Treat

The old guy leveled his fiercest, most alpha male glare & Geordie just pushed right back, refusing him the satisfaction of wilting like a leaf in deep freeze.

& Right when it seemed that new found wedge of backbone he'd grown in the last 15 seconds was about to give, filed down to the last white crumb by myopic eyes, just as I, just as we expected from the old Pussy Lips, homeowner pushed his glasses back up.

"Well if that's done with, kindly get off my porch now would you?"

Visibly un stiffening, hands going limp, sneakers & boots shuffling we all exchanged relieved, knowing glances.

Geordie nodded vigorously; chin almost bouncing off that gay little bow tie he was wearing

"Sure sure, were outta here... sorry again."

Homeowner just grunted.

Geordie turned around, marching deliberately off the porch without sparing a look back & with a motion of my glove the rest of them followed suit. However grudgingly.

Dom stopped cold, raising his shiny plastic fireman's axe.

"But what about the can"-

My finger extended to a point. "GO."

He skittered off onto the front lawn, joining the others. Only Geordie remained, watching with those unimaginably wide eyes from the bottom stoop, gripping the railing.

The older guy stood still for a few more moments, heel tapping restlessly, turning his glasses my way "Well if they won't listen to you, who will they listen to, am I right officer?"

I shot him a thumb's up, debarking the porch.

"Yes sir, sounds just about right that does."

"You watch over those friends you here? Don't want some hard ass cutting your night short."

"No sir, no we certainly don't."

Brandon stepped up to the plate before I could speak:

"Hey what's up-don't let that slimy maggot four eyes shirk his Halloween duty cause of"- The whip of my plastic nightstick cut the complaint short, Bran doubling up over on the dewy grass,clutching his poor wrist.

He knew enough to bite down on anything else that might escape that big mouth, taking his licks with a previously unseen dignity.

The others stood away, though not too far, watching as my boot connected with his gut & all of the hot air shot out in a deep Whoosh.

The whole time I said nothing, when it was done starting back on to our scheduled rout, everyone falling back in line, leaving Geordie behind to help Brandon up as he tried to find his breath, nursing his throbbing body & limping along.

Gavin idled up, walking a step behind. I only looked at him once. He lowered his head, clearing his throat.

"We'll need to pick up the pace" he said. "We still have the quota to meet."

I nodded, catching a quartet of black clad teenagers cross the street at the corner of my eye.

"Especially now...-Is that Jimmy Durant?"

"Yeah" I breathed, stopping at a fire hydrant.

"Jeezus and he's still collecting...& on our territory no less."

Behind Jimmy, under the gaze of the streetlights I could make out the faces of his fellows. They were Mark Donner, Carl Smith and Julie bishop, Jimmy's main squeeze.

"I thought they broke up."

The rest of the group came to a halt, following the new source of attention with sparked interest.

"Guess not" Kyla said, slapping her plastic sword on her arm over and over, that bulbous vein on her head pulsing hotly.

Michelle just spat.

Up ahead the four in black stared back, smiling unpleasantly, wearing no costumes, brandishing their everyday rags as if daring somebody to call them on it.

Jimmy pulled out a smoke. Julie reached over & lit it.

"Someone give me a flashlight."

Brandon rummaged around in his bag, eventually offering the jack o lantern torch up my way.

"Are you sure man?" Said Gavin. "There's been a cease fire since"-

"I know" I shook the light a little, hearing the batteries rattle. "You don't need to remind me of the consequences, I'm fully aware."

With that, I raised the pumpkin flashlight above my head & clicked on & off three times in quick succession.

Across the road a penlight, the kind you find on handymen, signaled 3 blinks back, not as bright as mine but it did the trick alright; I started forward off my perch on the curb.

One sub was allowed, just in case the primary came to an unfortunate end so Gavin joined up. The protests quickly faded & soon all there was was the crunch of our boots on pop cans, empty buttercups & clumps of dead leaves.

In the night sky the harvest moon burned brightly. Stopping at the yellow line in the street, I told myself that for necessities' sake this was neutral ground & like any eye of the storm its borders were temporary. Best to be on one's toes.

& When Jimmy stopped on his side with blonde Julie in tow I wasted no time:

"So just the hell doing you think you're doing?"

His brow rose & Julie laughed wickedly.

"Well don't you have a set on you kid." He said.

"Yeah big brass ones Jim." She added.

"If you mean I'm not the usual dumbbell you fragrant half wits deal with, than yes, you're correct."

Julie screeched again, slapping Jimmy's shoulder while arching her back.

"God they're priceless, didn't I tell you Jimmy? Huh? What a fit!"

Jimmy just kept staring into my eyes, slightest rise at the corner of his mouth as he gripped his light, like Gavin and his girl weren't even there.

"Look at those get ups Jimmy, Gi Joe & Sgt. Pepper...you must've made mummy proud, I bet she loves a man in uniform."

Gavin unfastened his rifle & when he pulled back on the plastic trigger, Julie just howled all the harder.

From across the street the others shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh watch out everyone, Yo Joe is gonna spread some democracy now."

"Right up your ass" Gavin growled, taking a step forward. Julie too, cracking her knuckles & moving ahead.

"Try it uncle Sam & you'll be back to diapers in no time flat."

Holding up my nightstick, I used it to block Gavin's warfooting.

Julie was yanked rudely back, and after a withering glance at her own pack leader, eventually took her rightful place by his side.

"All right" Jimmy finally said, with a tone that cut through the air with a brisk, no-more-bullshit tone. "What's up kid? You gotta problem?" He stared above my head to the streets beyond before hawking a loogie onto the pavement.

Taking another deep breath, I charged on, no guts no glory as they say (& hopefully they themselves-who ever they were-hopefully weren't enjoying a solid dirt nap)

"This whole area, from Willow to Bankhurst to Downey, It's our territory, it's all our candy man, I just wanted to remind you of that."

He looked at the ground, greasy bangs obscuring vapid eyes then dug into his pocket.

Gavin tensed, pointing his gun first at Julie then Jimmy and back again, not seeming able to make up his mind.

Jimmy put the cigarette in his mouth & just like clock word Julie leant over, striking a match like magic, setting the tip ablaze. With a smirk she flicked it at Gavin; he snarled but stayed put.

Jimmy blew smoke rings for a moment, making a delightful show of stylish lung scorching for the benefit of the itty bitties before deeming to speak up:

"And where's that written champ? You gotta tort on you right this moment?"

"Yeah, gotta-gotta tort on ya?" Julie mimicked. I sure as hell didn't know what a tort was, but as to the rest of it-

"We had an agreement."

Julie chortled again, striking another match and raising it to glow over her sharp features.

"Here that Jim? They gotta 'agreement'."

Behind her Carl & Mark chuckled too, over flowing pillowcases at their sides.

"Well than it's gotta be law right? I mean if it's written down that must"-

"Jules shut it."

Julie turned to Jimmy, mouth wide.

"But Jiiiiiiimy"- Funny; she whined like precisely the kind of wet diaper she'd charged us to be. "Jiiiiiiimy."

Jim took her arm, roughly yanking her back behind him again without so much as breathing another syllable.

"If you're talking about Miles, than you should know" He flicked his un finished butt into the gutter. "Good Miles doesn't hold half the sway he used to kid."

Clouds of grey smoke hit my face. Gavin frowned, clutching that stupid toy even tighter. That was alright, I'd never felt more like loading back my fist & shooting for the bull's-eye which had suddenly appeared Jimmy's pimply forehead myself.

"No?"

"Nope. I dunno where you get your info, but we don't all march lock & step with big M. So were going to enjoy ourselves tonight whether you kiddies dig it or not."

Gav snarled, and again I had to hold him back with an unsteady arm.

"And that's that then?"

Jimmy nodded. "That's that, we got seniority here kiddo, nothing more to talk about really."

There was more shuffling behind us; still, I raised my gloves, saying "Fine, go right ahead then."

Behind her boy toy Juile's eyes widened; Carl & Mark exchanged glances & I could all but hear the shocked stances of my comrades in arms.

I stepped back, slowly, purposefully. It took a moment, but Jimmy and his gang followed suit.

They did nothing at first, still running on the basic fight or flight principal, before Jimmy snapped his chin & they begun to move off, hiking up their loot bags & proceeding back down the sidewalk, looking back every now & then with squinting eyes.

Gavin panted loudly as everyone else crowded around.

For the love of chocolate & caramel, bubblegum & toffee, their cries grew in outraged ferocity until all the sounds of All Hallow's Eve was eclipsed by pure protest.

I let them vent their frustration, each voice competing with the other, only Geordie standing off, silent as usual.

Then I grabbed Gavin's gun out of his limp hands, pointing it into the air & pulling the trigger. The loud rat a tat tat tat soared over they're whining & after a second each of they're big mouths clamped shut, waiting the imitation gunfire out.

"Bran" I said before any of them got a chance to speak. "How are those toilet rolls?"

"All accounted for...boss."

"Good" I said. "Let's go then."

Back in the shadows, away from the other ghoulies & goblins, guardians & benefactors & flashing lights, twin streamers of ivory soared between powerful arms, raining downpours of white that plummeted to the grass, gathered up by eager hands & unspooled some more, fluttering in the night air like strands of gossamer silk.

"Over here!" Called Kyla, raising her arms and hopping up & down on the lawn, circling the ancient elms over & over whilst unraveling the toilet paper rolls like kite handles, giggling wildly.

Dominic stopped mid step, tossing a roll between limbs. Michelle caught it, brandishing it & sticking out her tongue.

Ky & Chris charged after her, hollering,trampling over lines of tissue.

"Keep it down!" Gavin hissed, shaking his plastic M16. Neither bothered sparing him a moment's notice over by the curb, standing guard with Brandon who watched longingly by his side.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Geordie said. He sat on the ground & chomped on a bar. "I mean not the papering, but doing it out here where its so"- He indicated all around with his half eaten bar. "Public?"

Pacing, hands clasped tightly behind my back, I looked down. He'd loosened his bowtie & sat with his head between his knees.

"Walk with me Geordie."

Geordie got to his feet & followed; together we strode the wide lawn, admiring the others' handiwork.

In the pitch black trails of tissue intertwined the limbs of the trees & hung limply, looking like nothing less than some majestic spider's web, shining on in the total dark. Geordie didn't twitch, didn't break down after the span of silent seconds & wag that thick tongue of his. He was full of little curveballs tonight.

"You've impressed me. I thought you should know that before we move on."

Geordie looked off, scrutinizing the home we doubled back on, some other sizeable abode who'd smacked us in the face by dispensing packaged toothbrushes.

I had nothing against oral hygiene; on the contrary no one brushed & flossed as religiously as I, but...to hand out Colgate wares on the 31st of October was not only beyond criminal, it was downright bloodthirsty, a clearer declaration of war I knew not.

We could not allow such a brazen breach of protocol to go undisciplined.

The house was dark now.

"Relax Geordie; they're probably in bed."

"And if not?"

I clapped him heartily on the back.

"Then we'll be in shape for Coach Stanley's track team won't we?"

Geordie frowned, looking at the grass.

"You worry too much." I said.

"Maybe you don't enough."

Geordie met my eyes head on, maintaining his fabulous new batting average.

He was lucky I felt kind tonight; any other time I might've taken that as a challenge.

"Sorry" he breathed, looking back down.

A depleted toilet roll bounced off my cap, dropping onto the toe of my right boot.

Ky & Chris tried to stifle giggles, watching the both of us while we paced.

"You're it!" Shouted Dom, hanging off of one low hanging branch, trying to scale the Elm it belonged to.

Biting down on a smile, I picked it up, thinking a second before tossing it to Geordie; he snapped to, catching it with cupped palms.

Staring down at it for a moment he pursed his lips, then, not missing a beat, whipped it into the air where it tangled with wilting leaves before coming back down to earth.

Of course the sprinkler system chose that exact moment to launch a counter attack, plastic wedges breaking topsoil & immediately opening fire.

"It's an ambush!" Cried Michelle, whipping around & going head over heels on a patch of soiled toilet paper lying in a clump beneath the tree. We shrieked.

Needless to say the water was bone chilling, shocking us out of our stupor.

Like intricate laser blasts, little nozzles cut the perimeter to shreds, deflating the whole spindly apparatus with just a handful of precise shots, wet smithereens of tissue falling like heavy snow, one shard plopping Dom squarely in the forehead while he looked up.

The front porch lit up next, a mean old codger in a housecoat charging out, waving one of those heavy duty flashlights.

"HEY! You PUNKS! Skid daddle or I'm callin' the cops, Y'here? Git outta here! Y'here?"

Dumping an armful of toothbrushes, floss & toothpicks We ran as fast our little legs could take us, screeching & laughing & taunting all the way, escaping the contaminated front lawn out on to the pavement, loot bags occasionally leaking royalties which we of course all scrambled to claim as our own.

We must've ran for blocks, hearing the old fart's bellyaching long after it had died down & when we finally seemed to realize it, each coming to the same conclusion on their own, the all out dash slowed to a hearty trot.

After a few more moments, more virgin territory shooting by in the form of pristine front lawns, we slowed to a near unanimous halt in a neighborhood none of us seemed to recognize, panting & clutching candy to our chests, glancing around with wild frightened eyes, just in case another grown up with a grudge lied in wait, standing behind an evergreen perhaps, wielding a megaphone like a police special, ready to flex their gritty phlegm obstructed lungs & sing like a jailbird.

We did a second once over;Just another winding suburban stretch, flood of trick or treaters dwindling to a mere trickles, tired parents began tidying front stoops & driveways & edging homeward , sugar hyped tots in tow, the occasional few fussing to stay out a bit longer, just a bit longer pretty please?

Tears here or there, too.

We let out a gasp of relief, doing an inventory & snickering maniacally, visibly un stiffening while looking up at the glowing moon.

It was so strong, this collective sigh of relief, that eventually we plopped down onto the nearest curb, still snorting, trying to gather our bearings & not quite succeeding.

Parents with little ones in hand walked by, covertly shaking heads & sighing before picking up the pace.

We all looked at each other and giggled harder.

The bonfire cast long shadows under the bridge; it was enough to expect a troll in residence, basking by the flame & extolling the virtues of warts while sucking on a child's femur.

"Did you see the look on her face? Like I'd socked her in gut, frickin' priceless."

And while no traditional breed of creature lay in waiting, here there lay dragons.

"We ran outta whip cream on that one" said a voice that was unmistakably Julie's, sound of a pop can clanking off the moldy masonry of the bridge wall.

With a motion of my hand I ushered the others forward, lining up behind me at the rim of the underpass, carefully stepping over brambles and piles of broken bottle.

I looked up.

Ahead on the deserted road, outlined by streetlight, Tom gave me the thumbs up, surrounded by the others in & out of costume, all silent save the army of crickets deployed at random, adding their song to the beastly boasts of Jimmy & his mates.

"That was a good one Jim" said someone, probably Mark from the nasally pitch. More clicks & clacks followed, discarded soda cans, one crumpled number rolling up all the way to the toe of my polished black boot, A&W stenciled on its compacted aluminum side."That old goat never knew what was coming."

A chorus of mean-spirited guffaws, the fire crackling & popping ( made worse by Kyla, contributing to the conversation with each indiscriminate chomp on her candy bar) I looked over a her, clenching my jaw.

She looked down at her half eaten candy bar before dropping it, smiling.

"What did ya think of that 4th grader Jimmy? The one who gave you lip when you told her to give ya what was rightfully yours? The one with the red hair now."

A span of silence save the roaring fire. Despite my silent chiding of Ky, I could still hear the collective jawing of treats, sugary gumballs, chocolate covered nuts of all varieties, yards & yards of Fire hydrant red licorice- the rhythmic mulching of candy cud was operatic in the night stillness.

I swallowed back irritation, seeing as it apparently was a sweet toothed wavelength only I seemed to be picking up on-

"What, that freckly carrot top that didn't like my prying hands?" Jim said. The voice that followed a near perfect imitation of a 9 year old's frayed invective-"This is our candy & my mommy will tan your hides when she catches you!" More sinister cackling, echoing off graffiti tagged walls in a black encore of nastiness.

"Yeah Jimmy that's one all right, little ginger bitch."

"Aww she was nothing. After we had her upside down like that, Carl holding her booties while we stuffed her snout with that candy apple- I've never seen anything funnier."

"And shit, just look at all the bounty we got off the little bugger," said Carl.There was a dry shuffling, like a hand sifting through a pile of leaves. "We didn't need to knock up anyone after that. Cha-ching."

"Hand me a Twix will ya babe?" Said Jim.

"Peanut butter or original?" Said Julie.

"Quit your yammering." More shuffling.

"Damn that's tasty." Exclaimed Jimmy. & again, another round of laughter.

I could imagine the size of the booty hill they were guarding, piled high with Jawbreakers, lollipops, Smarties, M&Ms, forests of Cotton candy, Coffee Crisps, Gummy bears, Gobstoppers, all waiting like the cup of Christ, ripe for re-discovery & exploitation, just steps away...

I clutched my nightstick

"Is that good baby?" Julie asked her significant other.

"Oh yeah, tastes like sunshine, little dewdrops of sunshine."

"You said it Jim."

"Hand some more over here will ya?" He said. "That's more like it now."

"Nothing quite like Reeses Pieces huh?"

"What was that!?" Jimmy shouted, voice shifting up an octave.

"What Jim?" The others asked, mystified.

"That. That...that"-

"What Jimmy? What's"-