“It isn’t going to work, Nick,” Luca said, stretched on his side atop the unicorn quilt Jennifer had made for him when he was a small child; Luca could never bear to part with it. Nick had tried no less than four times to remove the pink from his hair. Luca had insisted on helping Nick find products at All Mart, but nothing seemed to work.
Nick glared, a towel slung over his shoulders, his jersey and jeans still damp because he’d not dried properly. “This should’ve been gone when we untransformed.” He closed the door behind him and slumped on the floor, his hands folded between his knees, casting a nervous look at Tschida, whose expressionless face was illuminated by the bluish glow of his phone screen. Tschida had taken over Luca’s desk, sitting in front of the old laptop.
Trinket licked his chops. “You get to keep the shiny hair and the color.”
“I don’t wanna keep this hair!” Nick shouted. “I should be able to dye it or something. Augh!” He peered in Tschida’s direction again, before turning attention to his folded hands. “Tschi, how aren’t you bothered by any of this?”
Tschida lifted his head and adjusted his glasses, calm as ever. “I haven’t processed it. But, this is our reality. If anything, these abilities are useful. The hiding ability paired with flight? We can save money on gas or public transportation.”
Luca couldn’t help but sit beside Trinket and scratch his belly. The little dog’s catlike tail bobbled. With his free hand, he opened his phone, pulling up BookFace. He typed in the name of the local paper, the Coal Country Times. “We…we made the paper….” Already, the paper had churned out a brief article of the news story. Cops and media had probably swarmed the area once the Court had vacated it.
“What does it say?” Nick asked, sitting on the edge of Luca’s bed. He immediately backed up when he thought he was too close to Luca. Nick was not the type to ever have physical contact with others, unless it was via a punch or tackle.
Luca read the article aloud:
Breaking News: Local Restaurant has Expensive Publicity Stunt and Disturbs Neighbors
Anthracite City, PA—Shortly after 10 PM, police received calls about strange flashing lights and loud music from the vicinity of local restaurant Stan the Pierogi Man on Pick Lane.
When police and reporters arrived, the promotional stunt was over. However, eyewitnesses report seeing three unknown men claiming to be part of a Midsummer Court.
The videos below show masked men performing complex acrobatics enhanced by a music and light show, along with other special effects, in an alleyway and street. The popular theory is these men are circus performers, gymnasts, or professional dancers.
Stan Kowalski, the owner of Stan the Pierogi Man, according to residents, even dressed in a pierogi costume, shedding it at the end of the choreographed performance.
“The costume was huge,” said neighbor George Lewandoski. “I don’t know how he got rid of it. But I says we have to get some pierogis tomorrow. Silly that Stan closed up shop afterward.”
Gladys Lewandoski voiced her opinion, too. “Have something like that during the day. Don’t go disturbing people at night. We have enough with the hoodlums at night without Stan adding to it.”
The Coal Country Gazzette was able to reach Stan, who was found holding three stray cats in his arms. He had little to say about the stunt, except, “I’m not worried about Keith the Kielbasa King,” referring to Keith Zalewski, new owner of the Kielbasa King shop on Anthracite Lane. “I been here for a long time, and people are going to keep coming. They just need a reminder I’m here.”
We asked if there was anything further he wanted residents to know, and he said, “Adopt a pet. I’m taking these three guys, gals, whatever they are in to keep the mice out of the shop. I’m going to allow my tenants to have pets, too. So, if you have a dog or cat or whatever, and you need a place to rent, I got a bunch of places.”
What are your opinions on this promotional stunt? Let us know in the comments.
“What do the comments say?” Nick asked. “Are people commenting?”
Luca sighed and scrolled down. The comments on the local paper’s articles were always disappointing. He read a few: “No one needs circus people late at night.” “Someone should hit those guys.” “Where did he find these drugged up Millennials? What happened to men? In my day, we went to war and took lives instead of wearing ribbons.” And then the comments only got more offensive.
“Find out who these bastards are,” Nick said, punching the floor with his left hand. “They want a war? They can say this shit to Blue Baron Oberon’s face.”
“They’re much more positive on MeTube,” Tschida said, cutting him off. “We have comments on our dancing style and acting ability. And someone did a drawing of us.”
Luca launched himself from the bed and crouched next to Tschida, looking at the difficult-to-see pencil drawing of the three, all standing back-to-back with Luca in the middle. “Why can’t local people do that? All of this? The compliments, the support. The cute artwork. Look at your face, Nick. They even got your scowl.”
Nick stood over them and bent at the waist to peer at Tschida’s screen. He squinted to see, because he wouldn’t get too close to any of them. “That’s…not bad.”
Luca’s phone rang again signaling a Disco call. He stared at the screen, seeing D’s name. “Crap…”
“What is it?” Nick asked. “Is that the online friend of yours? Can’t he calm the hell down?”
“Eh, yeah…He was a little worried about me tonight.” Luca laughed nervously. He silenced the call and quickly typed D a message: [I’ll message you soon. I have a friend situation right now.] Without waiting for a response, he swiped the Disco app away.
“Hey, why does he have your phone number?” Nick asked, glaring at Luca’s phone.
“It’s through an app.” Luca quickly changed the subject. “I wanted to thank you both for joining me. I know this probably isn’t something you thought would happen or wanted to happen…”
“It’s for Don,” Nick said, giving his wet hair a shake. “I get a hammer. It’s good, except for this goofy hair.”
Tschida slid his glasses along the bridge of his nose. “We are very different, but we’re still your friends.” He gave Luca a very slight smile, but it reached his eyes this time.
Luca wanted to hug him, but knew such affection wouldn’t be welcome. The last time he’d been hugged was when Jennifer was alive. On habit, he opened the Disco app again. D had messaged him. [
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