in prison, they’d still be dangerous. But put them in prison halfway around the world, and those dopey goons of theirs would just disappear.”
When the recorder was turned off, the two agents stood up, and Meyers said, “Obviously I’ve got to talk to the big guys at the office about this. I’ll get back to you in a couple of hours.”
“I’ll be here,” Charlie said. “My office is closed through Christmas.”
When Meyers and Schell left, Marge commented, “Waiting is always the hardest part, isn’t it?”
Sterling thought of his forty-six years in the celestial waiting room. “I absolutely agree,” he said. “Hopefully the waiting will be over very soon for all of us.”
At one o’clock, Rich Meyers phoned back. “It’s a go. If you can do your part, we’ll take care of the rest.”
“The stores are always so busy at Christmastime,” Jewel sighed as the limo pulled through the gates of the Badgett estate at three o’clock. “But doesn’t it get you into the spirit, going to the mall and seeing everybody rushing around, doing their last-minute shopping?”
“It gets on my nerves,” Junior said sourly. “I don’t know how you talked me into going.”
“Me too,” Eddie echoed. “I’m not the type to eat lunch in the food court. That place was so noisy, I couldn’t hear myself think.”
“You never think anyway,” Junior muttered.
“Very funny,” Eddie growled. “Everybody says I take after you.”
“But we got some good stuff,” Jewel said brightly. “Those ski sweaters I treated you to look so nice. The trouble is we never go away, and there’s not much skiing on Long Island.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Oh, well. What’re you gonna do?”
Inside the house, Jewel went straight to the salon to plug in the Christmas tree. “I can’t say I’m crazy about all these purple lights,” she murmured as she squatted, cord in hand, fishing for the outlet.
Junior was at the window. “You invite one of your ditzy friends over here, Jewel? There’s a car down at the gate.”
“My friends aren’t ditzy, and no, they’re all out shopping.”
The intercom rang. Eddie went to the security panel on the wall and pushed the button. “Who is it?”
“It’s Charlie, and I have my wife with me. Mind if we come up for a few minutes?”
Eddie rolled his eyes. “Sure, I guess it’s okay.”
“What the heck is Charlie bringing Marge over here for?” Junior asked irritably.
“It’s the holidays,” Jewel reminded them. “People drop in and visit each other. No big deal. Just nice and friendly. And caring.”
“The holidays stink,” Eddie said. “They make me feel bad.”
“That’s a very natural reaction,” Jewel told him earnestly. “I was just reading an article written by a very smart psychologist. According to him, people get depressed because-”
“Because people like you drive them crazy,” Eddie interrupted.
“Watch it, Eddie. Jewel is only trying to cheer us up.”
“Oh, lambie pie, you’re so right. That’s all I want to do.”
Eddie went to the door to admit the Santolis.
As the handle turned, Sterling whispered, “Don’t be nervous, Marge.”
Eddie’s lame greeting, “Hi yah, come on in,” made both Santolis know exactly how welcome they really were.
Marge braced herself and followed Eddie into the salon, trailed by Charlie and the ever- present Sterling.
“Welcome,” Jewel trilled. “Happy holidays. What a nice surprise. We were thrilled to see your car drive in.”
Oh my God, look at that tree, Marge thought. The few times she’d been in this house around Christmas, the trees had been reasonably traditional. Not this year.
She was holding a tin of cookies and handed it to Jewel. “I make these for all my friends every Christmas,” she said.
“A sign of love,” Jewel cooed.
“Sit down for a minute,” Junior said. “We were on our way out.”
“Sit, sit, sit,” Jewel encouraged.
“We won’t stay,” Charlie promised as he and Marge sat together on a couch. “It’s just that Marge had a dream last night that was so powerful, she felt she had to alert you.”
“Alert us about what?” Junior asked, his tone measured.
“I had the most disturbing dream last night-about your mother,” Marge began.
“MAMA!” Eddie bellowed. “Did something happen to her?”
Marge shook her head. “No, but does she suffer from dizzy spells?”
“Yeah,” Junior’s eyes bored into Marge’s face.
“Pains around the heart?”
“Yeah.”
“Gas?”
“Yeah.”
“She can’t taste her food?”
“Yeah.”
“Never closes an eye?”
“Yeah.”
“Throws up occasionally?”
“Yeah.”
“Swollen gums?”
“I can’t take it no more,” Eddie shouted, his face crumbling into tears. “I gotta call her.”
He ran to the phone.
Mama Heddy-Anna’s annual Christmas party was in full swing. The wine and grappa were flowing. Everybody had brought a favorite dish, and the table was groaning with food. An old phonograph was scratching out Christmas carols, and a sing-along was in full swing.
When the phone rang, the person nearest to the phonograph yanked the needle from the record and screamed, “Pipe down, everybody!”
A few additions to Mama’s list of ailments had been added by a couple of the partygoers, and someone obligingly pointed them out, as after waiting for the fifth ring, Mama Heddy-Anna picked up the phone.
“Ha… Ha… lllo.”
“Mama, how are you? Someone had a dream you weren’t feeling so good…”
“They dreamed right.” Heddy-Anna winked at her friends and motioned for her eyeglasses as she squinted at the new writing on the board.
“Mama, talk louder, I can’t hear you. You sound so sick…”
Heddy-Anna read from the blackboard. “I think this is my last Christmas.” She sighed, then improvised: “Did the person with the dream warn you that I’m a dying woman?”
“Mama, don’t say that. It’s not true. Grandmama lived to be one hundred and three, remember.”
“She was a strong woman… not like me.”
Junior picked up the extension. “Mama, is something worse?”
“I threw up this morning… because my gums are so swollen… dizzy, you should know how dizzy I am… can’t see straight… wait a minute… I got the heart pain again… somedays it won’t stop…”
Heddy-Anna’s friends, impatient to resume partying, began to signal her to hang up the phone.
