Christmas Nightmare

Bang! I hit my head against the steering wheel again. The stress was kicking in and you’re fired was ringing through my head. Who does that man think he is firing me and especially right before Christmas. The worst part is I have to tell Kimber that we can’t afford Christmas. 

This year was so hard. Our oldest daughter who is just five had to have heart surgery back in June. Her heart was not pumping blood properly. We noticed that she was getting pale but the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong. Then one day she collapsed as she walked from her room. We rushed her to the emergency room where we learned of her heart condition. It drained us and our insurance would only pay part of the surgery so I drained our bank account. 

I rubbed my hand through my silky black hair. I have to do something to make Christmas possible. I closed my eyes as I let out a sigh. We are supposed to be leaving Saturday to go to Kimber’s parents for Christmas. I dropped my head again. I could already hear what her parents would say. I knew he was a loser the first time I met him would be what her mom would say. Her dad would just shake his head in disappointment. Her parents didn’t like the idea of her marrying me. 

Kimber comes from a rich family while I was raised by a single mom. Mom did everything to ensure that I had a good life. She succeeded and she taught me how to be a gentleman. I would do anything for Kimber and the kids. 

Peck! Peck! I looked over to see Jay knocking on my window. Jay and I grew up together. We did everything together including getting this job. We even got fired together today. I pushed the button as the window rolled down. 

“I have an idea to make Christmas happen this year,” Jay told me with a wicked grin. 

“What devilish idea did you come up with?” I asked as I shook my head. 

Jay has always come up with crazy ideas and convinced me to go along with it. When we were kids, he convinced me to be a daredevil. We tried to jump our bicycle over a creek. I ended up flat on my back with a broken rib and he broke his leg. 

I waited on Jay’s idea as his green eyes pierced with excitement. I knew this idea was going to get us both in trouble but at the same time I couldn’t let Kimber and the kids down. 

“Our neighbors will all be out of town this week for Christmas, right?” he asked. 

“Yeah, what are you getting at?” I replied surprising myself with how deep my southern accent came out. 

“Let’s break into their houses to get our family their gifts for Christmas,” he said with a wicked smile. 

I shook my head. This was too much even for Jay. 

“Jay, we can’t do that,” I told him.

“Luke, we have to. Kimber is counting on you and Lynn is counting on me,” he reminded me. I hate when he is right.

“How do you plan that we pull this off?” I asked feeling like I was digging my own grave. 

“Easy, we will tell Kimber and Lynn that we have to work until Christmas Eve so we will have to leave later than them,” he winked as he spoke like he just made a huge discovery. 

“I don’t know about this,” I said as my stomach began to feel upset. The overthinking was kicking in and I could already smell the jail bunkers.

“We will be fine and our family will have a great Christmas. Kimber won’t know you lost your job and her parents won’t snarl their nose at you,” Jay reassurance me. 

“Fine, let’s do it,” I agreed against my better judgment. 

As I drove home thinking about all the possible outcomes of Jay’s plan. My gut was screaming this wasn’t going to turn out well. Then, I saw Kimber’s face. Her light baby blue eyes staring into mine. Her eyes were what attracted me to her the first time we met. I felt like I was staring into the ocean and it was so peaceful. She had golden-brown hair that curled like an angel. I can’t let her down. I have to give her a great Christmas. 

I turned the engine off in our driveway. I sit there for a moment thinking of ways to tell Kimber that I would have to come to her parents later. I hated to be away from her and the kids but I couldn’t ruin Christmas for them. This was the only way to afford their gifts. 

I twisted the key into the doorknob and opened the door. I slowly walked to the kitchen to Kimber. I had to work my nerves up. Heck, I should have probably had a shot of whiskey to calm myself down. My luck I would have spilled the tea to her. I am a very honest drunk. I walked into the kitchen to see Kimber setting the table. She was beautiful. 

“Kimber,” I said as I watched her set her roast on the table.

“Luke, I am glad you are home,” she smiled as she spoke. 

“Kimber, I have to tell you something,” I told her stopping mid-sentence. I hated to lie to her but this was for our greater good I hope.

“I have to work a few extra days before Christmas so I can’t go to your parents’ house until Christmas Eve,” I told her trying to see her reaction. She stood there like a statue not moving. Well, I am a dead man and she is mad. 

“The kids and I will wait to go when you go,” she replied, still without an expression.

“No, I can’t let you do that. You all go on like you had planned then I will come on Christmas Eve,” I said, trying to hide the panic I felt.

“I don’t like to be away from you,” she spoke in a whisper. 

I walked to her and pulled her into a hug.

“I hate to be away from you too but your parents are expecting you. Go spend time with them and I will be there on Christmas Eve,” I told her as I squeezed her. 

She nodded and the plan was officially in motion. Jay and I were either going to pull the biggest scam of our life or we were going to share a jail cell. I was terrified to see which one.

We laid low until Monday before Christmas Eve. We watched as our neighbors and family left. Jay got us all-black outfits and a black beanie.

“Do you think black makes us invisible or something,” I asked him with crossed arms. 

This was ridiculous. No one was even home to see us. I hated wearing black and Jay knew it. I let out a frustrated growl. He did this on purpose. 

“Look, man, I know you hate black but on every movie the people breaking in always wear black,” Jay laughed as he spoke. 

“This is not a movie and you know I hate black,” I huffed back at him. 

Black made me feel depressed. It held painful memories and always made me think back to my childhood. When I see black, I think back to Dad’s funeral. I was only eight years old but it still haunts me. I stood up front trying to be a man and strong for my mom. Men and women of all kinds came in. They were dressed in all black and told me how sorry they were for me. They had no clue what I was going through but they pretended they did. Every time I see the color black, it takes me back to that painful day. The day I had to say my last goodbye to my dad.

“I still don’t know why you don’t like black,” he said with a puzzled reaction. 

“Let just get this over with,” I replied as I pushed passed him. I haven’t told anyone why I hate black and I am not starting today. 

“Doctor Mason and his family are in Hawaii,” Jay said as we stood in front of his brick mansion house. 

I have known Doctor Mason since Kimber and I moved in eight years ago. His wife brought us a welcome to the neighborhood basket. They were so nice and now I was going to rob them. I was no better than the boss who fired me right before Christmas now.

“Stop overthinking this,” Jay said as he pushed me towards the house. 

We snuck around the back as Jay disarmed the alarm. I have no clue where he learned that from but he was a pro at it. He made it look so easy just a couple of clicks and we were in. We went to the back door and into the kitchen. Their kitchen was huge. It was twice as big as mine and I thought I had a big kitchen. 

“Grab what you want and put it in here. Be quick, we have a few more houses to hit,” Jay informed me as he reached me a red sack. 

Jay left the kitchen so I began searching the kitchen. I found a glass cake platter that Kimber had been asking for so I put in the sack. Please don’t break I thought to myself. I opened the fridge hoping to find something good to please my mother-in-law with. There was a ham that haven’t been touched. I grabbed it and stuffed it in the bag. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and I neared jumped out of my skin until I heard Jay laughing. 

“Dude, I thought we were caught,” I said as I bend down and tried to catch my breath.

“You need to relax. You act as if we are on a life or death thing,” he continued to laugh as he spoke.

“We pretty much are. We are stealing from our neighbors,” I replied getting annoyed with him. 

“It is fine. Come on, we got tons of more neighbors to break into,” he said nonchalant before walking out the door.

How could he be so calm at a time like this? I was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown and he acted like this was just everyday life. I was starting to wonder how we were even friends. 

Jay and I broke into six more neighbor’s house. I found the kids all kinds of toys. Jay grabbed everything. It was like he was breaking in for more than just our family’s gifts. His sack was almost full while mine was only half full. 

“Last house,” Jay smiled as he spoke. We were standing in front of Jack McPaul’s house. He was the lawyer in our neighborhood and probably the one who would prostitute us after this.

Once again, Jay disable the alarm system and we were in. I went straight to the closet to find Kimber a necklace for Christmas. I was digging through the jewelry box trying to find the perfect one. This lady had the jewelry. She had pearls, diamonds, gold, and silver. That was the moment I saw them. It was a six-carat diamond earrings. It was the most perfect gift for Kimber. They sparkled like they had only been worn once. Kimber would think they are brand new. I finally felt a sense of relief. Christmas would be great and Kimber would never know I lose my job. 

I stuffed it in the sack and rushed downstairs to the living room. Jay was already standing there with a wicked smile on his face. He must have found what he was looking for. I am just glad this whole nightmare is about to be over with. We can walk out of this door and put it all this behind us. Tomorrow I will be with Kimber and the kids. 

“I can’t believe we pulled this off,” I said with disbelief.

“I knew we would,” he replied with a wink. He was always so cocky. 

Jay opened the door and we started to walk out when we heard sirens coming from every direction. My heart began to race as the blue lights buzzed into the yard. Policemen surrounded us and had their guns up.

“Hands up,” One of them shouted at us.

We both dropped the sack and held our hands up. I knew this was going to go wrong. 

“How did you catch us?” Jay asked. 

“Mr. McPaul has security cameras everywhere in his house. The moment he saw you two on them, he called us,” Another police officer answered. 

Two police officers slowly moved towards us and slapped the cuffs on us. 

“You two are going away for a long time,” they told us. 

So much for the perfect Christmas. I was going to miss everything. I won’t get to see my kids growing or spend my nights with Kimber. I should have listened to my guts and done the right thing. I let Jay talk me into a lot of things and now I was going to pay for it.