Page 79 of How My Neighbour Stole Christmas
He glances over the rail. “What?”
“Looks like someone paid our light display a visit.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look, footprints and then…what looks to be a major spill right next to the fence, and it looks like a body was dragged over to Cindy’s fence gate.”
It takes Max a second, but when his eyes adjust, he gasps. “No, you don’t thinktheydid this.”
“They one hundred percent did this. They saw how nice our display was and they tampered with it. Maybe that’s what the crashing sound was. Maybe they fell into the fence when they were trying to run away.”
“But…do you really think they’d stoop that low?” Max asks as he checks the lights, but to no avail, and Peach and Paula start walking toward us.
“Fuck, we need to get inside.” I hop up on the rail, and together we crawl back to the front door to let ourselves in undetected. Once the door is shut, we both lean against it. “They would stoop that low, yes,” I say. “Did you see their house compared to ours? It’s no contest. We easily have the better display.”
“But to tamper with it? That just seems so…un-Christmas-y.”
“I don’t understand why you’d expect anything less from them.”
He shrugs. “I don’t know, I thought maybe the Christmas spirit was burying itself within them and that we’d all become friends at some point.”
I turn to Max.Has he lost his mind?“Friends?” I ask. “What planet are you living on?”
“One where everyone gets along.” He shuffles over to the window, where he attempts to look through the blinds. “It would have been nice to, you know, somehow find commonality with each other, and then somewhere along the way the feud turns to friendship…maybe love.” He waggles his eyebrows at me.
“Jesus Christ, dude, have you been watching those Lovemark movies again?”
“You could learn a thing or two from them,” he says and then gasps. “They’re checking out the display. Fuck, they’re pointing toward the corner with the unlit section. Nooooo, they’re marking something on their clipboard.”
“Fuck,” I say as I grip my hair. “How bad do you think it is?”
“I don’t know. But we’re damn sure not going to come in first. One of the main rules is to check all lights and make sure they’re working.”
“We did,” I growl. “We were just tampered with.”
“Should we send an anonymous letter to Bob Krampus stating such?” Max asks. “You know, since apparently my dream of this feud turning into a friendship is not going to come true?”
“No,” I say, my fists at my sides. “No, we’re going to get even.”
Max slowly turns toward me. “Umm, you said that in a scary voice.”
“Because I’m pissed.” I join Max at the window and stare out toward where Peach and Paula are talking. Paula is nodding while Peach points to the corner of the house again. “Damn it,” I say as I take a seat. “Storee’s going to regret this.”
“You know, before we start an all-out war, maybe we should addressthe situation. See if she was the one who was crawling around. Could have been a coincidence.”
“That was not a coincidence,” I say. “That was Storee. She messed with our lights, and now we’re going to mess with her.”
“I hear you, man, I really do, but I think it would be best if we walk over there and just…talk to her. Maybe feel her out.”
“Do you really think she’s going to tell the truth?”
Max shrugs. “There’s only one way to find out. Get your shoes on.”
He stands, and I glance out the window and catch Paula and Peach walking back toward town. They took mere seconds grading Cindy’s house. No surprise there. I could grade it with my eyes shut. Verdict is it sucks.
Might as well approach them now when they’re at their lowest. I grab my brown boots and slip them on while Max does the same. I don’t bother with a jacket because I barely use one anyway. And then together, we walk out the front door.
“Now, let me do the talking,” Max says as we head down the sidewalk.
