Orange Blossoms

Happy Halloween! pt. 1

Unedited.

“I don’t like it.”

“I never asked you if you liked it.”

“I don’t like it either.”

“The only reason you’re saying that is because you’re married to him.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to agree with him.”

“Yes it does.”

I scooped out some of the pumpkin’s guts and plopped it down in the glass bowl in the middle of the table. This was not what I had in mind when I told Rey I’d never carved pumpkins. I’d also told him my parents never took me or Vince trick-or-treating but he hadn’t reacted like he had when it came to the pumpkins. We’d gotten onto the subject when I asked Boyd if they were going to get pumpkins in for Halloween. The co-keeper of the safehouse told me no because they were technically just a corner store and didn’t carry any more produce beyond apples, bananas, and oranges.

Upon hearing all of this, Rey spent some time on the phone and then had a talk with Boyd and his wife, Shirley. A couple days later, a delivery of pumpkins came to the store, much to my annoyance and everyone else’s happiness. Most of them were sold off by the end of the week but a few were saved so Michelle and I could carve them.

It didn’t stop Rey and I from having an argument about it though. He didn’t need to react this way every time I told him I didn’t get to do something when I was a kid or wanted something. I got that he wanted to make me happy but the last thing I wanted him to do was act on every whim I had.

Thankfully the two US Marshalls didn’t react to our fight. The first time they’d witnessed one of Rey and I’s—discussions hadn’t been pretty. They’d come bursting into the room with guns drawn, threatening me with bodily harm if I didn’t stop trying to strangle Rey. Rey, of course, got angry over the fact they were threatening me and started yelling at them. It was a whole spectacle we all joked about now but at the time…phew.

Now everyone just took bets on who would win and how long it would last.

Mrs. Shirley came to empty the pumpkin bowl and gave me a smile. It said, “You’re doing wonderful, dear.” The look on my face said I was enjoying the pumpkin carving but not the conversation I was having with Michelle and Vincent.

Rey was conveniently absent from our carving excursion. Which was probably a good thing because even though I was liking the experience, I was still pissed at him from our little spat this morning. It was a whole different subject from the pumpkins but it correlated with the argument I was now having with my brother.

“Well, I’m doing it whether either of you like it or not. Houston said it was my decision.”

My brother glared at me and leaned back in his chair. He wasn’t actively participating in the carving, just supervising my use of a knife. Vince apparently no longer trusted me with sharp and pointy objects.

“Why do you have to do it? Why can’t they just make you a victim of a fire or something? You’d be unrecognizable and that way they could just use someone else’s body.”

I rolled my eyes and scrapped at the side of the pumpkin.

“Marco isn’t that stupid.”

“And rest of them are?” he argued. “A photograph isn’t going to convince anyone. They’ll want to see a body. You know that.”

I stopped scraping and it was my turn to glare at him. “It’s called cremation, idiot. Therefore, no body and no grave. Besides, if I was a victim of a fire, the body would be unrecognizable and they still wouldn’t believe it.”