Christmas 2005
Christmas day 2005 arrived just like any other day. My
landlord / roommate’s gal pal had just now, freshly shaved her
head. Touch it, she said. I did. It was smooth. Her hair could be
seen, like Richard Nixon’s beard after a close shave, but her head
was smooth. Soft, I said to her. She smiled.
It was Christmas. Everybody was happy. I’d bought presents. I
thought I’d try that maybe once. I don’t buy presents. Not for
anyone. Not ever.
I bought my roommate’s Mother three books to read, and a
carton of smokes. Thank you, she said. I bought the books from a
thrift store, and they were worthless. Just trash. She was puzzled
when she opened them. She had given me a crystal heart. I was
sort of embarrassed. She smoked a cigarette from a pack of the
cigarettes out of the carton I’d bought for her, and she smiled at
me.
I bought my roommate / landlord three record albums. Real
albums, not cd’s or cassette tapes. One was an evangelist, I
think. Another was Wayne Newton as a young man. Wayne was
posed thoughtfully on the album cover. And then a third. I don’t
remember what it was. Joke gifts, but he got the joke, and liked
them. He even framed the albums, and put them on the walls in
the living room. I got him a carton of smokes, too.
I bought his gal pal a bathroom scale. He was always telling her
that she was fat. She wasn’t, but that was their thing. Then I
bought her a diet book for laughs. You will be spending Christmas
somewhere else next year, she said to me. She said it more than once.
I looked at her.
She had troubles. I looked at her. Innocent, really. Just like a
child. I couldn’t ever blame her for anything She said or did. Once
she shaved the cat. The cat and I bonded, She told me. I never
thought anything of it. She was born that way, and would always
be that way. Innocent, like a child. I thought of the people who
would try to take advantage of her, and her disability.
I looked at her, and I came out of my reverie, and I smiled. She
had meant that in only a nice way. I’ll be spending Christmas
someplace else next year, I said back to her. And then I smiled at
her, and then she smiled back at me, too. It was a happy smile.
I’d bought her a pocket dictionary. She was always asking how to
spell this or that. I bought a carton of smokes for her also.
Then my landlord / roommate fixed some turkey he’d bought
from the grocery store, and we ate. Everyone was smiling, even
his Mother.
