getting into trouble on Halloween, when there’s a lot going on.”
Raggedy Ann smiled at me. “That’s a great idea. What ages are you expecting?”
I shrugged and Mom slapped my chest. She was trying to work fabric around the arm attached to Kelli now.
“It’s my first time, since I’ve been playing on American teams other years, but I was told we’d get a range. The ones who play hockey are older, but some of them are responsible for younger siblings so we don’t know exactly who will come.”
“I’ve never heard about it.”
Mom was behind me, finishing up the top. The thing was bunched up and uncomfortable, but it was definitely on the silly side of clowns, rather than scary.
“Guys on the Blaze have done it for a few years now. They don’t want it publicized, with fans sneaking in and making it about the hockey players instead of a safe place for the kids. That’s why we all dress up like clowns with makeup to disguise us.”
“Wow. That’s such a great thing to do.”
I checked her expression, to see if she was blowing smoke up my ass to impress me. The best I could tell, she was sincere, unlike a lot of the responses I’d heard.
