The Christmas Promise (Christmas Hope) (4 page)

Chaz shook to at eleven on Monday morning and reached for a Xanax, downing three glasses of water with it. The pills weren’t prescribed but he always knew where to get them, and he needed them to get through the day. He’d learned years earlier from a drinking buddy that his body would need a pill to help it get up and moving after a night of partying. The guy was right; a pill or two a day pulled Chaz together and allowed him to keep up with any coworker.

Mallory, an apartment tenant, was in the parking lot as he left his building, and she waved. Chaz had met her on several occasions in the parking lot and he dreaded seeing her. His parents said the Mallorys of the world were mannequin people. His father used to say,
Mannequin people try to look human but that’s as close as they get. Their goal is just to get through life. They aren’t concerned about you; it’s all about them. They plod off to work and then back home, and along the way they buy a house and a car and everything they need. They never back an organization or get involved with a cause because it’s too much trouble. They just exist and that’s it.
Chaz knew his parents would have been saddened to see how easy it was for him to wander about without ever really knowing or caring about anyone else. He kept walking as Mallory blathered on about her recent dental work, her job, and high cholesterol. He walked faster and waved good-bye, bringing the conversation to an abrupt end.

On his way to work he saw the same crowd of people he had run into on his first day in town flowing out of the church basement on the town square. He bumped into a man and stumbled, nearly falling. The other guy did fall, landing on his can, and somebody pulled him up. “You okay, Frank?”

“Sorry, there!” The fallen man was yelling after Chaz, but he blew him off. He needed to get to the mailroom. Keeping this job was his ticket to somewhere else and he intended to keep it till he had enough money. He hurried down the main aisle for the stairs.

“Chaz?” He jumped at Mr. Wilson’s voice.

“Could you go out front and see to a homeless man? He’s harmless, but customers never want to come inside the store when…” He waved his hand in the air. “You know what I mean.” Chaz wanted to say that he wasn’t officially on the clock yet, but nodded and ran to the front of the store. The sooner he took care of the problem, the quicker he could talk to Judy about the fingerprints.

The man was standing with his hands in his pockets and a gray wool cap pulled down over his ears. He was wearing a Carhartt coat that was too big for him, brown khakis, and work boots. His face was thin and a short beard covered it. Chaz was surprised, because he was either his age or younger. “Hi,” Chaz said, approaching him.

“What’s up?” the man said, keeping his hands in his pockets.

“Are you waiting for someone?” Chaz asked.

“Nope.”

Chaz needed to get inside and was annoyed with this guy. “Do you need anything?”

“Nope.”

Pulling teeth would be easier than a conversation with him. Chaz put his hands under his arms to keep them warm and looked out over the square. Someone was busy decorating three large fir trees by the gazebo. “I’m Chaz.”

“Mike.” Chaz searched his mind for something else to say. “Why don’t you just tell me that the brass inside is uncomfortable with me standing here?” Mike said.

“It’s the customers. You know.”

“They’re afraid I’ll attack them and make off with their Gucci bags,” Mike said. Chaz shrugged. “Don’t worry. I’ll leave. Trying to find my way around town. I just got off the bus a few days ago.”

Chaz smiled and pulled out some dollar bills from his pocket. It was worth it to get the guy off the sidewalk. “For coffee and a meal. I’m new here, too, but they say Grimshaw’s up the street has the best food in town.”

Mike took the money and shoved it in his pocket. “The old ladies can breathe a sigh of relief now,” he said, walking away.

Chaz ran inside the store and reeled past customers, pushing his way through two swinging doors that entered a room whose cinder-block walls were painted a pale yellow. Large mail bins lined one wall with each department the mail was intended for typewritten below each bin. White countertops made their way around two of the walls and they were covered with boxes and small packages. Huge industrial lights hung from the ceiling and he heard the bulbs buzzing above him. Two women, one around his age and the other in her midthirties, turned to look at him. “Hi, I’m Chaz,” he said. The young one looked at him and smiled and he knew he had her where he needed her. He stepped toward her and smiled, manipulating and maneuvering, his MO for any situation. “I work in security.”

“What can we do you for?” the older one asked.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t even ask you your name,” Chaz said.

“Tricia.”

“And I’m Kelly,” the young one said, leaning back against the counter and pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Are you the new guy?” Tricia asked. She was warming up to him.

“Does it show?”

“No. I heard they were replacing Ed after he retired. Finally retired! Are you married?”

“No,” he said.

Tricia glanced to Kelly and smiled. “Where are you from?” Kelly said.

“All over, really.”

“Do you have family nearby?” Tricia asked.

“No. My parents are deceased.”

Tricia wrinkled her nose. “I always ask too many questions.”

Chaz smiled and patted her on the back. “No, you didn’t. You’re great.” He rubbed his hands together, thinking ahead. “Maybe you can help me out. Judy sent me down here to ask you to be on alert for a package that will be arriving from GKD Systems.”

“What’s that?” Tricia asked.

“It’s a screening company and they’re sending some materials here that must go through the security office first. You’re in charge, right, Tricia?”

She shifted in her seat. “No. Bill’s the manager down here, but he doesn’t go through the mail when it comes in. We do.”

“Do I need to ask him about this or is it something you two would be able to help with?” Chaz said.

“We can,” Kelly said. “No problem. It’ll be addressed to security, right?”

He smiled, pretending to be uncertain. “I don’t think so. It will probably be addressed to Judy in the office, but security must screen it first before anyone opens it.” They looked skeptical. “I guess GKD had some sort of nut job working for them who sent out hazardous materials wrapped in a common package. Of course, authorities dealt with that guy, but the whole thing makes Judy kind of nervous.”

“Okay. Yeah. Right,” Tricia said, writing the name of the company onto a sticky note and posting it in front of them. “We’ll keep our eyes open and get it up to you guys.”

“You can just get it to me, if you don’t mind. I’d love to do something dangerous so I can tell all my friends.” They laughed and Chaz faked a smile; he was weary of constantly figuring his way out of something. Perspiration stuck to his shirt as he pushed through the doors.

I pulled into a spot across the street from Wilson’s and saw him from behind. He was wearing a university jacket with a blue hat and white tennis shoes, and carrying a backpack like my son’s. I threw the car into park and walked after him. I rushed through the town square, hurrying past men and women who were bundled up for a day of shopping. He walked toward the gazebo and I reached for his arm. He turned in a snap and I felt blood rush to my face. “I’m sorry,” I said, retreating. “I thought you were someone else.” I was a fool.
What is wrong with you, Gloria?
I thought.
Running after people like a bull after a red cape.
I hurried toward Wilson’s and my feet slid out beneath me, taking my breath away.

Robert Layton was the first to my side. “Morning, Glory!”

I blew the curls out of my face and searched the back of my head for the bobby pin. “That joke never gets old, does it, Robert?” He laughed, helping me up. “I wasn’t made for winter.” He held me steady as I straightened my coat, shoving the yellow hat back onto my head. One pant leg was riding above my boot and I pulled it down, stamping my foot to knock off the slushy mess on top of it.

“I saw you running after a man, Gloria. Has it really come to that?” I laughed. Robert picked up my gloves and handed them to me. “Besides your pride, is anything broken, cracked, or wounded?”

I brushed snow from my backside. “Well, my mother always told me that if I was going to fall to do so in front of a young man because he’d still be able to bend over and pick me up.”

“I can’t imagine that
anyone
in my office would call me young,” Robert said, laughing. I had met Robert three years earlier at a charity function. He was an old friend of Dalton and Heddy’s, and I found him to be pleasant and unassuming, quite the opposite of what I’d always imagined for a lawyer. “Is your work keeping you busy, Gloria?”

I clapped my hands together. “Just a few days ago I got a car. That doesn’t happen very often, you know. That’s very exciting for me and Heddy.”

Robert pulled up the collar of his overcoat. “I bet it is.”

I needed to get home, and I stepped into the street. “But I have to find a mechanic before my neighbor gets back into town.”

Robert took me by the arm and opened the car door. “Call Jack Andrews at City Auto Service. He’s done my work for years.”

“I can’t pay a lot,” I said.

“He won’t ask a lot. Gloria, you need a place where you can put all the stuff you collect.”

“I got a place. My garage.” I started the car and rolled down the window. “Thank you, Robert. Say hi to Kate.”

He walked back to the sidewalk, shoving his hands in his coat pockets. “You bet. Let me know if I can ever do anything to help.”

I scribbled Jack Andrews’s name on a pad I kept in the car, and watched as a homeless man across the square pulled a hat farther down on his head. It was getting colder. I squinted to see who he was, wondering if he was new to town, but the light turned green before I could see his face, so I drove away.

My kitchen and living room were strewn with boxes filled with shampoo, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, and toothbrushes. Dalton and Heddy were helping me inventory what we had so we could figure out what items were still needed for care packages we’d be giving to the families with whom we worked and to the street people downtown. It was our fourth year putting the packages together, and each year we managed to add more things. I heard a car and looked up from the kitchen table to see Miriam pulling into her driveway.

“Do you hear that?” Heddy said. “Dogs have stopped barking. Birds have stopped chirping.”

“She has a way of doing that,” I said, watching Miriam drive into her garage. She’d been gone five days, but it felt like one glorious year without her next door. I worked at breaking down a box, but stopped when I heard something. “What was that?”

“Probably Jack working on the Silver Fox,” Dalton said.

Heddy and I looked out the window when the noise grew louder, and saw Miriam shouting on her cell phone, waving her arms. I pressed closer to the window. “What is she doing?” Miriam’s voice grew strident and shrill, and Heddy and I ran to the front door, leaving Dalton at the table.

“Everything! I mean everything,” Miriam shouted. “How soon? I can’t wait that long. I need someone over here now. Forget it!” She snapped the phone closed.

Jack Andrews was bent over the engine of the car, but lifted his head to listen. I shrugged my shoulders as I passed him, and walked into Miriam’s yard. She looked as if she’d just stepped out of the pages of
Town & Country,
wearing her beautiful long camel-hair coat, black leather gloves, and fur-trimmed hat. “Miriam?”

She jumped. “What! What, Gloria?”

“Is something wrong?”

She pointed to her house. “Everything’s destroyed. Everything.” Her voice broke and Heddy and I walked up the front steps, opening the door. Water seeped over our shoes, startling us. “You’re telling me you don’t have one room? Not one single room?” Miriam was screaming. “I can’t wait four days. I need a room now!”

My eyes widened as I watched water cascade down the living room wall. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Heddy said, whispering.

I reached to flick on the light switch but caught myself. “You didn’t walk through there, did you?”

“I’m not an imbecile, Gloria,” Miriam said.

Heddy leaned farther into the doorway and listened. “Is that a toilet running?”

I pointed upstairs. “It’s probably been running since she’s been gone,” I whispered. “For
five
days.” Heddy slapped her head.

“When will these
people
be leaving town?” Miriam was pacing up and down her driveway, shouting again. She hung up, defeated. “Every hotel is booked for the annual Christmas in the Colonies craft fair.” She spat out the words. “Every room is filled with nutters dressed as Puritans!”

I knew what needed to be done, but put it out of my mind. “How long is the fair in town?” I asked.

“Four glorious days of all things crafty! Since I need a place to sleep, maybe I should go down there and snuggle up with a Pilgrim.”

“I don’t think she’d be their type,” Heddy muttered behind me.

I swatted behind my back to hush her, and sighed. It was going to take a great deal of courage to form the words in my mouth. I thought about them for the longest time, hoping the earth would swallow me, but a cataclysmic event never happens when you need one most. “Miriam, you are welcome to stay at my house until something is available.” Heddy slapped her head again and I turned to shush her.

“I’ve never been put into such a position before,” Miriam said, peering inside her home. The sight made her sick and she put her hands over her face. “What am I going to do?”

“I just said you could stay at my house.”

“I know what you said, Gloria! I’m trying to talk myself into it.” I watched as Miriam peeked inside her doorway again, moaning. I felt like doing the same.

If Dalton heard the commotion out front, he never bothered to investigate. Miriam retrieved the suitcase from her trip out of the car trunk and stepped inside my house. She stopped at the sight. “Oh, my.”