Beware of the Black Cat

The polyester collar makes my neck itch and the face paint threatens to melt down my cheeks. It’s a tough price to pay to be the best-looking vampire in the neighbourhood. Hopefully the only vampire. Halloween this year is going to be different. Tonight, I’m on a very important mission; getting a girl to notice me and go out with me. Not just any girl, either. If all goes to plan, I will be taking Olivia Newman to the party coming up at Dillon’s place. It’s an optimistic plan but I may as well try. I will casually walk past Olivia, as we cross paths trick or treating. I’ll pretend not to see her at first, although who could not notice those dark brown curls and pink, silky lips? She’ll give a casual wave and then, boom, I’ll ask her out.

Oh and it’s the first year I’m taking Tommy out with me.

‘Just remember to keep him close by at all times’, Mum nags. I realise that I may have tuned out but I’ve heard it all before, anyway.

‘Of course, Mum. We’re going to be fine, it’s literally a thirty minute walk around the block.’

I pull down Tommy’s wizard hat and straighten his robe, proving that I am the loving and caring big brother she needs me to be.

‘Ok well, we’re off. Enjoy a wine or two Mum’. I give her a cheeky wink and we are out the door.

***

We stroll down the wide, open streets as the sun is setting. The cool breeze that is creeping in means my painted face won’t melt completely. The houses that show support for the holiday have plastic pumpkins and synthetic spider webs at the front door. Nothing too dramatic but just enough to show they are on the side of spooky. Australia is still stuck in Halloween limbo, with half of the population adopting the new traditions, just for fun, and the other half complaining each time it comes around that we are picking up too many ‘Americanisms’. I reckon we just need to all get over it and have some fun.

Tommy clutches his collection bag with a firm grasp and he marches forwards with focussed eyes. He is taking his job of trick-or-treating very seriously and is ticking off each house as we visit it, from his hand-written list. It’s painful to watch.

All I can think about is Olivia. I hadn’t thought how difficult it would be to spot her when every single girl is wearing a costume. Is she the mermaid? Nope, nose too big. Is she the witch? No, legs too short. Maybe this isn’t a great idea, after all. I don’t even know her really, I’ve just seen her a few times in the hallways at lunch time.

My thoughts are interrupted by Tommy as we approach house number 42A. He stands, looking at his list, and then the house, and then the list again.

‘This isn’t right, this house isn’t on here.’ His fingers trace over the words, as if they might feel different to how they read.

‘Oh, it looks like they’ve split the block in two. So there is now 42A and 42B. They do that sometimes.’

‘But it’s not on my list.’ Tommy’s forehead wrinkles.

‘It’s alright, Tommy. It just means we have one extra house to visit, so more lollies for us.’

Tommy stares at me, the forehead furrow getting deeper and deeper.

‘Here’, I say in my frustrated-but-trying-not-to-show-it-tone. I grab the pen and paper and quickly fix the list by adding the extra letters and numbers to match reality. ‘They’re on the list now.’

This seems to satisfy the little wizard and he walks confidently towards the front door of 42A.

***

We have been collecting for at least twenty minutes and I still haven’t caught sight of Olivia. I’m beginning to think she stayed at home. Is she too cool for trick-or-treating? Is there a party somewhere that I don’t know about? Suddenly a loud horn goes off, the kind that kids have on their bikes sometimes. Almost at the same time, a siren sounds, from a police car that is visiting the neighbourhood to show their support. I don’t have time to put his headphones on, and it would be too late anyway. Tommy loses it. I can hear him screaming as he runs in circles around me. I know that nothing I can do will help Tommy now, he just needs time. If I try to intervene, I’ll just end up with scratch marks. I’ve learnt that the hard way.

As if the universe is against me, Olivia turns up just at this very moment. I recognise her instantly. She looks even more beautiful than I could ever imagine. She is wearing a black cat costume, which makes her legs look even longer than usual. The cat whiskers set off her freckles and hazel eyes. Tommy runs circles around me, the red-faced vampire. I know she recognises me but she walks straight up to Tommy, instead. Before I can warn her to back off, Tommy lunges at her and takes a bite. He latches onto her wrist with more force than you’d expect from a six year-old.

She screams. He unlatches. I see blood.

‘Are you alright?’ I ask, in complete shock. She really shouldn’t have approached him like that.

‘Are you serious? Do I bloody look alright?’

Tommy has started to bounce around on the spot now, hands on his ears. The yelling is not helping the situation. I guess this is what the psychologist would describe as ‘escalating behaviours’.

Olivia is huddling with her friends, while they inspect her wound and make ‘tut tut’ noises. One of the friends is shaking her head at Tommy and another is staring right at me, with dagger eyes.

The mystery girl taunts, ‘What are you gonna do about it? You just gonna stand there?’

My throat is dry and all I can manage is a weak cough. Tommy is now shrieking and hitting his head with an open palm. I try to grab his hands but he drops to the ground and keeps going, faster now.

At this point, Olivia turns around to face me and her eyes finally meet mine.

‘Don’t worry Casey, that little brat will never learn his lesson anyway. They just let him get away with anything’.

The girls follow the black cat as she storms off across the road.

I sit down on the ground to be with Tommy.

She looks pretty stupid in that costume anyway.