AN: Happy Thanksgiving to all. I love holidays like this, especially when my brother makes a stink about wearing his paper party crown. That's a 'tradition' I always look forward to.
"Collins, help!" The anarchist looked up from the deck of cards he was shuffling to see Maureen hurrying up, with Nana close behind.
"What is it now?"
"She wants to count the number of 'X's' on my right hand, insisting it will reveal the number of children I'll have!"
"Nana," Collins chuckled. "Seeing how she and Joanne are both women, I don't think that's something to be too concerned with."
"Well, you never can be sure," Nana clicked her tongue. "She and Joanne might one day decide to go to one of those sperm banks."
"Even if that was the case, they still would be no cases of unexpected births," Collins pointed out.
"You've never heard of twins?" Nana persisted. "There are even some cases of quindecaplets: fifteen born at once." Maureen instantly paled at the thought of giving birth to fifteen babies at once.
"Collins, please do something!" Maureen begged. "I'm supposed to meet Joanne, Mimi and Emily for the waterworks program in half an hour and I have to get my things from the room." Instantly, Collins formed a little plan to help his friend get rid of Nana for a while.
"Nana, pull up a seat," He invited. "We can play a game for a while, with a wager attached."
"What sort of wager?" Nana asked, as Maureen gratefully took advantage of Nana's distraction to hurry off and get her swimsuit on.
"If I win, you have to promise not to lecture Maureen about your omens and anything like that."
"Okay, but what if I win?"
"I'll get a cupping treatment with you."
"And an acupuncture session as well?"
"I would, but since it wouldn't be wise to risk my blood…."
"Apologies," Nana said quickly. "I sometimes forget about your condition. Very well, then, Thomas Collins, you have yourself a bargain." Nana sat down across from him as he dealt out a game of Texas Hold'em. There wasn't a good chance the elderly woman knew how to play poker games, after all.
"Remember, Nana," Collins explained during the game. "Straight beats thee of a kind; a flush beats a straight…." Nana listened patiently to Collins' instructions as the game continued. Finally, Collins, with a triumphant smile, laid his hand on the table. "Straight flush," he announced. Nana responded with a serene smile before showing him her cards.
"Royal flush." Collins' jaw dropped. "The cupping treatment is tomorrow afternoon. Don't be late."
"Wait!" Collins sputtered. "How'd you…"
"Collins, dear friend," Nana winked. "I was the three-time champion of my Texas Hold'em team in my prime."
"What?! Why didn't you say anything?"
"You never asked me, did you?" Nana chuckled as she left the room.
Later on, in the Pool Barn, Joanne, in a yellow racerback style swimsuit, and Maureen, in a tiger-striped-patented triangle bikini, moved up to the group waiting to begin the waterworks program. Mimi, in a Hawaiian print bikini, and Emily, in a navy blue hydrasuit with a small New York Yankees logo printed on one of the straps, were already among the group, waiting for them. As Maureen and Joanne walked up to their friends, they noticed a guy talking to Mimi while Emily was crouched down at the pool's edge, swirling the water with her finger.
"So do you want to meet me in the beverage bar later on?" the guy was asking.
"I'm flattered," Mimi replied politely. "But I have a boyfriend." The guy's face fell instantly, but he simply shrugged and walked off.
"You know, I think that's the same guy who asked me if I was interested in meeting him in the Bamboo Room yesterday," Joanne blinked.
"He must be hitting on every girl here!" Mimi realized, seeing the guy talking with another girl a short distance from the group.
"Every girl, except one, maybe," Emily muttered, still twirling the water with her finger. "Guess I should be used to it by now."
"What do you mean?" Joanne asked, crouching down next to her.
"Well, in all honesty, you people are the only ones who really notice me. Everyone else… let's just say I'm used to people overlooking me as just another girl. So, I shouldn't be surprised that even overly-hormonal boys overlook me."
"That's because you have to make them notice you," Maureen reasoned.
"No offense, Maureen," Emily glanced over. "But unlike you, I'm not exactly comfortable in wearing flashy, revealing clothes."
"I don't think you need to go that far," Mimi laughed. "But you do realize that you're usually hiding your face beneath that Yankees cap of yours. I know it has sentimental value, since it belonged to your brother. But it does have a tendency to hide…"
"My plain homely features."
"That's not a good attitude," Joanne chided. "Hasn't anyone told you that you are rather pretty?"
"Just Nana and Zack. But I don't think they count."
"Emily just come with us to the Iris Salon tomorrow," Mimi invited. "Joanne's right. You are pretty. And it may be time you highlighted your natural appearance. Believe me, confidence has a definite impact on your physical features."
Shortly after lunch, Maureen entered one of the private showers in preparation for the Pumpkin Body Wrap she was getting. After this treatment, she was meeting Joanne for a drink and a walk. And after that, who knew?
Maureen turned on the water and closed her eyes, the way she always did, to fully enjoy the warmth of the water droplets. She loved showering, and always went off into her own world whenever she stepped into one. Before long, much too soon for her liking, the staff member in charge of the Pumpkin Body Wraps informed her that it was time to move on to the next step. As Maureen went to turn off the water, however, she suddenly noticed red-colored water flowing down her arm. She quickly started to panic when she saw her entire body was covered in red. It almost looked like blood. However, fear turned to shock when she noticed the blood-like water was actually coming from the shower head. Immediately, Maureen cried for the staff member. The staff member quickly turned off the water, before noticing the shower head was slightly unscrewed. Once the staff member removed it, she and Maureen discovered that someone put red dye inside the showerhead.
"Who put it there?" Maureen gaped.
"I don't know," the staff member apologized. "There hasn't really been anyone in here. Except…"
"What?"
"I did step out for just a moment. When I came back, there was a young man in here. He said he was looking for someone."
"What did he look like?"
"Oh, tall and...rather unshaven. With long dirty blond hair." Maureen's eyes narrowed maliciously.
"Roger," she snarled. "He is so dead."
Mark knelt down by a small creek, filming the water flowing by. Wenceslas' harness was wrapped around his wrist. He'd volunteered to watch him for a bit while Emily was at her cooking program.
"You better keep a close watch on that there pig," an elderly man spoke from behind a tree so suddenly, that it slightly spooked Mark.
"He's my friend's pet. I wouldn't let him wander off," Mark stated.
"I was more worried about the chupacabra, young man"
"The what?" Mark lowered his camera, confused.
"The chupacabra. A vicious beast that preys on livestock, like that little pig you got there. Their red eyes have the ability to hypnotize and paralyze their prey, leaving the prey animal mentally stunned, allowing the chupacabra to suck the animal's blood at its leisure. The chupacabra drains all the blood of an animal, and sometimes, even their internal organs as well. For the sake of your friend's pig, I believe you best keep a close eye on him. Especially at night."
"Hi, Mark!" Emily suddenly came jogging up. When Mark looked back around, the old man was gone. "Thanks for looking after Wenceslas for me."
"Oh… Sure. No… problem."
"What are you looking for?"
"There was this old man there a second ago." Mark quickly explained what he had just heard.
"A chupacabra?" Emily sighed. "Did he mention anything about alligators in the sewers, as well?"
"You're not worried about Wenceslas, then?"
"Not really. I've heard of chupacabras. If there was something to the stories, then why do all the descriptions vary so much? Mark, take it from someone who lived with a superstitious woman for twenty years. You have to take these things with a grain of salt."
"Yeah," Mark nodded, eying the sun that was starting to set. "Maybe."
AN: I really hope the glitch this site is having again is going to clear up soon. It's taking longer then I thought it would. It can't be too much longer though. (I hope)
Coming up:
Roger and Maureen continue their game of playing pranks
Collins and Nana challenge an egotistical card shark to their game
Roger finds out Benny's at the same resort
And maybe some sweet moments here and there