Embracing Darkness (51 page)

Cornelius
pushed
the
fan
forward,
inch
by
inch,
until
the
first
hairs
and
powdered
rose
hips
kicked
into
the
air
and
floated
down
on
the
unsuspecting
spectators.
For
a
minute
Cornelius
worried
that
people
would
take
notice,
but
they
were
so
engrossed
by
the
movie
that
not
a
soul
was
any
the
wiser.

By
the
time
Dorothy
had
been
instructed
by
Glinda
to
“follow
the
yellow
brick
road,”
Cornelius
was
back
in
his
seat.
When
it
came
time
for
Ray
Bolger
to
start
singing
“If
I
Only
Had
a
Brain,”
a
low-pitched
mumbling
came
from
several
rows
behind
him.
It
quickly
turned
louder.
In
fact,
Cornelius
Russo
kept
getting
nudged
from
either
side
as
both
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Willoughby
began
scratching
their
necks.
Directly
in
front
of
him
he
observed
that
Henrietta
was
also
beginning
to
squirm.

After
Dorothy
had
convinced
the
Scarecrow
to
come
with
her
to
the
Emerald
City,
the
entire
auditorium
was
in
an
uproar.
The
lights
came
on,
but
the
film
kept
rolling.
People
were
screaming
and
clawing
at
their
skin.
By
now
the
Willoughby’s
and
Henrietta
were
doing
the
same
thing.
Cornelius
squeezed
past
Mrs.
Willoughby
and
stood
in
the
aisle,
watching
everyone
as
they
began
tearing
off
their
clothes.

Mr.
Willoughby
was
the
first
to
tear
off
his
shirt.
Mrs.
Willoughby
went
for
the
buttons
on
the
back
of
her
dress.
After
ripping
off
his
clothes,
the
mayor
tore
off
his
wife’s
entire
dress
with
one
tug.
The
congressman
was
so
itchy
that
he
couldn’t
undo
his
belt
buckle.
He
simply
reached
inside
and
pulled
his
underwear
out
with
one
ripping
sound.
The
schoolteacher
was
stripped
naked
by
her
husband
in
front
of
her
students.
All
this
was
going
on
while
the
Tin
Man
was
singing
and
dancing
his
number.
Cornelius
then
realized
that
he
hadn’t
paid
any
attention
at
all
to
Henrietta
since
he’d
jumped
into
the
aisle
to
watch
everyone
strip.

There
was
Henrietta,
now
revealed
as
a
naked
man,
scratching
at
himself
feverishly
and
wearing
a
long
black
wig.
By
this
time
everyone
in
the
theater
was
buck
naked
and
jumping
around
while
scratching
themselves,
too
busy
to
see
what
Cornelius
had
wanted
them
to
see.

He
didn’t
want
his
plan
to
fail,
so
he
shouted,
“LISTEN!
ALL
THIS
COULD
HAVE
BEEN
AVOIDED
IF
A
CERTAIN
SOMEONE
HAD
NEVER
LIED
IN
THE
FIRST
PLACE!”

Everyone
stopped
cavorting
and
locked
eyes
on
Cornelius,
including
the
Willoughby’s
and
the
former
Henrietta,
who
was
no
longer
wearing
the
wig.

“THERE!”
Cornelius
Russo
shouted.
“THAT’S
YOUR
HENRIETTA
TOWNSEND,
MR.
WILLOUGHBY!
SHE
FOOLED
YOU,
OR
SHOULD
I
SAY
HE
FOOLED
YOU!”

By
this
time
people
were
realizing
that
they
been
the
butt
of
a
cruel
prank.
Still
itching,
they
began
to
gather
their
clothes
and
cover
themselves,
feeling
utterly
embarrassed.

“ARE
YOU
INSANE,
RUSSO?”
Willoughby
shouted.
“THAT
IS
A
MAN!”

“Oh,”
said
Cornelius
lamely
as
he
began
scratching
at
his
neck.
“You
didn’t
see
him
strip,
but
if
you
check,
you’ll
find
women’s
clothes
at
his
feet.”

No
one
seemed
to
care,
however,
least
of
all
Willoughby
who
was
enraged
at
the
fact
that
he,
his
wife,
and
three
hundred
other
people
had
been
suckered
into
stripping
naked
in
public.
At
that
moment
it
didn’t
matter
to
Graham
Willoughby
whether
Henrietta
Townsend
was
Adolf
Hitler.
All
that
concerned
him
and
the
rest
of
the
theater’s
audience
was
that
Cornelius
Russo
had
humiliated
them
beyond
the
boundaries
of
common
decency.

“BUT
I
TELL
YOU,”
Cornelius
pleaded.
“THAT
IS
HENRIETTA
TOWNSEND!
YOU
DON’T
RECOGNIZE
THIS
FELLOW?
WELL,
I
DO,
MR.
WILLOUGHBY!”

Suddenly
Cornelius
started
to
itch
violently
all
over
his
neck
and
chest.
Within
seconds
he
felt
as
though
an
army
of
ants
was
crawling
over
his
body,
and
he
pulled
off
all
his
clothes
in
front
of
the
entire
town.
Amid
the
commotion
no
one
much
cared
about
what
Cornelius
had
to
say
about
Henrietta
Townsend,
least
of
all
Graham
Willoughby.
What
they
did
care
about
was
revenge
on
Cornelius
Russo.