Disclaimer: I didn't come up with the idea for this story, but I wish I had. It is used with permission. THWACK stories are property of the Fruitcake Alliance. To join the alliance, e-mail fruitcake headquarters at fruitcakehq@yahoo.com. Also, visit the alliance site at
As she turned to leave the Pine Cone Motel after her visit with Maureen/Maria, Phoebe promptly ran over someone's foot. A string of incomprehensible words followed. Phoebe assumed they were curses, but she couldn't understand one of them.
She waited for the young man in question to stop complaining before she spoke to him. "Aidan Devane?"
"Yeah, that's right." He glanced at the closed motel-room door. "You're a friend of Maureen's, then?"
Phoebe's hackles rose as she listened to Aidan mangle his girlfriend's name, accenting the first syllable rather than the second. But she forced herself to smile sweetly and cup her ear. "Come a little closer, dear. It's a bit difficult to understand you."
Aidan eyed her cautiously. Then, apparently deciding that this little old lady probably wasn't an assassin in disguise, he obligingly knelt beside Phoebe's chair.
THWACK! The unexpected blow knocked him backwards.
"I'm Phoebe Wallingford, and you, you marble-mouthed lout, ought to at least be able to say your girlfriend's name the way she pronounces it."
Aidan's hand slipped down to his side as if feeling for a weapon, but he didn't find one and Phoebe safely escaped, running over his foot again in the process.
Next thwacking will be of either J.R., Chris, or Simone.