This is episode number six in Pixie's story.
"Go Eagles!" Pixie said in the best cheerleader voice she could use in the house. She shook her pom-pom over her head and laughed as a flock of little elves and princesses copied her.
All her neighbor's kids and grand kids were invited to Pixie's Big Halloween Party. Outside, an early winter storm sent snowflakes swirling over the streets and sidewalks, but it was warm inside, and spiders and cobwebs decorated the dimly-lit house.
Pixie led the kids in another cheer before their parents reined them in. The littlest angels and spooks were already curling up on their mother's laps and falling asleep, but the older ones still needed to burn off their sugar highs.
"They're going to drive me crazy," Tamara said. A little girl tugged on her witch's cape, and Tamara lowered a plastic jack-o'-lantern so the girl could pick out candy.
"Be careful," Pixie said so the little girl couldn't hear. "They can smell fear, you know. At least I think you could at that age." Tamara grew up right across the street, and Pixie sometimes didn't believe that she could be in college now.
Tamara adjusted the wide brim of her pointed hat and said, "Maybe we'll get done a little early." She had a hopeful note in her voice.
They had a deal. If Tamara and her friends helped with Pixie's parties then Pixie would let them use her house for their own party. The party for the kids was to last until eight o'clock, and then Tamara's friends would start getting there at nine.
Pixie squeaked, and stepped over a little boy who tried to crawl between her legs. She turned around and asked, "That's Sam Lambert at the punch bowl, isn't it? What's he supposed to be?"
Tamara looked past Pixie and answered, "He's Archie. He makes a great Archie, doesn't he?"
Pixie approved. It wasn't so much the letter jacket she liked as it was the way the tee shirt under it stretched over his chest. "Are we going to have Betties and Veronicas here, too?" she asked.
Joan laughed. "There might be some girls here who wish they were Betty or Veronica, but none of them will be as good as you."
Pixie suddenly needed some punch. She stood in front of Sam, and he smiled when he handed her a cup. "Mrs. Tyler!" he said. "I love your cheerleader costume."
"Thank you," Pixie said, "but call me Pixie. This is my uniform from when I was in college, and I can still wear it without alterations—except the top.
"I thought a cheerleader would be non-threatening for the kids. I'll change into something a little more
interesting
after they're gone."
Pixie walked around the punch bowl and stepped close to Sam. She fingered his letter jacket then touched his chest. "What's your sport?" she asked.
Sam laughed and puffed his chest out a little to impress a hot-looking woman twice his age. "The jacket was my dad's," he said. "I think manual labor is my sport."
"It serves you well," Pixie said. A big-eyed little girl with an empty cup hopped up and down in front of the punch bowl, so Sam turned back to his work. Pixie watched his neatly combed hair and his big hands. She sipped her punch, and smiled behind her cup. Pixie had plans for Archie.
* * *
"Who's watching the door?" Pixie asked. She fluffed her black wig and checked her red lips in the mirror. Her eyes were outlined in dark eyeliner and eye shadow—a look that would have frightened the kids, but
that
party was over.
"I asked Sam to take the door," Tamara said. "Paul's got the music. Are we about ready?"
Pixie stood up, turned away from the mirror, and laughed at the girls. "You may be ready for them, but they
can't
be ready for you." Tamara and Joan were costumed as black cats. That wasn't very original, but they did their cats well.
"The last touch," Pixie said. She had to reach up to put their collars on, and a leash hooked to each girl's collar made their costumes complete.
Pixie stepped into the living room as The Mistress of the Night. Her body was wrapped in a tight black dress with a plunging neckline that barely contained her breasts. Her thigh-high nylons flashed through the skirt's long slit, and she glided across the room on red spike heels with her leashed familiars in tow.
Pirates, witches, zombies, and superheroes snacked in the dining room and loud music throbbed in the living room, where the furniture had been moved and the rug rolled up. They pointed and laughed, and heads turned. Paul looked up from his phone when Pixie stopped in front of him. She offered him Joan's leash and told him, "For you, Mr. Russo. Take care of my dear pet, please."
"Is she a good kitty?" Paul asked. He took Joan's leash and petted her butt. Joan pulled her tail to the side, arched her back, and gave Paul a come-hither meow.
Pixie slapped the handle of Tamara's leash against the palm of her hand. She looked around and wondered aloud, "Who deserves you?"
"Why don't you keep me for a while?" Tamara asked. "I'll introduce you to my friends." She looked at the growing crowd. "I guess we have some friends of friends here. I don't know everyone."
Tamara led her mistress around the living room and Pixie learned a lot of names she'd forget before she needed them. They worked through the dining room, talked with people in the kitchen, and then Pixie took Tamara back to where Sam still waited by the door.
Pixie unhooked her leash from Tamara's collar and said, "Don't forget that the music has to go way down at eleven. If it doesn't, then we may get a visit from the police." She sniffed the air. "I smell pot, so you may not want the police here."
Tamara started to apologize for the smoke, but Pixie stopped her. "Just make sure they keep the smoke outside. I told your folks that there wouldn't be a keg or a bar. I didn't tell them there wouldn't be any fun."
Sam's eyes didn't stray from Pixie while she talked. He watched her dark eyes and her red lips then his attention settled into Pixie's deep cleavage.
Pixie tucked her arm around Sam's elbow and squeezed against him. "I get Archie now," she told Tamara, and then she looked up at Sam. "I want to hang on a man. You don't mind, do you?"
Sam grinned and said, "Me? No!" Pixie pulled him through the girls and ghouls who were starting to crowd the dance floor and stopped in the dining room. They found Joan restocking the snacks.
"Let me do that," Sam said. He took the bag of chips away from Joan before she could stop him and set to work.
Pixie pulled Joan's attention away from the table and asked, "Where did you leave Paul?"
"I sent him to the kitchen," Joan said. Paul was beside the sink talking with a soft-bodied girl in bunny ears. "I asked him to keep an eye on the hot tub. Four guys took a girl out there, and they lost their costumes right away. I wanted to make sure she was really okay with that, but it looks like Paul got distracted."
Joan stopped Sam when he started arranging the dip bowls. "You don't have to work all the time," she said.
Pixie looked uneasy. She wrapped her hands around Sam's arm and leaned toward the kitchen door. "It's loud and it's getting a little stuffy in here. Would you take me outside?" She asked, and Sam didn't hesitate.
The patio was lit only by light from inside the house, the air was cool, and fat snowflakes melted on the stone as soon as they landed. Pixie stopped Sam outside the door and waited for her eyes to adjust before she could make out what was going on in the hot tub. She heard it before she saw it.
Steam rose around a girl whose wet hair hung on her shoulders. She sat across one boy's lap while her hand pumped under the water. She leaned back against another boy who played with her tits, and she laughed out loud at something he said in her ear.
"It looks like she's having fun," Pixie said and turned to face Sam. "I hated the idea of what could've happened."
Sam stared at the scene in the hot tub. "I don't know who she is, but I guess she likes a lot of attention." He looked down at Pixie. "I kinda hoped we'd have a chance to talk when we came outside. There were too many people inside."
"I'm not really dressed to stand outside and talk," Pixie said. She slipped her hands under Sam's letter jacket and pulled herself close. "We could find a quiet place inside, or you could keep me warm."
Two nerds in horn rimmed glasses lurched through the door beside Pixie, and she ducked against Sam for protection. He caught her with one hand and put his other hand out to fend off the nerds. "Watch it," he said, and they apologized as they backed away.
"Thanks," Pixie said. "Let's get out of the way." She pulled Sam around the corner and into the darkness where snowflakes fell around them. Pixie leaned back against the wall to look up at Sam, and he hunched over her to shelter her from the falling snow.
Pixie inhaled the scent inside Sam's jacket and asked, "What did you want to talk about?"
Sam laughed. "I don't even know," he said. "I guess that sounds dumb, but I just wanted to talk."