Nineteen
OLIVER
Halloween is Maxwell’s favorite holiday.
If he could find an excuse to dress up every week, he absolutely would.
This year he wanted to do something fun for the kids.
Which is why I’m standing in the middle of the gym, sweating super hard in a red hoodie and black shorts.
Eli is in a blue hoodie and glasses and Maxie is in green.
Max went full method though and has been talking in a high pitched voice all day and the kids have loved it.
Who knew that Alvin and The Chipmunks would be such a hit.
Eli and Max worked out an entire jump rope routine for the kids, which is the only reason I agreed to do it with them.
The bonus perk is that Mia has genuinely smiled at me all day.
She’s worked so hard on creating games for each class and making it the ultimate fun day for them.
Every kid has left with a baby painted pumpkin, a bag overflowing with candy, prizes, and the biggest smiles that I know will leave their cheeks sore by the end of the day.
Even Dad has been involved all day. He and AJ have been on kid wrangling duty and been the support that Mia needs to keep the day going.
We’re in our last class of the day. Initially we were going to do one giant game of assassin with everyone, but AJ was the voice of reason and for liability reasons we decided against it.
But in three hours, the entire gym will be empty and dark and we will be back.
I can’t wait. My brothers and I used to play this for hours when we were younger.
And we’ve gotten pathetically serious about it.
Eli and AJ are always the last ones standing so it’s a toss up between them for who wins.
But this year we have Rory and Mia in the mix.
And AJ now has her own little army with them two.
Which is what prompted Eli to call a brother meeting and get a gameplan together.
We are going to target Rory first. The girls are definitely going to pair up until the end.
“What are you so zoned out about?” Eli breaks through my thoughts.
“Just trying to figure out who they are going to try and get out first.” I find AJ and Mia sitting in the corner cleaning up pizza boxes. Maxwell is running a game of dodgeball on the mats.
“You are absolutely their biggest target.” Rory comes up behind me. Why is he always just there? It’s creepy.
“How do you know?” Eli questions him. I can hear the caution in his voice. He might not be enthusiastic about winning but he for sure loves beating AJ.
“They told me.” Rory shrugs. He’s wrapping up his hands. We might have all had the day off to play with the kids, but he doesn’t get days off. He has to work drills every day. Training to become a professional fighter is hard. Training to maintain being a professional is critical.
“Did they tell you anything else they plan on doing?” I ask without taking my eyes off of them. They’re two of the smartest people I know and they know how to get us to do anything they want.
“They are pairing up and plan on taking you each out one by one. Then it’s a free for all with them and me. We all agreed that whoever wins we wouldn’t choose the other.” Why is he telling us this?
“Why are you ratting them out?” Eli asks at the same time the question runs through my mind.
“I don’t trust Jude. She loves making me work like a dog.
” He shifts closer and drops his voice, “So I was hoping that if I told you their plans then you all would spare me from having to clean. Training is kicking my ass and I haven’t been able to spend time outside of the gym with her as much as I want.
If I have to clean for a month, then I definitely won’t be able to.
” He sounds sincere, but my gut tells me to not trust him.
AJ would never allow him to be over here talking to us unless she wanted him to. Either he was playing us, or she was.
“The plan is to make Max clean as payback for making us wear these ridiculous chipmunk costumes. So sure, you give us something to help take them out early, and you manage to beat me, then if Oliver wins, he will still only pick Max to do the cleaning.” Eli is such a masterful man.
Rory doesn’t stand a chance at beating him.
Max and I have been trying for years. Eli is a ghost when he plays this game.
But it gives Rory the hope he was asking for.
And they go off to a vacant corner and talk.
I cross the gym, dodging small flying balls from the kids as they all try to hit me and find the girls. They’re shoving bottles of water and plates into a trash bag.
“You’re in enemy territory, Ol.” AJ warns me as I approach.
“We all know you will win.” I lean down and kiss her cheek as she smirks. “I come to sabotage and plead my case to be a double agent.” Both girls share a look before Mia stays silent and AJ comes to stand in front of me.
“Absolutely not. You’re all going down.” She declares. I knew that was going to be her answer, but hopefully their attention is on me and not her boyfriend and my brother in the corner.
“You guys take this very seriously.” Mia giggles.
AJ narrows her eyes at me. “I don’t like to lose.” She knows that we are plotting against her.
I shrug and grin wickedly, “We will see what happens.” I dig a roll of cherry lifesavers that I’ve been holding in my hood pocket for the last hour and toss them at Mia. “Can’t be Halloween without your favorite candy.” I wink at her.
“Gross. Don’t suck up to her. She can’t save you.
I’m taking your ass out first just for that.
” AJ shoves me, hard. But it makes Mia’s chest fill with laughter so it’s okay.
I salute AJ before walking over to help Max with the next game for the kids.
Tonight will be fun. I can’t wait to see what costume Mia shows up in.
Eli is digging out the masks he bought at one of those Halloween stores while Maxwell lines up all the guns he pulled out of storage.
He divides out bullets evenly and pairs a color packet with each grouping.
I dig the deck of cards out of my back pocket that we use every time we play.
I lay it down on the stack. We had to add new guns and colors since Rory and Mia are joining us now.
The entire gym is blacked out, only the emergency lights on overhead.
“Everything set up?” Dad yells from the desk. “The girls are here.”
The three of us look up to find AJ and Mia walking in. Per usual, AJ picked a costume that fits her perfectly in every way. She has on a tiny tank top and khaki shorts. Two gun holsters on each hip and her hair in a full french braid and combat boots.
“Holy shit. Rory is going to die.” Maxwell praises AJ. Her viper tattoo is glowing under the dim light and she looks absolutely lethal.
“Not that you don’t look beautiful, as always, but what are you?” Eli asks Mia, who is standing before us in a brown jacket tied at the waist, her signature lips on full display.
She’s looking at me when she answers, “You’ll find out soon.
” She’s smiling but the way the hairs rise on the back of my neck tell me it is a threat.
Whatever is under that jacket is probably going to make me dig my own grave.
She looks between me and my brothers. “What are you all? A black paint color palette?"
“You have a mask kink, Mia?” Max asks her as he pulls one of the LED masks Eli brought for us over his face.
“Don’t talk about kinks while I’m next to you.” Dad reprimands and then goes back to getting the girls’ gear ready. He always dotes on them.
The door opens up again and our final player enters the gym.
Rory is dressed the same as us, black henley and black joggers.
It’ll play to our advantage when we all split up.
Being triplets, we are the same in most ways.
Our styles are different and our interests are different but we have the same brown eyes, our mom’s eyes.
We have the same shade of brown wavy hair like our dad.
We’re the same height and roughly all the same build.
But tonight, in the dark, all dressed the same. They won’t be able to tell us apart.
AJ turns around to face Rory and he drops to his knees dramatically. “I surrender now. You win.” He holds his hands up in defeat and winks up at her. She takes one of the guns that Dad handed her and she points it to his chest.
“I’ll make sure it’s a mercy kill.” She promises him.
Dad hands Mia her gun and playing card. Us guys get all of our gear prepped and ready. We all line up and await for him to read the rules out for us.
“Rules are simple. You each have a nerf gun with bullets dipped in your designated color. The goal is to get all cards, which will result in a royal flush. Max, you’re ten of spades and color yellow.
Eli, you’re jack of spades and color blue.
Ollie, you're the ace of spades and orange. Rory, you’re the king of spades and purple.
The girls are going to be interchangeable since there are six of you.
Both are queen of spades. Mia is red and AJ is green.
” Dad pulls out an extra queen of spades card and hands it to Mia. “One shot.”
He holds up his index finger. “That’s all it takes to be taken out.
No shots to the head or sensitive areas.
Play respectfully. The winner will get to pick out the loser to clean the equipment for a month.
” We all nod in agreement. “Eyes closed and heads down. When I tap your shoulder, you are free to start playing. Cameras are disabled, so you can’t use them to cheat.
All rooms are fair play. When you are killed, report back here and stay silent. ” We all pull our masks down and wait.