Scene 1. Widow

Trish meets up with Lilly and Liz at Henny’s once again. Fall is fast approaching, with its cold, haunting, wind. Trish speaks first, clearly distraught about something,

“Thank you both for meeting with me here, again. I had to let a little time go by and let this all of my grief to sink in.” “Fendor never did tell me his condition, even at the end.” “The doctors told me after he passed.” “He wouldn’t agree to any ‘invasive’ procedures and asked for all treatments to be halted,” “So at least his suffering was brief.” “Somehow he had the strength of will to fool us all.” “I believe that most of his strength came from his interaction with you all, and from us, his family, as well.”

Trish then tears up and places a handkerchief to her mouth, “Now what do I do?” “I am so not ready to go it alone.” “And it is getting cold.” “He was so warm!” Trish no longer can hold her emotions in. She holds her head and starts to weep with a low moaning wolf-howl of pain. The two goat-women embrace her. And they bleat along with her. “Fendor was quite warm.” “We called him our furry hug-pillow.” The scene at the restaurant continues but, fortunately, they are almost alone, “Wooooooooo!” “Baaaaaaaaaaa!”

After a bit Trish regains her composure, “I am glad that he got to spend his last good hours with you all too. Believe it or not he considered you both his ‘real’ daughters and he loved you both very much. He just had his special way of showing it.” Yes he did!

“And, of course, I thank you both for keeping a (relatively) low profile on all this.” “I don’t think his work ever suspected anything,” “And Fendor never let on that I knew about you both.”

“I will never forget what you gave Timmy and I. It wasn’t long, but it was very good.” Lilly watches Trish and reflects,

I wonder if other wives ever thank their husband’s mistresses for their services?

It may happen more than we think!

Trish still looks distraught and continues, “I have no idea how to move on.” “The company has offered to me a part-time-to-full time bookkeeping job.” “I can work a little now that Timmy is older.” “So I think I will start with that, for now at least.”

Trish begins to sob again, “But how do I move on?” “I have never lived alone,” “I went from high-school, living with my parents, to college and then immediately to marriage.” “Where can I find a man like the one I had?” “And no, I don’t expect ‘perfect’.” “I didn’t have a ‘perfect’ one before, but he was a reliable provider, and that is what I needed at the time.” “How do I go about meeting someone like that again?” “I’m not in school anymore.” “Or as young…” “I need someone for Timmy.” “Timmy is smart and kind, like his father.” “A boy needs a father.” “And his mother needs a husband.”

Lilly stares intently at Trish, looks her up and down and literally sizing her up,

“I can’t imagine that someone as cute as you would have any problems snatching a man,”

"And you are very young looking too." She must have looked like a grammar-school girl when she was a college freshman. Oh Fendor, you pervert!

Trish looks down and frowns, “I was pounced on by men, immediately after Fendor’s death.” “I had no idea I was being so closely watched by so many men,” “But all of these men seemed to be evil predators and womanizers, not the least bit interested in a stable home relationship.” “I am small and weak, they were all big and powerful.” “They didn’t look like they would take ‘NO’ for an answer.” “If I refused them, they would just rape me, and likely, kill me.”

Lilly then answers Trish’s unspoken request,

“What you need is a nice, good, middle-aged salary-man!” “They are weak and submissive,” “And they are clean and smell good!” Lilly then frowns at herself, Uh-oh, I’m getting myself all hot again!

Trish looks up, “But aren’t they all married already?”

Lilly grins, "That never stopped me!"

Lilly continues to stare intently at Trish. Liz is looking daggers at the plotting, scheming Lilly.

But Lilly is miles away, completely ignoring Liz’s judgmental look.

Lilly breaks out a broad grin and asks directly,

“Trish, how do you think you would look in a middle-school uniform?”

Scene2. Fitting

Lilly kidnaps Trish and spirits her to her apartment. Lilly has Trish stripped down and is taking her measurements. Thinking, My she is small! What more I could have done if I had this figure! Then the apartment door suddenly slams open. It is Liz and she looks angry. Oh that’s right I gave a key to Liz so she could meet up with Fendor if I wasn’t around.

Liz glares at Lilly, frowning, “What the hell is going on here?”

Lilly, smiling, “I think it is obvious. I am going to make an outfit for Trish.”

Liz, still frowning, “You Lilly, with a sewing needle and not a welding torch or a camera?” “What evil are you up to?”

Lilly is a woman on a mission. Trish is already getting dressed and Lilly has pulled out several girls school uniforms from various schools and grades. Some of the uniforms are already dissembled and Lilly is cutting the cloth, “I think we will have to buy a school uniform blouse, those are too hard to modify.” “I can do the skirt and vale.” “We’ll have to buy undergarments, shoes and knee-socks for you too.” (“They’re all suckers for knee-socks!”)

Liz is beside herself, “Lilly!” “Trish is our friend!”

Lilly, not looking up, “Yes," "That’s why I’m 'helping'.”

Liz is not giving up, “Why are you putting her in a school-girl’s uniform?”

Lilly, still working intensely, “She isn’t ‘in it’ yet,”

“come back in a couple of days.”

Scene 3. Guild

Liz returns to Lilly’s apartment after a few days. She opens the door to see Trish, fully dressed in a middle school uniform. The uniform matches those worn by students at a local parochial school. She is wearing a small gold cross on her chest and a vale over her long narrow nose.

Liz is so mad she is speechless.

Lilly announces, “Oh Trish!” “You are so cute!” “You have the same issue with your nose that I have with mine, it’s pretty long, but the vale seems to cover it okay.” “I guess that is the price one pays for a good sense of smell.”

Trish smiles beneath the vale, clearly loving the attention, a needed distraction from her grief and loneliness “Now what?”

Liz is hopping mad, “Lilly, you scoundrel!” “You didn’t tell her?” “Trish!” “You’re bait for a ‘man-trap’!”

Trish smiles again, “What is a ‘man-trap’?”

Lilly, smiling for a question about her ‘other’ hobby. She starts to answer,

“Well,” “You set up in a dark alley and you take this board…”

Liz cuts Lilly off and shouts at the top of her lungs, “Trish, get out of that uniform!” “And get out of here now!” “And stay away from this evil 'Lilly'!” “Now and forever!” Liz is now shouting at the ceiling.

Trish looks down, sad and confused, “But I like this uniform and I like the idea of meeting a nice, middle-aged, salary-man like the one I had before.” “Someone who might think I look cute like this.”

Liz collapses into a chair, “Is everyone but me a ‘slut’ in in this world?”

Lilly cannot resist needling Liz, “You were a shut-in until you met me!” Lilly is grinning broadly with her ‘ touche ’. “And besides, Trish has made her decision, and she wants to follow it through to the end.”

Liz is dejected, but adds, “Does Trish really know what the ‘end’ actually is?”

Lilly responds, right on cue, with eyes closed, “None of us will ever know that!”

“Until the ‘End’.”

Scene 4. Bushwhackers

The group is set up in the dark alley that Lilly had used for her ‘man-trap’ in the past. It still had the dim light and the oil drum on its end, under the dim light at the end of the alley. Along the sides of the alley, were dark coves, convenient for conspirators to hide in.

Liz is still complaining, “You all are going to end up in Jail!”

Lilly is still preparing the area, “Then why did you come with us.”

Liz stammers, “I don’t want you to go to jail, and I figure that you have a better chance of getting away with this if I help you all.” “With whatever this is you are trying to do.”

Lilly faces Trish to repeat her instructions, “Now remember sit sideways to his unobstructed view of your socks." "The seats in the front of the car that face each other are very good for this if he is standing." "Sit on a side seat so he can see your whole form and imagine you naked.” "Don’t look him in the eye until right before your stop.” “Then continue to stare and smile.” “He won’t be able to see your mouth under the vale, but he can see the muscles around your eyes.” “These muscles will form lines around the bottom of your eyes when you smile.”

This is one of the few things that gets better with age.

Liz stares at Lilly, frowning, “Lilly, you have made a science of this, haven’t you.”

Lilly continues with her instructions, “Don’t pick one that is too young or too big.” “Walk slowly and look back and wait until he starts to follow you.” “Then pace your walk to keep the distance to him constant so he doesn’t loose you (or catch you).” “The rest is easy, turn down out dark ally and duck into the designated alcove.” “They are always curious about the oil drum.” “We’ll have the usual 'porn-mag' set out to catch his attention.” “And then, when he bends down to get a close look,” “Whack!” “Then we haul in ‘our catch’, bagged, gagged, handcuffed, and blindfolded to my apartment by wagon for ‘fun and games.’” “I am already excited (and hot)!”

Trish smiles her sweet smile, turns and heads off to the train station to perform her mission.

Lilly looks at the grumbling Liz, “Now we wait.” “I have timed it before, and from the train schedule, she should be back here in about and hour and a half from the train schedule, and a few minutes more from the walk from the station.” “She will either have her catch in tow or an empty sack, if she gets no takers.” “The neighborhood has become wary with stories about a rapist on the loose.”

And so they wait. Time seems to drag on. Then there is a loud commotion at the other end of the alley. Trish runs by them and into an alcove. The women peek out to see an immense Minotaur trotting down the alley. Lilly whispers to Trish, “Oh no, he is huge!” “Didn’t I say, ‘not too big’.”

He closes the distance down the alley in a few long steps and is standing at the barrel and looking down at the magazine, just as planned. He is a monster, the muscles in his neck are clearly visible, but he is over-weight and out of shape. He is audibly panting and gasping for air.

Lilly whispers to Liz, “I am not strong enough to do this alone, you have to help!” Liz boosts Lilly up as she holds the ceremonial board ascendant, then, “Whack!”

The Minotaur collapses on his butt. He is softly lowing, “Ouwwwwww.”

Oh no, we didn’t knock him out!

Trish throws the bag over his head while Liz and Lilly just barely manage to get his fore-legs together enough to cuff. He is not resisting them but he is so fat that they don’t reach. His hind legs are already together, so Trish quickly snaps on the cuffs. They host the two sets of cuffs together, with a cable, to restrict his movements. Once again they do not get very far on his gigantic, rotund body. Trish ties one of the bands around his neck to hold on the bag, once again it can’t be very tight or they risk choking him to death. His head is no wider than his thick neck and his upward facing horns pierce the top of the bag and pop out. Trish ties the band around his horns, hoping that will help hold the bag in place. They cannot figure how to place the blindfold and the gag, so they leave these off.

He probably can see us through the bag.

Scene 4. Now What?

At last the three women step back exhausted. They now regard their catch, a tall quivering pile on the ground, still groaning. Lilly, as the ringleader, takes responsibility, “He is immense.” “There is no way we can get him up my stairs, or even onto my wagon, he is so big.” “Trish do you have any ideas?”

Trish looks at the huge passive Minotaur, “I think we can get him in my car.” “Fendor bought a big car, he said we needed a big car for ‘the family’, but I think he just wanted to look rich in front of his friends and co-workers.” “It is a touring car so I think we can adjust the seats enough to get him in.” Trish then walks off across town to get her car. Lilly thinking, Is it safe to have Trish walk across town, this time of night, dressed as a school girl?

Trish safely returns with the car, unmolested, “Where shall we take him?” The Minotaur begins to softly speak in a foreign language. Liz looks at the Minotaur and answers, in the same language. Trish and Lilly stare at Liz who has now engaged the Minotaur in a rapid-fire conversation. She eventually pauses and looks back at the stunned pair, “He wants us to take him to his restaurant.” “He says it is closed now so no one else is there.” “He is offering to fix us dinner, if we don’t club him any more.”

Lilly smiles, “I’m hungry!”

No one else has a better idea. They release his restraints enough so that he can get in to the car without them having to lift him. And they drive, by his instructions, to his restaurant. The restaurant is an ethnic food establishment ‘The Taste of the South’. Trish is familiar with the place and smiles to Lilly, “I think this place is pretty good.” “I have eaten here a few times.”

He instructs them to take out his keys and unbolt the front door. Once inside they remove the remainder of the restraints, figuring that they all could outrun him if he attacked. But he is not the ‘attacking’ type. He guides them all to the kitchen where he provides hot water and soap, along with soft clean towels, so they can wash off the grime from the alley. He retrieves a lunch menu and motions, anything from this. He apologizes in somewhat broken speech that the dinner entree items take too long to prepare.

He guides them out to a table, he wipes off the table and lights the candle. The three select items. The ask if they can help and he shakes his head ‘no’. There are clattering sounds from the kitchen and in short order he brings out plates of food. He also brings a tray of snacks from the refrigerator, that required no extra preparation.

The group is famished from the ordeal and they scarf the food like they were starving. The Minotaur seats himself at the table and introduces himself as ‘Rod’. His last name is Rodriguez so he goes by ‘Rod’. ‘Rod’ never gives his actual first name.

Then the group begins to confess their transgressions and apologize. Trish, still dressed in a students uniform, goes first. She admits that she was out to trap a man, possibly to keep. She tells of the loss of her beloved husband and the need to find a father for her boy that is reaching a critical age. She admits that it isn’t an excuse, but her real motivation to take such a risk and to do such a wrong. She sobs, “I involved my dear friends, please don’t hold this against them. It is all my fault.” “If you call the cops, call them on me!” Tearing up and apologizing profusely to Rod.

Rod watches her with interest and waves away her apology.

Lilly feels guilty but cannot think of anything to add to Trish’s confession. Lilly turns to Rod, “Why did you follow her?”Rod looks down, knowing he has contributed to tonight’s incident. He begins with awkward speech, but he is understandable, he has a very nice voice, “I have a daughter that attends the same school as the uniform you are wearing so I thought you might be a classmate.” “I was concerned about anyone of that age out at that hour, alone, on a train with all of those dangerous men.” “I thought about my daughter and felt protective and wanted to see that she got home safely.” “If anything happened, I don’t know what I would do, as you could see, I am no good in a fight.”

The women feel especially guilty after hearing his story, he hasn’t had long enough to make something like that up. They look around the restaurant and notice that it is grubby and unkempt although the food is very good. So they ask about it. Rod replies, “I don’t have enough money to meet payroll any more, so I am running the place all by myself, with only the help of my young girls.” “We’ll probably have to close down soon.” “I will have get a job as a cook somewhere else.”

The women look at each other. Trish speaks, “I will help you.” “I’ll help you clean up.” “I can wait tables, I did that when I was in college.” “And I am a certified accountant.” “I can help you with your books get some your ‘payables’ on a plan.” “If you think that might help. Lilly and Liz look sheepish and Lilly speaks, “We’ll help too,” “Although we might be limited to washing dished, cleaning up.” “I have never been a waitress, but if Trish will teach me, I’ll give it a try,” “At least for the lunch rush.”

Rod seems to be lost in reverie. He finally comes back down comes too and mumbles a short prayer in his native tongue. He nods to them, “You are making me remember my dearly departed, sweet wife.”

“You are my ‘angels’.”

Scene 5. Restaurateur

And so the group begins work on Rod’s establishment. Liz and Lilly are on fall break (schools have a lot of breaks). They begin by washing the windows and the floors, sweeping cobwebs. The mechanically inclined Lilly starts repairing appliances. She then fixes and straightens up the tables and the chairs too. Liz is tall enough to reach the top windows and the cobwebs in the rafters. Trish dives into Rod’s ‘books’. She consolidates the paper-good vendors and sets up regular deliveries from, and payments to, the food wholesale suppliers. Trish instructs Liz and Lilly on the delicate art of ‘waitressing’, especially on how to increase orders and maximize tips. Trish runs the cash register, still dressed in a school-girl uniform, because Rod and the customers all like her in it. She has Lilly make a few more uniforms for her, this time for schools not so close by, to avoid ‘questions’.

Trish sees that the restaurant should be financially successful, as it has lots of regular customers, especially for lunch, as they are in the central district of the city. But a significant amount of money is being transferred, on a regular schedule, to a mysterious ‘security firm’. The name of this ‘security firm’ is not listed anywhere. Trish stares at the journal entries for the security firm payments, thinking, Does he have a mistress? A gambling problem? Family debt?

Trish just waits, and watches. When that day for the payment comes, Rod closes the restaurant for lunch that day and sends everyone home with instructions not to return until the evening dinner hours. The tiny Trish plans to have the tall Liz put her up in the rafters. Trish is going to see what is happening at noon on that payment day. Payment day comes and Rod closes the restaurant. He is cautious and does a staff roll call to be sure that everyone leaves the restaurant. However, Trish is not there for roll-call. Lilly, quickly thinking, covers for Trish, “Oh I remember Trish said that she was going out shopping for decor items, as the restaurant is closed.” Rod isn’t convinced, but he does not have time to confirm this. He watches as everyone else files out and is out of sight. A few minutes later, at exactly noon, a shiny black car drives up to the front of the restaurant and two men in tailored suits step out and walk up to the door. Rod opens the door, looks around outside and admits them into the restaurant. Trish cannot hear what they are saying. They talk in a low mumble and Rod pushes an envelope across the table to one of the men. The two men stand up and walk out without another word and drive off. Rod then walks back into the kitchen and Trish cannot see him anymore. She has a very bad feeling and looks at the rafters. I cannot climb like a fox but I am pretty good! She carefully finds her way down to the floor. The old wood is relatively easy to hold and she is small, and light. She walks back into the kitchen and sees Rod holding a revolver. She screams, “Rod!” “What are you doing?"

Rod looks up, not really surprised to see her,

“See!” “I knew you were my 'angels'.”

Scene 5. Summer Break

Lilly and Liz spend fall break from college working for Rod. Rod has started to pay them since Trish worked out many, but not yet all, of his financial issues. But the big money for the two is coming from tips. The two women have become favorites of the local law firm lawyers. The women tease these customers shamelessly and they love it. Lilly and Liz immediately start a contest to see who can get the most tips. The exhibitionist Lilly starts pulling ahead by flashing. However, not to be outdone, Liz pulls up when she starts chattering with the ex-patriot customers from the Southern Lands in their native language.

One day, Lilly and Liz are serving the lunch crush when a crowd of strangers comes in, no doubt out-of-town-lawyers here on a case. Of course the waitresses try to please these new customers, but these grumpy men will have none of it. They immediately start complaining about everything. One big moose proudly stands up, holding a glass up high, and loudly shouts, “This glass is not clean!” The restaurant falls to silence as the big-shot out-of-town lawyer makes a scene, turning slowly holding the glass for all to see. Liz quickly steps up with a big smile and reaches for the glass. Liz is tall enough to easily snatch it from his high-held fore-hoof.

Liz sports a broad smile, “I am so sorry good sir!” “I will attend to to problem promptly!” She inspects the glass closely and smiles. She then reaches around behind her own back and places the open glass over her tail which she then briskly wiggles inside the glass. She removes the glass from her tail and proudly holds it up for all to see.

Liz proclaims, “There!” "Clean!" “Anyone else need a glass ‘cleaned’?” The restaurant erupts with a cheer, all of the lawyers are holding up their glasses, “Yes me”, “Yes me”, the crowd continues to scream.

Liz beat Lilly on tips, that day. Rod was less happy, “I am glad the health inspector didn’t see you do that.”

Liz later learns from her regulars that the moose was an obnoxious trial lawyer that defended the worst-of-the-worst by getting dirt on the prosecutors, any prosecution witnesses and the judge on the case. He was known as a real dirt-ball. He planned to make a scene in the restaurant to intimidate the DA's lawyers. He was crushed from humiliation by Liz's tail. He

subsequently performed a poor defense for his racketeer client,

and lost the case.