Page 4 of Trick Play

You are an idiot

Larry

* * *

“I’m so sorry.” Raggedy Ann—apparently Kelli, Dylan’s little sister under the red wig and makeup—apologized again.

We were hurrying down the sidewalk heading back to my mom’s. When we hadn’t been able to find a key in the bedroom, Dylan promised to dig out the one that fell down their heating vent. I wasn’t sure how long it would take, but I needed Mom to make this clown costume wearable and then get me and the costume to the arena where we had our event tonight. Kelli agreed to come to Mom’s place with me while we waited so Mom could get started on the costume adjustments.

“Why are you apologizing? It was your brother who did this.” I could not believe the moron had handcuffed me to his sister.

“Sorry, it’s a habit. I get blamed for a lot of things.” Kelli was staring down at the sidewalk as she walked.

I stopped and waited for her to feel the tug and halt too. “Hey.”

She finally met my gaze. Her eyes were blue and wide, catching my attention. They were beautiful. Not the time to notice.

“I’m not blaming you. Dylan’s been doing stupid things as long as I’ve known him. This is entirely his fault.”

A shy smile lifted her lips. I stared for a moment, focused on her mouth. Why couldn’t I remember Dylan’s little sister? No memories popped up from then. And now, I had no idea what her hair color was with the red wig covering most of her head, or what she looked like without all the Raggedy Ann makeup on. How could I recognize her again without it?

I turned around. I wasn’t looking for serious right now, and anyone who was modest enough to wear a Halloween costume that hid most of her figure was unlikely to agree to a casual hookup. Not that tonight was about that, anyway.

“Come on.”

Mom crossed her arms when we entered the house and she saw the handcuffs. I almost blurted out it wasn’t my fault before she’d done more than lift an eyebrow.

I didn’t know a lot about my Japanese/Korean heritage. My dad’s family cut him off when he married my mom. I’d been told it was because of Japan’s colonization of Korea, something that happened ages ago but his family didn’t forget. Or forgive. I didn’t know what Japanese mothers were supposed to be like: Mom’s parents died not long after I was born, and the rest of her family was still in Japan. But for a tiny woman she could really scare people.

“It’s not his fault, Mrs. Han,” Kelli said. “My brother did this for a joke, and then the key fell down the grate. He’s looking for it now.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “That boy…”

“We brought the seam binding tape.” I held it out to her.

“Good. I can start. Let’s see what we can do.”

My mom had been a figure skater as a teenager. She’d never been a serious competitor, but she still loved skating. She’d found a way to continue to be part of the skating world, making costumes for competitors. If anyone could make my 3XL costume work, it was her.

She took us down to the basement where she had her sewing room set up, and picked up the costume.

“Why do you have such a big clown suit?” Kelli asked.

I lifted my hand to run it through my hair but ended up jerking her arm. “Sorry. I told the rental place I needed a clown costume that was not like Chucky, but they’d reserved a Chucky costume for me when I stopped there today. I had to take anything else they had that was a clown.”

“You don’t like Chucky?”

“The event I’m going to tonight has kids, and some could be pretty young, so Chucky wouldn’t work.”

“Okay, pants first,” Mom said, shaking out the ginormous striped bottoms I was supposed to wear.

I reached for them, jerking Kelli’s arm again. “Sorry,” I repeated.

“I will do it.” Mom made me step into the pants one leg at a time.

Kelli was fighting back a grin and I couldn’t blame her. The costume billowed around us. Mom attached the suspenders and passed them to Kelli to hold while she tightened the waistband with the tape so that the pants wouldn’t fall down and make me trip. There was enough fabric that I looked about twice as big around as I really was. Yeah, this wouldn’t be a night to impress anyone. I glanced at Kelli from the corner of my eye.

It was weird, having my mom taking in the costume, using only the tape that could be removed later, all while Kelli was standing so close.