Page 52 of Bright Lights, Big Christmas
chapter 30
It was Saturday morning and the trailer, even with the space heater turned up as high as it would go, was cold as… what was Jock’s favorite metaphor? A well-digger’s ass? Kerry shivered as she splashed icy bottled water onto her face—the closest she’d get to a shower today.
Someone was knocking at the trailer door. Already? It was barely seven.
Queenie jumped down from her bunk and gave a menacing bark.
“Yeah?” she hollered.
“Ma’am? It’s me. Vic. Just wanted to let you know I’m here.”
“Hang on a sec.” She donned a thick sweater over her flannel shirt and pulled a knit beanie over her messy hair before opening the door.
“Hi,” she said. “I’ll be out in a minute. Can you take Queenie for a quick walk?” She handed him the dog’s leash with a poop bag tied onto it, and Queenie eagerly bounded outside.
Kerry picked her jacket from the hook by the door and stepped into the morning.
The darkness was punctuated by the twinkle lights strung aroundthe tree stand’s perimeter. Murphy had them on a timer, set to turn off at daylight—which hadn’t arrived.
The street was relatively quiet. A delivery truck was unloading goods at the bodega. Commuters walked past at a brisk pace, headed for the Fourteenth Street subway stop.
She filled Queenie’s bowls with food and water, then walked around the stand, picking up stray tree branches and tossing them into the fire barrel.
“I’m back,” Vic reported a minute later. She patted Queenie’s head and unclipped her leash.
Kerry gazed up at the low-hanging clouds overhead. “Do you think it might snow today?”
“Maybe. It’s sure cold enough. Uh, Miss Kerry…” Vic stared down at his feet.
“You can just call me Kerry, Vic,” she said gently. “I’m not one of your teachers.”
“Okay, uh, well, the thing is, I can only work until noon today.”
Her gray mood darkened. “Oh no. Today of all days?”
“I’m real sorry, but my mom says I gotta go upstate today to see my dad and stepmom before the holiday. She says it’s kind of a command performance. You know?”
She nodded. “I get it. Not your fault.” She looked over at Anna’s, where the lights had just blinked on. “I’m gonna need some coffee. And carbs. Mind the store, okay?”
When she returned, she handed Vic a steaming cup of cocoa and a cruller. He had a wide smile as he bit off a huge hunk of pastry and chewed enthusiastically. She envied his energy and his metabolism.
He pointed at the last remaining big tree on the lot. “A guy came by while you were gone. He wants to buy that tree. As long as he can have the lights on it.”
“Awesome. He can have all the lights. Did you tell him the price?”
Vic gulped some cocoa. “I wasn’t sure what it was. There’s no tag.”
“It’s twelve hundred. And if he goes ahead and buys it, you’ve just earned yourself a fatty commission.”
“Cool! He wants it delivered today. But no way that tree will fit on my bike.”
“Wonder if it would fit on Murphy’s bike trailer?”
She looked around the stand, but the bike and trailer, which her brother usually kept chained to the utility pole, were missing.
Kerry pulled out her phone and called Murphy. “Hey. Are you home yet?”
“Just crossing the line into North Carolina. What’s up?”
