Kerri I


They threw the wrap party in Portion Control, of course. Deliah and her crew had made the Winter Forrest we’d heard so much about. It was about 8 feet long, an orchard of denuded trees with candy icicles.

A sidewalk wove through it, a trail of square blondies set in the coconut snow. Going down the path was a wonder, seeing the details of the trees’ bark, the little nests, the mounds of coconut that looked like someone had shoveled the walk.

Nolan let me wander through the orchard until I picked a tree, then took that, a blondie and some of the snow on a plate. We sat at a table to watch the party and nibble.

Annie and Pet were sitting at the same table with a similar selection of trees to share. Conrad sat by us, but he didn’t eat anything.

He was staring at his laptop. There were about fifteen sylphs inside Electra’s home, congratulating her on the show and exploring the home. He stabbed a button now and then to shift his view and keep track of everything.

Sylphs would come out, rip down a tree branch and go back inside, or use a spoon to shovel up some snow, or a group would pry up a cookie, then take it back inside.

The clean-up was going to be lengthy.

Deliah and Sam were on the other side of the set, heads together to decide how to best add the trees to the menu. I listened to a little bit about how labor intensive they were, then turned them off.

Pet and Annie were acting like drunks. They were sober, but they’d look up and their eyes would meet and they’d tear up.

Ray moaned. “A maudlin Annie is not something I’m used to.”

“You’re just trying to be the strong one,” Denise said, stroking his arm. Her eyes were tearing up now and then, too.

“We could talk about the portrait,” Nolan suggested.

“The bat!” Ray said, desperately grabbing the topic by the throat. “I loved the bat! I have a small one just like it, but without the nails.”

“I know,” I said. “She told me. She was bragging about how you defended her honor with that thing.”

“He was SUCH a hoodlum when we met,” Annie said. “One time-“

“Statute of limitations,” Ray said cautiously.

“I wasn’t going to make FRIENDS into accessories after the fact!” she snapped.

“I know you don’t INTEND to,” he replied, “but a reminder doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“Saying you think I’m inconsiderate about felonies hurts me deeply, Ray!”

“It’s true,” Conrad mused in a wondering tone.

“I told you,” Nolan said.

“And I thought you two were bad.”

“Who’s bad?” Pet asked.

“Nolan and I can be,” I said. “But around these two, it’s redundant.”

“Hear that!” Ray accused. “You ruin their fun.”

“ME?!”



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Index

131. Electra L

133. Electra M