Jeremy opened his eyes and reached over to the nightstand for his phone.
10 am and two texts. The first was from his father and he sat bolt upright as he read it.
"Please call ASAP, IMPORTANT".
It was from 930, at least he hadn't really slept late he thought as he tapped the screen to call his dad.
Not unexpectedly, he picked up on the first ring.
"Everything OK?"
"Not really, Jeremy. It's Aunt Trudy, it seems her health has taken a turn for the worse and they are putting her in hospice. She wants me to come up and make sure everything is in order."
Aunt Trudy had married my grandmother's brother and was everyone's favorite Aunt. Her father had died young without a will and the ensuing battle over the estate had scarred her emotionally. Two of her brothers still weren't speaking 40 years later. Needless to say, her affairs were in perfect order, but I guess you couldn't blame her for being paranoid, and since her nephew, my dad, happened to be one of the most respected estate attorneys in the state...
"What can I do?"
"Your mom and I are leaving in a few hours; I think we will be back on Tuesday. So, I'm going to need you to watch the house on Monday and hand out candy."
"And that rates a call me asap text, Dad"
"It's Halloween, this IS important, your mom got you a costume, she's going to leave it on your bed."
Jeremy took a deep breath, composing himself.
"All right Dad, I've got it."
"Thanks, we'll keep you posted".
"Have a safe trip, my love to Aunt Trudy."
He hung up the phone and laid back on the bed.
Sometimes he really thought he must have been switched at birth. He was pretty certain no one on earth was more into a holiday than his parents. His dad was nuts for Halloween and his mom was just as crazy for Christmas.
Their decorations for both holidays were so over the top they had purchased a self-storage place years ago and three of the biggest units were dedicated to storing them.
If that wasn't bad enough, they had managed to infect their whole neighborhood. His Dad had led a campaign to bring back the Halloween of their childhood and gotten most of the residence of the gated community to go along. Three quarters or more of the houses are decorated now, and almost all handed out candy. They opened up the gates, made parking available at the clubhouse and families from all over the area came to trick or treat.
He also threw a pretty serious Halloween party for everyone in the community as an unofficial "thank you" for indulging his craziness.
Ever the dutiful son, Jeremy drove over to his parents' house Monday afternoon.
A couple of cases of candy bars sat on the kitchen table, along with a set of instructions for turning on all the decorations and a reminder that his costume was in his room.
He made his way upstairs, laid out on the bed was some sort of gladiator costume. As he looked at it he realized it was actually a pretty good imitation of the costume Russel Crowe wore in Gladiator.
Well, if Russel Crowe can wear what looks like a skirt, I guess I can too he thought. He picked it up, as usual his Mom had gone out, the thing was made of real, thick leather and the buckles on the straps had some heft to them. It wasn't some cheap plastic and pleather thing from Amazon.
He spent the next few hours catching up on some homework, then prepped for the night's festivities. All the decorations were on, and the candy bucket was full as he went upstairs to put on the costume. He felt a bit silly doing it, what the hell difference did it make what he was dressed like, the kids wouldn't care they just wanted candy. But his parents expected it, he sighed as he stripped out of his regular clothes. He wasn't as jacked as Russell Crowe had been for the movie, but at 6ft 1in and 200lbs he still made for a respectable gladiator he thought as he strapped the sword on and looked at himself in the mirror. If only he'd had time to grow out his beard and mustache.
He was out sitting on the porch when the first kids arrived. After that it was a non-stop parade of kids in costumes. The only thing stopping the neighborhood from being the perfect trick or treating spot was the size of the lots. All the houses were on at least an acre, Jeremy's parents was on 2 1/2, making for a long walk between houses. The heft of the candy bags the kids were carrying was a pretty good indicator it was worth the walk though.
Things were starting to wind down when 2 little girls, 4, maybe 5 years old dressed as cats started up the walk. Trailing behind were two women a tall, thin blonde probably almost 6ft tall, she had shoulder length hair, and tanned skin and a shorter 5ft or so, curvier with long red hair and breasts that were straining against the top of her costume. Both were dressed as witches naughty, but still appropriate to be out with the kids. Clever, Jeremy thought witches and their familiars.
The two little girls approached smiling and let out the obligatory "trick or treat".
Jeremy kneeled down with the candy bucket.
"Pick out what you want", he offered.
The girls' eyes gleamed as they looked at the full-size candy bars.
"Oohhhh, Ms!" the first girl squealed and grabbed a bag of M&Ms.
The second pulled out a bag of Skittles, proudly announcing, "Rainbows!"
He stood up, presenting the bucket to the two witches.
"Awful nice of you to take your little sisters trick or treating, want some candy?"
The blonde grinned at him, "free candy and not a white van in sight", she said.
"Well, we keep the scary stuff in back, kid friendly out here," he responded gesturing towards the little girls who were now enamored with a group of inflatable cartoon dogs in Halloween costumes.
"Do you now?" The red head inquired, "isn't this where you have the big neighborhood party I've heard about?"
"Yeah, you know how it is, business in the front, party in the rear." Jeremy instantly winced at the poor attempt at humor, but both the witches were quite attractive, and he felt more nervous than he really ought to have.
"It's been a long time since I've had a party in the rear", the red head responded, giving him a wink.
"Well, I'd give you a tour but it's probably a bit much for them," he said gesturing towards the girls.
"Maybe some other time Gladiator," the blonde interjected, looking at the little girls she called out, "Tabitha, Samantha, come on girls!".
The two broke away from the decorations and the four of them headed back up the walk.
The trick or treaters gradually petered out and after 15 minutes of not seeing anyone he decided to call it a night.
Carrying the remaining candy back inside, then turning off the decorations. He went into the house, plopping down on the couch debating his next move.