All I Want for Christmas

by Emery, Lynn

  Nedra stared at him. “There’s more.”

  “I had to give information about the cars that came through my shop. Apparently, drugs and guns were concealed in them. State troopers in Louisiana and Mississippi had been tracking these guys and finally made a traffic stop. They were driving those cars.” Carlos relived the stab of fear he’d had when the police first questioned him and Brian.

  “So they thought you were helping traffic drugs and guns. Were you?” Nedra raised an eyebrow.

  “What? No, of course not!” Carlos huffed a few times to get his temper in check. “I’ve got too much to lose by doing something so stupid. Not even with my shops struggling to break even.”

  “Oh, so the cops thought you did it for extra money to keep up that lifestyle you’re used to. Is that it?” Nedra sounded like a hardcore police interrogator.

  “They’re trained to follow all angles and to be suspicious, so yeah, they dug into my finances. I gave them as much help as I could.” Carlos looked away.

  “You knew or at least had an idea that your employee was shady.” Nedra tilted her head to one side.

  “No way, I would have fired his ass quick. But I kinda figured a few of the customers that rolled in were… urban entrepreneurs.” He flinched as Nedra let out a sharp hiss.

  “That’s a cute way of saying you got cozy with street gangstas, Carlos. What the hell were you thinking? Wait; don’t even answer because it’s none of my business. I’ve known you for a month, so maybe I don’t have the right to demand anything from you.” Nedra closed her eyes again for a few seconds and then reopened them. “And your mother?”

  “She advised me and talked to the assistant DA assigned to my case. That’s all. No laws or rules were broken, but others might assume my mother put pressure on the DA to give me special treatment. That’s not true,” Carlos added quickly. “The diversion program is used a lot in cases like mine.”

  Nedra waved her hand. “Come on, Carlos. We both know your mother has pull in this parish with the city police, the sheriff’s office and the DA.”

  “The DA’s office wouldn’t have gone along with it if I’d had a criminal background, or if they’d had evidence that I had a gang connection. I don’t think you’re being fair.” Carlos looked at her, but Nedra wouldn’t return his gaze.

  She stared at the wall. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

  He sighed and dropped his head. “My mother is in a very sensitive position when it comes to law enforcement. Not only does she have an election coming up, but she has future goals when it comes to her judicial career. She’d like to be considered for a federal judgeship in the next few years. Even a hint of scandal or talk of improper behavior as an officer of the court could kill her chances.” He fidgeted as seconds ticked by with no reply.

  “In other words, you didn’t trust me not to run straight to Rod and tell him? Rod isn’t running against your mother. He’s going to run against…” Nedra’s voice trailed off. “So the mayor got in on the act as well?”

  “He and Brian’s father grew up in the same neighborhood,” he explained. “They were friends, like brothers really, practically all their lives. Brian was maybe eleven or twelve when his dad died. Mayor Bates promised him that he’d look after Brian.”

  Brian’s father had been in a gang in the seventies and died from AIDS-related cancer following years of drug abuse. He had begged the mayor not to let Brian make the same mistakes. Carlos didn’t feel right telling Nedra so much so soon. He pushed down the prick of guilt he felt at holding back, but Brian’s story was not his to tell just yet.

  “Okay, so you thought I’d go running to Rod to give him ammo to use against the mayor? I’m sure Judge Jacobs had an opinion when she found out about us,” Nedra said quietly. She turned to Carlos.

  “She doesn’t know you.” He put a hand on Nedra’s shoulder. When she didn’t pull away, he moved closer.

  “Neither do you. Like I said, we’ve only known each other for a month,” she replied, looking down at her hands folded in her lap.

  “Do you really think I’m a drug dealer and gun runner, Nedra?” Carlos put his arm across the back of her chair. He tensed as moments passed.

  “No, I don’t. Do you trust me with this information?” Nedra twisted the strap of her purse between her fingers.

  “Yes, I do. I would have told you everything eventually after the holidays.” Carlos hugged her to him and rested his head against hers.

  “Why would ‘after the holidays’ make a difference?” she asked, relaxing in his embrace.

  “Because we’ll still be together and planning our next Christmas.”

  He felt a surge of happiness when Nedra’s reply was a tight hug and tears.

  ****

  The next day, Nedra met her sisters and Maida for lunch at the Mall of Louisiana. They sat in La Madeleine’s restaurant near a window with a view of the carousel. Kids squealed with delight as parents took pictures. Jarae and Gaylynn kept exchanging glances, while Maida just shook her head. All three were still digesting Nedra’s revelations about Carlos. She told them that he’d had to do community service, but left out the part about the involvement of Mayor Bates.

  “I melted when he talked about our future. You think he’s pulled a fast one? Now that my romantic haze has cleared up, I’m wondering if I’m being stupid over a man again.” Nedra picked over the salad she’d ordered to go with La Madeleine’s famous French onion soup.

  Jarae raised her professionally arched eyebrows at Nedra. “Carlos is known for being a real smooth operator. I hear some of his friends call him ‘The Closer’. When nobody else can get to a woman, Carlos Jacobs can.”

  Gaylynn squinted at their older sister. “Gee, thanks for being so supportive, Jay.”

  “Hey, don’t ask if you don’t want the truth.” Jarae merely shrugged and took another bite of her chicken salad croissant.

  “Listen, sounds to me like the guy is sincere. I mean, he introduced Nedra to his little girl and has spent practically every free moment with her,” said Maida. She looked at Jarae, who shrugged again because her mouth was full.

  “I agree with Maida. People can change. Besides, he wasn’t caught with drugs or using them. You haven’t heard about him using, huh?” Gaylynn glanced at Jarae again. “Okay, Ms. Twenty-four Hour News Channel.”

  Jarae swallowed and sipped from her glass of iced tea. She patted her lips with a fancy paper napkin. “I have to say, other than the typical smoking a little weed in college, I’ve never heard Carlos was into drugs.”

  “He smokes weed?” Maida squeaked. She flinched as heads turned and diners nearby stared. “Sorry.”

  “Thank you for putting us on blast,” Nedra snapped.

  “I didn’t say he still does, girl. He played around in college like a lot of us. Just like we all got stinking drunk on cheap booze at least three times. Don’t front ‘cause you know I know,” said Jarae, pointing at Maida and Gaylynn in turn.

  Maida grinned. “Point made.”

  “But some forgot to stop partying and ended up addicted. I don’t know now.” Gaylynn frowned.

  “You were just saying that he sounded sincere and that you believed him.” Nedra blinked at Gaylynn.

  “Evidence of past drug use and his association with drug dealers sounds bad.” Gaylynn picked up her glass of pink lemonade and took a long pull on the straw, still frowning.

  “I hate this. Just when I’m having the happiest Christmas in years, crap happens,” said Nedra, pushing away her salad plate.

  “Trust men to screw up everything. I’m telling you, we’ve been catching hell since Adam blamed Eve for everything.” Maida nodded, as though dropping ageless wisdom on her friends. “Look at Imani.”

  “What happened with Imani and Errol?” gasped Jarae, dropping her croissant as though this latest gossip was way tastier.

  “Imani kept looking until she found out what she didn’t want to know,” Maida replied. “Errol called her manipulative
and a control freak. Said he’d tried to make it work, but he got tired of her following him around and going through his pockets. He went to his company’s conference and met a woman who works at the Houston office. They hit it off and, long story short, he’s transferring to Houston and they’re dating.”

  Gaylynn gasped and put a hand over her heart. “Oh no, poor Imani.”

  Jarae shook her head slowly. “Umph, umph, umph.”

  “I haven’t seen or heard from her since the day she was in my office,” Nedra sighed.

  “Imani did her usual thing; went overboard and smothered the man. I tried telling her, but she wasn’t hearing it,” Maida said.

  “I’m going to give her a call.” Gaylynn wore a look of sympathy for their friend.

  “Call her cell. She went home to Mobile to be with her family for the holidays. At least she won’t be feeling awful. They’re very close and supportive.” Maida sipped her diet cola with a thoughtful expression.

  Nedra looked at the others. “We’ve got to get together with Imani when she’s back in town.”

  “For sure,” Jarae replied, and the women nodded in agreement.

  Nedra bit her lower lip. “Imani was with Errol a lot longer than I’ve known Carlos.”

  “Okay, can we all agree that Imani has run off the last three men in her life?” Maida asked, leaning across the table, her voice low.

  “At least,” Gaylynn chimed in. “I hate to say it, but you’re right. Once is bad luck. Twice is a bad decision. Three times is a trend.”

  “Maybe so, or Errol could have been making an excuse. You know, like Adam blaming Eve when the crap hit the fan. Guys will point the finger at you in a minute,” argued Jarae, scowling at the world.

  “He could have been honest with her, instead of slipping around.” Nedra joined her older sister with her own scowl.

  Maida put a hand on Nedra’s arm. “Girl, we’re not talking about Carlos.”

  “No, but we could be. We’re talking about honesty and not keeping secrets,” Nedra replied.

  “Okay, we know what happened with Imani. Now let’s examine this thing with Carlos. It’s not just about him. His mother has her reputation on the line and asked him not to tell. Y’all know we’d all do whatever for our mamas. C’mon now,” said Gaylynn, waving a hand.

  “True that,” Jarae replied. “And if one of my boys got in trouble, I’d take whatever steps necessary to keep them out of the system.”

  “Amen,” Maida said with gusto.

  Nedra felt the rock on her chest lift a bit. “Under the circumstances I would have done the same thing. Whew, this relationship stuff is complicated when you add family into the mix.”

  “Hey, if you have any lingering doubts, look him up. Your law-enforcement pals won’t mind giving you the 411 when you tell them he’s your new man.” Jarae pointed a forefinger at Nedra. “Do a background check.”

  Nedra shook her head firmly as the other two clamored to agree with Jarae. “I’m not going down that road. We just talked about how Imani pushed Errol away by playing detective. I’m either going to trust what he tells me or not. My gut tells me to trust Carlos.”

  “Then that’s settled. Let’s share dessert.” Jarae waved to the waiter as the others laughed at her.

  Nedra grinned at her older sister. “Girl, trust you to keep your priorities straight.”

  Chapter 10

  Saturday night, Nedra and Carlos strolled along with Carly in the middle, each holding one of her hands as they moved through the crowd. New Roads looked like a nineteenth-century village. Strings of white lights decked all of the antique stores and specialty shops on Main Street. Other multicolored lights in the shapes of angels, bows and small Christmas trees hung from lamp posts. The cool night air and cozy small-town atmosphere had everyone in a good mood, it seemed.

  “Come on, I hear music. I think the Christmas rollercoaster is this way,” said Carly. Straining forward, she pulled the two adults along like a tiny tug boat guiding two larger vessels through a sea of people.

  “Slow down sweet pea. We’ll get there soon enough.” Carlos laughed as he watched his daughter huff and puff with the effort to hurry them.

  “I don’t want to miss a seat. Look at all those kids trying to get there.” Carly continued to march them towards the music. Her little red, knitted hat had a green pom-pom on the top, which bobbed as she moved.

  Nedra smiled and increased her pace. “She’s making sense, Carlos. It looks like everyone is headed for the same place. I say we step it up.”

  “Thank you, Miss Nedra. Now come on, daddy.” Carly yanked Carlos’ hand until he was even with them.

  “All right, all right, I’ve been voted down. We head for the rides instead of window shopping.”

  Carlos scooped up Carly and soon his long legs had them making good progress. Nedra had to work hard to keep up. Within seconds she was out of breath, but they soon arrived at the roped-off entrance to the area with small carnival rides. More multicolored lights flashed. To the left was a section with bumper cars painted green, red, gold and purple. Just behind that, a merry-go-round had been set up. There were many booths with games of chance to win prizes and straight ahead was a large carousel. Reindeer, sleighs and elves rotated to music.

  Carly dropped the adults’ hands, and jumped up and down. “Daddy, I want to ride the big reindeer. Please, please. This way!”

  Carlos grabbed her hand before she could race off. “Whoa. We have to get tickets first. I gotta admit you were right, baby girl. We beat a big crowd.”

  Even though they weren’t too far down, they stood in line for twenty minutes. Carly’s excitement grew as she watched other children smile with delight as they rode the carousel. She barely paid any attention to Carlos, who took the opportunity to whisper his plans to Nedra to wrap Carly’s presents later, after she fell asleep.

  “You’ll have no problem wrapping them in peace. She’s going to be exhausted.” Nedra glanced around at the activity.

  Carlos leaned close to Nedra and spoke close to her ear, “I promise you, within an hour of getting back to my place, Carly will be sound asleep. I’ll just manage to give her a bath and brush her hair.”

  “You’ve got this parenting thing down. I salute you, sir.” Nedra nudged him affectionately. “But brush her hair before bed?”

  He nodded. “Carly likes her hair groomed and covered with a satin scarf before she goes to bed.”

  Nedra laughed. “Say what?”

  “She has her beauty routine,” he replied, laughing with her.

  Nedra loved how his eyes sparkled when he talked about his little girl. No matter what Jarae may have heard, Carlos didn’t look anything like a player when Carly was around. Instead, he was the loving father on a Christmas greeting card. Nedra ticked off another important box: great father. She hooked her arm through one of his and felt like she was in one of those sentimental holiday commercials.

  Slowly, the line moved forward until Carlos stepped up to the ticket stand. “We need three,” he told the guy holding a roll of tickets.

  “Three it is.” The man counted them off.

  “Wait a minute,” said Nedra, tapping Carlos on the shoulder.

  He looked at her. “You didn’t think Carly would have all the fun, did you?”

  “Yaay, daddy and Miss Nedra are gonna ride.” Carly bounced around with delight. “C’mon!”

  “B-but I- I mean,” Nedra stammered as she was pulled towards the carousel. “I’ve never been on one of these things in my life.”

  “Now you’ll be able to tell all your friends what you did over the holidays.” Carlos winked at her and grinned. “Hey!”

  Carly shot over to the motionless ride. Moments later, she stood next to Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, after managing to beat three other kids to it. She had her arms around Rudolph’s neck as Carlos and Nedra caught up with her.

  “Girl, you were determined to get this reindeer, weren’t you?” Carlos panted. He took a few b
reaths before he lifted her onto Rudolph’s back. “She’s even more competitive than her mother.”

  Nedra giggled as he rolled his eyes. “I’ll take this little sleigh over here,” she said.

  Carlos nodded and stood next to Carly. Kids clamored to climb into the sleighs, hop on reindeers and slide into cars carved in the shape of Santa’s elves. The music started and lights began to flash. A cheer went up as the carousel started slowly. Before she realized it, Nedra was laughing and waving to the crowd with the others. Everyone sang along with the carols that played for the next few turns. All too soon, they slowed until the carousel stopped again.

  Once they were back on solid ground, Carly clapped her hands. “I want to try the bumper cars next. Then may we please ride the merry-go-round again? Please, please?” She batted her thick, dark eyelashes up at Carlos.

  “Sounds like a fun idea to me,” Nedra chimed in. She imitated Carly and fluttered her eyelashes as well. “Pretty please, with butter-cream icing on top?”

  “No need to beg, girls.” Carlos kissed Carly and then Nedra.

  For almost two hours they all had a blast and ended up taking every ride three times. Nedra earned Carly’s admiration when she hit the target at a booth. They walked away with a cute, stuffed monkey, whom the little girl promptly named Marcus, and then bought corn dogs and lemonade at a food booth.

  “Honey, where did you get that name?” asked Carlos, pointing to the stuffed animal.

  “Mama dated Mr. Marcus for a little while, but then she didn’t like him anymore. She called him a stupid monkey, who didn’t have a decent job or the right friends. I sorta liked him though. He was funny.” Carly related the account in a childish, matter-of-fact tone.

  Nedra struggled not to choke on a mouthful of lemonade. She swallowed, and then took in and let out a deep breath. Her eyes watered from the need to laugh out loud.

  Carlos sat with his eyes wide and his jaw open. He was obviously at a loss how to respond.