Chapter 34
Saturday morning, Leo rallied his team together after PT.
“Cole, Knight, and Patch take the remaining teen presents over. Kit Kat and my mother-in-law wrapped them last night. Kassie and Doc have their hands full this year. Stay over there and help until I arrive. Scarlett, Ragu, and Taco head to the community center to pick up all the frozen meals we’re sending home with the seniors.
Whiskey, Shadow, and Bear will make room in the hospital freezer.
Hannah, I want you to ride the bus with Larry.
You’ve got a knack with the seniors. Michael’s got his hands full with an office full of sick kids and can’t join us until later.
Archer will shuttle you over after your showers.
We need the extra parking spaces for the townspeople,” Leo laid out the plan.
“Hit the showers. Hannah, you and Larry will pick up Santa in town on your way through. Don’t forget him unless you want to explain it to the crying kids. ”
“Yes, sir,” she said, giggling with Sparky as they headed downstairs.
“Did you pull it off?” Sparky asked when they hid themselves in Hannah’s office.
“Without a hitch. Taco came in for a second to get something out of his locker. Holy cow, he’s got more skin care than the two of us combined,” Hannah whispered. “Do you think we’ll get into trouble?”
“Nope. The guys play jokes on one another all the time. Knight, for instance, keeps hiding the meat and Patch gets latrine duty. What will adding a little sparkle to their season hurt?”
“I didn’t know Knight hid it,” Hannah said thoughtfully. “He’s good. Knight sounded sincere about asking about the missing meat.”
“Exactly. Plus, they don’t tell us the inside joke about Saint and his snickerdoodle cookie obsession,” Scarlett grumbled. “Plus, we’re the last two they’ll ever suspect.”
“We can only hope,” Hannah giggled. They ran to their locker room and rushed to get dressed before the guys emerged.
In the men’s locker room, Taco scrubbed his face and reached for his shampoo.
He washed his head thoroughly and rinsed.
“I love doing this for the community,” he said loud enough for the guys to hear him from their stalls.
“This year, I’ll be glad when it’s over.
Has anyone else heard about the incoming storm? ”
“Last I heard, they said it’ll start around noon,” Saint called, shampooing his hair.
“Maybe the bus should leave earlier,” Taco suggested.
“They’ll be fine getting everyone to the hospital. We all may be spending the night there,” Ragu said. “Annabelle said they pulled out extra blankets and stocked up on extra food supplies.”
“If you have a choice in places to get stranded, the hospital at least has a generator, food, beds and blankets to keep everyone warm,” Shadow agreed.
Taco turned off the water and went into the locker room for his clothes.
Patch entered, opened his locker, and reached for his shirt when he glanced at Taco and shook his head. “Man, you’ve lost your shit. What kind of product are you using now?”
“Nothing I haven’t used before, I added conditioner today for some extra shine,” he replied as he stared at Patch’s head.
Saint walked in, adjusting his towel around his hips when Patch and Taco burst into laughter. He sent them the finger as he opened the door to his area and glanced in the mirror.
“Shit, what happened to my hair?” Saint exclaimed as he turned back toward the two laughing culprits. “Did you do this?”
They shook their heads as they pointed at each other and ran to the mirrors. “Son of Nutcracker,” Taco cursed. “Who did this to us?”
“What’s all the commotion about?” Leo said, stopping in his tracks. “Taco, when I ordered you to get into the Christmas spirit, I didn’t mean this.”
“I didn’t do it, boss” Taco denied.
“Do what?” Shadow asked as he and Whiskey came out of the showers.
“Get a glimpse of your hair and Whiskey’s beard. It appears we’ve been had,” Leo said as the rest of the men gathered at the mirror.
“How does this shit come out?” Saint said, attempting to towel-dry it off his head.
Leo made a low whistling sound to quiet the group. Two sets of giggles sounded outside the locker room. “I have a feeling the redhead and her friend played a part.”
The men changed their clothes and walked outside to the gym. Hannah doubled over laughing as she described each of the men to Sparky, who laughed and clapped her hands.
“What did you do to us?” Leo demanded.
Hannah blinked her eyes innocently. “You said get into the Christmas spirit. Since you’re playing Santa’s elves, we got you a bit of red, green, and silver glitter for some extra sparkle.
“Do you know how long this will take to come out? We have the kid’s school play on Monday?” Saint asked. “I look like a walking tinsel man.”
“You think you got problems, I’m the leprechaun at the end of the rainbow,” Whiskey exclaimed.
Scarlett crossed her arms as the men started to grumble.
Taco laughed and pointed his finger. “You know why they did this? Because they may work with us but we don’t pick on them or treat them as equals. We act like they’re our wives.”
“Yeah,” Ragu spoke up. “They’ll run and tell our wives the things we say or do here. It’s not fair.”
“Calm down, guys, it comes out in a couple of hair washes,” Scarlett informed them. “We wanted to make a point. We’re part of the team when we’re inside these walls. Nothing gets said to anyone’s significant other. We have your six, but you can’t treat us separately.”
“When have we mistreated you?” Leo asked, genuinely confused.
“What’s the deal with Saint and his snickerdoodle obsession? You don’t need to explain Taco’s hair or face products. We get it. You play jokes on each other, like hiding the bacon and getting Patch in trouble. We want in on this, too,” Scarlett demanded.
“For the last time, I made the damn burgers and bacon,” Patch grumbled. “Did you guys really let me stay on latrine duty for a month as a joke?”
The men shook their heads and turned toward the women.
“Nope. This constitutes our first official prank,” Hannah denied the claim.
“All right,” Leo said. “You gotta admit they got us good. The kids will have a blast with this and probably want us to do their hair in it. Since we all appear particularly festive, let’s head over and start things early in case the weather gets ugly.
The women have proved their point, and we did commit the crime.
We’ll all pretend we’re Taco and using a new product. ”
“Heyyy,” Taco grumbled. “You got us good. We promise to include you in our shenanigans as long as you vow what happens here stays here.”
“We promise,” the women said together.
“What about the burgers and bacon? Who’s owning up to it? I’m sick of latrine duty,” Patch lamented.
“It’s a question for another day,” Leo said as he turned and walked back into the locker room. “Just remember, what goes around, comes around.”
Hannah and Sparky ran upstairs, still laughing, cementing Hannah’s feelings she belonged here.
She grabbed her coat and hugged Sparky. “You’ll have to tell me what the wives say when they see them. Samantha promised it washes out. Larry will be here any minute to pick me up with the bus. I’ll see you later.”
“Be careful out there. Call if you need us to come and help get the seniors on. We want them here before the storm.”
“I will,” Hannah said as she went outside.
Five minutes later, Larry rolled into the parking lot.
“Hi, Larry. Merry Christmas. Hopefully, we manage to get everyone on before the ice comes in.”
“Yeah, I hope so,” he said, unlike his usual cheery self.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing. I need a dentist appointment. My jaw has felt sore all morning,” Larry informed her. “Just my luck, it happens over the holidays. When we return to the hospital, I’ll ask Doc to take a gander at it.”
Hannah shivered. “The sooner we get everyone there, the sooner we can get you some relief.”
Larry drove down the mountain and took a right. They picked up the Hendricks and went on to the next house. Hannah jumped out and assisted the older ladies with their walkers and canes. The rain turned to ice before they reached town, slowing Larry down.
“Don’t forget to pick up Santa at the community center,” Hannah reminded him as he rubbed his shoulder. “Do you feel worse?”
“It’s all right, we only have four more stops until we’re done. Can you run in and tell Santa to get a move on?”
“Sure,” she said, waiting for him to roll to a stop. He opened the doors and she ran out to retrieve Santa.
“Hannah, Hannah,” she heard her father calling and turned around.
“I don’t have time right now, Dad. I’m working,” she told him as he and her mom approached. “Today’s the community Christmas party.”
“We know. Kassie invited us,” her mother explained. “We’re leaving the day after tomorrow and want to spend some time with you.”
“I don’t want you driving in this weather by yourselves. The mountain has some steep curves. Why don’t you follow the bus?”
“She’s right. We’ll get the car and follow behind you,” her dad agreed with her, shocking Hannah.
She found Santa and helped him adjust his beard and put on his coat. “It’s getting slick out there. We need to hurry.”
They jumped on the bus and she saw her dad pull in behind them.
Larry drove slowly as Hannah went down the aisle, checking everyone’s seatbelt. She made it nearly to the end when the bus lurched and gained speed. Hannah turned to see Larry slumped over the wheel and his foot never left the gas pedal.
People started screaming as the bus moved from one side of the road to the other, gaining speed.
Hannah didn’t hesitate as she ran toward the front.
She made it to the fourth seat when the bus lurched, sending her backward.
She jumped up in time to see them careen over the embankment and into the lake.
The bus hit with a hard sploosh. The seniors stopped screaming and peered outside to find themselves floating.