Ch. 8
"Kristin!" I shouted taking her arm guiding her into the house.
She hung up her jacket. "What's the big deal?"
"The kids....they have no Halloween costumes."
"That's the emergency? You mean to tell me I sped over here in fear for...'Halloween costumes'?" she hissed.
I turned to her. "Have you seen a nine-year-old that is
without costume an hour before he's suppose to go
trick-or-treating?"
"Well....no."
"KRISTIN!" a pitiful small voice moaned fighting tears.
"Aaron, honey, what is it?"
"I'm a reject!"
"A reject? Oh, no, baby, you're not a reject at all."
"Yes, I am."
She stroked his cheek gently. "No, you're not."
The other children joined the youngest Carter. Angel hugged Kristin's waist.
"Are you here to help us get costumes?"
"I guess so. Do any of you know where your mom keeps your old costumes?"
BJ shook her head. "Nope. Mom always donated them to the local children's theatre group when they were finished."
"Dangit!"
I faced Nick. "What do you plan to do?"
"I don't care......I'll just slip on a jersey and shorts and stick a basketball in my hand. Surprise! I'm a basketball player!"
"That was simple enough," Kristin sighed eyeing the children. "If only it would be that easy for the rest of you." She took Angel in her lap. "Did anyone call Mrs.Carter."
I rested beside her. "Yes, but they're ninety minutes away. By the time she got here and whipped something together-it would be useless."
"Good point. Well, do me a favor. Give her a call and ask if we could possibly use anything not valuable that she or Mr.Carter own."
"Sure."
Leslie wrinkled her nose. "What do we do?"
Kristin lifted Angel to the ground. "You show me everything you have in your closets! And be as creative as you can!"
**************************
"Kristin, Mrs.Carter said you could use anything you find," I reported walking up the stairs.
Kristin continued to search through Angel's closet. "Great!" She pulled out a small blue jumper dress. "Angel, sweetie, do you own a white shirt you could slip under this dress?"
"Uh-huh."
"Perfect! You just slip into that and I'll be right back." She faced the oldest Carter sister. "BJ, do you own an old part of jeans?"
"Well....yeah."
"Okay, find them and try to help Leslie find a plain-colored shirt and top."
Leslie looked up from her dresser. "Where are you going, Kristin?"
"To help your brother."
I followed her to the boys' bedroom. "What kind of plan are you cooking up?"
"Oh, right now I've got so many ideas-I couldn't possibly explain," she stated slipping into the open bedroom. "Found anything, Aaron?"
"Nun-uh."
Nick walked out of the closet in costume dribbling his basketball. "I'm going downstairs to watch ESPN."
Kristin began measuring Aaron's size. "Do you have black sweat clothes?"
"Yeppers."
"How about black tennis shoes?"
"Yep."
"Great! Go get them for me, okay?"
"What can I do?" I mumbled feeling useless.
"Go find a basket, stuffed dog, black tie, small pad of paper, an apron and a cross necklace. Then, after you do all that go watch ESPN with Nick. Men are no good at this type of thing."