1
Laurel, Mississippi
Sunday, December 17; 8:42 p.m.
“Jingle bell . . . jingle bell . . . jingle bell rock.”
Danny Jamison lay in bed and hummed the Christmas song. He didn’t know all the words, but he liked this one a lot.
His mommy had told him at breakfast this morning that in just eight more days it would be Christmas. Another good thing about today was that it was the last day of school for two whole weeks. The paper ornament he had been working on at school was on the Christmas tree. Pretty soon his mom would put some presents with his name on them under the tree so he could try and guess what was inside.
But the bestest part of all was the stories she told him every night. Some of the stories were about the elves and the reindeers. His favorite one was about how good little boys always got what they wished the hardest for at Christmas.
But she hadn’t come to his room to tell him a story tonight.
His dad was in one of his moods.
More of the yelling made Danny put his hands over his ears. He didn’t like when his mommy and daddy had fights. Tonight was scarier than ever before. His daddy was screaming real loud. Saying the meanest things. Meaner than the other times when he yelled.
“I told you not to let this happen! Damn you!”
Danny pressed his hands harder against his ears, but he could still hear his mommy crying and his daddy yelling. His daddy didn’t like yelling. He told Danny so. It was always his mom’s fault. She messed up too much. Just like his grandparents. That was why Danny hid sometimes when he went to their house. Then he didn’t have to hear the yelling when they got mad at his daddy.
He wished he had a place to hide now. But his dad had warned Danny never to hide from him ... for any reason.
“Now look what you’ve done! You’ve ruined everything!”
Danny tried to block the bad words his dad kept yelling by singing along with the Christmas music on the radio. “‘Jingle bell ... jingle bell ... ’”
His mommy screamed. Danny burrowed deeper under the covers but he could still hear her crying ... crying and begging for his dad to please stop. Danny felt bad for her even if she had messed up again.
“There will be no princess in this house!” his dad shouted.
Something crashed. Sounded like glass. It was the same sound the kitchen window made when his baseball went through it last summer. His dad had been real mad about that, too.
The screaming and the crying stopped.
Danny dragged his hands from his ears. He lay still for a moment and listened to make sure it was really over.
No more screaming. No more crying. Just the Christmas music.
“Jingle bell time is a swell time ...” he murmured.
Maybe if his mommy had fixed everything she would come tell him a story now.
“. . . to rock the night away . . .”
His bedroom door flew open, banged against the wall. “Danny!”
Danny bit his lips together to keep from crying out as his daddy jerked the covers off him. He didn’t want his dad to be mad at him, too. He was supposed to be asleep. “You should be asleep by now, son.”
His daddy sat down on the side of the bed. Danny tried not to shake or to cry for his mommy. That would only make his daddy moreupset. Danny told his mouth to smile but his lips just kept shaking like he was cold.
“Don’t be afraid, son.”
His daddy smiled at him, but the smile looked funny with that red stuff smeared on his face. Why would his daddy have ketchup on his face?
“You don’t have to worry about anything, son,” his daddy promised. “No princess will ever take your place.”