2. Crafty
Crafty
Pumpkin sauntered into the kitchen and hopped up to sit in the sink, curiously staring up at Joey through the glass.
At the quick rate he was working, he’d be finished in under thirty minutes, but I decided to give him a full twenty dollars for his efforts.
I had little to spare, but with the kids now spending Wednesday evenings and every other weekend with their father and Kayla, I could work extra shifts at the restaurant.
Dinner checks were higher than lunch checks, especially since people would often order a cocktail or glass of wine to accompany their meal, maybe even a dessert.
My tips would increase accordingly. Besides, once the restaurant’s doors closed on Fridays and Saturdays, the bartender often tested out new craft cocktails on the staff.
A free nightcap was a nice perk, and the staff enjoyed the camaraderie and getting to put their feet up after a busy shift.
I returned the envelope to the drawer and went back out front to finish arranging the gravestones.
Joey came around the side of the house, and cleared the last of the gutters.
He lowered the ladder and returned it to the garage before retrieving the trash can.
“What would you like me to do with the leaves?”
I pointed to the flowerbed. “Spread them under the rosebushes.”
He carried the can to the bed and upended it, then bent over and used his hands to spread the leaves evenly under the bushes. He placed the trash can back in its place in the garage, removed his gloves, and tucked them into his back pocket.
I handed him the twenty-dollar bill. “Keep the change.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Boo-yah!” He pumped his fist. “That’s so nice of you!”
The extra funds would keep him in ramen noodles for a few days.
As he strode off to drum up more business, the hiss of air brakes announced the arrival of the school bus as it pulled to the curb at the corner two houses down.
Lila and Landon stepped down from the bus, their eyes widening in surprise and mouths spreading in smiles when they saw the decorations in our yard.
They came running, their backpacks flapping against their shoulders.
My heart warmed to see them so happy. Breaking the news of the divorce to them had been hard, and they’d both shed tears.
But they were beginning to adjust to our new life, just like I was.
Lila beat Landon to the driveway, but just barely. It wouldn’t be long before he’d leave her in his dust. “Wow, Mom! The yard looks great!”
Landon agreed. “Can we work on our costumes now?”
“Sure!” I’d always been crafty, and my kids enjoyed creating their own costumes with cheap supplies from Walmart or the dollar store. Thank goodness. The cost of the popular costumes and accessories could run upwards of a hundred dollars at a store.
We went inside. While the kids had a quick snack at the breakfast bar, I put a plastic cover over the kitchen table and rounded up the glue gun, sewing kit, paints, and paintbrushes.
I also rounded up the large bin of random craft items we’d amassed over the years.
Posterboard. Styrofoam balls in a variety of sizes.
Popsicle sticks. Ribbon in various colors and widths.
Yarn. Felt. Pom-poms. Construction paper and colored cardstock. Buttons. Beads. Glitter. Googly eyes.
When they’d finished their snack, they came over to the table and looked over the items. Lila grabbed a sheet of pink posterboard and called dibs on the pom-poms. “I’m going to be a donut with sprinkles.”
“Fun!” I turned to Landon. “Getting any ideas?”
“Not yet.” He looked over the assorted items, his face tight in concentration as he tried to imagine what he could make out of them.
I pointed to skeins of beige and red yarn. “How about spaghetti? You could cut a big plate out of white posterboard and put on red face paint so that your head looks like a meatball.”
“No way.” He rolled his eyes, as adolescents tend to do.
“What about a rattlesnake?” I suggested. “We’ve got those old pool noodles in the garage. You could bend them into coils. If you strung rope through the holes and knotted the ends, it would hold them in place. You could paint the noodles and add a maraca for the rattle.”
The spark in his eyes said he liked the rattlesnake idea, but the shake of his head said he didn’t want his costume to be his mother’s idea. He wanted to come up with something on his own. I admired his independence, even if I did think he’d shot down some really creative suggestions.
While he deliberated, I went to the foyer to retrieve the extra-large square box of candy that had been delivered earlier.
I carried the box into the kitchen, used scissors to cut through the tape on the top, and pulled out bag after bag of Skittles.
After emptying the box, I picked up the scissors again to cut the tape holding the bottom in place.
Before I could break down the box, Landon cried, “Wait!”
He walked over and took the box out of my hands, turning it upside down and lifting it over his head.
He brought it down, his upper half disappearing inside it.
The box was big enough to fit over his shoulders.
He raised it back up, revealing the big smile on his face. “I’m gonna be a Rubik’s cube.”
“What a great idea!” Not as good as spaghetti and meatballs or a rattlesnake in my personal opinion, but at least the idea was his own.
He cut holes in the sides of the box for his arms and one in the top for his head.
The bottom flaps were removed entirely so he’d be able to walk easily.
He gathered cardstock in six different colors, along with a glue stick.
After carefully measuring and cutting the cardstock into squares, he slathered the box in glue, and painstakingly applied the colored squares to the sides and top.
Using a thick black marker, he outlined the squares.
When he finished, he put the costume on.
I clasped my hands in front of my chest. “You’re adorable!”
He scowled. “I don’t want to look adorable. I want to look cool.”
Lila came to my rescue. “You do look cool. Hundred percent.” She cast a surreptitious glance my way and I gave her a wink in thanks. She slid into her donut costume, which she’d fashioned like a sandwich board and decorated with the pom-poms. She turned side to side, modeling it for me.
I gave her a smile. “You look sweet, sweetie.”
Landon groaned at my lame pun, but the hint of a grin tugged at his lips.
Ding-dong!
I looked from one of my kids to the other. “Either of you expecting someone?”
They both shook their heads, meaning it was up to me to answer the door.
I headed to the foyer and put my eye to the peephole.
On the porch stood a teenage girl and boy, both in high school band uniforms. The girl held a flute and the boy had a drum strapped around his waist. A tote bag hung from the girl’s shoulder.
When I opened the door, they greeted me with the first few bars of the high school’s fight song. Tweet-tweet-tweeeet! Ba-dum-dum.
“Hi!” The girl lowered her flute and offered her best smile. “My name is Genji.”
The boy pointed a drumstick at his chest. “I’m Alejandro.”
Genji slipped her flute into her tote and retrieved a thin brochure, which she held out to me.
The cover featured a Christmas tree surrounded by beautifully wrapped presents.
“We’re selling holiday gift wrap to raise money for our band trip.
We placed second in the regional marching band competition last year, and we have a good chance of winning this year. Will you help us achieve our goal?”
Clearly, she was rattling off a rehearsed pitch, but it was a good one.
Who wouldn’t want to help a hardworking, ambitious young person reach for their dreams?
Only a cheap, selfish curmudgeon, that’s who.
Besides, Landon would be in the high school marching band in just three short years.
I hoped the neighbors would be generous when he knocked on their doors.
Alejandro started a soft, suspenseful drumroll as I opened the brochure.
A variety of gift-wrap styles were available, ranging from comical skiing snowmen to traditional poinsettias.
They also offered wrap for Hannukah gifts, including a design that featured a menorah, as well as paper for Kwanzaa gifts that featured geometric designs in black, red, gold, and green.
The brochure also included a lantern-embossed wrap for Eid al-Fitr, the celebration of the end of Ramadan.
After looking over the options, I decided I liked the one featuring the skiing snowmen, one of whom had lost its head.
Its lower body skied after the head as it rolled down the slope, growing bigger with each turn.
My gaze went to the price list. Fifteen dollars for thirty square feet of paper?
That’s robbery! Keeping the thought to myself, I said, “Put me down for one roll of the ‘Silly Skiing Snowmen.’”
My order earned me a ba-dum-dum from Alejandro and his drum.
“Great!” Genji readied a ballpoint pen. “Would you like the coordinating ribbon and set of three bows?”
“No thanks.” If I went for the ribbon and bows, I wouldn’t be able to afford gifts!
I handed the brochure back to her, and she opened it to the last page, which was an order form. After she wrote down my name, address, and order, she looked up at me. “How would you like to pay? We can take cash or check, or you can log into the school’s website to use a credit card.”
“I’ll give you cash.”
I reached over and opened the drawer, once again retrieving my cash envelope. A five-dollar bill was on top of the stack. As I continued to riffle through the cash looking for a ten-dollar bill, Alejandro let out a wolf whistle. “That’s a lot of money.”
“I’m a waitress,” I said. “I work for tips.” More customers had been paying with cash lately, ever since the restaurant had started charging an extra three percent for credit card payments to cover the processing fees.
There’s a ten. I pulled the bill from the stack and handed it over along with the five. “There you go.”
Genji took the bills, slid them into a manila envelope, and tucked both the brochure and the envelope back into her tote bag. “Thanks so much! We’ll deliver your order in about three weeks.” With that, she and Alejandro turned, stepped off the porch, and headed down the driveway.
I closed the door and returned to the kitchen, where the kids were carefully removing their costumes.
Lila cocked her head and eyed me intently. “What about you, Mom? What are you going to be for Halloween this year?”
It was a loaded question. This would be my first individual costume in years.
I glanced over at the supplies, noting there was plenty of felt in orange, gold, and red, fall colors.
I could easily cut the felt into leaf shapes and sew them onto an old sweatshirt.
The costume would be cute and wouldn’t cost me a cent.
I picked up the felt. “I’m going to be autumn leaves. ”
Lila’s face relaxed in relief. “Perfect.”
The kids helped me cut the felt into leaf shapes, using a brown marker to add veins and stems. Lila retrieved an old knit beanie from our cold-weather-wear stash in the coat closet.
While she sewed leaves onto the beanie, I sewed them onto the sweatshirt.
When we finished, I slid the sweatshirt over my head, donned the beanie, and admired myself in the mirror over the fireplace.
It was a uniquely personal costume that went great with my orange hair, and I loved it.
I grabbed each of my kids in a side hug and pulled them close. “Thanks, you two!”
Our costumes complete, we gathered up the remaining craft supplies and returned them to the bin. My stomach rumbled and my thoughts turned to dinner. “Who wants spaghetti?”