CHAPTER FOUR #2
“Too spicy for me,” declared Mrs. Melnar.
She insisted on the Mrs. despite her husband vanishing to the winds three years into marriage.
It’d have been a scandal to rock the town if most people didn’t assume he hopped onto a ferry and rode the Mississippi to freedom.
She pulled up her bag, and the most demonic creature to ever haunt the earth unleashed a bone-quaking growl. “Oh, is my precious hungry?”
“If that’s enough old business?” Adam asked, glancing at the mayor, who wasn’t even pretending to not be on his phone.
“I have a proposal for movie night. I was recently renovating my shop’s basement and thought, if the weather turns foul, it’d be the perfect place to host it.
Hang a bedsheet on the wall for the projector.
Maybe put up a few decorations. What do you think? ”
“That’s—”
The door swung open, alerting everyone on the committee. Carl was already here and fast asleep in the audience. Who else would bother to sit in?
Adam spotted that swoosh of black hair and his good day shattered.
“Sorry. Am I late? I’m late.” Raj dashed up the center aisle where someone had left a microphone. He swung around his bag and pulled out random scraps of paper for some reason. “I got lost and wound up in Saint Paul, I think. Anyway. Um…hi?”
“Mr. Chowdery!” Mayor Gunderson leaped to his feet in a far too excited greeting.
“Choudhery.”
“Thank heavens you’re here. We were just discussing our annual scary movie night. Come up here and join us. There’s a chair by Adam.”
Of course. Adam put on his ten-percent-discount-to-get-a-customer-out-the-door smile and pivoted. The man stumbled, his bag managing to swing into the shoulders and heads of every single committee member as he scrambled past.
“Ooh!” Mrs. Melnar exclaimed.
Raj spun back to apologize, hitting her again. A single quick laugh slipped past Adam’s guard. Instead of the ice landing on the man who hit her, he bore the brunt of the retired woman with nothing better to do. Great.
“Sorry, sorry.” Raj slipped into the chair that was too close to the table. He looked like a kid’s first time in a big boy seat—eyes wide, and mouth open in awe-filled terror. Adam couldn’t help himself, and he helped to pull Raj back.
“There. A little breathing room, for you,” Adam said.
The man steadied himself on his chair, then he turned, and the biggest, sweetest eyes pleaded with Adam. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“You’re—” Adam shook it off and focused.
“What’s this about a movie?”
“Every year for October, we do free outdoor movies on Saturday night. Cute PG ones for the kids early, then a horror one for the older crowd after,” the mayor explained.
“We also sell popcorn at ten bucks a bucket,” Marianne added.
Raj nodded to them both. “What’s the horror movie?”
“Same damn thing it is every year,” Marianne muttered to herself.
Gritting his teeth, Adam stepped in before they started talking about changing up the tradition. “It’s an old, obscure B-movie. People like to bring props, shout along with the dialogue. Have fun.” Adam glared at Marianne before he returned to Raj. “Evil Sheep 2. I doubt you’ve heard of it.”
“Heard of it? It’s only the best ba-ad movie to feature a scene with arsonist gophers.”
No. There is no chance he’s seen Evil Sheep. It took Adam five years and a month’s income to get his hands on a projection reel. Having an out-of-body experience, Adam’s head turned like a creaky screen door. He stared long at Raj, who was smiling ear to ear. “You’ve…seen it?”
“More times than I can count. People like to say the original is better, but come on. The puppetry in the first is so amateurish compared to the smooth movements in the sequel. You can really feel that ram thrusting that pitchfork through the old farmer’s wife.”
“I know. And the sound design. That is the definitive brains-popping-through-a-skull sound. Without question.”
“A hem.”
Adam jerked to realize he’d slapped his hands on the table so close to Raj’s that they were nearly touching. He clenched his nails across the old plastic, uncertain what to do.
“Great.” Marianne sighed. “Another one.”
Blinking rapidly, Raj glanced over to the mayor. “Do you think it would help if Burt Soup showed up to the screening?”
“Shut up,” Adam shouted, his whole world tilting on its axis.
Mrs. Milner leaned over to ask, “What’s a burped soup?”
“You.” Adam waggled his finger at Raj, his brain shattered into a million pieces. “You can get the star of the Dead Sheep series, Burt Soup—the Nose himself—to come to our screening?”
“What’ll it cost us?” Mayor Gunderson asked.
Ha. He may as well ask what the price of putting the moon in his garage would be. Planetary theft was as likely to happen as the Nose showing up in Anoka.
“Ah, a plane ticket?” Raj said. “Maybe dinner, too.”
“I’m sorry.” Adam kept tapping his forehead, unable to process any of this new data. “You know Burt Soup? You…you can bring him here, to Anoka, for a little movie night?”
“Yeah. We worked together a few times. He’s a great guy. Really down to earth, and funny too. One time he…” Raj started to laugh to himself. “The goat kicked him and…” He broke down into giggles again. “The jam went everywhere!” Wincing, Raj whispered, “He tells it better.”
“Well, a big fancy movie star at one of our events. That sounds like a real shot in the arm for Anoka’s tourism. Wouldn’t you agree, Halloween King?” The mayor damn near nudged Adam in the ribs while he kept beaming at Raj like he was the second coming.
“Yes,” Adam spat out with gritted teeth.
“Wonderful. I’ll put that down under new business.” The mayor pretended to write while he glanced at their secretary. Then he dropped his pen. “Oh. It just hit me. If we’re going to have a fancy Hollywood star here, then we shouldn’t risk him getting wet or cold out on the lawn.”
“That’s why I offered my shop,” Adam said.
The mayor bulldozed him. “Why don’t we have it at your new hotel? There’s a ballroom, right?”
“Um…” Raj gulped and stared around the table. “Yes. I…suppose that would work. If people brought their own chairs.”
“Then it’s settled. We’ll have our new and improved movie night at the Rushford,” the mayor declared. “Sorry, the Heartbreak Hotel.”
“Wait. Wait, wait, wait.” Adam flared his hands. “What’s wrong with my shop?”
“It’s a little small,” Marianne said.
“It’s cozy,” Adam sneered through gritted teeth.
“And spooky.”
“That’s ambience. It doesn’t escape my notice, Mayor, that you own the gas station just down the road to the old hotel. You wouldn’t happen to be trying to enrich yourself over the good of the community?”
Mayor Gunderson gave the old “Who me?” routine while pointing at himself. It was Mrs. Milner who learned over. “As if you didn’t suggest your cursed shop to line your pockets.”
He hadn’t. Business was just fine. In truth, he’d found a few old boxes of forgotten props and gotten really excited about decorating up the basement.
Glaring down at his plans for making old bed sheet ghosts, Adam tried to claw back control of the situation.
Maybe democracy could help him out. “We should vote on it. That’s the law, right?
Vote for the people, of the people. So on and so forth? ”
“Fine. All in favor of movie night being held in the costume shop on Main?”
Adam raised his hand.
“And all in favor of movie night moving to the Rushford hotel?”
Every single other hand shot up.
The mayor banged his coffee mug down in place of a gavel. “The hotels have it. Marianne here will contact you, Mr. Chowdery, with all the details.”
Adam’s whole life was circling the drain. September thirtieth, he was on top of the world. Then, come October first, it all came crashing down. No. He glared from the side of his eyes at the culprit. It didn’t crash; it was pushed by a saboteur.
“I think we’re done for the eve,” the mayor said. The others all voted with him, and the meeting was finished. Adam kept staring at the turncoat beside him. If it were to be a war, then let the dogs cry havoc or whatever war dogs did.
“A real-life movie star in our little town,” Mayor Gunderson cried out. “This is going to be the best Halloween ever.”
Yes. It will be, or my name isn’t Adam Stein.
“Mr. Choudhary?” Adam leaped to his feet and caught the man’s hand. “Why don’t you walk with me?” Adam’s smile split across his face as Raj nodded. “Excellent.”