“What if there aren’t a lot of blue?” Bad boy Saint grabbed a few blue ornaments and brought them to Holly. “What’s the point of the theme?”
Younger Me nodded. “Seriously.”
“News flash. We’re decorating.” Holly stared at us as if we were insane. “It’s fun. Are you kidding me? And get some more blue, Saint.”
“I quit. This is stupid.” Saint groaned, walked over to the couch, and dropped down next to Younger Me. “Besides, Ivy isn’t even doing it anyway.”
Younger me shrugged. “Because I don’t see the point. It’s just a tree.”
“Guys, it’s not just a tree.” Holly pointed at it. “It’s a Christmas tree. This is the tree that helped the wise men find Jesus.”
Younger Me laughed. “No. It’s not.”
Holly looked pissed. “It is.”
“There’s no Christmas tree in the bible, Holly.” Younger Me shook her head. “It was just a star.”
“Just a star!” Holly shrieked. “It was the star of Bethlehem and it was on the top of the tree, leading the three wise men to the son of God.”
Saint laughed. “And then they all had eggnog and stuffed stockings? And Santa came into the manger and grabbed Mary’s tits.”
Holly’s face turned red. “You’re going to hell, Saint.”
“I hope so.” Saint grinned. “I like warmer temperatures anyway.”
Younger Me high-fived him. “Good one.”
Someone knocked at the door.
“I’ll get it!” Grandma hurried out of the kitchen and glanced at the tree. “Aww! Holly, you’re doing such a great job. I love the blue.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Johnson.”
Grandma rushed off. “Looks like Holly will be getting extra cookies for jumping into the Christmas spirit.”
“As I deserve.” Holly stuck her tongue at the both of us.
Saint flipped her off.
Younger Me looked at the letters on his fingers, grabbed his hand, and brought it to her. “These are new. What does it say?”
Beaming, he didn’t move his hand away. “It says Devil’s Rejects.”
“I’ll get my own ornaments.” Holly snorted in disgust from the other side of the room and headed to the box of ornaments.
Younger Me read more of the words on his fingers. “What’s the Devil’s Rejects?”
“A Rob Zombie movie. I brought it along if you want to watch it.”
Younger Me nodded. “Sure. I have a DVD player in my bedroom.”
“Guys!” Holly held her hand out. “That’s not a Christmas movie.”
“At least there is a baby in it.” Saint laughed.
“That movie is about psychopaths.”
Younger Me brightened for the first time. “Now that sounds good.”
“Just come on in.” Grandma returned with her friend Maude. “Nikolas, my granddaughter is over there with her friends. You can help them decorate the tree.”
A boy nervously said, “Sounds good, Mrs. Johnson.”
We all looked up. Using a walker, Maude eased into the living room. Her grandson Nikolas trotted after her, holding a big book in his hand. I checked out the title but only could see the author was Stephen King.
“Hey. That’s Stephen King.” Saint grinned at him. “You like horror too? We were just about to go to Ivy’s room and watch the Devil’s Rejects.”
“The Devil’s what? Lord Jesus. We’re not doing anything with the devil’s name in this apartment.” Grandma shook her head. “Saint, you come on in the kitchen with Maude and me. You can help us with dinner.”
Saint frowned and dragged himself up. “Yes ma’am.”
She glanced at him. “You ever cooked anything before?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Good. You need to learn something useful so you stop drawing crazy things all over yourself.”
The glowing man got in front of me. “It’s time to go, Ivy.”
I shook my head. “I would rather stay here. This memory isn’t too bad.”
“We must go.” He pointed to the door.
It was already open.
I dragged myself away, wondering what would be next.Chapter 9
Grandma Got Runover by a ReindeerStill with the glowing Ghost, I walked into Saint’s old bedroom. He wore a black suit with a black shirt. The black drawings on his hands and neck were gone. The suit looked familiar but I couldn’t remember when he’d worn it.
He stood in the center even taller than I’d last seen him. No one else was around. Tears left his blue eyes. He quickly wiped them away. “Why, God? Why do you keep doing this to her? She doesn’t deserve it.”
“Who doesn’t deserve it?” I yearned to hold him and spoke as if he could hear me, “What’s wrong, Saint?”
He picked up a thick binder.
“Oh.” I immediately recognized it.
When Grandma passed, she didn’t have much. In her will, she left me some money. The rest of her items went to various cousins in the family. But surprisingly, she’d given all her secret recipes to Saint.
For the four years she lived after Grandpa’s death, she always called Saint over and had him help her with cooking. His parents loved it because she began to demand that he clean himself up before coming to her apartment. He couldn’t have the odd devil markings on his skin. She even convinced him to stop dying his blonde hair black. On Sundays, he had to wear a nice suit and was expected to go to church with us. Of course, Holly came along. She was my bestie after all. And she’d found a liking to Maude’s grandson Nikolas. He went to my church too so that gave her a great excuse to hang around him.