The hammer missed my finger by a centimeter, and I caught myself as a string of swear words formed on my lips. This season, I was definitely going to do better. This season, I was determined to be jolly.
“Whatcha doing?,” a tiny voice called to me from somewhere out of view.
I didn’t want to stop my progress, but the string of lights still coiled around my ladder wasn’t getting any shorter. I stepped down a few rungs and ducked my head to see two small grey New Balance sneakers standing under my awning. The kid attached to them was nervously rubbing one knee against the other.
I took a breath, “Be jolly,” I warned, and then hopped down off the ladder.
“Hi Bobby,” I smiled at the little boy from across the street. “Merry Christmas to you. Eh, what do you need?”
The boy smiled a huge snaggletoothed grin before grabbing the lights and hoisting them around his frame.
“I was gonna help you, Mrs. Jeffries. My mom said it’d be good to cuz this is the first Christmas that Mr. Jeffries isn’t gonna….”
“Okay, fine,” I interrupted, trying to take the snappiness out of my tone. “Just hold the lights while I string them up.”
Bobby smiled again and leaned against the side of my house. He rubbed his nose with the back of his sleeve and looked around the yard. “Say, you still haven’t cut down that tree, huh Mrs. Jeffries,” he nodded towards the gnarled oak on my front lawn.
“No, Bobby, I haven’t,” I tried to keep the annoyance out of my voice. “I like that tree.”
“But it’s the tree Mr. Jeffries fell out of and….”
“Bobby, please, I don’t really need all of this chatter. I have to get the trim on this house up.” I sighed.
Kids can really hurt you.
“But Mrs. Jeffries, that’s a bad tree. Sometimes, when I look at it from my window, it looks like it wants to come get me. I don’t want the tree to get me too.”
“Bobby, I think I’m good here. How about you come back later and I’ll fix you some milk and cookies, like for Santa Claus?”
The boy looked at me suspiciously. “Aren’t those things just for Santa? Plus, I wanna help. My mommy says it's gonna be a lonely Christmas this year, and I decided to cheer you up.”
“I don’t need cheering Bobby, I just need you to help me with these lights.”
Bobby shrugged and scratched his left leg with his right foot. He held the lights up higher and I continued hammering away.
“So, do you think Mr. Jeffries is gonna bring you a gift this year? I mean, he always leaves one for you, so I mean,” he trailed off.
“Yes, I believe he will. He always gives me something I like, no matter what the circumstances, so….”
“So even though you can’t be 'together, together' this Christmas, he’ll always be here, huh?” Bobby looked so hopeful, I almost cried.
“That’s right, Bobby. We’ll always be together, no matter what.”
Bobby looked around again. “My mommy was mad at me for playing in the street one time. But I’m gonna make it up to her. I’m gonna get her most favorite thing ever for Christmas.”
I smiled at him. “Oh yeah, and what’s her most favorite thing ever?”
He shrugged. “I dunno yet, but I hang around the house and listen to her talk to her friends, and I’ll figure it out.”
His confidence was absolutely adorable. I concentrated on hammering and we remained silent for a while. I looked over at the house across the street. Bobby’s mother was sitting on the porch rocking back and forth with a thin shawl around her shoulders. I waved, but she didn’t see me.
“My mom’s kinda sad right now. You know, I think around Christmas she thinks about Grandma and Grandpop a lot.”
“Yeah, I do too. The holidays have a way of making people remember their loved ones even more fiercely.”
“So, what are we gonna do?”
“We’re gonna finish putting the trim on my house, and then we’re going to put the tinsel on your house, okay Bobby,” I said with a nail between my teeth.
“Okay, Mrs. Jeffries.”
At that moment, my husband walked out of the house, down the driveway, to the mailbox.
“Did you see him!?” cried Bobby, dropping the lights and running towards my husband.
“Mr. Jeffries look. Look and see what we did for you!” he cried wildly, running toward my husband.
As the boy got closer, my husband turned to walk back to the house, and just as they were going to collide, Bobby’s tiny body flew right through my husband. My husband bristled as if he were suddenly cold.
I hammered away furiously, determined to get all of the lights up. My husband’s eyes raised slightly as he noticed the ladder leaning against the house, the lights all up on the roof now.
I smiled at my handiwork. He staggered toward the house, with a pile of Christmas cards in his arms. Bobby stood in the driveway, staring sadly at Mr. Jeffries. I got off the ladder and stood in my husband's way, but he walked right through my open arms.
“Merry Christmas, baby,” I whispered. He turned around as if he heard me. Then walked inside and closed the door.
“So what are we gonna do now, Mrs. Jeffries?” asked Bobby.
“We’re going to finish the trim on my house, then put the tinsel up on yours. They’re going to see us one day Bobby. They’re going to know we’re still here.”
- copyright SBWriter 2012
