Page 21 of Ella’s Data

Room by room, we check things out with several of the other brothers, resetting some props that fell, picking up any trash that was dropped, until we’re done. As we gather in the kitchen before leaving, Rebel looks at all of us, and says, “Thanks, brothers. Whether you were behind the scenes like Data, or in full makeup, y’all are why tonight was a roaring success. Psycho doesn’t have the final money count yet, but we had four hundred people come through tonight at twenty bucks a pop. Next door, they had about two hundred little kids at ten dollars each. I’d say we’re already on track to do everything we wanted with the proceeds. Plus, the donation bucket we put out was full as well.”

“I uh… I need to get home and shower,” Colt says, speaking up from the back. “This stuff itches like crazy,” he adds when we all turn toward him.

He’s wearing clothes that look like they’ve decayed, but the real magic is in the makeup job the drama teacher did on him. She has a student who is good with making prosthetics and Colt is wearing a mask that looks skeletal, with one eye socket empty while the other has a bloody eyeball hanging on the cheekbone.

“Let’s get you out of that mask,” I state, walking toward him. Thankfully, she showed all of us how to put it on and take it off. When I see that his skin is red and patchy looking, I turn to Rebel and say, “We need to reach out to her and see if we missed a step somewhere. I don’t think he’s supposed to have that happen.”

Rebel’s eyes widen in alarm. “Red, take him over to the emergency room and make sure he’s not having an allergic reaction. I’ll call the teacher and tell her what happened and see if she’s got any suggestions. We may have to come up with something different because we can’t have everyone walking around with hives and shit. Now, let’s get here about an hour earlier tomorrow. I want to change the movie that’s playing in the den, maybe pop some popcorn for the family to have a tasty snack while watching, and see if there’s anything we wanna tweak.”

After I shower and slip into my bed, I grab my phone and open up my text thread with Ella.

Me: How was it tonight? We were slammed all night long.

Ella: It was insane. I could hear people screaming from the house, so it sounds like it went well over there.

Me: So, I have a video, I promise it’s not scary, but I’m going to send it to you so you can laugh as hard as I did.

I quickly send her the video of Jared, complete with the audio courtesy of all the mics around, then once I see she’s read it, I pick up our chat once again.

Me: So that asshole is definitely a Grade A one. He’s always looking down his nose at the club, and I couldn’t resist doing that when the opportunity arose.

Ella: ROFLMAO. His poor wife!

Me: Right? How are the steroids treating you?

Ella: Well, the fact I’m still awake should tell you a lot, but I’m also eating. Again.

Me: Wanna grab breakfast tomorrow? I kind of miss seeing you.

Ella: As long as it’s not at nine in the morning, I’d like that. I mean, I might be up by then.

Me: What if we play it by ear? You can text me when you get up.

Ella: That works. Go to sleep, Data, I know tonight was busy for you guys, and you don’t have the magic go-go juice I’ve got running through me.

Me: Good night, Ella.

Ella: Good night, Data. Talk to you in the morning.

I let the rest of the night play on repeat in my head. I’ve gotten some great videos of folks’ reactions and plan to do a little bit of editing to create something to share with the club, because with everyone working in different rooms, there’s no way they’ve seen everything. I did it last year and everyone enjoyed it so much, I decided to make it an annual thing. Kind of a reward for all of our hard work.

“It was a successful night,” I sleepily murmur out loud. The only thing that would make it better was if Ella was curled into my side right now.

Soon. Soon she’ll be next to me, and we’ll be getting reacquainted on a more personal level.

I wake up far too early the next morning considering how long it took for me to fall asleep. Since I don’t expect to hear from Ella yet, I slip on some shorts and a T-shirt, as well as my running shoes, then head to the gym so I can get a workout in. By the time I’m done, I’m a sweaty mess so I stop by the kitchen, fix myself a travel mug of coffee then head up to my room to take a shower and get ready for the day.

Checking my phone, I see I still have no message from Ella, so I head into the bathroom. Once I’m ready for the day, I grab my laundry and head back downstairs to our laundry room. I may be a guy, but I like a sense of order, so keeping my room clean settles me. I don’t have my phone with me, which is an oversight on my part, especially when I get back upstairs and see she’s sent me a message. Actually, multiple messages.

Ella: Data? You there? Steroid famished over here.

Ella: Hellloooooo is anybody home? I don’t think bikers sleep this long, do they?

Ella: EDDIE! Are you ignoring me? I’m starving to death over here and you’re off lollygagging somewhere, aren’t you?

Ella: I’m going to head into town. I know Gladys won’t ignore me the way you have this morning.

I’m laughing as I read each message she’s sent. They’re about twenty minutes apart from each other, starting about an hour or so ago. Hitting her contact info, I wait for her to pick up and say, “I was cleaning, babe, not ignoring you. I’m on my way to get you now.”