Adele punctuated it with some more “yo, yos” as she rocked back and forth toward and away from the crowd.
“Give it up for the lady in white. But she’s not the only thing we celebrate tonight, yo, yo,” Adele said, pointing at the crowd. “Say ‘yo, yo.’” She had to repeat it several times before everyone got it that they were supposed to join in. Once they did their repeat “yo, yos,” they started to clap in time to her rap. Mrs. Shedd closed her mouth for a moment, but then it opened again as a noise went through the crowd when Koo Koo in full clown outfit joined Adele. Rayaad’s daughters had moved out of view, but nobody noticed as the colorful couple continued the holiday rap.
“For Hanukkah, we have the dreidel game.
Some call it gambling, but it’s fun all the same, don’t
ya know, don’t ya know.
Kwanzaa has a candleholder, too, it’s called a kinara,
woo-hoo, woo-hoo.
We’ve got books for Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, don’t ya
know.
We’ve got them, too, for the man in the red suit who
says, ho, ho, ho.”
Both of them prowled around the cleared center, getting the crowd to join them in their “yo, yos.” With a flourish, Adele pulled back the sheet on the table.
“Shop for books and stop for a treat, don’t ya know.
Good words to read and good things to eat, yo, yo.”
The music stopped and Adele and Koo Koo took their bow. Okay maybe it hadn’t been exactly traditional, but everyone looked like they’d enjoyed it. I saw Ryder hiding behind a bookcase with his video camera going. Adele would be thrilled to know she and Koo Koo were probably going to end up on YouTube.
With the show over, the crowd moved toward the goodie table. CeeCee and her guy (her title for him), Tony Bonnard, trailed the crowd. They were carrying shopping bags and had obviously made several shopping stops at the other stores on the street. CeeCee kept sniffing the air, seeming to be carried forward by the scent of the treats. Not a surprise. Her sweet tooth was legendary, along with her battle to keep it under control. She must have been reading my thoughts.
“My character in the Anthony movie is known for her soft curves,” CeeCee said. “The director thought I looked a little gaunt for the part.”
I hated to admit it, but as soon as she made the gaunt comment, I looked over her face and body. She’d kept the soft brown hair color and midlength style the stylist she’d hired a while back gave her, but she’d wavered from the woman’s choice of clothing style. The brown corduroy jean-style pants and creamy-colored cable-knit sweater were more revealing than the long tops over slacks the stylist had chosen for her. Nowhere in any of this did I see anything remotely resembling gaunt.
“Is Elise coming?” CeeCee said, then turned to Tony and explained she was the Hooker she’d been telling him about who was so over the top about the Anthony books. “She’s already asked me to get her on the set when we film.”
I mentioned that Elise’s mind seemed to be on other things now and described how she’d been hiding out in the yarn department.
“Poor dear,” CeeCee said. It was a sincere comment. CeeCee hadn’t forgotten what it was like to lose what you thought you had. Things were going well for her now that she had the successful reality series and even better with her movie role.
Adele bypassed the food table and headed into the children’s department. Koo Koo followed her, not an easy feat in the big red shoes. He stopped next to me and I was about to compliment him on his performance when Emily stepped in front of me.
“I need that afghan back,” she said. “Right away.” The comment seemed to come from left field and it didn’t register for a moment what she was talking about. Once I realized she was talking about the pretty green blanket with the multicolored flowers, I reminded her that she had told me to give it to some charity sale. I pulled CeeCee into the conversation to explain.
“You passed on that afghan, didn’t you?” I asked. CeeCee nodded and said she’d given it to the Hearts and Barks holiday sale.
“But the sale hasn’t taken place yet, has it?” Emily said with desperation in her voice. She reached toward CeeCee and I thought she was going to grab her. I was struck by the change in my neighbor. The pleasant-looking suburban mom had been replaced by a wild-eyed woman. Now she looked gaunt.
“Well, no, dear,” CeeCee said, edging out of Emily’s reach. “It’s in a few days, but the display has already been set up and the insiders have had a chance to look at everything. I think someone put a hold on it. It would really be bad form to take it back now.”
“You have to get it back.” Emily’s voice had risen to almost hysterical. “I’ll pay whatever price was put on it plus twenty bucks.”
CeeCee shook her head and Emily made a move toward her, and this time it was clear she was going to grab the actress. I stepped in to protect CeeCee, assuring Emily I’d get the blanket back for her.
“What was that about?” Dinah said, coming in at the end of the exchange just before Emily and her daughters made a fast exit. Ashley-Angela and E. Conner were clutching my friend’s sweater and taking in their surroundings. When they realized they were standing next to Koo Koo, they started jumping up and down. I thought they would faint with excitement when he offered to escort them into the children’s area.
I brought Dinah up to speed, and then told CeeCee even if it was bad form, she had to get the blanket back.
“You’re too nice,” CeeCee said. “There’s a name for what she’s doing. I’d say it, but it’s not politically correct these days.” She looked around, no doubt checking for any paparazzi who might catch her in the faux pas. When I stood firm, CeeCee pulled out her cell and said she’d see what she could do.
“It’s not totally about being nice,” I said to Dinah. “Think about it. She didn’t care about the afghan before—she didn’t even like it. Now suddenly she has to have it back. There’s something going on with it, and I am sure it has something to do with Bradley.” I reminded Dinah that when we’d followed Emily to the malls, she’d had the watch and an afghan, and even if Barry had tried to convince me there was no proof she’d actually connected with her supposedly dead husband, I was sure she had.
Dinah and I headed toward the kid’s department. She wanted to check on Ashley-Angela and E. Conner and I wanted to see what Adele had set up for the event.
“But if she already took him an afghan—why another one?” We crossed onto the carpet with the cows jumping over the moons. I was surprised at all that Adele had done. Handling story time had been the consolation prize Mrs. Shedd had given her when I was hired to arrange the bookstore’s events. Adele had been less than thrilled with it and kids in general, but maybe being the girlfriend of an important children’s author, as she referred to William, had changed her. Or maybe it was all about helping him sell more books. William as Koo Koo was standing adjacent to a display of the full Koo Koo library. Adele had also set up a table with a dreidel and was inviting the kids in the area to play.
She held up the four-sided top and showed the kids the Hebrew letters on the side. She let each of the kids take ten silver-wrapped chocolate candies. The way the game was played each of them put one of their chocolates in the pot, then someone got a turn to spin the dreidel. When it stopped and fell, depending on which letter showed on top, the player would get nothing, get to take all the candies in the middle, get to take only half of them or have to add one of their candies to the pot. Then the next person got their turn and so on around the table. At the end of the game whoever had the most candies was the winner.