mind.”
When Dexter went back downstairs, he didn’t sit down again. He whispered to
Elliot, “We’re leaving. Right now.”
Elliot smiled. He stood up and they said good night to everyone. Fred and Steve
walked them to the front door and thanked them for coming. “We
love
you both so
much,” Fred said. “We really do.”
Elliot hugged Fred and smiled. “But we
love
you even more.”
Dexter gulped and reached into the shoe basket. He found Elliot’s shoes first and
handed them to him, then found his own. He held his shoes in his hand and said, “I’ll
have you guys over to my place real soon. I had a great time tonight.”
Then Dexter and Elliot kissed them good night and walked back to the car in their
socks. Dexter walked fast. He didn’t put his shoes back on until he was inside the car and
the engine was running.
Elliot laughed. “Why are we leaving so soon? Did something happen upstairs?” Dexter put the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway. He looked at
Elliot and asked, “Why are you laughing?”
Elliot’s shoulders jumped and his hand was over his mouth. “No reason.”
Dexter smiled and punched Elliot in the thigh. “You knew they were going to try
to get into my pants, didn’t you?”
Elliot straightened his shoulders and said, “Don’t get mad. Everyone in
Provincetown knows by now that they love to do three-ways. They cruise the bars, the
dunes, and the dick dock looking for a good-looking third. If you turn them down, they
don’t take it personally. They don’t take anything personally. They
love
everyone.”
“I’m not mad,” Dexter said. “But you could have warned me, you big ass.” He
laughed and punched him in the thigh again. “I could have been prepared for it when
Fred grabbed my balls and Steve grabbed my ass.”
“I thought about warning you,” Elliot said, still laughing. “I really did. But then I
would have missed the expression on your face when you came downstairs. I’m sorry.”
Chapter Eleven
In Hollywood, Dexter had always made Halloween a huge event. He’d done this
mostly for Brighton’s sake, but also because it was his favorite time of year. He’d given
large costume parties for both the children and the adults at the house in the Hollywood
Hills. Brighton’s costume had always been something she’d chosen on her own, and his
costume had always been something that had inspired him during the year. Michael had
always worn the same clown costume; the kids had loved it and it hadn’t mattered much
to him.
Now that Dexter was living in Provincetown year round, Halloween was even
more exciting, and it wasn’t because there was a film crew following him around. He
would have been just as excited if the film crew hadn’t been there. This was the
Halloween he’d always dreamed about having but could never get right in Southern
California. The New England weather had turned cooler, the leaves fell from the trees,
and the smell of burning wood rose up from chimneys all over town. It
felt
like fall. After
five, the sun went down and there was always a hint of romance in the air. And when the
nighttime skies were clear in Provincetown that time of year, the stars seemed brighter
and closer than anywhere else he’d ever been.
Brighton decided to wear a princess costume that year. She’d been reading a story
book about a princess and she wanted to be the main character. Dexter had frowned at
first. He’d been hoping she would choose something more interesting. But Brighton had
looked him in the eye and insisted. And he didn’t want to force her into wearing a costume that would make her feel uncomfortable. Dexter was strict, but he knew when to
give her freedom to choose without influencing her with his opinions. So he smiled and
ordered the materials Marion would need to create the princess costume.
Dexter’s costume that year was far from mundane. He’d been so inspired by
Captain Lang and some of the old stories Lang had told him about his turbulent days at
sea that he had decided to be a pirate. He’d ordered a pirate costume on the Internet, with
a long black wig, fake tattoos, and a patch for his eye. But it wasn’t just any pirate
costume. This one had tight pants and black leather boots that had six-inch high heels.
He’d ordered it from one of those sexy costume Web sites,where they sold kinky outfits
and sex toys. Though Dexter was now living in New England, it didn’t mean he had to
tone down his personality. On the surface, Provincetown had all the best aspects of New
England. But it wasn’t exactly a typical version of a quiet New England town. Most of
the guys he knew in town would be wearing drag and campy outfits with large fake
breasts. The feather boas, the kinky high heels, and the fishnet stockings would be out in
full force that night. The restaurants would all be open for business and the nightclubs
would be packed. A normal pirate costume would have been too dull for Provincetown;
the one Dexter had ordered was perfect.
He didn’t ignore Keel Cottage either. While Kellan and Paige filmed everything
he did for the reality show, Dexter and Brighton went to work decorating the house two
days before Halloween. He’d always decorated for Halloween in Hollywood, but this
year, because of the film crew, he went well beyond the normal routine. He and Brighton
carved pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns that had real candles. They lined the railing on the
front porch, the front steps, and the front walk with spooky glowing pumpkins with whimsical expressions. Dexter drove to Chatham and bought thousands of little orange
and green Halloween lights. He wrapped the lights around long strands of corn husk
garland and hung them in swags all over the porch railing. He even lit a large corn husk
wreath on the front door, then draped more lighted garland on the railing of the widow’s
walk.
When Brighton thought the entire house was decorated, Dexter pulled out a
surprise from the hall closet that made her jump up and down and laugh. While he’d been
out buying the Halloween lights, he’d come across a little shop that sold black artificial
trees and all sorts of gleaming Halloween glass decorations. There were shiny witches
with gold glitter, riding sliver brooms. He saw orange pumpkins with green stems and
sparkles, in different sizes and shapes. There were hundreds of decorations from which to
choose; one was better than the other. So he bought two of each. The thought of having a
Halloween tree, like a Christmas tree, had never occurred to him. But when he saw one
already set up and decorated in the shop he knew he had to have it.
Dexter and Brighton wrapped the black tree in orange and green lights, hung the
decorations, and plugged it in on the front porch to the right of the door. When the lights
went on, the ornaments glistened and the front porch lit up with a soft, amber glow.
Brighton smiled and threw her arms around Dexter’s waist. “This is beautiful, Dad,” she
said. “Everyone in town is going to see this.” She pointed to Commercial Street. People
passing by were already stopping and looking up at the decorated house. Kellan and
Paige were getting it all on camera. “This is going to be the best Halloween we’ve ever
had.”
But Dexter wasn’t finished. “Wait here,” he said. “I have one more surprise.” He ran to the garage at the back of the house. He pulled a large black cauldron
from a box and reached for a Styrofoam container that was in front of the car. When he
returned to the front porch, Kellan was standing next to Brighton, whose hands were on
her hips as she admired all the decorations on the tree.
Captain Lang had appeared. He was leaning against the railing with his hands in
his pockets. Dexter smiled and said, “Wait until you see this,” and Brighton thought he
was talking to them.
Then he set the cauldron beside the tree and went into the house for a pitcher of
very hot water. When he returned, he poured some hot water into the cauldron. After that,
he dumped a piece of dry ice into the hot water. When the dry ice hit the water, white
smoke formed and rose up from the bottom of the cauldron.
Cleo barked at the smoke. But Brighton’s eyes widened and she stared into the
cauldron with an open mouth. “How did you do that?” she asked.
“It’s dry ice,” Dexter said. “And we only do it when I’m around.” Then he looked
at Marion and said, “I’ll put it all away when she goes to bed and I’ll bring it out again
tomorrow night.”
“It’s so realistic, Mr. Moore,” Marion said. “The whole house looks wonderful. I
have to say you really went all out this year. I almost wish I were going to wear a
costume.” Marion never got dressed up for Halloween.
Captain Lang clapped and said, “Bravo, my man. I couldn’t agree more. Brighton
is a very lucky little girl to have a father like you. I’m impressed at the lengths you’ll go
to.” Dexter looked at Captain Lang and smiled. Dexter had worked hard getting all
these things together, and he’d spent more money than he should have spent, but it had
been worth the time and the money.
He watched Brighton’s face. She was still staring at the smoke rising from the
cauldron, waving her fingers through the smoke to see how it felt. He’d never seen her so
excited and curious at the same time. He ran his hand across the back of his head and said,
“Too bad we don’t have any real ghosts right now.”
Captain Lang’s eyebrows went up. He smiled at Dexter and went to where Marion
and Brighton were standing. Then he reached out with his right arm and grabbed the
Halloween tree. He shook the tree several times in front of them. While the decorations
jiggled back and forth, Brighton jumped back and put her arms around Dexter’s legs.
Marion pressed her palm to her chest and gasped.
“Did you see that, Mr. Moore?” Marion shouted. “That tree just moved by itself.”
“Is there a ghost, Dad?” Brighton asked. She was holding Dexter’s legs, but she
sounded more curious than frightened. “How did the tree move?”
Dexter stared into Captain Lang’s eyes and smiled. “Naw,” he said, waving his
arm. “There’s no ghost, sweetie. It’s just a breeze passing through.”
Kellan and Paige had been standing at the other end of the porch. They were still
filming. Paige shook her head and said in a low voice, “But why didn’t the breeze blow
the smoke, too? It shook the tree. It should have blown the smoke at the same time.” She
had her right palm pressed to her throat and she was leaning forward. Dexter laughed. It was the first thing he’d heard Paige say in days. He shrugged
his shoulders and said, “You probably just missed the smoke blowing. Our eyes can play
tricks on us sometimes, Paige.”
Paige’s shoulders relaxed and she stepped back. But Marion pressed her index
finger to her bottom lip and gave Dexter a look. She wasn’t buying his explanation.
Marion knew there was something going on at Keel Cottage, and it had nothing to do
with random breezes and gusts of wind.
On Halloween night after dinner, Marion helped Brighton get dressed and Dexter
put on his costume in his own room. He dressed in front of Captain Lang. Lang had just
fucked Dexter and he was still resting on the bed with his legs spread wide. His large
penis was still semi-erect and it was pointing down and resting on his balls. Dexter had
applied the fake tattoos earlier that day. He’d placed one tattoo of a ship’s anchor on his
bicep, one with skull and crossbones on his right thigh, and one tattoo of an eagle just
above his ass at the small of his back. The tattoos made Lang breathe heavier; he’d licked
the skin on Dexter’s back around the eagle for a long time.
When Dexter put on the skintight black pants, Lang licked his lips and furrowed
his eyebrows. Then he grabbed his penis and stroked it while Dexter put on the sexy, long,
sleeveless white shirt. It came down to Dexter’s thighs like a tunic, but when he wrapped
a wide black belt around his thin waist, the shirt gathered and rose up, exposing Dexter’s
firm round ass in the tight pants.
Lang smiled and said, “I’d like to see you wear nothing at all but that shirt.”
Dexter smiled. “I can do that.” When Dexter put on the long black wig and tied a red bandanna around his head,
Captain Lang rubbed his penis a few times without even knowing it. And when Dexter
put the black boots with the six-inch high heels on and slowly walked across the room,
