tricks or treat

I opened the door and there he stood in all of his ash-ness.  Ghede. “May I help you?” I asked. He smiled and held open a bag.  “I have brought your costume M’lady” he answered.  Costume I thought?  The hell? “I wish to try out your treating” he says.  Light bulb clicks on..Okay..give me a minute and I will accompany you. So I go to change into the costume he has brought me..sort of a sexy antebellum with entirely too much lace and not enough coverage up top, but hey..not gonna argue with the dead. So we make our way down the street stopping at houses along the way to collect candy. At each house, after receiving his prize he looks to see what he got.  “What does one do with this”, he asked as he held up a Bit of Honey bar.  I smile.  “You eat it”. He starts to put it in his mouth and I stop him to tell him to remove the paper.  He does and I smile as I watch the look of pleasure come over his face.  “This is good” he says excitedly.  “I want some more”.  So we set off to the other house and at each one he hold the wrapper up and asks if they have any.  “I swear”, I think to myself.  “can’t take the dead anywhere”. As we finished with the last house and my friend’s bag was full of Bit of Honey’s, we enter a hall where there is a costume party already in progress. My friend and I take a seat where some others have already been seated and he speaks with them as I look around.  He shows them his lot, shares the candy which they all agree is this side of heaven and I shake my head in amusement.  “May I have this dance Cher”, says a familiar voice.  I look up and find The Rummer in all his finery holding out his hand to me.  I accept his hand and we make our way to the dance floor.  “A most fetching costume” he says.  “One I’m sure you had a hand in choosing” I replied smiling.  He feigned innocence(yeah right), but we both laughed and as we danced, he kept me entertained with various anecdotes about those dancing around us.  We spoke of the one who came to treat with me.  “Why him”, I asked.  “He wanted to meet you and see what its like to see things as a child does”. came the reply.  “He loves the Bit of Honey candy” I laughed.  “Think about why that is”.  I know that honey is used as a trap I say..then stop because I spy familiar eyes looking at me from behind a gold mask.  I may not have seen an actual face before, but I can certainly smell the stench.  My dance partner was watching this all unfold.  “Your face is very expressive cher”, he remarked.  “One can see the emotions flit one after another.  They tell quite a story”.  “Did you set this up”?  I ask quietly.  “Non, I allowed certain things to happen, but sometimes one can choose to confront things head on n’est pas?”I incline my head in agreement but say nothing.  “Let’s go get something to drink” he says.  We move to make our way to the refreshment tables when there he is.  The man with the gold mask.  “I’ve brought you something to drink Lovely Lady” he says with a mocking, leering grin on his face.  I take the glass from him and act as if I am going to drink from it.  I can tell from the smell that there is more than punch or alcohol within the confines of the glass and suddenly I can stand no more.  I toss the punch in his face and my sword is within my hand and I push his ass against the wall.  “Listen here you full of shit bogus motherfucker.  I am tired of the half assed attempt on myself and others.  I do not notice that the room has parted and that those who were dancing have stopped to watch.  My dance partner rests against a wall with a look of amusement on his face.  I continue with my tirade. “Your lack of respect for others outside your closed minds and fake assembly of faith reeks.  You can try and hide behind your so-called pious acts of religion and make all sorts of claims but it all is bullshit to the nth degree.  I have had enough.  ENOUGH dammit and if you make any more moves and try to call in those who you claim to know…I am going to eviscerate your ass and leave you for the worms.  Crows wont have enough to make a fucking appetizer of you.” He casts his eyes toward The Rummer who is now laughing openly and demands if he will not help him.  “Mon amie, I am a wise man, have seen many things, experienced them as well and even I know better than to fuck with an angry woman holding a sword to my throat. The man behind the mask suddenly swallows as he realizes that there will be no help from any quarter.  I tell him that he is to leave and that the next time I see him, he will be a dead man and will not enjoy any aspect of that particular plane.  The man leaves and my sword is one again hidden.  My dance partner lazily removes himself from his cat bird seat against the wall. He takes my hand and tells me that I still owe him the remainder of a dance.  I laugh and shake my head and so we continue and everyone else does the same.  We speak on the situation that presented itself, what will and will not happen.  I am satisfied that things will soon calm itself from that area.  We walk back to the table where my friend has finished his candy and he is to to return me home directly, with no detours on his return.  He nods and we make our way back to my home.  “Thank you ” he said.  “For allowing me to treat with you”.  I smile.  He’s a kid really, still learning.  “My pleasure” I say.  We reach my door and I bid goodbye.  “For you” I say and hand him one last Bit of Honey.  I watch as his eyes light up and he laughs and takes it from me.  “Directly home now” I say sternly.  He nods and makes his way back in the direction from whence we came and I laugh as I see him unwrap the candy and put it in his mouth, hear his sigh of appreciation at the taste.  I shake my head and make my way inside to find my bed and consider all that has transpired.

All in all I guess I did get some tricks in with those treats after all