| |
Granny and her posse came in after their morning walk a couple days later. They were buzzing excitedly about something.
"What's up?" I asked as I got their regular drinks ready for them.
"Did you read the paper?" Wanda asked, stepping forward with her reusable insulated cup that read I Do Tricks for Treats.
I took it from her and filled it with hot water. "No! It came but it's been really busy this morning. What did it say?"
Granny brought it over, opened it to the entertainment section, and slapped it down on the counter. "That Lottie girl is a master with that pen," Granny remarked, jamming an orange fingernail onto the newsprint. "Serves those two boys right. Coming in here and picking a fight in my store."
I took the paper from her and glanced over the article. It basically was a rundown of the two tours, but mostly a scathing exposé about the two guys running it and the rivalry between them. I guess it had been going on for years, and judging by the quotes Lottie had managed to get from the both of them, wasn't going away anytime soon.
"I hope this doesn't hurt the bottom line for the island," I replied, not entirely as thrilled as Granny and her posse as they were.
"All press is good press," said Granny. She turned to her friends. "Although, I wouldn't be entirely sad to see them go under myself."
Holly shook her head primly, the Gibson girl bun on her head wobbling. "A whole lot of Halloween hocus pocus if you ask me. No respect for the island or the families living here. And rude! I don't know who is worse! That Echo or that Tango!"
But speak of the devil, Tango stormed into the shop and made a beeline to the newsstand. We all watched him, curiously.
He picked up the entire pile and tossed them on the counter in front of me. "I want you to throw all of these away," he demanded.
"Um... no?" I answered. "I'm not eating our daily newsprint investment for some guy I've barely ever met."
He stared at me for a few seconds, as if he couldn't understand the words that were coming out of my mouth. Finally, he said, "Fine. FINE!" He pulled out his wallet. "I would like to buy all of these newspapers and then I would like for you to throw them in the dumpster."
I took his money. "I'm happy for you to buy them. Thank you for your purchase. However, I'm afraid that I don't have time to run out to the dumpster."
"She's very busy with customers," sweet Holly said, her eyes blinking behind her thick glasses.
"Fine! FINE!" Tango said, taking the stack and then heading out the door. He glared at me. "I see what you are doing. You're trying to ruin my career."
"Dumpster's in the alley behind the shop." Wanda sucked her water loudly through her silicone straw.
Disbelieving the insult to his ego he was enduring, Tango marched out the door.
"Who needs to ruin his career when he is so good at ruining it himself," I muttered. "Sheesh..."
But then he turned the wrong direction.
Marnie shook her head. "Let's see how long it takes for him to figure it out..."
Granny pulled out her watch. "I'll time it. Lay your bets down, girls!"
But before they could pull out any of their spare change, Echo came running in.
"I need all of the papers!" he shouted.
We all recoiled from that amount of noise this early in the morning.
"Tango just bought them all," I informed him.
"Where did he go?" Echo asked, spinning and casting his eyes around the store high and low.
"Out to the dumpster," Wanda stated, pointing her fingernail to the exit.
Echo scowled at the door. "Probably already slandering my good name..."
"Seriously, he was just taking them out to the dumpster," I said again since he seemed not to have heard it the first time.
"That's what he wants you to believe," he spat before running out.
"Those boys," Granny remarked, shaking her head. "Like two bull mooses rutting. Gotta sit there and knock each other on the heads to figure out their territory." She reached across the counter and gave my hand a squeeze. "I'm so glad you were a girl."
But before any of us could say anything else, Tango was back and he was hopping mad. I think he finally figured out he had gone the wrong direction. Unfortunately, arms still filled with newspapers, he and Echo almost collided. I could hear their angry shouting even inside the shop. Then, Echo tried ripping the papers out of Tango's hands, but Tango was having none of that and pulled back just as hard. They both went down.
"Oh, that's terrible," said Holly as their heads popped back up above the window frame in what looked like a wrestling hold.
"We really should break it up," noted Marnie, trying to peer over the window frame.
Wanda looked at the posse and smiled. "What was that about bull meese rutting?"
"David Attenborough, eat your heart out," said Holly, straining to see.
"We really should check if they are all right, shouldn't we?" Wanda asked.
Marnie and Holly emphatically agreed, but Granny's left hand shot up as she flashed her ring. "Sorry, girls. I'm engaged."
"Well, all you single ladies, follow me before they knock some sense into one another," said Wanda, leading the charge.
Giggling, the posse made their way outside and made a halfhearted attempt to part the boys.
Granny laughed and shook her head.
The rest of the day passed without excitement until the afternoon ferry rolled in. And then, suddenly, the town was swamped. I was so grateful the Bitter Beans festival table had only been for one night. Gobs of people took a detour and headed for us. There was a line out the door.
Granny came down from her room to relieve me, but saw the mass of people. "Mind a little overtime?" she asked, completely overwhelmed by the sight.
"Not at all," I replied.
Over the next twenty minutes, our tip jar was full, as well as the raffle basket for the new historical society. We couldn't work fast enough.
"So, here for the festival?" I asked one of the customers as I sped to get her rung up.
"No!" she exclaimed. "We saw that thing about the ghost hunters and decided it seemed like a fun thing to do for Halloween." She leaned forward. "We're thinking we'll try both of the tours. See who is really best."
I glanced over at Granny who had the grace to give a shrug that seemed to say who could have known.
She did. She had absolutely known that the article would bring in the masses like bees to honey.
Things started to die down as the time for the tours drew closer. I wandered to look out the front window to see if it was safe for me to check out for the night and leave the shop to Granny.
I could barely see Johnny over all the people. Evidently jealous of Tango's special effects, he was handing out glow stick headbands and bracelets to his tour customers. Green and pink neon bobbed up and down along the beach.
But suddenly, Echo came tearing down the road, his trench coat flapping behind him. He ran into the shop.
"I need your bathroom," he said, looking totally green around the gills.
I pointed him to the back and he dashed inside.
And he was there for awhile.
Fifteen minutes later, I checked my watch, wondering if I should knock on the door to see if he was okay. I mean, I'm sure he was. But maybe he wasn't. I didn't know how to handle this situation. I glanced down at my watch again.
"Do you think I should check on him—" I began to ask Granny.
But then Johnny came into the shop, worried. "Hey! Did you see Echo?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think he might be sick. He asked to use our restroom," I answered, and then leaned a little closer. "He's been in there for awhile."
He nodded, relieved. "Told him to come here." He wandered over and knocked softly on the door. "Dude? You alive? Did you hit your head on the sink or anything?"
I heard a muffled reply. "I have poisoning. I've been poisoned."
Puzzled, I checked in with Johnny. Did he mean food poisoning?
"Did you eat something bad, dude?" Johnny asked, rubbing his stomach sympathetically. "Your tummy feeling gnarly?"
"NO!" Echo called back. "I've been poisoned. I need an ambulance."