One Christmas Eve

by Robin Patchen

  “You couldn’t have prevented it, Tallia.” Blake squeezed her hand. “For whatever reason, God allowed it.”

  “That’s what everyone tells me. We’ll never know.” She pulled her hand away and wiped her eyes. “Anyway, I hadn’t told anybody about my conversation with Sam before I saw the counselor and I guess it ate away at me. The counselor helped me work through it. But I was still depressed.”

  She took a deep breath. “She started asking about my job. I guess she figured out what I’d known, but had been afraid to admit. I wasn’t called to teach. I was called to paint. I only took the job to pay the bills. But while I worked full-time, I hardly had time for art.” Tallia sat up straighter and took a deep breath. “So I sold my condo and at the end of the school year, I resigned. I rented that lovely apartment you saw tonight. And I paint. I teach older kids in an after-school program. I really enjoy it, mostly because I still spend most of the day, every day, painting.”

  “And that pays the bills?”

  “On paper, no. In fact, on paper, I should be starving. Evicted. But God hasn’t let that happen. Every month something happens. I sell a painting. I have a couple of galleries that display my work. Or I get a surprise check from somewhere, or…something. For the first year, every month I’d think, this is it. I’m going to have to move in with Mom and Dad, or beg for money. But God always came through, sometimes in the weirdest ways. One month someone—I have no idea who—mailed me a cashier’s check for exactly my rent amount. Another time, I got a refund from a doctor I hadn’t seen in years and the check was just enough to cover my phone bill. So it always works out. And you already know about the resurrection of Casper. God always provides for me.”

  “That’s a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing it.” Blake wished he had her faith. “It’s not easy making a living as an artist.”

  “You do it.”

  “Performing arts are different,” he said. “And especially in our culture, people want to be entertained. Great art makes people think. I’m not sure that my latest action movie spurred a lot of deep thinking.”

  “Sure it did. I distinctly remember thinking I never wanted to fight aliens.”

  He lifted one eyebrow. “You see my movies?”

  “Sure, most of them.”

  “You haven’t seen them all? I’m insulted.”

  “Sorry. I’ll get right on that.” She giggled. “Painters do have one thing actors don’t have, though,” she said.

  “What’s that?”

  “Their posthumous earning potential is so much greater.”

  “Hmm,” he tapped his nose. “I don’t know. Do you know how much money Elvis’s estate makes every year?”

  “Don’t tell me that!” She smacked his arm playfully. “Are you trying to depress me?”

  “Sorry.” He rubbed the place she’d hit, feigning injury. “Forget I mentioned it.”

  “I don’t mind. We can’t all be movie stars. Somebody has to play the part of starving artist.”

  “There’re plenty of starving actors, believe me. I was one of them.”

  “Really? I didn’t know that.”

  “I had a life before my first movie, you know.”

  “Oh, well…I guess I hadn’t thought about it.”

  Of course not. To the world, he was Blake Carmichael, leading man. So few people knew the real Blake. Son of a truck driver, former mechanic, waiter, and telemarketer. Addict. Lousy husband. Terrible father…

  He forced himself to remember what God said about him.

  Saved. Redeemed. Forgiven.

  He rarely felt like a work of art, but the Bible said he was. And he was trying to believe it. He drove in silence as they approached the city.

  Blake loved Boston’s skyline, so dense and tall and bright. One building had turned on the lights in the windows to make a pattern of a Christmas tree, reminding Blake of the holiday. The Hancock weather beacon, reflected in the newer, mirrored John Hancock tower, was a solid red. Someone had told him the color shining from the old tower meant something.

  “Hey, what does it mean when it’s red?” Blake asked, pointing to the tower.

  “Oh, um…there’s a rhyme to help you remember. ‘Steady blue, clear view. Flashing blue, clouds due. Steady red, rain ahead. Flashing red, snow instead.’ So rain. Yuck.”

  “I wish we’d have a white Christmas. I haven’t seen snow on Christmas Day since I moved to LA.”

  “Where’d you grow up?”

  “Colorado, north of Denver, east of the mountains.”

  “Was it beautiful?”

  “On clear days, the view of the Rockies was amazing.” He blinked, remembering something. “Wait a minute, when I flew out of Logan this summer, it was flashing red. And raining.”

  “In the summer that means the Red Sox game is rained out.”

  He chuckled. “Only in Boston.”

  They drove into the city faster than Blake ever had on this section of the expressway. Of course, it was two in the morning.

  Tallia dialed her niece’s phone number a few times, but the girl didn’t answer.

  The closer they got, the more Blake’s anxiety rose.

  Please let the kids be OK, Lord. Lead us right to them. And let us get there before anything bad can happen.

  “Maybe we should call some friends and ask for prayer,” Tallia said.

  “If you want, go ahead.”

  “You don’t want to?”

  He shrugged. “I guess I could call Jack.”

  “Someone from Seaview?”

  “Jack Morgan.”

  “Oh, right. Jack, the movie star. But what about people from church?”

  “There’s nobody I’m that close to at Seaview, not yet, anyway.”

  “Why not?” Tallia sounded shocked. “I thought you were in that men’s Sunday school class.”

  “I am. It’s hard to make friends. People have…preconceived ideas about me.”

  “Hmm, maybe you just need to trust people more.”

  Trust. After living in Hollywood for twenty years, he’d learned very few people were trustworthy. However, the woman who sat beside him, she might be the exception. “Maybe.”

  Her phone rang, filling the silence with the theme song to a popular children’s cartoon.

  “That’s Kelsey’s ring!” Tallia said. She lifted the cell to her ear. “Kelsey?”

  4

  Loud music came through Tallia’s phone speaker.

  “Kelsey, speak up. I can’t hear you.”

  There was a moment’s pause before her niece said, much louder, “Is that better?”

  “Yes. Thank God—”

  “I’m so sorry!” Kelsey sounded as if she was crying. “I just turned on my phone and saw you called me. I’m so, so sorry for sneaking out. It was so stupid, and—”

  “It’s OK. We’ll talk about it later. Where are you?”

  “I’m with Eli, and we’re at a concert. It’s at some park in Boston, I don’t know where exactly.”

  “The WinterFest concert?”

  “Yes!” Kelsey said. “How did you know?”

  Blake reached across the seat and took Tallia’s hand. She relished the small comfort and thanked God she wasn’t alone. “It’s a long story, but we’re on our way to get you. Are you OK?”

  “Not really. Eli took off, said he’d be right back, but he hasn’t come back.”

  “You’re alone? Where did he go?” Tallia looked at Blake.

  His expression turned grim and he picked up speed.

  “I…I don’t know exactly. But there’s this guy who’s kind of…watching me, and I…I don’t know what to do.”

  “Listen Kelsey, you have to look tough.” Tallia’s heart pounded. “You have to look like you can handle yourself.”

  “But I can’t! I’m so scared.”

  Blake squeezed Tallia’s hand. “Tell her to find a group of people to hang out with, a group of women if she can.”

  “Kelsey—”

 
“Who was that?” Her niece asked.

  “I’ll explain later. You need to find a group of people to hang out with.”

  “I don’t know. There’re a bunch of people, but why would they let me sit with them?”

  Tallia asked Blake.

  “Tell her to approach an older woman,” he said, “and tell her she’s lost her boyfriend and she’s scared, and ask if she can sit with them.”

  Tallia related the advice to Kelsey.

  “But why would they help me?” Her niece asked.

  Tallia held the phone up so Kelsey could hear Blake’s answer clearly.

  “For the most part, people are nice, and they want to help. And you gain their confidence when you ask for a favor. Somebody will help.”

  Tallia pulled the phone back to her ear in time to hear her niece say, “OK. I see a group. I’ll try.”

  Thank You, God, for sending Blake here.

  “Kelsey, where did Eli go?”

  “Um…” Tallia heard her niece’s voice catch. “I’m…well…he said he wanted to smoke a joint. He said he just wanted to try it. I swear I’ve never tried it before. And he hasn’t, either. We thought, you know, just to see what it’s like. So he found a guy who was selling some and the guy said to follow him, and so Eli took off with the guy. He said he’d be right back.”

  “Oh, Kelsey!” Tallia’s stomach churned. “You were going to get high? How long has he been gone?”

  Blake squeezed her hand again, harder than before. In the city lights it was easy to see the color had drained from his face.

  “He’s been gone about ten minutes,” Kelsey said. “But it’s scary here all by myself.”

  “Why in the world would you even consider such a thing? You know better than that!”

  “I know.” Her niece was sobbing now. “I know. It was so stupid. He just said that, you know, his father smokes pot all the time and he just wanted to see what it was like.”

  “He said that? He said he does it all the time?”

  “Yeah and Eli’s just curious. I guess his dad says it’s no big deal.”

  Tallia yanked her hand away from Blake’s.

  He glanced at her, confusion and hurt in his eyes.

  She couldn’t worry about that. She didn’t know Blake and the fact that he’d been a drug addict was common knowledge. Maybe the rehab didn’t take, or maybe he’d never quit at all. What if Blake really did think smoking pot was OK?

  Kelsey continued. “I have to go. I’m going to ask these people if I can sit with them. My phone’s about to run out of battery and I need it in case Eli calls.”

  “Don’t go after him!” Tallia said. “Whatever trouble he’s getting into, it doesn’t need to be your trouble. You stay right there until we get there.”

  “I will. I promise. How long will it take you?”

  She looked at the navigation system and then at their surroundings. “Ten minutes, tops. We’re in a black SUV. Be looking for us.”

  “I will. I’m sorry. I love you.”

  Tallia hung up the phone and shoved it in her purse. She was too angry to speak.

  “What’d she say?” Blake’s voice was flat, but his eyes revealed his own worry. The hurt she’d seen in them was gone, replaced by a guarded, distant look.

  “Apparently Eli took off to buy a couple of joints and hasn’t come back yet.”

  “How long has he been gone?”

  “Ten minutes.”

  “Ten minutes,” Blake repeated. “We should pray.”

  “It’s a little late for that!”

  Blake pulled in a deep breath and blew it out. “What did she say? Something about me, obviously.”

  “She said Eli decided to buy a joint because his dad gets high all the time so it’s no big deal.”

  “That’s what she told you? That I get high all the time?”

  “Yup.”

  “And you believed her?”

  “Are you suggesting my niece is a liar?”

  “You mean the girl who shoved pillows under her blankets and sneaked out to meet her boyfriend in the middle of the night? No, who would ever suspect her of dishonesty?”

  “She wouldn’t lie to me.”

  “Well, there you go. The gospel according to Kelsey.”

  “At least she’s not a drug addict!” As soon as the words escaped her mouth, she regretted them.

  The only voice in the car came from Blake’s navigation system. He said nothing as he exited the interstate.

  “I shouldn’t have said that,” she said.

  “Whatever.”

  “Are you denying it?”

  His hands gripped the wheel tighter. “Are you seriously asking me if I get high in front of my sixteen-year-old son?”

  “Just answer the question.”

  “No.”

  “No you won’t answer the question, or no you don’t get high with him?”

  He didn’t speak. His jaw tightened.

  “Kelsey’s not a liar.” She said.

  “I don’t know if she’s a liar or not, but I do know she’s wrong.”

  “How do I know that?” Tallia asked.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It does matter! If you’re still doing drugs—”

  “Right. And you think the reason I don’t have any friends is because I have a trust problem?”

  They spent the next few minutes in brooding silence.

  Blake jerked the wheel and turned onto a narrow side street.

  The park sat on their right. The people littering the grassy area in front of the well-lit stage were cast in shadow.

  She searched the crowds, looking for her niece.

  Blake stopped in front of a sign that read “No Parking” and shifted into park.

  They both stepped out of the car.

  She headed for a table set up about ten feet from the edge of the crowd. Behind the table sat a man in his mid-twenties and, beside him, a heavy-set, middle-aged woman. The table was surrounded by paper bags, and as Tallia got closer, she saw that the bags were filled with groceries.

  The sign hanging from the table explained that admission price to the concert was a can of food to donate to the homeless.

  Blake spoke behind her. “How about a donation instead of a canned good?”

  The young man stood. “That’ll work.”

  Blake handed the man a bill.

  The man’s eyes widened before he showed the bill to the woman.

  She stood and smiled. “Thank you very much.”

  “My pleasure. We’re looking for our kids. They’re sixteen. A boy and a girl. Have you seen them?”

  The man scanned the crowd. “No idea.” He turned to the woman. “You?”

  She shook her head. “Nope. You know, this is no place for kids that young.”

  “We know,” Blake said. “They’re not here with our blessing.”

  “Good luck,” the woman said, though her voice sounded skeptical.

  This area looked as run-down as any Tallia had seen in Boston, even worse than it had the last time she’d been there. Of course, that might’ve had much to do with the late hour.

  Trash littered the small park. Even in the dim street light, it was obvious the buildings surrounding it were dilapidated.

  And Kelsey had been here for hours.

  Lord, let us find her.

  Blake led the way towards the crowd. He towered over the people, but his height wouldn’t help him find Kelsey if he didn’t remember what she looked like.

  He’d donned his baseball cap again, and Tallia wondered if any Broncos fans would take offense.

  From the street, the concert had looked fairly large, but up close, she saw there were probably fewer than a hundred people. Christmas lights twinkled on the few trees surrounding the small grassy area, but they were overshadowed tonight by the spotlight on the band.

  Christmas.

  She’d forgotten it was almost Christmas. This…this chaos she’d been thrown into felt about as fa
r from the Christmas spirit as she could imagine.

  She spotted Kelsey on the opposite side looking towards the far street. “Blake!”

  He turned and she pointed to Kelsey.

  He shifted course.

  Her niece ran towards them. Just in front of the sound booth Kelsey threw herself in Tallia’s arms.

  Tallia felt tears sting her eyes, her breath caught. She hadn’t realized how scared she was until that moment. “You’re OK! Thank You, Lord.”

  “I’m so sorry, Aunt Millie. Please, can you ever forgive me?”

  “Of course, honey.” Relief blew all the anger away.

  “No sign of Eli?” Blake’s voice broke through.

  Kelsey’s eyes widened, and then narrowed. She turned back to Tallia. “You brought him?”

  “Technically he brought me and he is Eli’s father.”

  “Pfft. Some father.”

  Blake closed his eyes, nodded, and opened them again. “Which way did he go?” Blake asked.

  Kelsey pointed. “He crossed the street and walked that way.”

  “Did he go inside a building? Down an alley?”

  Kelsey shook her head, tears in her eyes. “I don’t know. I…I should’ve been watching. I thought he’d be right back.”

  Blake lifted an arm as if he was going to comfort her, and then dropped it. “It’s not your fault, Kelsey.” He turned to leave. “Wait for me here.”

  “No!” Tallia grabbed his arm and was surprised by the strength she felt.

  He turned towards her, and she let go. He still had the hurt expression on his face she’d seen earlier, and doubt niggled at her. Blake had been nothing but kind to her and aside from Kelsey’s comment, she had no reason to blame him for the kids sneaking out. Still, she couldn’t take any chances with her niece’s safety. “We’re not waiting. We’re leaving.” She turned to Kelsey. “Do you know where your car is?”

  “Um, I think so, but—”

  “I’d rather you wait for me here,” Blake said. “I don’t want you wandering around by yourselves. It’s not safe.”

  “That’s not your problem.”

  “Yes, it is. I brought you, Eli brought Kelsey, and we’re going to make sure you two make it home. Besides…” He turned to Kelsey. “I might need your help if I can’t find him.”