Dreaded Dinner Party Chapter 16 pt. 1

Chapter 16

“What exactly are you going to do, Mister Wolfeman?” Curi whispered, catching up to him. Zebity had followed her, and she had to spend a few minutes looking for Vamuari and her father so they could take her.

“You don't have to follow me. I know what do. Being annoying is a surefire way to ruin a party,” He answered without turning around, his hair bouncing until he reached the end of the stairs. Since he didn't need her help, Curi decided to sit on the last step of the staircase.

Abruptly, Wolfeman stopped and pointed a finger in the direction of an unsuspecting man simply sitting on one of the living room couches, a gray one with a pink blanket draped over it. The man's hands were tucked tightly into his pants pockets and a stuffed puppet next to him sank into the couch crevice.

Curi watched as Wolfeman squeezed passed people and walked over to the man. He turned his head in her direction to give her a wink as if to say watch this before putting on a neutral expression. The man slowly met Wolfeman's eyes with a questioning gaze.

“Hey.” Wolfeman started. “What’s up?”

The man looked at him before responding with a slow hi. He frowned a bit when he noticed Wolfeman’s eyes drift to his khaki pocket.

“What's in your pocket?” Wolfeman asked.

The man raised his eyebrow, not seeming pleased with the question.“Excuse me? Or better yet excuse you?”

Wolfeman plopped down onto the couch arm.

“Y’know I feel hurt. I’m simply trying to start conversation, being the friendless man that I am.” Wolfeman smirked, folding his hands. “To earn my forgiveness, take out the things in your pockets. Spread them nicely in a row as well.”

Curi gulped. The man on the couch frowned and his eyebrows knitted together. She hoped Wolfeman hadn’t provoked the wrong person.

“Again, what’s in your pockets,” Wolfeman said, emphasizing each word.

The man became irate, spit flying from his mouth. “You don't ask another grown man what's in his pocket!”

Wolfeman laughed.“I repeat what's in your pocket, man?”

The others sitting on the couch moved to another area of the party, obviously foreseeing Wolfeman’s conversation as ending in trouble. But many nearby didn't notice the ruckus because an even louder conversation was taking place. Mr. Digi talked loudly about a business opportunity and people scrambled to hear him or offer their services. Did Mr. Digi know what Wolfeman was trying to do or was he just showing off?

“I’m not telling you anything!”

“Uh-huh, well, you won’t mind if I ask that puppet of yours then?” Wolfeman gestured to the puppet still in the couch cushion. He pulled one of the puppet’s elongated arms, which further upset the man.

“Don’t! Why you—” The man rattled off a long list of expletives that made Curi wince but Wolfeman only smirked. “I don't have to put up with this!” The man pushed aside Wolfeman harshly, still muttering curses to him.

Wolfeman still smirked, but Curi could see the twitch at his jawline. That couldn’t have gone as well as he had planned. Barely anyone acknowledged the silly interrogation.

“I would say you really know how to read people, but that guy seemed ticked off already,” Curi said when he had walked back to the staircase. He gave her a little shrug.

“Ah, I heard his friends interrogating him earlier. Allegedly he stole one of their phones. My guess is he hid it somewhere within that the crude-looking puppet.” Wolfeman said, sighing heavily. “My bad, kid I struck out with that one. I need something else that will attract more attention. I barely got a blink in my direction besides the guy himself storming off. What do the Digis adore?”

She had to think about it. Well, the Digis liked wood because they had wooden statues and most of their home was filled with carpentry. They liked the color magenta due to all the magenta furniture, curtains, and magenta colored rooms. What else?

Curi answered slowly.“I think they like magenta and... fish. They have koi fish paintings everywhere and fish designs on the outside of their mansion.”

Wolfeman rubbed his goatee. “Good idea. I hadn't thought about that.” He dropped his voice low enough to be a whisper. "Help me take their paintings.”

“I don't know, Mister Wolfeman. I am mad at them, but I don't think that's right.” Curi bit her lip.

He rolled his eyes. “What? Are you too holy to dirty yourself? Whatever. I can do it myself.”

Curi didn't say anything to stop him and silently watched him head toward the painting-clad hallways. She wasn’t going to help him commit the act, but if he wanted to do it that was fine. She couldn’t completely convince herself though and her hands felt sweaty.

After a few moments of sitting, she got up to get some food, careful to steer clear of the Digis. The rude waiter from before was gone. Now, a much kinder waitress who happily handed over a plate of biscuits to her was taking his space.

Curi chewed on her biscuit quietly. She looked every now and then behind the stairway to see Wolfeman stacking paintings into a pile on the floor. She wished he would hurry up before someone noticed his mischief.

“Curi!” Wolfeman hissed. “Open the back door for me.”

“Um…Mister Wolfeman…” She stalled. Technically, opening the door for him isn’t the same as stealing the paintings. Besides, maybe this is the Digis’ comeuppance, Curi thought half-heartedly.

“Curi!” He hissed once more.

She gazed at the crowd of party-goers, all seeming none the wiser. With the coast clear, she opened one of the mansion's side doors which led to the backyard. Her heart finally stopped beating so quickly when she realized no alarms would sound. Wolfeman had to make at least three trips to tote stacks of large paintings encased by wooden frames. He dropped them unceremoniously into a heap onto the wet, dewy grass. The late night greeted them both with twinkling stars.

“Hey, don't be too rough on the paintings!” Curi warned him. She placed her hands on her knees and tried to stifle a nervous smile. She had to remind herself that Wolfeman seemed like a smart guy. He wouldn’t do anything too crazy.

“Yeah... yeah,” He said, waving her off. “Go back inside and get the last painting in the hallway. Hurry up. It's the notebook-sized one.”

Curi ignored his brisk 'hurry up’, and jogged back inside to retrieve the painting. She couldn't wait to hear the Digis—specifically Mr. Digi freak out about his missing paintings. He would throw a grand tantrum as terrible as the Andrews’ Valentine's dinner party until Wolfeman would reveal the paintings to be safely lying in the grass. Curi snickered at the thought.

She momentarily marveled at the small painting in her hand. She felt the rough texture of the canvas and loved the use of colors for the koi fish. Paintings like those were beautiful and deserved to be preserved.

She returned to an empty backyard and found that Wolfeman had moved to the front near the enormous wooden Digi statues. From a distance, he pulled a white container from his hoodie. He popped the red cap to the bottle with his thumb and sprayed the paintings with a clear liquid.

Curi's eyes widened. What in the world did he think he was doing? She squinted her eyes to read the label on his container, lighter fluid.

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