The Night the Light Went on (in Long Beach)

“So, now what?” Pauline asked Clyde and the others. The dirty old biddy shrugged at her.

“Dunno,” she said.

“We got kicked out!” the rich old biddy complained.

“Yes, we know,” Lewis said.

“But what do we do now?” Pauline wailed.

“Who knows?” Muriel asked. Their rich friend lowered her head. You guys are hopeless, she thought. Lewis shrugged her shoulders again.

“Just…” she said. Pauline looked on at her.

“Just what?” she asked. The farmer gave her a little smile.

“Just walk around for a bit,” she said.

“And then?”

“Go home?”

Pauline lowered her head. They are really hopeless! But, what else can they do?

Tucker kept his head down as Annie kept her eyes on her back. He sighed aloud.

“Look, I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have let them in.” His wife snorted at him.

“I’m sorry, okay?” he said. Annie snorted at him again. Tucker threw down his rag.

“Look!” he snapped. “I said that I was sorry! What more do you want?”

“We were closed,” his wife said.

“I know,” Tucker said.

“You shouldn’t have let them in.”

“I know!”

“When do we close?”

“Ten.”

“And what time did you let them in?”

“Eleven.”

“So, they shouldn’t have been here.”

Tucker groaned aloud and rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay! I get it! Just let it go, woman!” The man turned and walked back into the kitchen.

“Come back here!” Annie yelled. “I’m not done talking to you yet!”

Clyde smiled to herself in the deep night air. Wonder what Nick Grey’s doin’ now!”

Her friends all looked at her.

“Why would you be thinking about that?” Pauline asked. Her rough friend stood there grinning. The other three backed away from the sight of her teeth. The woman giggled to herself.

“’E’s so ‘andsome!” she shouted to the sky. Her laughter followed behind. Whack! Clyde whipped around, rubbing the back of her head.

“Ow!” she wailed. Pauline frowned at her.

“Can’t you learn how to speak properly?” she asked. “And do it quietly?” Clyde stuck her tongue out at her.

“No!” she snapped. Pauline gritted her teeth. However, when her eyes happened to trail over to her lit cigarette, an idea formed in her head. She smirked at her dirty friend. Lewis and Muriel looked on with a good image of what was about to unfold.

“Polly?” Muriel asked. Too late. In one switch movement, the end of Pauline’s cigarette met with Clyde’s exposed tongue. The dirty only biddy howled as she jumped backwards.

“Ow!” she cried. Pauline used her lady graces to push back a laugh.

“Not so smart, huh?” she asked. “That’ll show you not to stick your tongue out in public!”

“You!” Clyde snapped. The other two friends had to act as a barrier between the two.

Outside in their yard, Clover looked around with a flashlight. Nothing so far. Liz stayed close the whole time.

“Looks fine,” the younger sister said. Liz still didn’t let go.

“What if it’s hiding?” she asked. Clover opened her mouth to speak when she heard another rattle just to her right. Her sister leapt up and screamed.

“Oh no!” she cried. “It’s the ghost!” Clover closed her mouth as she listened in closely.

“Wait a second,” she said. The younger girl walked over to the big air conditioner machine. Liz tried to cling onto her arm.

“Wait!” she cried. “Don’t leave me! I don’t want to die!”

“You’ll be fine!” Clover followed the sound to the source that she thought it was at. Liz crowded down in fear.

“Oh!” she cried. “We’re going to be haunted! The ghost is coming to kill us! The ghost is coming to kill us!” Clover tried her best to ignore her.

“Why are you screaming?” she asked. Liz jumped up and screamed at her.

“We’re going to get cursed!” she whimpered. “I just know it!” She paused when she heard laughter. Liz looked up and saw Clover looking at her.

“What?” the older sister asked. The younger sister smiled at her. She held up at a doll by the hair. Liz blinked at it.

“What is that?” she asked. Clover gave her a small smile.

“This is a doll that one of the neighbor’s cats stole from their child,” she explained. “The doll fell from the roof into the air conditioner.” Her sister still didn’t get it.

“So?” she asked.

“So, this was what was making the rattling noise that you heard,” the younger sister said. Liz’s face just dropped.

“Oh,” she said.

“Can I go back to bed now?” the younger sister asked. Liz gave her a nervous laugh.

“Alright,” she said.

“Good night,” Clover said. Then, she went back inside the house, dropping the doll at her sister’s feet. Liz only stared at said object in silence.

“A doll, huh?” she asked.

The four old biddies got too tired to stay out and walked home. Clyde looked at all of her friends.

“We should do tis mo often,” she said. She grabbed Pauline’s arm before she could hit her.

“No!” the old lady barked.

“Why not?” she asked.

“Want to go to sleep now!” Pauline complained. Clyde looked over at her other friends for conformation. Muriel and Lewis shrugged as they nodded. The dirty old biddy threw up her hands.

“Fine, fine,” she said. “Night!”

“Good night,” Pauline said. Lewis and Muriel waved. The four of them parted with hours before morning left to spare.

Good Night, Old Biddies

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