Annie Gets Her Gun

       HOPE MOVES THE OXTAIL to the side with her big wooden spoon as she dishes out the bean soup. The soup is hot, and steam rises from the bowls. I whisper to Charlie, "I hate to have the oxtail touch my soup."
       Swinging my legs under the table, looking outside (it is almost dark), I can see the neighbor kids running from door to door under the streetlights. I hear them yelling next door, "Trick or treat!" They have big bags with witches drawn on the outside. Probably made them in school, I think.
       At our house, the big white mixing bowl sits on a chair in the front doorway. When Hope answers the door she tells the trick-or-treaters they can reach into the bowl and each take one piece of candy. Charlie and I watch out the window. Some kids are witches, some are ghosts. One kid has a pretend hook for an arm. He has a patch over his eye, and when he talks you can see a black tooth. The kids have their mothers with them. Rain is coming down the window, and inside, on the windowsill, is a small puddle of water. I slide my finger through the water, lick it off my fingers, and watch the kids run to the front door of our house. "Trick or treat, trick or treat!" they yell. Some kids say, "Trick or treat! Smell my feet! Or give me something good to eat!"
       My older brothers and sisters are upstairs. Only Charlie, Denise and I are downstairs with Hope. Hope holds out the bowl of candy to each group of trick-or-treaters, smiling at the kids before shutting the door behind her and turning to us. "Who in the hell would let their kids learn to be beggars?" she says to us. "I don't believe Halloween is a holiday at all! Here comes another kid, Charlie. He is all blackened in his face and has holes in his clothes. His mother burnt a cork to black his face," Hope says, pulling back the curtains. "It is ridiculous that a parent would carry on like this!"
       We stand watching out the window. "Look, Hope! Look at that kid!" Charlie and I laugh. "He's a big round orange pumpkin, with small legs hanging out. He can barely run!" The trick-or-treaters are pushing each other, laughing, having fun. The parents are talking to each other in groups separate from the kids.
       "I see him," Hope says. She shakes her head as she rests her folded arms against her breasts. "That costume is store-bought, kids. Some fool actually went to a store to buy that one. At least they could have taken the time to make the costumes at home. Those will only last one night, and that is a huge waste of money!"
       "Hope, how old do you have to be to go trick-or-treating?"
       "It's for all ages, Erin, but you are not going on my watch. You and Charlie are too young to go out alone, and I sure as hell am not going to take you around town dressed like fools to teach you to beg. I don't believe in Halloween." We stand and watch for a long time.
       The front door opens wide again. This time it is Brian, my older brother, standing there with a big bag from the store in his hand. He's laughing out loud.
       "Erin and Charlie, come over here! I have a surprise for you guys." Charlie runs to the door. He knocks over the dish of candy, and candy flies all over the floor. The bowl breaks into three big pieces. Brian gets on his knees to pick up the pieces. "Don't worry, Hope," he says, "I'm rich now. I can buy you a new bowl. I got paid today at my new job. It's my first paycheck and I'm spending it on the kids. My checks will help out a lot, Hope, but this first check is for my little brothers and sisters."
       I run and jump into Brian's arms. "Yippee, yippee, we are going to play hide-and-seek! And get scared! It's Halloween!" For hide-and-seek, the big kids chase Denise, Charlie and me all through the house while we try to not be found. It's lots of fun!
       "Nope, not this Halloween, Erin. We are not going to play hide-and-seek. We are going out trick-or-treating! There's not much time left, but I got you costumes like the other kids. Run and put this on," he says, throwing a shiny bag at me. "I know you will love it, kids. It's fun to go out on Halloween, and I will take you all!"
       My brother Brian is seventeen years old. He's tall and has black curls that fall in his face. He has beautiful green eyes, and he laughs at us little kids all of the time.
       The older kids, hearing Brian's voice, have come downstairs to see what's going on. I rip open the bag to find a skirt with small bits of white stuff on its edge. Pat grabs the bag, laughing, and says, "Erin, it's a cowgirl skirt! You're a cowgirl!" I'm not sure what a cowgirl is supposed to look like, but I love my new skirt.
       "Here, put her hair in braids, Marianne," Pat says, "one on each side. Yeah, that's how Annie Oakley looks." Marianne looks at me critically as she evens out my braids.
       "Hurry up, Cowgirl, hurry up!" Denise yells, pulling on her long black dress with wild colors on the sleeves. Pat wraps a purple headband around her forehead. It hangs down on the sides.
       Shannon is dancing around. She's a ballerina. Her skirt is stiff and sticks straight out.
       Marianne is a princess, Pat is a nurse, Joe is a bad guy, Denise is a gypsy, and Charlie is Davy Crockett. He has a hat with a long fur tail on it and a knife on his leg, strapped onto his pants.
       I'm Annie Oakley. My vest matches my skirt. My boots are white.
       "Hey," my sister Pat says to Brian, "that's real fringe on Erin's vest!"
       Two guns hang at my waist in a brown plastic holster. Brian takes out my guns and waves them in the air. "Do like this, Erin." He shoots the guns. They have caps that make noise when you shoot.
       Hope is in the kitchen doing dishes, yelling at us. "Kids, this is not my idea! Brian wants to treat you all to a fun Halloween." Shaking her big spoon from the bean soup, she says, "Brian, they're your charges, and it's pretty dark out there already, so go now. And be careful not to get hit by a car or anything! Hold Erin and Charlie's hands. This is a lot of kids for you to watch in the dark."
       Brian throws me over his head, putting me up on his shoulders. He is not in a costume, and I can smell the greasy stuff he always puts in his hair to hold it back on the side. He smells good to me. His jeans are rolled up at the ankle, and I can see his white socks. His white t-shirt hangs over his black belt. His big fur-collared coat makes him look like a father. I'm high enough to see into all of the windows. I'm Annie Oakley, and my guns really make a loud noise as we walk into the dark with Brian.
       We pass lots of tired kids, wanting to go home, but we are just coming out. Davy Crockett is by my side, looking up at me. Denise, the gypsy, is holding Brian's other hand. It is cold, my nose is cold, and I can feel the rain hit my vest, but I don't care because I'm Annie Oakley.
       The first house we go to is dark, all the lights turned off. One of Brian's friends lives here. Brian pounds hard on the window, yelling, "Come on, Chris, open up! I have my little brothers and sisters all dressed up! Open the door! I know you're in there! I need some help with all these kids!"
       The porch light comes on, and Chris is standing in the doorway in just his jeans and socks. "Come on, Brian, they're your little sisters and brothers! It's cold out! I don't want to go. Here, give them some candy and take them back home."
       "No, I'm not going to do that, Chris. They're going out tonight and filling their bags! This is a big night."
       Chris gets his shoes on to come with us. We walk up and down the streets, and I get to ride on Brian's shoulders. Brian takes us to all his friends' houses to show off our costumes. Some pretty girls come with us and follow us up and down the streets. It's fun!
       Some houses have doorbells, and I get to ring them. When our hands get cold, Brian pushes them into the bags of candy to warm them up. Some people are really nice and let us come into their houses to get warm.
       After Brian's neck gets sore from carrying me, one of his friends goes home and gets a wagon for Denise, Charlie and me to ride in. The rain pours, the lights are all getting turned off, but we're still out getting candy. Brian's friends are dancing under the streetlights and kicking broken-up pumpkins.
       At last Brian says, "Well, you guys had a good time, didn't you?" We cuddle together in the wagon as Brian pulls us home.
       Hope, standing in the kitchen, says, "Look at how cold these kids are, Brian!"
       "I know, Hope, but they were having so much fun! Besides, we didn't make them walk. We pulled them in Chris's wagon so their feet wouldn't get wet."
       Turning back to us kids Brian says, "Now comes the best part of the night! Empty your bags in a huge pile and sort the candy out. Match all of the candy bars up, like they're little cars. Count them, and let's see who got the most candy. Whoever has the most gives some to me."
       Sitting on the floor, we pour out the candy and pile it up high. "Yea! This is so fun, Brian! You are the best brother ever!"
       Our noses are frozen, my fringe is wet, and my socks are stuck on my feet. Then my face is down in the pile of candy somehow, and I'm falling asleep. Brian throws me over his shoulder and carries me upstairs. I pretend to be all the way asleep so I don't have to walk. Brian tucks me in and says, "Good night, Annie, I hope your belly is full." I smile as he winks at me in the doorway.
       I cuddle with my sisters to keep warm, and we all sleep in our Halloween costumes. My Annie Oakley costume is my new pajamas.
       I can hear the big kids all laughing downstairs in the kitchen with Brian's friends. I'm warm now, full of candy, happy to have Brian as my big brother.