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CHAPTER SIX
The street was lined with vehicles and the house was well lit as Eddie pulled into the wide driveway. Rodney, minus the ball and chain, parked his vehicle behind Eddie’ s pickup, and got out.“ Was your wife there?” Rodney asked, stepping beside Eddie.“ She helped with the bake sale and took a tour of the place. I can’ t wait to hear what she thought,” Eddie said, as Tanya came running out of the house. She hugged him fiercely.“ I am so proud of you. This is going to be the talk of the school for weeks!” she exclaimed. Tanya heard the news about the revenue the haunted house generated and was sitting on pins and needles waiting for him to get home.
She was a little surprised to see the behemoth looming near her husband. Eddie saw her pause.“ This is Rodney. Maybe you recognize him from the Jailhouse. Rodney this is my wife, Tanya.”“ It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Rodney beamed, offering her his huge hand. The tour through Eddie’ s‘ terror house’ had left her speechless. Three of the exhibits she expected. This was the man who scared the daylights out of her and here he was as charming as he was big. The fearsome man behind the bars now exuded an aura of peace and harmony. All she could manage to say was,“ Those are real,” pointing at his arms. Flexing his massive arm,“ Grade A, prime, black Angus,” he said and saw her hand move.“ See for yourself. You can squeeze the Charmin,” he said lowering his arm. Tanya started to reach with one hand.“ Oh, it’ s gonna take both hands,” he laughed. When she put both hands on his arm, he covered them with his free hand.“ Hold on,” Rodney laughed and lifted her easily off the ground. He allowed her to dangle for a moment and returned her to earth.
Tanya moved to Eddie’ s side.“ Some of the women asked me if it was a costume. I told them I had no idea who you were. Now I can tell them for certain it was not a costume,” she giggled.“ Bill invited Rodney to have a few beers and bounce a few drunks,” Eddie said.“ I already took desert over. What woman wouldn’ t want two handsome escorts,” Tanya bubbled, allowing both men to walk her across the street by stepping between them and placing her hands in the crook of their elbows and practically dragging them toward the party.
The garage doors were open. The party started there, flowed through the house and into the backyard. Some of the people were in costume, some were not, but everyone was having a good time. The approaching trio received some smiles and curious stares. Tanya’ s almost hundred pounds, petite, personage was framed by a vampire and what at first glance appeared to be a very large someone stepping right from the movie set of“ Roots”. They found Bill in the back yard.“ Glad you could make it Rodney.”
“ How did it go?” Bill asked, stepping away from the stainless steel outdoor kitchen’ s grill. Carrying a platter piled with hamburgers and a bottle of beer, he led the three new guests through the garage.“ Grab a beer on the way through,” he ordered, as he dropped his empty bottle into a large trash can. They stepped into the house. The ample counters were lined with containers of food.“ Hey everybody this is Rodney,” Bill shouted over the din.“ Rodney, this is everybody.”“ Hey everybody!” Rodney boomed.“ Hey Rodney!” the room full of people shouted back as Bill set down the platter and shoved a plate at Rodney.“ Eat! Don’ t be shy.” Bill smiled.“ I know how to do both,” Rodney laughed.“ They did fabulously. They made over three thousand dollars,” Tanya said.
“ You guys worked your tails off,” Bill said, knowing they were only charging a dollar for the privilege of having the daylights scared out of those who craved that sort of entertainment.“ Non-stop for four hours. I had a blast,” Eddie said and turned to Tanya.“ I got a job offer.”