Cookies & Cream Ch. 32

"Strawberry"

The duo walked out of the woods as Thomas took pictures of a zebra butterfly. He took a good look at Raymond and Tabby and ran up to them. He couldn't believe they went through the Flasher's wrath. He grinned as he dropped his camera into his bag. Raymond let him come over and join them as Tabby waved hello.

"Hey Tom!"

"Hi Tabby! How's it going??" Thomas asked her. Raymond answered for her. "She is doing awesome. We are in cosplay for Tabby's benefit."

"Really? Well that's awesome! You're playing Ramla, aren't you?"

"I am, Tom, I am!"

"That is so cool! I'll bet you're going to wear that for Billy's upcoming Summerween party."

"Yeah, and Raymond's going to play Alucard."

Tommy rubbed his hands together. "Man, and I thought me playing Edmund is cool." He stretched his arms and sighed. "You know, I don't get how Summerween become popular. Summer isn't too spooky to begin with and Halloween doesn't take place until autumn. How did come to be?"

Raymond shrugged as Tabby thought about it. "Now that is an incredibly good question, Tom. I really don't know. But maybe Dina would know! That walking encyclopedia knows many things. She can tell you all about it when you see her."

"Sounds like a plan to me! She gave me answers about how to improve angle shots and zooming. She can help me again with this conundrum!"

"Question!" Raymond looked at the over joyful enthusiast. "Why do you sound like a total Sheldon right now?"

"Sorry." Tommy's goofy grin disappeared and put his arms down. "Guess I got too carried away with the idea of knowing. And believe me, my friend, if I was Sheldon, I would be downplaying your intelligence and scuff at your aloof nature!"

"No wonder your father is never around you. If I were your dad, I would look around and go 'I don't this snobby white Carlton.'"

Now Thomas was the type that was sensitive when it came to his father. Sure, his dad was...distant at times, but Thomas still respected him. He wanted to be like his dad, so confident with his hard work. Now until a couple of weeks, he would admit he was proud of his father. That was when that day came around. I won't tell you what happened, but heads will roll!

The went to the row of cabins and greeted a few housewives who waved to the three. There was a young widow named Patti Hart, a delightful soul. She hosed her prize-winning azaleas when she saw the young trio walking around the corner. She grinned and waved at them. Her bright teeth and her sensible hair-do brought their attention.

"Well, how do you do!" Patti waved to them, her tank top barely covering her decent double D's Her hair was up in a French braid and had a turtle shell pin. She turned off the hose and placed it down before running to them. "How are you guys in this grand Saturday?"

Her sunset orange hair braid bounced as much as her breasts when she came up to them. All three people blushed when they saw the bounce. They had a blur when they darted back to her sea green eyes. "We're good." Raymond coughed. Patti chuckled as Thomas made an embarrassed goofy laugh.

"Thomas! You naughty, naughty boy!" Patti reached out to him and "slapped" his hand. "Bad, Thomas, very, very bad."

Thomas laughed even harder and his face was redder! Raymond and Tabby looked at each other then back at the widow. Now Patti's husband had been gone for three years! Her mourning for him was deplorable as she said. There were spouts of ugly cries whenever she thought of her army hubby. But he wanted her to move on and moved on she did. Thomas was close enough age to her...in her own head! Frankly, she is ten years older. But...a crush is a crush.

She turned back to Raymond. "Oh, Ray, honey, is Rudy doing okay?"

"Rudy? I think he's fine. He's entertaining a friend today."

"A friend? You mean that cute Latina with the long hair?"

"That's Miel!" Tabby proclaimed; her eyes bulged. "She said she was going for a long walk! Why was she in your cabin, Ray?"

Ray grimaced to that question. "Look, your friend likes my roommate. And, well, this is the first time they would spend time together. I'm pretty sure they're playing games and having fun. Skip Bo, Farkle, Pictionary, you know, innocent fun."

Patti made a snort and hissed. "Believe you me, honey, the games they're playing isn't as innocent as you think." She turned her head right at Raymond's cabin. When they saw Miel behind Rudy performing in the bed, the three went pale. Well, Thomas and Tabby went pale. Raymond was redder than the Queen of Hearts' rose bush. "Oh Christ!"

Miel swiveled her hips while Rudy were on all fours, enjoying each other so well. Both were naked and Miel had a large strap-on! A strap-on?? I couldn't believe Miel, the pure heart of the group, had a strap-on! Tabby couldn't believe it either. Her eyes read disbelief from left to right.

"Miel has toys?" Tabby cried out, turning back to Patti. "I want to apologize to you, Mrs. Hart! I had no idea...absolutely NO idea my best friend was that kinky! To be frank, I didn't think she had...personal toys."

"Come now, Tabby!" Patti, petted Tabby's hand. "We are adults here. You can say sex toys! As for watching them, this is nostalgia at its finest! It reminded me of my Tad and I having our sexy time."

"You mean like you on all fours and Tad doing all the..." Thomas stopped and thought of the word before saying it in a comfortable meaning. "You know, your Tad being a man."

Patti blinked at the boy and replied, "No."

Raymond seethed and put his arms around his friends. "Well, Mrs. Hart, we would love to stay and talk for a while longer, but we need to get moving. Lunch doesn't make itself and all that."

All three of them turned away, waving to the widow. Patti said her farewell before sighing and went back to her azaleas. Raymond massaged his sinus pressure between his brows as Tabby and Thomas blushed with shame. They wouldn't dare think about what they saw and heard. I'm sure Raymond was cursing about the two humping humans. He didn't want to know they had the audacity to display their affection in public. When they crossed the lane, he saw the answer.

"What in the world??" Tabby gawked over a line of white vans with a logo "Cay Spy" at the side. Some of the vans drove to a different row of houses to place cameras on the lawns. Raymond fluffed his hair and fanned himself with his hat. "Oh right. Looks like Mr. Keller's friend heard about our certain dilemma."

"You know about this?" Thomas asked. "How did you know?"

"My boss gave me a briefing earlier today. Keller's friend is an international successful CEO for a high-rate security company. Plus, with a help of that Washi guy, our days with the Flasher are behind us."

Thomas laughed and beamed over his old man. "That's my dad for you! Whatever mission he comes across, he'll settle it without a hitch. And Washi is one awesome mofo! He's the one that invented a high-tech dome flip 180 camera."

Tabby smiled as one of the finished secured cameras were installed. The camera in question was pink chromo and round. It fit perfectly in the middle of a plastic flower model. She turned to the other side of the flower and camera flipped around to see her.

"Wow! Talk about flipping out! This little guy can track a lot of movement!"

"Impressive!" Raymond gave the camera a slow clap. Thomas ignored his sarcasm and rubbed his stomach. "It's too early to have lunch. It's close to eleven."

"Perfect timing to go in the diner, if you want my opinion." Raymond grinned and walked on the trail. "It's between the breakfast rush and lunch rush. We can have something called Saturday Brunch."

Tabby smiled at that idea. "Man, I LOVE that! I can have Belgian waffles with spicy nacho tots! Thomas, you ever had chicken and waffles?"

"Yeah?"

"It's the perfect brunch item! That's what I'll have! Fried chicken and golden waffles is so good right now!"

"Please don't say you're having a foodgasm." Raymond sighed as Tabby started to gaze into the sky. She drooled constantly over the dream sight of crispy chicken with a stack of waffles. Thomas stood right next to Raymond with an aloof expression. "Thanks for that visual, Ray."

"No problem." (I must laugh about Raymond's character at this point. Yes, he knows about sarcasm, but he doesn't give a shit! That's why I enjoy his company whenever I write in peace. For those who are wondering, yes, I'm typing in my new laptop while I read my notes. I got stacks of notebooks full of scribbles! And Katie is sitting beside me to correct my mistakes. And she's giving me a face because I wrote about her. And no, Katie, I will not erase this! Edit it out if you want! I'm keeping my copy!)

The three travels walked a good way to Cookies & Cream when the last bong struck. It was eleven at the dot! Raymond noticed Pam and Katie setting a few picnic tables in front of the diner. Daniel grabbed a few cloths and spread on each wooden table. When the Brazilian man glimpsed at the three, he greeted them.

"Welcome back, Ray!" He shouted as they approached the gingham clothed tables. "Hello Tabby and Thomas! What do you think of this layout?"

"This is fantastic, you guys!" Tabby cried, seeing Ingrid and Abby putting salt and pepper shakers on the tables. "You haven't even added outside tables before!"

"I didn't even know it's the first time, but Charles and Emma decided to test the waters." Katie winked at them as Pam put napkin holders in the center. "Ever since incident last night, the owners might think they'll be busier than ever."

"Why do they think that?" Raymond asked, sitting down on a bench. Katie groaned. "Hello? The Cherry Pops are in this resort! There's bound to be fans!"

"And they are bound to be cops!" Pamela shivered at the very idea. "Ew! The sight of the police manhandling those ruffians and chase the baddies are so atrocious!"

"But Pam, they're protecting the pop stars from crazy fanatics!" Ingrid set the last napkin holder on a virgin table. "You don't want the police to go easy on them and let their have their hands on the girls, would you?"

Pam thought about it for a bit. Brie came out of a pitcher of lemonade while Nikki had a tray of glasses. They smiled as Nikki put three glasses down. "Good day, guys! Brie and I saw you sitting here, so we decided to bring you a cool pitcher of lemonade to cool you down. And guess what? It has strawberries!"

"Ah thanks!" Pam took the pitcher from Brie. "Just what I need!" Without saying another word, she poured the lemonade all over herself. Brie bit her lip and crossed her hands. She excused herself and ran back into the diner. Nikki groaned, thinking Brie was going to cry.

"Now why did you do that, Pam?" Nikki scolded. "Brie made that lemonade from scratch! She was so proud of herself!"

"Give me a break, Nikki! Can't you see I'm hot here?"

Abby looked at Ingrid and nodded. "Daniel." They simply put. Cassandra walked over to the diner and looked at the tables. "What? Well, this is new! Lisa will flip out when she sees this!"

"Is Lisa coming to lunch?"

"Yeah!" Cassandra nodded with an overexaggerated notion. "She loves your Saturday brunch! She's been looking forward to have cheesy eggs with her macaroni and cheese."

Raymond coughed. "She 'cheddar' have some fruit with that cheesy meal. Not meaning to be funny and all, but I really want Lisa to rub elbows for a long time."

Cassandra chuckled waved to Raymond. "You quiet Joker! You mean well and she admires you, Ray. I'll tell her you said that." And right on cue! Lisa came on right over. Cassandra hugged her younger sister and squeal over the tables. "Guess what, Lisa, we're going to eat outside!"

Lisa grinned and her eyes beamed over the décor. "I noticed this improvement, and I approve."

"Yes!" Cassandra's face fell when she saw a soaked Pam sitting next to an empty pitcher. She sighed and was miserable and red. Cassandra knew Pam was not like that. "Well Pam! You're not yourself today!"

Lisa scoffed. "Well I noticed that improvement right off the bat!"

Ingrid eyed the sister. "Lisa, now is not a good time to read someone. Goodness knows we have a lot of shade as it is!"

Lisa sat down as Abby gave her a menu. Tabby joined her sorority sisters as Thomas and Raymond sat across them. Brie came back with her note pad, all happy. Nikki ran to her with concern. "Brie! I hope you're not too upset about that lemonade."

"No! Not at all!" Brie made a high-pitched laugh. "No, I just splashed myself with water. The heat got to me. Plus, I have a few more pitchers of lemonade on the counter. So, who wants lemonade?"

"Girls!" Emma opened the door. She waved her apron around. "Come back inside! The food is ready to be eaten!"

"You mean served, right, Mrs. Mersfield?" Katie asked after a moment of awkward silence. Emma blinked. "Well, of course! That's what I said, didn't I??"

The girls went back inside as Emma exhaled. She saw the setup and was satisfied and then some! "Oh my! The girls outdid themselves! The tables look so amazing! Oh, hello, Ray! Hi Tommy! I'm so glad you are ready to eat Saturday brunch out here!"

"We've been ready to eat!" Thomas grabbed his knife and fork. "Where's the chicken and waffles?"

"Are we cheeky today?" Emma pinched Thomas's cheek. "Where's your dad?"

"He's at work, M'am. He's remarkably busy today with the orders coming all over Orlando."

"Shame! He loves my husband's pancakes! Oh well. Everybody ready for our Saturday brunch?"
There were more people at the area and started to sit. Emma clapped her hands at the cheers and applause. "All righty! Now this is the first try of what's to come. If this is a success, we'll do the brunch every weekend!"

"Wow!!" Liza almost fainted at the idea. "This won't be once a month? We're gonna have brunch every weekend?"

"If it succeeds, Lisa, we will."

Lisa slammed her hands on the table. "Come on, people! Let's make it a success! Bring on the FOOD!"

Soon, the hotel pans are laid on the tables and the people gobbled the food! My sorority sisters and I went there for our brunch. We told each other what happened that morning. We had seen the vans, so it was a common conversation.

"What do you guys think?" Hannah asked, her spoon in her banana pudding. "The cameras would put a stop on the Flasher, wouldn't it? We don't have to worry about him."

Leda looked down at her toast. "I don't know. I mean you heard the old saying, right? A thief is always one step ahead of the good guys?"

"No, don't say that!" Elizabeth said, her fork stabbing her pancakes. "The Flasher's days are numbered! He won't be able to catch us if we are secured!"

"What if he's a technical genius?" Lindsey asked with her hands. Now this was out of the blue. Our peached haired Seattle born cutie could barely hear. Her way to communicate with us is with her hands. Her best friend, Penny, usually talks to her daily. She wasn't the brightest tool in the shed, but she knew about sign language.

"No, Lindsey, don't say that." Penny patted her best friend's back. "Look, the Flasher maybe lucky, but he's not that smart." (Imagine them making a conversation with their hands. You'll thank me later. To the rest of us, they were silent and "talked" in their own language. Penny discussed with me later with what they talked.)

I had mixed feelings about this whole thing. Overall, I should be relieved and happy about catching the Flasher. However, there is something that bugged me. The cameras will keep the Flasher away from his victims. But for how long? This was a thought I asked myself as a girl walked past me.

Dina skipped along the picnic tables with a book under her arm. She read the whole thing in one night. It was about an unusual event that happened in the last century. She picked out a plate and made her meal. When she finished, she looked around for an empty table. When she saw Tabby waving her arm, she perked up and ran over to her.

"Bestie!" They cried. Once Dina sat down, they hugged one another. Tabby chuckled when she brushed Dina's red hair. "How are you doing, girl?"

"Great! I'm heading to the library to return this book."

"You read the whole thing last night?"

"Yes, I did. This is an incredible read. Now I understand how Summerween came about!"

Thomas's ears perked up when he heard this. Tabby grinned over to the guy. "Well, that is interesting. I have someone that wants to know how Summerween came to be."

"Really? Well, that's excellent!" Dina looked at the grin toothed boy that moved to the table and pressed his elbows on the table. Dina blushed over the man's enthusiasm and chuckled. "Well, Thomas, you want to find out why Summerween exists."

"Yeah, I'm really curious how that came to be."

Dina opened her book and pointed to a picture with sunny woods with a foot of snow. At the upper left corner was the date June 27^th, 20??. Thomas scratched his jaw with his index, looking skeptical. "Dina, is this right, what we're reading? Did this take place in June?"

"Yeah. In that year, summer became unexplainably cold. It like the sun never touched the surface. The long days gave the people dread. Instead of swimming or enjoy a favorite cold beverage, they had to survive through below normal temperatures. Shoveling snow, driving through black ice, walking through fierce winds, you name it.

"During July, the trees started to change color. It was premature of them, but the weather wasn't to kind. The sunless days were scary as it was. Now autumn arrived too early. Billy's uncle lived that year when he was a child. He remembered those days well. When he bought the camp, he decided to dedicate the summer less year in Florida, the first Summerween.

"Every year since he bought the land, he recounts his tale to his neighbors. A celebration of the horrifying year brought in hope for summers to come. That man hoped there wouldn't be a summer as cold and miserable in that year."

There was silence at their table. Raymond sighed quietly, understanding the tradition. "Now I see why Billy hosted this tradition. But what I don't understand is what caused the endless winter?"

"Well, the year before, there was a volcano in the Philippines that erupted. I remember that date. I watched the doc about it while I was in college. October 29^th, 20XX. Ironically, this was also-"

"The Great Depression." Thomas said with a sad look. He stared at the palm trees in the picture. They looked so miserable with their branches shriveled and drooped. "Who ever thought a volcano would cause this much damage?"

"It's been done before." Dina was somber and her words were softer. "In 1815, Mt. Tambora erupted. That caused a year without a summer the following year."

"Well, this is depressing!" Tabby pushed her plate away, her appetite no longer there. "Now I'm too emotional to eat."

"Yeah." Thomas looked at his stack of waffles with two fried drumsticks on top. "So much for my chicken and waffles." He stood up and looked at his watch. "I think I need to find something to take my mind off of it."

"Take a swim in the lake." Raymond shrugged. "I find it relaxing."

"Thanks." Thomas waved good-bye and grabbed his bag, taking off with dragging feet. Emma exited the diner when she saw Thomas walking away. That walk looked like a forlorn single buck that lost a chance to mate. "Is something wrong with Tommy?"

"He heard the Summerween's origin." Raymond explained to her. Emma made her understanding nodded and made a pucker on her lips. "Yeah, that will do it. Ooh, and endless winter in Florida would put anyone down. I would hate to shovel snow at that time. Anyway, there are a few things I like cold; swimming pools, beverages and ice cream!"

"And my appetite came back!" Tabby grinned and turned to Emma. "Do you have any chocolate ice cream left?"