“It was the only one I could trade for,” Candace said with a yawn.
Over the next hour, the trickle of children practically ceased. There was one ten-minute stretch where no one showed up. She gave serious thought to asking Santa's advice about Kurt, but she restrained herself. Finally at ten Martha came back.
“Okay, we're shutting down for the night,” she announced.
Candace got up and put away her things. Santa stood slowly from his chair and then walked toward her. He smiled and then paused next to her. He put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her with his kindly eyes.
“Candace, get him a watch for Christmas.” He winked and then continued walking.
“Thank you, Santa!” she called after him.
Candace was only slightly more rested the next morning. Still, she drove to The Zone early, hoping she could find Josh before the park opened. She found him coming out of the Locker Room.
“Josh, can I talk to you for a sec?”
“Sure, what's up?” he asked.
“I think I know of a job for the cheermeister.”
He grinned. “I'm all ears.”
“I'm trying to figure out how to do a surprise Christmas party for Sue at her house.”
“I'm not sure I follow.”
“I found out that her parents died in May and she's been raising her little brother and sister by herself. The little girl told Santa that they don't have a tree or anything.”
“That's terrible,” Josh said, his eyes clouding.
“I know. I thought maybe we could make Christmas for them.”
“So, you're thinking turkey, tree, presents, the works?”
She nodded.
“I'm with you. It sounds like a plan. Who else do you want to bring in on this?”
“Well, Roger and Pete for sure.”
“Scavenger Hunt team members have to stick together, huh?”
She nodded. “I was also thinking of talking to Becca, Martha, and Kurt.”
“It sounds like you know exactly what you want to do. So, what are you needing help with exactly?”
“The planning. Life is crazy at the moment, and I can't even wrap my head around what day we should try to do this, let alone how.”
Josh put a hand on her arm. “It's okay, Candace, we'll make this happen. Let me talk to some of the others and see if I can get some details nailed down for you.”
“That would be awesome.”
As soon as she got off work, Candace got one of the other elves to drop her at the mall. She had to find a watch for Kurt and something for the Bible study gift exchange. In the first store she tried, she found a watch she liked almost immediately. It was silver in color with a chronograph and a flexible metal band. She didn't know why, but it appealed to her, and, at under twenty-five dollars, it appealed to her pocketbook too. She walked out of the store with a vast feeling of relief and headed immediately for Dearborne's Christian Bookstore where she picked up a copy of one of her favorite CDs by Casting Crowns.
Next she headed for the toy store, which was a complete zoo. She hesitated, not wanting to risk injuring her leg in the fray. Finally, she took a deep breath and plunged in. She emerged almost an hour later, but with exactly what she had been looking for. Then she headed home to wrap her finds.
When she got home, she found her mom on the floor in the living room with wrapping paper everywhere.
“Is it safe?” Candace asked.
“Yes, all your presents are wrapped already. Come join me.”
“Cool. I need to get some stuff out of my room.”
“I'll help.”
A few minutes later they were both sitting on the floor wrapping presents. Candace showed her mom the watch she had gotten Kurt. “Nice choice,” her mom said.
“Oh, dad wants this new board game.”
“I know, it's already under the tree,” her mom said.
“And golf balls?”
“Those too.”
“So, does he tell you what he wants?”
“He never said a word. I can tell, though.”
“You think I'll ever be able to tell like that with Kurt?”
“You'll be able to tell with someone, but whether or not it's Kurt I don't know.”
“Don't look,” Candace said.
Her mom closed her eyes while Candace slid her present out of a bag and quickly wrapped it.
“Safe.”
Her mom opened her eyes and continued with her wrapping.
“I found out last night that Sue's parents died in May in a car crash.”
“That's terrible,” her mom said, putting down the scotch tape. “I knew there was something wrong there.”
“You were right. Josh is going to help me bring Christmas to them one of these nights.”
“That sounds nice. If you need help, let me know.”
“Thanks. It got me thinking how lost I would be without you and Dad.”
Her mom gave her a quick hug. “We're not going anywhere.”
Her dad walked into the room. “Presents?”
“No!” Candace and her mom shouted at the same time.
“But I just want to hold one.”
“No holding, touching, feeling, sniffing, or hard staring,” her mom said.
Candace laughed. She had never once seen a present her father couldn't guess just from holding it. For years they had tried every fake out they could, including wrapping small presents in giant boxes. Nothing worked. The man was unreal.
Candace handed him the package she had already wrapped for Kurt. “Here's what I got Kurt,” she said.
He held it for a moment, lifted it up and down, then handed it back. “A watch is a good choice,” he said.
Absolutely unreal.
“Now hand me one of mine.”
“No!” they chorused again.
“Fine. But I see one of mine under the tree.”
“Don't you dare!” her mom threatened.
“Too late, I see it. We'll have a game night. Candace you should invite Josh; he's good at games and seems to like them too.”
She thought her mom was going to choke her dad. Dad just craned his neck as he looked toward the Christmas tree. “Aha! Does Josh also play golf?”
Candace picked up a pillow from the couch and threw it at him. “Hey, watch it! Oh wait, I see one of your presents, Candace. I bet it's a —”
Candace stuck her fingers in her ears and her tongue out at him. He left the room grinning.
Candace woke up Monday morning totally grateful for Mr. Bailey. Thanks to drama class, she had no other school for the day. Field and trip were two of the cheeriest school-oriented words in existence. She put on a pair of baggy pants and a Christmas sweater and then refastened her leg brace over the pants. It was uncomfortable, and it chafed slightly, but it beat the alternative of wearing either shorts or a skirt on the bus.
Tamara picked her up, and they met the rest of the drama class in the school parking lot. They got onto the bus, and Tamara found them seats at the back where Candace could stretch her leg out in the aisle.
“I love A Christmas Carol,” Candace said.
“I know,” Tamara said with a smile. “Every Christmas you talk about it.”
“I can't help it; it's such a cool story.”
“Oh. You think it's cool that they portray all rich people as bullying their fellow men and bringing misery down on all those around them? It's cool that the only time people accept Scrooge is when he starts giving away his money, whereas they would be scandalized if he asked them to do the same thing? It's cool that the sickness of a little boy is exploited shamelessly, and yet we have no proof that he will actually survive?”
Candace stared at Tamara in surprise. She never would have dreamed that her friend had problems with the story.
Tamara stared at her for a long minute before cracking a smile. “Yeah, I like the story too.”
Candace was relieved. “You scared me. How on earth did you even think of all th
at?”
Tamara shrugged. “My aunt.”
“The evil one?”
“Yeah, the one who sold her soul when she was like two.”
Candace shivered. “She always creeps me out.”
“She creeps everyone out. Mom's threatening to not let her in the house on Christmas this year.”
“Seriously?”
“I think she related it to some sort of sacrilege to invite the devil to eat at the celebration of the birth of the Messiah.”
Like her daughter, Tamara's mom could occasionally be a bit theatrical. Candace smiled.
They had been riding on the bus for several minutes before Mr. Bailey stood up. “Okay, class, I just want to go over some ground rules. Remember, be polite and be quiet. Respect the other theater patrons. When we go backstage after the show, stick together. Nobody goes wondering off. Otherwise your ghost can participate in the next performance.”
Candace laughed and then quickly stopped when she realized she was the only one. She glanced around at some of her bewildered-looking classmates. “I don't think they got the joke,” she whispered to Tamara.
“Either that or they just didn't think it was funny.”
When they arrived at the theater, Candace and Tamara waited to get off the bus last. Candace hobbled back down the aisle and made it to the curb. A sudden thought occurred to Candace, and she approached Mr. Bailey.
“How am I going to do this with my leg like this?” she asked.
“Don't worry. I got you an aisle seat on the left so you should have plenty of leg room.”
“Thank you. I didn't even think about that until now.”
“Not a problem. It's a good object lesson, though. There are people who do have to think about that kind of thing every day. Part of being a good actor is learning to understand the challenges that characters face, both emotionally and physically.”
Tamara and Candace walked into the theater lobby with Mr. Bailey. “It will be a good thing for you to remember while you are struggling to understand Aldonza. She is nothing like you, yet I think it will serve you well to try to understand the likes of her.”
“Really, why?”
Mr. Bailey stopped and looked at her. “Every year I see thirty new students. Every once in a while I discover one who has the makings of a real actor, and once I even discovered one who had the makings of a star. I cherish the ability to teach those students, and they challenge me to grow as an actor as well.”
“You don't think I'm one of those, do you?” she asked, surprised.
“No.”
That surprised her even more.
He smiled at her obvious confusion.
“What I do see is a young woman with great creative talent and charisma who hasn't yet realized either of those. You'll do special things in this life, Candace, but only if you wake up and truly discover who you are and step out of the comfort zone you've created for yourself. That's why I cast you as the female lead — as Aldonza. You need to be challenged; you need to be pushed. Your life and Aldonza's have nothing in common. You are not a poor prostitute living centuries ago. You're a modern young woman from a nice family who will never know that kind of poverty and degradation. Yet, Aldonza has an image of herself that is totally inconsistent with the image the hero has of her. In the end, she allows his image to transform her and raise her above the life she has chosen. This makes her strive for greatness. In that respect I believe that you and Aldonza have everything in common. Now, let's join the rest of the class and take our seats.”
“But, what about Tamara?” Candace burst out.
“Don't drag me into this,” Tamara warned.
Mr. Bailey smiled. “Tamara knows exactly who she is, and she draws great friendship and comfort from you. You, on the other hand, try to hide in her shadow.”
He turned and walked down the aisle, while Candace stood, shaken to her core.
“I do try to hide in your shadow,” she finally said, looking at Tamara.
“I know. I got so used to it that when you started stepping out a bit over the summer I freaked. As soon as I figured out how cool it was and how much closer it made us, I relaxed.”
The theater lights flashed. “Time to find those seats,” Tamara said, leading the way down the aisle.
The actors were great, and the costumes were perfect, but all Candace could think about was what Mr. Bailey and Tamara had said. So many things that had happened in the past six months seemed to make a lot more sense. When things seemed to go really crazy in her life, then and only then did she step up, take responsibility, and risk something. For some reason she only did that when pushed. At The Zone, every time she tried to blend into the background, God found a way to bring her back front and center.
Now Mr. Bailey had given her the lead role, not because he thought she was a good actress, but because he thought she needed to learn something. She felt grateful for him and grateful for Tamara's support and insight. She wondered what her other friends would have to say about her in this area.
When the play was over, she clapped with everybody else. Once the theater had started to empty, Mr. Bailey gathered everyone together and they walked down toward the side of the stage where they met a crew member.
He opened a door, and they followed him through corridors underneath the stage until they arrived backstage in the dressing rooms. There was one set of stairs that was tricky, but two of the guys from her class picked her up and carried her up before she could even think to ask for help.
They set her down, and Tamara whispered in her ear, “So that's what a girl has to do to get attention around here.”
Mr. Bailey introduced them to several members of the cast whom he seemed to know personally. Candace was excited — and then a little embarrassed for not recognizing her earlier — when she realized that Regina was in the play. Regina, or Reggie as Candace knew her, had been one of the maze monsters she had worked with during Halloween. She hadn't read the program so she had no idea what role Regina had played.
Candace gave her a quick hug. “Awesome job!”
“Thanks, I'm so glad you were able to come see it!”
Mr. Bailey laughed. “You'll have to come see Candace play Aldonza this spring.”
“Count on it,” Regina said with a smile. “And if you ever want to come see something I'm in, let me know,” she told Candace.
“Thanks.”
They got a tour of the theater and had a chance to meet lots of people and ask a ton of questions. Finally it was time to leave, and they all trooped back to the bus.
Once they reclaimed their seats, Tamara asked, “So, I saw you staring at the stage but you looked lost in thought. How much of that play did you actually see?”
“I'm thinking pretty much zero. I was distracted.”
“Pity. It was really good. Of course, it did suffer in one area.”
“What's that?”
“It needed a Christmas queen,” Tamara said.
Candace laughed. “You're not letting that go, are you?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“Fine, then I declare you the Christmas queen.”
“It doesn't work that way.”
“Then how does it work?”
“Some kind of authority figure has to proclaim me the Christmas queen.”
“And I'm not an authority figure?”
Tamara snorted. “Please, you're my best friend. Even if you were an authority figure, it wouldn't be the same.”
“Don't say I didn't try.”
When Candace got home she IMd Josh.
U there?
No.
How's Operation Christmas Carol?
Cool name.
Thanx.
Talked to everybody, and it's a go.
When?
Checked the schedule. Sat looks good.
Evening?
Yeah.
U R Gr8!
Right back at you. Do u know what U R getting Kurt?
Got it!
Santa helped.
Cool deal. I should have asked him about your present.
What did U get me?
Not telling!
Gift exchange Sat?
U bet!
I can't wait for Christmas!
I can't wait for my brother to get home.
What's he like?
Me but bigger.
Seriously?
Yeah. And more ambitious.
What's he going to do now?
Family business.
Kidding?
No.
Cool.
I hope.
Gotta go.
See ya.
Candace was happy for Josh that his brother was coming home. She couldn't imagine how much he must have missed him. She also couldn't imagine how terrified she would be if she had a brother who was serving in Iraq.
15
On Tuesday afternoon Becca approached her at work. The lines were short, the sun was hot, and Candace was glad for the distraction. Becca stood, eyes bright, but arms folded nonchalantly as she rocked back and forth on her heels. For a moment Candace thought for sure she was going to start whistling.
“So,” Becca said, “what's this I hear about Operation Christmas Carol?”
Candace smiled. She had been inspired to use that name after going to see the play. She also laughed because she finally figured out what Becca was doing. She was trying to do the whole clandestine secret-agent-meeting thing.
Candace played along. She turned so she wasn't looking directly at Becca when she spoke. “Last Saturday at 1815 hours, an agent discovered that Christmas was likely skipping a certain house where a referee and her two siblings live. As soon as the information came to my attention, I contacted one of our men in the field, a cheermeister. An operation to rescue this house from its sad holiday vacuum is set to be executed this Saturday at 1800 hours.”
“What's my role?”
“Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to bring food, gifts, and Christmas cheer and to help make such a celebration as will live on in the memories of all who attend.”
“Downside?”
“None,” Candace answered.
“Sweet. I'm totally there.”
“Shall we synchronize our watches?”
“No, just make sure you're on Zone Standard Time.”