Happy Halloween! This year, my full Halloween excerpt comes from Chapter 48, “Hopeful Halloween,” of the book formerly known as The Very Last. It’s set in 1940, and is Cinni’s first Halloween since losing her father in August.
Upon arising on the morning of Halloween, Cinni rolled out of bed and trudged over to her wardrobe. Though her grief was still too raw and fresh for her to conjure up the usual excitement and joy she felt on this fun holiday, she couldn’t not celebrate Halloween with her friends. If she failed to appear in costume, go trick-or-treating, or host tonight’s party, Violet would scheme to take advantage of her weaknesses.
Cinni rifled through all the clothes in her wardrobe and found nothing that might be suitable for a last-minute costume. A thorough search of the closet also yielded nothing that looked at all costumey. There were always the hideous Little Bo Peep church dresses and the equally-ridiculous cartwheel hats, bicep-high gloves, layers of petticoats, and Edwardian button-up boots, but Cinni wasn’t quite that desperate she’d voluntarily suit herself back up into one of those abominations if she could help it.
“Don’t you have a costume?” Sparky asked as she changed behind the dressing screen. “You can borrow some of my clothes if you can’t find anything. I’ll help you turn them into a real costume. The right outfit and accessories will make you look like a Gypsy or princess.”
“Halloween is a pagan holiday,” Sam muttered. “Perhaps Cinni wants to save her soul from being consigned to the flames of Hell better late than never.”
Cinni glared at her. “I had much more important things to think about since my daddy died than what I was gonna wear for Halloween. Thanks for the offer, Spark, but I don’t think I’d fit into any of your clothes unless I squeezed myself into several girdles and corsets.”
“What about face paint?” Sparky asked. “You could make yourself into a creature like a Vampyre or leopard with the right design.”
Cinni shook her head. “I don’t have any face paint, and I don’t think anyone else in this house has it either.” She smarted with longing for the once taken for granted happiness that now seemed so far away when Sparky emerged in a traditional French costume.
“Do you have any oversized trousers, big shoes, a bowler, and a boy’s suit coat? You could dress as Charlie Chaplin.”
Cinni sighed. “I wish I could, but a comedian is the last thing I wanna dress up as at this time in my life. It would feel like a cruel mockery reminding me of everything I’ve lost.”
She went through her bureau drawer by drawer. An increasing sense of panic set in as she still failed to find anything either resembling a costume or befitting a mood of mourning. The forty days might be over, but that didn’t mean their cessation had caused an immediate shift in her state of mind. Melancholia and mourning didn’t magically fade away on command based on arbitrary schedules.
Finally, at the bottom of the last drawer, it miraculously appeared. A very baggy black, floor-length velvet robe with a hood and long, voluminous sleeves. She had no memory of buying this or receiving it as a gift, nor did she have any idea why she would’ve wanted it or who could’ve given it to her. All that mattered was that the most perfect costume had just materialized before her, as though her father’s ghost had conjured it up for just this purpose.
“I can be the Grim Reaper!” Cinni exclaimed. “It’s the perfect costume for a period of mourning! As soon as I’m dressed, I’ll go out to the barn to grab a scythe.”
“A real scythe?” Sparky asked. “Won’t you get in trouble for carrying that into school?”
Cinni pulled the robe out of the drawer and stood up, holding it against herself. “Mr. R. throws a lot of rules out the window on Halloween. Ralphie’s brothers and Harry’s brother dressed up as gangsters a few times and used real guns as props, and Mr. R. didn’t give ’em detention. There are also a lot of people dressing up like Robin Hood and bringing a real bow and arrows. One of the reasons I love Halloween is ’cause you get to play with a different identity for a day and do things you might not ordinarily do as your usual self.”
She lay the robe on the bed and raced into one of the black dresses Lucinda had made with all that fabric from New York, then pulled on bicep-high black gloves and long black socks held in place with black and white garters. While Sparky looked herself over in the mirror and brushed her hair, Cinni fed and watered her guinea pigs and parrots. Once her animals were taken care of, she sat back down to put on her black riding boots. She asked Sparky to take her schoolbag downstairs before opening the door to the outside staircase.
Cinni made sure to hold up the hem of the robe as she went down the stairs, though her usual instinct was to scamper down steps as fast as possible and even jump down several steps in one bound. When she touched down on the grass, she raced towards the barn, still holding up the robe so she wouldn’t trip over it.
She made her way around piles of pumpkins, squash, apples, and carrots, looking down to make sure she didn’t step in cow or goat manure. With any luck, her family’s financial fortunes would soon turn around just as they had done after the worst years of the Depression, and they wouldn’t need to grow so much of their own food and keep farm animals.
Cinni grabbed a scythe off the wall and made her way back inside. Her mother shrieked when she saw what was in her hand.
“What in the world are you doing with that, or don’t I want to know?”
“It’s a prop for my Halloween costume. I can’t be the Grim Reaper without a scythe. No one would know who I am. It’s like being a jester without the funny hat.”
“All Halloween costumes are the work of the Devil,” Urma pontificated over her drab grey gruel. “Everyone who wears one is bound for Hell.”
“The Bible doesn’t say anything about Halloween,” Babs said. “You’re welcome to believe whatever you want, but you can’t honestly claim most of your beliefs come from the Bible. They’re based on the bizarre commentaries and misinterpretations of a so-called minister who belongs in the loonybin.”
Cinni propped the scythe against a wall and took a seat between Babs, who was dressed as a cowgirl, and Elmira, who wore the usual frou-frou princess dress that barely looked different from her normal daily attire. “He also belongs in prison for picking your lock and breaking into your apartment.”
Urma glowered at her. “He had to do that to save my soul and Samantha’s soul. God told him so.”
“Religious fanatics always justify their nuttiness by claiming they heard God’s voice,” Babs said. “I don’t know why you always try to convert us when we’ve made it abundantly clear we’ll never share your beliefs.”
Cinni piled her plate high with pumpkin pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, and apple cider doughnuts. She filled her glass almost to the brim with spiced apple cider.
“Do you intend to go trick-or-treating with that scythe too?” Widow Filliard asked.
“I have two hands, don’t I?” Cinni shovelled an overflowing forkful of pancakes into her mouth. “When I have to hold my bag open for candy, I’ll put the scythe under my arm. It ain’t like I’m carrying a loaded machine gun or flamethrower.”
“I wouldn’t let you leave the house if you had one of those things.” Widow Filliard cut her scrambled eggs. “I’d also have many questions for you about where you got them and how you smuggled them into the house without my knowing.”
“All things considered, Cinni’s costume, prop and all, is very appropriate for this time in our lives,” Lucinda said. “Unlike certain other people at this table, she hasn’t jumped right from mourning to celebration without missing a beat.”
Stacy, dressed as a flamenco dancer, gave her aunt a dismissive look. “This ain’t the Victorian era. Modern people have no rules about how long they’re supposed to wear black and when they can start wearing what colors.” She took a huge bite of a doughnut and continued talking with her mouth full. “I’d feel like I was in prison if I was forced to wear black for an entire year and couldn’t wear any normal, happy colors for another two or three years.”
“No one is asking or expecting you to restrict yourself like that,” Widow Filliard said. “But there’s a lot of happy medium between wearing black for the rest of your life and never doing anything celebratory again, and jumping right back into normal life as soon as possible after your father died.”
Stacy clenched her fists and resumed eating in silence.
“Mr. Malspur said I could have today off work,” Babs said. “He wants me to have fun at the Halloween party and feel like a normal teenager again for a little while. He won’t deduct anything from my paycheck for the missed hours.”
“I can’t wait till I’m old enough for the school party and dance.” Cinni put two more doughnuts on her plate. “It’s nice to have a private party with just my buddies, but the one at school is so much bigger, with lots more stuff to do, and a bigger space.”
“Halloween parties are sinful, no matter where they are and how big they are,” Sam said. “Why do you want to call up the Devil?”
“That ain’t what happens at any normal Halloween party,” Babs said. “If you’ve never been to one, you have no authority to speak with pretended authority about them. Maybe someday you’ll drop the fundamentalism and be a modern girl again.”
“Samantha knows what’ll happen to her if she ever dares stray from the one true path,” Urma said without looking up from her gruel. “She’ll never be part of your sinful lifestyle.”
Widow Filliard broke her slices of bacon in half and dipped them in the pool of maple syrup on her plate. “That’s more than enough of this topic. Lucy, what kind of candy did you get for the trick-or-treaters?”
“I bought several dozen boxes of candybars and Cracker Jack at Woolworth’s,” Lucinda said. “I also got one box each of Milky Ways, Mars bars, and Snickers just for us. Cinni, you know the rules about taking your fair share of family candy and leaving enough for everyone else.”
Cinni took a huge bite of a doughnut. “I’ve got plenty of my own candy. You don’t gotta worry I’ll hog yours.”
“Can you also promise you’ll be very careful with that scythe?” Widow Filliard asked. “I don’t want to hear any reports from Wilton or your teachers about you using it as a weapon or being careless.”
“Of course I’ll be careful. The last thing I want on Halloween is to get detention or be sent to reform school.” Cinni speared her last chunk of cut pancakes. “One way or another, I’ll prove to you I really am growing up and becoming more mature than you give me credit for.”
As soon as breakfast concluded, Cinni dumped her tableware in the sink, grabbed the scythe, and ran out to the bus, ignoring her mother’s nagging about how she’d been wearing boots in the house. Though Cinni was proud of herself for having thought of such a clever, perfect last-minute costume, she nevertheless looked upon the other people at the bus stop with jealousy for how they got to wear more cheerful costumes that had doubtless been planned and bought or made weeks in advance.
Violet was Scarlett O’Hara, with a red hoopskirt so wide Cinni wondered if she’d be able to clear any doors, sit in any chairs, or use the lavatory; Mandy was Heidi, with her long wavy brown hair tied up in braids; Tina was a Bohemian girl with giant silver hoop earrings almost touching her shoulders; Lotta wore a witch’s hat and a black cape over a black bathing suit leaving almost nothing to the imagination; Jane was a cigarette girl with a black dress barely meeting the fingertip rule, straps instead of sleeves, and a neckline dangerously close to showing cleavage; Robert was a priest in a long black cassock and a giant pectoral cross necklace that must’ve come from his family’s pre-Methodist years; John was a very dapper Dracula in a black cape with red trim; Terri wore her father’s old Army uniform from the last war, with the pant legs rolled and pinned up, and her long curly dirty-blonde hair tucked up under the field cap; and Gyll was an Arab sheik.
Bronia, Filipa, Czesław, Krzyś, Zbigniew, and Izaak were dressed in various types of Polish national costumes, while Józef was dressed as Copernicus, one of Poland’s greatest native sons. Six-year-old Cyprian was dressed like Frédéric Chopin, another of the most famous Poles in history, though if Cinni hadn’t known whom he was supposed to be, she would’ve assumed he was wearing a suit from the Romantic period instead of depicting one specific person.
“I love your costume, Cinni!” Tina enthused. “Where did you find it, or did your aunt make it?”
“That’s the strangest thing of all. It just appeared in my bottom drawer, as if by magic. I have no memory of ever buying it or getting it as a gift. If I didn’t know better, I’d think my daddy’s ghost put it there.”
“However it got there, it’s absolutely marvellous. You always outdo yourself in fulfilling Point Number One on the Most Popular Girl Contract by looking good in everything, even costumes, pajamas, and loungewear.”
Violet made no attempt to hide her snickers. “Seems to me someone’s tryna butter up Cinni so her rank can rise at the next Contract Renewal. I never talk like that to Cinni and flatter her in a cartoonish way.”
Cinni put her free hand on Tina’s shoulder. “And that’s why you’re still floundering at almost the very bottom of the chart, ’cause you never curry favor with me or respect my exalted position with the full honor it commands. Maybe if you made a sincere attempt to be more like Tina, you’d find yourself being promoted slowly but surely too. I know a phony compliment when I hear one, and that wasn’t what Tina’s comment was like at all.” She dropped her schoolbag and lunchbox at Violet’s feet. “You can put yourself to some good use today by carrying this. It’ll be hard to cart ’em around when I have to carry a scythe and walk in something trailing the floor.”
Violet glowered at her as she picked them up.
“Your pretty purple eyes might freeze like that if you keep making ugly faces, and then no boys will be interested in you when we’re old enough for dating.” Under the safety of the hood, Cinni gave a fleeting glance to Barry standing with Gary. Her heart raced when he returned the look. She wished she could openly smile at him and hold his hand like Julieanna did with Harry, but their relationship had to stay secret until they were absolutely certain it was safe to go public.
“That’s an old wives’ tale,” Violet retorted. “Someone as smart as you must know that.”
Cinni fixed her with a bemused look. “Did you really just say that to me when you swallowed the rock story hook, line, and sinker?”
Violet turned a thousand shades of red and hurried towards the approaching bus.
“What’s the rock story?” Sparky asked.
“A really stupid, unscientific explanation for lady days.” Cinni kept her voice down to avoid any of the boys overhearing. “She thinks the blood is caused by rocks falling from female organs.”
Sparky and Tina burst out laughing.
“You have no worry about a silly little upstart like that ever stealing your crown,” Tina said as they went up the bus steps. “Violet’s too dumb to launch a successful scheme against you, and if she somehow did, we’d all have your back.”
Cinni made her way to the back of the bus and nabbed a window seat on the left side. During the entire ride to school, she thrilled at the frightened, horrified looks of younger kids who saw her costume. Even Mr. Robinson slightly stepped back and avoided eye contact when she came through the front doors of school and helped herself to five pieces of candy in his huge bag. Of all the Halloween costumes she’d ever worn, this one was definitely the most powerful and awe-inspiring by far. She probably wouldn’t have worn it if she weren’t in a period of mourning, but it was impossible to turn back the clock on Fate. Even dark moments had their unexpected snatches of blessing and light shining through.
***
As soon as sixth period gym class ended, Cinni changed back into her costume at lighting speed, grabbed her scythe, and ran for the playground. Since Violet was taking so long in maneuvering herself back into the impossibly wide hoopskirt and tight bodice, Laura took charge of carrying Cinni’s schoolbag and lunchbox in addition to her own.
“Thanks, Laur,” Cinni said as Kit and Julieanna unfurled a blanket underneath a very tall red oak tree with beautifully orange and bright red leaves. “You’re a real pal. Doing favors for me without being asked or expected to will help you advance up the ranks next time I reorganize ’em. Unlike Violet, you know how to get ahead by legitimate means.”
“It’s just the right thing to do, regardless of rewards,” Laura said. “I’m not tryna qualify myself for sainthood or jump up the chart.”
“That’s another thing I like about you. You do good things just because all the time and even go outta your way to help people when you didn’t have to.” Cinni propped her scythe against the tree and lowered herself onto the blanket. “Speaking of helping, how’d you like to come over to my house after school? I need a couple of assistants for some last-minute preparations for the Halloween party.”
“Oh, Cinni, it’d be an honor!” Laura took a seat beside her. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do. Who else is coming?”
Cinni looked around at her friends, though she already knew who she wanted to ask. “Sparky of course, and Kitty, Gayle, Tina, Mickey, and Maxie.”
“Can’t I help too?” Julieanna asked. “I’m really good at putting parties together, and I really want to prove I’m worthy of moving back up the chart. You said I have potential.”
Violet appeared over the horizon, waddling more than walking as her huge hoopskirt swayed back and forth. “I didn’t realize these things are so hard to walk in. Vivien Leigh made it look so easy in the movie.”
“That’s ’cause all her costumes had much smaller hoopskirts than yours,” Kit said. “That thing you’re wearing is like an over the top parody of what women actually wore in those days.”
Violet gave her a dirty look and picked up her pace. A few seconds later, she tripped over the long hoopskirt dragging along the ground and fell flat on her face. Everyone burst out laughing. When Violet tried to pull herself back up, she tripped again and fell even harder, which resulted in more laughter. Growling, she crawled the remaining distance to her friends.
“I never do embarrassing stuff like that,” Julieanna said. “Please say I can come over to your house and help you, Cinni. I’m serious about advancement.”
Cinni considered the matter. She dared not publicly admit she was only asking for help because she hadn’t done one thing to prepare for the party in advance. Only the most trustworthy people could be recruited as her assistants. If the wrong person blabbed about her unpreparedness and word got around to Violet, that would be disastrous. Julieanna loved gossip and wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box, but she was stronger and more intelligent than she usually gave the impression of. Kit wouldn’t have chosen Julieanna as her best friend if she were a total lightweight. Deep down, Cinni also cared for her very much, even if they’d probably never be the closest of friends.
“Alright, Julie, you can come along too, but no one else.” Cinni bit into an apple cider doughnut. “Too many cooks spoil the broth, and this ain’t a group activity meant for everyone. That’s what my party itself is for.”
Julieanna turned into a huge smile. “Thank you so much! I’ll be as helpful as I can be and do anything you ask me.” She took a sip from her Thermos. “But please don’t think I only wanna do this to butter you up. I really am sincere about wanting to become better friends and prove my worthiness for a better rank.”
“Can I come too?” Violet asked.
Cinni smirked at her. “You don’t even know what you’re volunteering for. You joined us after the conversation began. To answer your question, of course you ain’t invited. You’d be bored stiff setting up tables and pouring drinks.”
“I live right next door,” Violet wheedled. “I’d be happy to help. You need to quit treating me like your enemy and more like your friend. Deep down, I know you like me more than you admit.”
“Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean I want you tagging along to something only intended for my closest friends. If I was gonna invite anyone else, it’d be Harry.”
Harry looked up from his ketchup and cheese sandwich on stale bread. “Do you really mean that, Cinni?”
“You’re my next-best male friend after Maxie, and it doesn’t seem right to invite your girlfriend but not you. Sure, you can come too.”
Violet spent the rest of lunch muttering under her breath, while her friends discussed what kind of candy they most wanted to get from trick-or-treating and what they were most looking forward to at Cinni’s party. Cinni made mental notes of everything that was expected of tonight’s festivities. Somehow, someway, she’d pull off her responsibilities to host the yearly Halloween party, no matter how much of a last-minute scramble it involved.
***
Cinni dashed down the back steps of the bus when the doors opened at the curb by her house. She and her assistants were already at the front door while Violet was still waddling up the walkway to her own house, the humongous hoopskirt swaying from side to side as though it had a mind of its own. Violet also frequently stopped to catch her breath.
“What a stupid costume,” Cinni said loudly enough for Violet to overhear. “I don’t remember one woman in that movie who wore such a cartoonish hoopskirt, nor have I ever seen any pictures of a dress like that. She’s also liable to break some ribs and squash her organs with such a tight bodice.”
“You know Violet, never using her brain.” Kit spoke even more loudly and directed her voice in Violet’s direction. “I’ll give her credit for being smarter than she seems, but she’s still nowhere near as smart as us.”
“Her costumes are usually a lot more practical, as silly as they are,” Gayle continued, also speaking loudly. “I saw a bunch of other girls dressed like Scarlett, and they all had normal hoopskirts.”
Violet threw a nasty look in their direction before she finally reached her door. Mandy had beat her inside by several minutes.
“She’d best not knock anything over and break it with that goofy thing tonight,” Cinni said. “I don’t want her spilling anything that stains either. Violet didn’t think this costume through when she asked her seamstress to make it, or she didn’t have the sense to demand a more realistic version.”
Cinni opened the door and led her friends into the living room, which was thankfully unoccupied. She leaned her scythe against a wall and had a seat on the middle of the davenport. Sparky and Kit sat on either side of her, while Gayle and Max took the loveseat and Laura, Mickey, Harry, and Julieanna sat in chairs.
“I have a little confession,” Cinni said in a low voice. “I didn’t wanna admit this in front of Violet, but I ain’t done nothing to prepare for tonight’s party. That was the last thing on my mind during my daddy’s mourning period.”
“Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Julieanna asked. “We woulda been happy to help you with anything you needed. You shouldn’t feel like you’re too proud to admit you need more help than you let on.”
“I know mosta you are kind, decent people who want to help ’cause you’re my friends, not outta charity, but I can’t forget the memory of the worst years of the Depression. So many people still believe asking for assistance is a moral failing, a shameful disgrace, and that charity should only be given for the shortest time possible. I think that’s a load of Victorian bunk, but people like Violet and her father have very different ideas.”
“Who cares what Violet and a few other ninnies think?” Kit scoffed. “All the rest of us are more than happy to help your family with whatever you need. Just tell us exactly what you need us to do, and we’ll set to work getting things ready for the party.”
“First we need to make the food. There’s a binder in my room with recipes from magazines. The Halloween recipes are in their own section. Sparky, you can fetch it. You’ll find it on the bottom of my bookshelf. Max and Harry can lug down the boxes of decorations, centerpieces, tablecloths, and napkins in the attic. I hope we can pull this together before trick-or-treating.”
“Leave it to us, and we’ll take care of everything,” Mickey promised. “Many hands make light work, like my folks say. No one will have any reason to suspect we threw this together at the last minute.”
***
Shortly after 6:00, with the living room fully decorated and tables set with everything but food, Cinni, Sparky, and Tina set out for trick-or-treating with the Polańskis, the Hurwiczes, and the Lerners. Elżbieta was the Statue of Liberty, and Eleonora was Marie Curie.
“Ain’t you gonna wait up for me?” Violet called. “You always start out without me.”
“And you ain’t gotten the hint yet?” Cinni asked. “Even if we wanted to go with you, you’d slow us down with that stupid costume.”
“It ain’t like I’m crippled.” Violet stood up straighter and immediately gasped for breath. “Maybe I did make a mistake by being too historically accurate, but fashion and beauty come before comfort.”
“That’s not historically accurate or true to the movie at all,” Tina said. “Name me one scene where Scarlett fell on her face from tripping on her skirts or struggled to get through a door. She also didn’t have onea them dangerously tiny waists, despite wearing a corset.”
“I ain’t wearing a corset,” Violet retorted. “This is a bodice a couple of sizes too small, with the laces drawn as tight as possible.”
“So it’s a corset by any other name, just worn on the outside,” Cinni said. “If you were serious about wanting a historically accurate costume, you shoulda done better research. Some lessons have to be learnt the hard way.”
Violet glowered at her and proceeded up the street with little mincey baby steps. Everyone stared at her, and several children and their mothers laughed.
“Are you sure we’ll really get lots and lots of candy just for wearing costumes and saying ‘Trick or treat’?” Zbigniew asked. “It seems too good to be true.”
“That’s exactly what happens,” Cinni said. “You’ve really missed out all these years.”
“Not everyone gives candy.” Tina wrinkled her face. “There’s a really weird dentist, Brandon H. Phillips, who lives next door to my best friend. He gives toothbrushes and apples instead of candy. At least some people give fun stuff like yo-yos and Chinese puzzle boxes. But of course, the best thing to get besides candy is money. One year someone gave us real silver dollars.”
Cinni bounded up the path to the Vallis’ house next door and rang the bell. She cackled at the horrified look on Mr. Valli’s face and how he stepped backwards when he saw her costume.
“It’s just me, Mr. V. Did you really believe the Grim Reaper was about to harvest your soul? You’re only forty and healthy as far as I know.” Cinni typically thought anyone over thirty was irreparably ancient, but since her father had been taken away at age forty-seven, her perspective had started to shift.
“No, but I didn’t expect to see such a foreboding costume.” Mr. Valli extended a bowl heaped high with 5th Avenue bars, wrapped caramels, and Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews. “You can each take two. Don’t try to be greedy and sneaky by absconding with more. This candy has to feed the entire neighborhood, and I don’t have unlimited refills.”
Cinni, Tina, and Sparky reached into the bowl and helped themselves. Bronia consulted her handwritten list of which candies were kosher by either certification or default before she, her siblings, and her cousins took Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews and 5th Avenues. Last up was Violet, still gasping for breath and walking slowly.
“That costume can’t be very comfortable,” Mrs. Cortez commented. “Would you like to change into something more suitable? You might enjoy trick-or-treating more if you can walk and breathe normally.”
“This is my costume, for better or worse,” Violet said in resignation. “I’ve been suffering in it all day, and can endure a few more hours. There’s no need to put yourself out tailoring my dress.”
“Are you absolutely sure? You might fit into some of Lotta and Jane’s costumes from when they were your age.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m committed to my costume.” Violet grabbed one of each candybar and dropped them into her red silk pillowcase. “I can’t wait till I can take this thing off and never have to look at it again.”
Cinni and the others were an entire block away by the time Violet caught up to them. Throughout the entire evening, they kept well ahead of her, which meant they got first dibs on the best candy and treats. Cinni eagerly stuffed her pillowcase full of more 5th Avenue bars and Goldenberg’s Peanut chews, homemade chocolate chip cookies, jellybeans, gumdrops, 3 Musketeers, rock candy in fun flavors like strawberry and grape, Heath bars, Life Savers, Mallo Cups, PayDays, Pearson’s Salted Nut Rolls, Sky Bars, Snickers bars, Sugar Babies, lollipops, Zagnuts, bubblegum, coins, yo-yos, and kaleidoscopes.
A few people were spoilt-sports and refused to answer the door or turn the lights on, but almost everyone else in the neighborhood was decent. As usual, some adults gave boring apples and pencils, and Dr. Phillips gave them toothbrushes and a silly lecture about the importance of brushing their teeth thrice a day. Cinni had a whole collection of toothbrushes from him she’d never used, stuffed into a downstairs closet and gathering dust. They weren’t even attractive colors.
“That was really fun!” Cyprian declared when they returned to the house with bulging pillowcases. “Are there any other American holidays where we can get lots of candy for free?”
“Halloween is one of a kind,” Cinni said. “But you’ll get to eat lots of other fun foods on the Fourth of July, and watch an exciting parade in the morning and beautiful fireworks at night. I bet you’ll also really like Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, and St. Patrick’s Day.”
“Can we start eating our candy immediately?” Krzyś asked.
“Of course! You can eat all of it tonight if you want, but most people eat a few pieces every day so they don’t use it all up too soon. There’s also lots of fun food to look forward to at my party, if you’d like to attend.”
“Do you really mean that?” Krzyś looked directly at Sparky as he spoke. “Your friends won’t mind me attending when we’ve only known each other for a few months? I don’t want to feel like an unwanted outsider intruding where I’m not welcome.”
“The only way to become better friends with us is to attend our parties. We ain’t an exclusive country club where you have to prove your worthiness over a long time before being admitted. Sparky was part of our gang from the first day she came here, and everyone accepted her without question. Even Sam would be welcome in our circle if she dropped the fire and brimstone fundamentalism and started acting like a normal modern girl.”
Krzyś tore his gaze away from Sparky. “I still miss my friends in Warsaw and Lisbon, but most of the people here have been so nice. Maybe I should make an effort to attend more of your events and come to your houses more often.”
“That’s the spirit. You can put your candy away and join us in the living room. My guests will start arriving very soon.”
Violet came into the house, huffing for breath and walking even more slowly than she had when they’d set out. Cinni kept an eagle eye on her. If that huge hoopskirt broke or spilled anything, Widow Filliard wouldn’t be very pleased.
“Can I trust you to be careful with that thing?” Cinni asked. “Be honest. If you think it might cause an accident or make a mess, you can either sit my party out or go home to change.”
“How many times do I have to say I ain’t putting on a different costume?” Violet asked. “I sound like a broken record.”
“Then be prepared to tell my mom it’s your fault if that hoopskirt does any damage. I ain’t taking the blame for your carelessness and obsession with fashion above comfort.”
Cinni propped her scythe against a wall and went up to the attic with her candy. As soon as she came back downstairs, she went into the kitchen with Sparky and began lugging out all the food they’d worked overtime to prepare after school—pumpkin ice-cream, popcorn balls, candy apples, pumpkin pies, cookies shaped and frosted like ghosts and jack-o-lanterns, hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks, green punch with red gummi worms floating in it, very saucy spaghetti molded into brains, apple cider doughnuts, roasted pumpkin seeds, miniature cheesecakes in the shape of ghosts, caramel-drizzled popcorn mixed with roasted peanuts and chocolate chips, hard-boiled eggs dyed in autumnal colors, cheeseballs shaped like pumpkins, green macaroni and cheese, blood orange mocktail, pumpkin soup, orange and black macarons with red filling, cupcakes with very thick green and orange frosting, a red Jell-O mold with green gummi worms inside, and, best of all, a towering five-layer cake with thick chocolate frosting and marshmallow spider webbing.
All the food went onto tables set with orange and black checked tablecloths, black napkins in rings that looked like finger bones, and centerpieces of skulls, spiders, and pumpkins with black and orange tissue roses.
The living room was resplendent with black and orange streamers and balloons, three-dimensional jack-o-lanterns and bats made of tissue paper, pumpkin and skull garlands, cobwebs with rubber spiders, strings of orange and yellow lights, black and orange tinsel, vintage Halloween postcards, and cut-out spiders, skeletons, witches, ghosts, ghouls, tombstones, devils, cauldrons, jack-o-lanterns, owls, black cats, ravens, Vampyres, and bats. Best of all, this year there were dummy skeletons and scarecrows.
The final touches were basins of water with apples for bobbing and stations set up for Halloween games like walnut boats, various types of divination, and a Ouija board. Many hands truly had made light work, and the addition of Julieanna and Harry had made all the difference in having enough assistance to accomplish everything in enough time.
Cinni stood at the open living room door to greet her arriving guests. Without fail, every single person looked around in awe and proclaimed this year’s party was the best ever. None of this would’ve been possible without help, but they didn’t need to know that.
“You’ve truly outdone yourself, Cinni!” Julieanna exclaimed loudly enough for everyone to hear. “You must’ve spent weeks planning and preparing this! At the rate you’re going, I expect a haunted house at next year’s party. You oughta keep hosting a private party even when we’re old enough for the school’s dance and party. We can continue our fun here afterwards.”
“That sounds like a great idea!” Kit said. “I can’t imagine someone like Violet putting together a party half as good as this.”
“I have a much bigger house and way more money,” Violet grumped. “I also have lots of servants who can do everything for me. Why would I waste any of my precious time hanging up decorations and making food when I don’t have to?”
“Thanks for confirming how lazy you are,” Cinni said. “There’s something special about a party that was entirely put together by the person hosting it instead of done by a bunch of maids and cooks. It’s more personal.” She looked around at her assembled friends. “If I’m gonna continue hosting Halloween parties, I oughta be able to compete with the school party, and that means I might need a committee to help me. Would anyone like to volunteer? I’ll need nine people, to make an even ten with me.”
“You know I’d do anything for you, Cinni,” Kit declared. “Particularly if it means showing up Violet and proving you’re so much better than she is.”
“I’d love to help too,” Gayle said.
Violet clenched her fists as Max, Julieanna, Harry, Mickey, Sparky, Tina, and Laura put their hands up.
“Excellent,” Cinni said. “We can work on other kinds of parties too, and maybe do other fun events through the year.” She gave Violet a very meaningful look. “I wouldn’t have wanted you on my team anyway. Of course I don’t need anyone helping me, but a bigger, more sophisticated party calls for more hands on deck. You’ll see a working-class girl like me can throw parties that are just as good as, if not better than, anything you host in that snobby mansion of yours.”
Violet glowered at her and stalked over to the table with green punch and miniature cheesecakes. Her hoopskirt swayed dangerously from side to side as she walked.
“Be careful with that thing,” Cinni reminded her. “I ain’t taking the blame or paying for a mess or accident you made.”
Violet turned around and took a seat on the davenport, her skirts splaying out in both directions and covering the laps of Helouise and Adeline. “Since I ain’t allowed to go anywhere, would someone mind bringing me food?”
“You’re dreaming if you think we’ll wait on you hand and foot just ’cause you made a stupid decision about your costume,” Cinni said. “Maybe you’d really better go home to change into something more comfortable. You could ask your seamstress to make the hoopskirt smaller if you’re that committed to wearing only this.”
Violet pulled herself up and hurried to the front door as fast as she could walk.
“I’ve half a mind not to let her back in, but I have an obligation as Most Popular to be civil to everyone.” Cinni cut a huge slice of the chocolate spiderweb cake. “Would anyone like to play Halloween spinner with me?”
Sparky, Kit, and Max ran over, and they lowered themselves onto cushions by the orange board with a black spinner and a box of props. Cinni spun first, while she was still chewing her first bite of cake. She landed on “In your place, spin five times around, walk a straight line, and don’t fall down.” To make extra-sure she didn’t fall, she held her robe about a foot up.
Next up was Max, who had to cross the room on tiptoes in a straight line. Then came Sparky, who had to balance a silver spoon on her nose for thirty seconds. Kit spun “Three potatoes you must throw into a bowl, and don’t be slow.” She threw with her whole arm towards the basin at the other end of the room. The second potato flew too far and hit Dave in the most perfect spot. Everyone laughed as he dropped to his knees grunting and grimacing. While Dave was still down, Kit grabbed the third potato and deliberately aimed for his neck.
“It’s too bad Violet ain’t here to see this,” Cinni said. “She’d probably volunteer to throw potatoes herself, though given what happened at the football game last spring, he’d interpret that as meaning she likes him and do something gross.”
“Violet does like me!” Dave insisted.
“Only in your diseased brain, you knucklehead. When has she ever given even the tiniest hint she might have a crush on you? She thinks you’re disgusting like all the rest of us, and only tolerates your presence because it’s the bare minimum of decency.” Cinni threw a potato at his chest. “You’re so lucky I didn’t demote you to a Nobody after that nasty stunt at the football game.”
“Do you ever wear a normal Halloween costume?” Kit joined in. “You know you’re only using Halloween as an excuse to parade around in nothing but swimming trunks. You get a thrill out of making girls uncomfortable.”
Dave dismissively waved his hand at her.
“Would anyone like to work on a jigsaw puzzle of a haunted house?” Cinni asked. “There’s also a puzzle of a pumpkin patch. The team who finishes first will win a prize.”
Julieanna, Kit, and Harry went over to the haunted house puzzle, while Helouise, Laura, and Nan chose the pumpkin patch. Cinni helped herself to more cake, three miniature cheesecakes, five hard-boiled eggs, two cupcakes, a big jiggly piece of Jell-O, a generous helping of green macaroni and cheese, and a nearly-full glass of punch, then took her refreshments to the station with a vintage Hand of Fate game that could be played according to three different versions. The magnetic spinner could choose answers for players, reveal their fortunes by their birthdays, or pose true or false questions with answers to be determined by landing on even or odd numbers around the board. She was joined by Sparky, Max, Gayle, and Krzyś.
The other guests busied themselves with the Ouija board, floating walnut boats with candles to predict their futures, throwing apple peels that were supposed to land in the first initial of their future spouse, and reading ghost stories bookmarked in recent issues of Weird Tales, Terror Tales, and Horror Stories. They all periodically took breaks to get more food and drink, often praising Cinni for making such a delicious banquet.
The refreshment tables were almost completely bare by the time Violet finally sauntered back in with a much less voluminous hoopskirt and a bodice allowing her room to breathe and move normally. Cinni briefly looked up to acknowledge her, then resumed reading Terror Tales.
“You’ve missed so much fun.” Kit put the last two cupcakes and piece of cake on her plate, smirking at Violet’s resulting sour expression. “This really is our best Halloween party ever. Cinni just keeps getting better and better.”
“We pummeled Dave with potatoes while you were gone,” Cinni said. “It started by accident, and then we did it on purpose.”
Violet grabbed a plate and loaded it with a popcorn ball, two hard-boiled eggs, Jell-O, and two doughnuts. “Serves that filthy monkey right. I hope he wakes up with bruises tomorrow.”
“I already can’t wait for next Halloween.” Max looked over his plate of pumpkin pie, cookies, and macarons before deciding to bite into a ghost cookie next. “Cinni’s party will probably be even better than the school party and dance.”
“I have a lot more money and a much bigger house,” Violet grumbled. “I could throw a party with hundreds of people without running out of space.”
Cinni gave her a dismissive look. “You couldn’t even choose a costume that let you walk and breathe properly, and you missed mosta my party by tailoring the entire thing instead of just grabbing another costume.”
Violet flounced off to one of the fortune spinner games currently being played by Al, Julieanna, and Harry.
“I just had the best idea for our future Halloween parties,” Cinni said. “We can go on a haunted haywagon ride, a haunted cornfield maze, and a treasure hunt with spooky prizes. When we have our first party-planning meeting, I’ll appoint a treasurer, secretary, and vice-president. I’m the president, of course.”
For the rest of the party, Cinni moved from station to station to chat with her friends and helped herself to the remaining food and beverages. She was in the middle of bobbing for apples when Widow Filliard came down to announce it was 10:00 and time for bed. With all the fun she’d been having, it felt as though many more hours had passed.
Cinni sank her teeth into the biggest, juiciest apple and pulled herself up triumphantly, savoring the dark look on Violet’s face. She ate it in seven bites while the last few people bobbed for their own apples. Everyone laughed when Violet bit into the smallest, ugliest apple.
Cinni felt on top of the world as she saw each of her guests to the door. Tonight’s party had truly proven she was their undisputed queen, secure in her crown and in no danger of being overthrown by Violet. Her friends truly cared about her in every way, and her assistants hadn’t let on their role in pulling such a splendid affair together at the last minute. Perhaps this was the turning of a corner in her journey of grief, and happier and more hopeful times lay ahead sooner rather than later.
Welcome to My Magick Theatre 