Mom and Dad, I am going out with the boys tonight on Halloween. There is supposed to be a rumble downtown like last year. The boys fight against the Cops 10-31 in the Hills and Radical tonight.
The police are going to arrest you again and then you will spend the night in jail without any candy, says Mom.
Why don’t you dress up and torment the neighbors like you did last year? Ride your mini-bike on everyone’s lawn and burn in ruts, says Papa Wracks. Or heave water balloons at delivery trucks like you and Nate did last year.
How did you get in here Cool, asks Wracks. The doors are locked.
Your dog let me flip the latch through his doggy door. We are good friends, smiles Kool. Can I smoke inside?
Cool, do your parents know you smoke cigarettes, asks Papa Wracks.
It is part of my religion to smoke cigarettes, says Kool. We are Serbian Orthodox.
Neither your father or mother smoke cigarettes, says Papa Wracks
They do other things, says Kool, other things. I forgot my matches, can I use your lighter?
Go ahead, says Papa Wracks and he walks over to his chair, sits down, and lights up a cigarette also.
Where is Koest, asks Wracks.
He is going to meet us at the bottom of his hill and then we are going to assault the city. Let’s go.
Tonight the night is warm and breezy. The Santa Anna winds whip up the brown leaves and dust in an Indian summer before the winter sets in. The moon and the stars glimmer across the black sky and the warmth feels like freedom before the storm inundates forever. The street lights showcase the hills of tranquil hills and they undulate up and down as the road turns in a serpentine fashion into town. At the bottom of Casa de Azul, Koest waits with his backpack and gang costume. In tranquil hills, the typical gangster costume exemplifies cut-off blue jeans, Adidas sneakers, a tee shirt knotted at the arms, and a baseball cap. In the hood, like in tranquil hills, the most easily obtained weapons work the best. A short knife and baby baseball back when used effectively can then be tossed into the nearest trashcan or the ocean. However, the idle rich of Tranquil Hills acquire weapons much more costly, lethal, and effective. The landed gentry prefer suppressed rim fire rifles with a scope to exert control and the upper hand over the masses. The key to not getting shot is to not venture to secluded areas and to always keep moving. Running up Tranquil Hills High School hill and entering the town bordered by the funfair market and bicycle shop.
On to Milton’s parking lot, says Kool. Have your shaving cream and rotten eggs ready.
I have my tear gas if they get uppity, says Wracks, Walbe sold it to me.
In Milty, ‘s parking lot, the juveniles have accumulated. From the depths of the crowd an occasional rotten egg splats on the pavement or catches an unsuspecting participant in the face. Koest pulls a rotten egg out of his knapsack, heaves it and it catches an adult on the side of the face. The larger man turns into a saturnine figure and runs through the crowd trying to find out who threw the egg. A Halloween festival churns on at tranquil parks tennis courts and the ruckus at Milty’s draw. The kids draw lines and rotten fruit from the back of the supermarket begins to sail through the air and hit unsuspecting people above the waist. Rogues run out through the lines and squirt shaving cream from Cranks or Gillette foamy in a stream that reaches ten feet long. Just as things start to escalate and get fun, three Police cars with riot officers in helmets and shields with long batons roar into the parking lot and form a line between the two opposing participants in the battle of Tranquil Hills 10/31. The police get out of their cars and clash their batons against their shields. An Officer with a megaphone leans out of the center car and states. “Everyone has fifteen minutes to disperse or we will arrest offenders and take them downtown.” With that, a rotten egg his helmeted offer straight in the face, and a huge rotten tomato hits the megaphone and hangs off its end. The police start to charge the crowd
Let’s bail, says Kool, they are getting rough.
I nailed them, says Koest, I nailed them good.
Here they come, says Wracks, run for your life.
The three exit quicker than they arrived and rest at the cul-de-sac at the bottom of a way of Peace Street. Kool pulls out a smoke and lights up. Koest pulls out a smoke and lights up too. A wrack is not addicted to nicotine yet and does not have any. He finds five pieces of gum from his knapsack, takes off the wrappers, slams the wad into his mouth, and starts chewing.
Let’s take the back way home; says Kool, I want to check out Kneemo.
Not many street lights line those streets, says Koest, it will be rough going.
Let us stop at some houses and get some candy, says Wracks, I am hungry.
Down and around the High school bordering the football field the road turns in a snake-like fashion and escalates up a hill steeply to the enclave that borders the high school framed on all four sides by streets that angle steeply downward then at the bottom turn up sharply again. As the four enter the colony, a whizzing sound appears in the air and lemons begin to rain upon the three.
Run says Koest, we have been ambushed.
The lemons come from everywhere and each one of the three gets hit with a hard lemon.
A gang of young players appear out from the shadows with apple bags on their sides filled with lemons.
Peepers, who has red hair is the first to speak.
Any aggression and we will pelt you with hard lemons. says the red-haired teenager.
We give up, says Kool, where is Kneemo and Mondo?
They are at a Halloween party and we are holding their turf for them, says peepers
Can I have a couple of lemons, asks Wracks.
Sure, we have a truckload of them, help yourself, says Peepers
A wrack grabs four lemons and puts them in his backpack for ammunition. Happy Halloween the two groups say to each other and the three make their departure down the hill and up the hill again. At Blue Houses Street, Koste says goodbye and starts walking home up the hill. At the next Hill, Kool states he is taking the roundway home so he can visit a friend before going home. Wracks walks along alone home at about eleven o’clock on Halloween. Most law-abiding citizens sleep soundly and the porch lights shut down and the hills become dark, illuminated by the moon and shattered stars scintillating slowly. The street looks dark; the way seems long and the moonlight consoles Wracks who walks rapidly so he cannot be targeted by the elite. Trotting by the convenience market on the street without lights Wracks moves as fast as he can without running. Turn right on Bacon Way, to the crossroads and then the grey gate on the south side of the house and enter through the back door. Wrack’s father sits in the chair smoking a cigarette, and watching TV, and the candy bowl still broods full. A wrack grabs a handful and heads to his room.
How was your Halloween, asks Papa Wracks
The police broke it up before it could happen, says Wracks
Crowd and riot scenarios can get vicious, says Papa Wracks, vicious.
Wracks falls asleep before consciousness can overtake him and Halloween is now history and a memory. The moonlight shines through the bedroom window and the stars kiss young wracks goodnight. It is Halloween in tranquil hills and one of many.