Merry Christmas

A Christmas that is everything but merry.

 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

Karina got up early, showered, dressed, went into the kitchen to make breakfast for her and her two children. The only man in the house was her son Pierce. The children’s father had preferred to go and live with a woman who worshipped the floor he walked on. That second wife was the one who got much more out of him than she did. Her daughter, Lilias was very disobedient, and without the support of Pierce she wouldn’t have known how to cope with her. Karina worked in a perfumery which was situated inside a shopping centre. Being away from home such long hours was not conducive to a healthy family life. Lilias took advantage of this and arrived home at any time she felt like, and when she was at home she was on the computer and the mobile phone. Work was not a word that could be associated with Lilias. On more than one occasion Karina had cried over her fifteen-year-old daughter, at the same time wondering what would become of her.

 

Leon was a man who had got through life by buying things up at low prices and selling them at higher. He was somewhere between fifty and sixty years of age and he fancied Karina, but not she him. He ran several businesses in the shopping centre and from time to time would call in at the perfumery to see Karina and her shop assistant. His idea was to wear down her resistance.

 “He really fancies you,” her assistant, Minnie, told her. “How long do you think you’ll be able to hold him off?”

“For ever,” declared Karina. Her would-be boyfriend had just left the shop and as they watched his white head go out of sight they both felt a sense of relief. He was a powerful man, who commanded respect as he strolled round the centre, usually accompanied by one or two men. Karina was convinced he was nothing more than a small-time gangster.

 

When she was at home with her pets, were Karina’s happiest moments. Pierce was no problem, but Lilias was a constant source of anxiety.

 

One Saturday evening Leon turned up at Karina’s, she was more than amazed. “What are you doing here?” Karina asked him.

“I thought you might have dinner with me,” Leon said.

“Well, you thought wrong. I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t understand why you’ve wasted your time coming round.”

“You don’t believe in giving anyone a chance, do you?” Leon stood outside Karina’s front door. “Aren’t you going to let me in?”

“Most certainly not. I don’t like you. Goodbye.” Karina shut the door in his face.

Leon stared at the shut door and then, smiling to himself he walked back to his car, got in, and drove away.

Karina, on the other hand, was most annoyed. Who did he think he was, coming round without an invitation, as if she and he were friends? Pierce and Lilias came downstairs and asked Karina who she had been speaking to. They didn’t say anything when they knew Leon had been to call, as he had approached them earlier in the week to find out Karina’s social activities on a Saturday evening. He had then given them a generous sum of money for the information. As far as they were concerned, the money was the most important part of the deal, Leon’s business with their mother was not their problem.

 

That same evening the brother and sister had parted ways at the end of the road. Pierce went off to meet his friends and go to a pub. Lilias had heard of a disco that was for young people older than her. Lilias’ main aim in life was to nab a rich boyfriend and use him for her own ends. She was fed up with having to limit her spending to what her mother was able to afford. Lilias ambitioned the best things in life and she wasn’t too bothered about how she was going to get them. Some older girls from her school were already sitting at a table when Lilias arrived. They stared at her and then laughed. One of them said, “She’s always muscling in on things that are not in her league. Let’s see how she gets on here.” Her companions were amused by Lilias’s antics regarding boys.

Lilias went up to the disc jockey and began chatting him up. He looked down at her and said, “You’re in the wrong place. Does your mother know where you are?”

Lilias was not put out by this remark and answered, “I’m a good dancer.”

“You’re too young.” The DJ went back to his work and the girls who were hanging round him, eager for his attention.

Lilias was peeved, and went off to speak to a boy she knew. Pierce had guessed what she was up to, and where she would be, so he and his friends had gone to the disco. Lilias, on seeing her brother in the disco, as was to be expected flew at him, “What are you doing her? I thought you were going to spend the evening at a pub. Spying on me, are you?”

Pierce grabbed at an arm and dragged her towards the cloakroom, “Get your coat, we’re going home. If Mum finds out you were here, she would be more than upset.”

Lilias put her coat on and, pouting, followed her brother out of the disco. The older girls laughed at her, and one of them said, “You only have to wait another year. Till then keep to your own age group. You’re just an embarrassment.”

The door to the street slammed shut with a bang. The street was filled with young people drinking and smoking, there were more outside than inside the disco.

“Can’t I stay out here for a while?” pleaded Lilias.

“No, you can’t. We’re going home. Be grateful I’m not Mum. She really would have made you look stupid. Which you are!”

 

Karina was in her night attire when her two children got home. The television was off. She was trying to read, but kept looking at the clock. “Thank goodness you’re both here. I was worried that something had happened. I’m off to bed now. See you in the morning.”

With her mother out of sight, Lilias turned to Pierce and said, “Don’t you ever show me up again like that. I know what I’m doing, and with Mum I have enough of ‘don’t do this, don’t do that!’” Lilias went off to her room, leaving her brother in the living-room deep in thought.

 

“Have you heard about the burglary?” Minnie asked Karina a week later.

“What burglary? We have nothing worth stealing. Who was burgled?” Karina asked.

“Leon’s offices were broken into and the safe was ripped out of the wall,” Minnie said, her eyes rolling dramatically.

“How does a safe get ripped out of a wall? It can’t have been a very good one. Did he lose any money?” asked an intrigued Karina.

“No one’s saying anything yet. The police are in the offices, and the forensics too,” Minnie resorting to dramatics again.

The rest of the morning passed quietly and quickly.

 

At lunchtime Karina went to a small café for a bowl of soup and a roll, just enough to stave off the hunger pangs.

“Hello, Karina, have you heard about my office being burgled?” Leon was back on the prowl.

“Yes, how very unfortunate. I wonder why your office was broken into when there are other places that would appear more attractive to a thief. None of the jewellers have had such bad luck. I wonder why.”

“You’re not very sympathetic, are you?” Leon was trying once again to trap Karina.

“Sympathetic to you? No.” Karina got up and walked out of the café. Leon called out after her, “You won’t be able to hold out for ever.”

 

Lilias continued to be a source of anxiety to her mother, and in spite of threats to losing the little freedom she had, paid no attention to her mother’s warnings. Pierce had more arguments with his sister than he wanted. He couldn’t understand her disobedience and rudeness.

 

One day Lilias arrived home as her mother and brother were having breakfast.

“Where on earth have you been? Do you know you have to leave for school in a few minutes?” her mother said.

“I’ve decided not to go to school today,” Lilias answered, trying to get to her room.

“Oh, no you don’t, young lady. It’s school, or I’ll get the education officer after you.”

Karina was at the end of her tether. She got on the phone to Minnie, “I’ve got a problem here, so can you open up for me, please, as I’ll be coming in a bit late.”

“Of course I can open up. Is it Lilias?” Minnie asked.

“Who else? See you later.”

Karina sat in the kitchen while Lilias had a shower and changed into her school clothes.

“Are you ready?” Pierce asked his sister.

“I suppose you’re enjoying this,” Lilias said, her pride wounded. She had thought she would get away with not going to school. Pity the disco had shut so late.

The two left home and went off to school.

Karina was confused by her daughter’s behaviour. Why had she turned out so different from Pierce?

 

The troubles Karina had with Lilias were forgotten about as soon as she arrived at the shopping centre and saw a small group of workers walking around with placards. “Who are they?” Karina asked Minnie when she got inside the shop.

“They are the people who work in Leon’s offices. They say he pays poor wages.”

“That’s because he’s not straight,” Karina said.

Leon was speaking to the strikers and in a few minutes they had disappeared.

He saw Karina and went into the shop.

Karina asked him, “Are you going to give them a pay rise, or not?”

“I’ll give them a pay rise if you have dinner with me, otherwise no.”

“One thing’s got nothing to do with the other.”

“Suit yourself. Or these so called poor people won’t get their pay rise, and I’ll tell them why.” Leon was pretending not to be too keen.

“If that’s true, then I’ll have dinner with you. Just this once. That’s all.”

“I’ll pick you up at eight.” Leon walked out pleased with himself. He went down one of the walkways and spoke to the head of the strikers. “It worked. Here you are, there’s enough money for everyone.”

The man said, “Thanks, Boss.”

 

Leon wined and dined Karina, much to her children’s delight.

 

Many years before she had got married, Karina had had a boyfriend who had meant a lot to her. What she hadn’t told anyone, even Pierce, was that she had reignited the old relationship and was seeing Arthur regularly. Leon never trusted anyone, and put a tail on Karina. He was not disappointed when his informant told him about Arthur.

 

What Leon didn’t know was that the head of the strikers had told Arthur about the trick he had played on Karina. Arthur was not sure what to do next, so he kept quiet for the time being. Arthur had been after Leon for years, and he had never managed to get near enough to catch him.

Arthur told Karina to go out with Leon again, and what he would like her to do. Karina agreed. And so Karina became Leon’s date on a regular basis. Leon bribed her children with money and presents. Lilias was of course delighted. The girl was more obedient and generally behaved herself much better. She now had better clothes and money to go out when and wherever she wanted. Pierce was not convinced by Leon’s presence in their lives. (Remember neither of Karina’s children knew about Arthur.)

 

Leon treated Karina to an evening dinner in an even more splendid restaurant when they had been going out for a month. A man came over to Leon in the restaurant and asked to speak to him alone.

“All right, what is it?” Leon asked the man.

“Rudy’s been arrested for fraud. Be very careful.” The man left.

Leon stood wondering for a few minutes. He got on his mobile phone and said, “Is it true that Rudy’s been arrested?”

The voice at the other end said, “Yes, it is.”

“Thank you,” Leon replied. He rang up some other numbers and gave his men some instructions.

Karina was still sitting at the table. She guessed that something big had happened. The tension surrounding Leon and his men was electric. This was not a time to say anything or to ask questions. It was a time to be patient and wait.

 

Karina was tidying Lilias’s room when she had to open the wardrobe door to put away some of her daughter’s clothes that had been left on the floor. Seeing the expensive things hanging there, Karina knew that they had not been bought with the allowance she gave her daughter for clothes. It had to be Leon, it couldn’t be anyone else. Karina went into Pierce’s room and looked everywhere for evidence as to whether or not he too was getting money from another person. As she expected, there was nothing odd there.

 

Arthur realized that Leon was aware of his going out with Karina . He was worried for her, but she was necessary in order to carry out his investigation of Leon. Things in the shopping centre were quiet, as Christmas was nearing. The Christmas decorations went up and on Saturdays, Christmas music and carols were played. If Arthur was going to get what he wanted he would have to act fast. Karina’s perfumery was busier than usual with presents being bought by everyone for the people in their lives. Every evening at closing time, both Karina and Minnie would rather have stayed in the shop to sleep than make the journey home. Karina commented to Arthur how tired she was. Arthur took advantage of this, “Do you ever have lunch with Leon?”

“No, I rarely see him then. He only walks by from time to time. Why do you ask?”

“I need to get into his office.”

“What’s that got to do with me?”

“I’m not sure whether it has anything to do with you or not.”

 

Arthur went to the shopping centre to see how he could enter Leon’s office. He was unrecognisable as he had put a black beanie on his head and scruffy clothes. Every day the music was getting noisier and the numbers of people getting larger. It seemed a pretty ideal situation. Arthur walked round and saw Karina in the perfumery. He felt like walking in to see whether she recognised him. He continued on his trip round the centre. Leon had not called in at the shopping centre all morning.

 

On Christmas Eve the shopping centre was at its peak of customers. There was hardly any room to move. Although every year the general public was told to shop early for Christmas, many people remained deaf to those suggestions. For one reason or another something or someone had been forgotten.

Leon went to the perfumery and invited Karina out to lunch. Karina accepted because she knew if she didn’t go she would be hungry later on. “Yes, I’ll have lunch with you, but it will have to be quick, I can’t leave Minnie alone for very long.”

Leon gazed into the eyes of the woman he fancied so much, and said, “For nothing in the world would I force you to stay with me. We’ll have a quick lunch and then I’ll accompany you back to the perfumery.”

They went to a fashionable, small bar near the shop and neither of them spoke till their lunch arrived. “Well, Karina, what are you doing over Christmas?” Leon asked.

Karina was becoming adept at avoiding Leon’s questions directly, “We have several offers on hand. I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

“There’s a large party at my place tonight. Why don’t you come and bring your children.”

Karina looked at her watch and stood up, “I really must return to the shop.”

Leon paid the waiter and they left the bar.

 

Minnie was relieved to see Karina.

“I’m so glad to see you, it’s been so busy in here. I was getting panicky.”

“Did I keep her away too long?” Leon asked.

“I wasn’t looking at the clock all the time. It seemed long, that’s all,” answered Minnie, who didn’t like Leon either.

“Think about my offer for tonight,” Leon said, opening the door and leaving.

 

Arthur, who was still in the shopping centre, spied Leon and Karina leaving the bar and going into the perfumery. He made his mind up to act later on. For the rest of the shopping hours, Arthur spent his time walking round and looking at the people and the goods that were for sale in the Christmasy decorated windows. He took time off to get himself a sandwich and a coffee at 4 o’clock. The sit down did him good, it warmed him up. The air was now icy, and bars and cafes were filling up with people looking for somewhere cosy to have a hot drink and a snack before heading off home.

At 5 o’clock the crowds started leaving in large numbers. Arthur made his way to where Leon’s office was located. The overcrowded car park was seeing its first customers leaving. The office building’s main door was still open. Few remained as the party had finished some three hours ago. Even so it was not a problem for Arthur to enter, as the doorman was chatting to some of the cleaners about Christmas things, and also there were still many members of the public hanging around. Arthur slipped inside and took the lift to the floor where Leon’s office was.

He got inside using a credit card as a key. His eyes alighted on the gaping hole left by the missing safe. The desk drawers were the most likely place to hide the info he needed. One by one he gently opened them and searched through the contents. He looked behind pictures, and under the top of the desk. He heard the lift but took no notice. The door opened, but as Arthur was so resolute in finding the bank statements of his off-shore accounts, he didn’t hear it.

“What’s this? My Christmas present from the local police?” Leon stood in direct line between Arthur and the door. “I knew it was you who was after me, so I had the safe ripped out by some of my men. After all the work I’ve done to amass my fortune, I couldn’t let anybody come in here and take it.” Leon was holding a gun and Arthur was sure he was going to use it on him.

 

Meanwhile, Karina and Minnie had closed the shop and were hurrying to their cars and soon formed part of the Christmas home-going rush. Karina was wondering how she could avoid going to Leon’s party. She wouldn’t say anything to her children, for all she knew they might have made dates with their friends. Minnie in her flat switched on the television for company,  she was going home to her parents on Christmas day.

 

Arthur was trapped but he wasn’t keen on letting Leon get away with anything. He walked up to Leon and tried to bluff his way out, made a grab for a chair and pushed it towards Leon, who shot him. Arthur was alive but seriously wounded.. He got hold of another chair and smashed it down on Leon’s head. Before breathing his last, Leon shot Arthur again, and this time finished the job.

 

Their bodies were discovered by a cleaning lady, who had gone back to pick up her gloves. She had seen the light on, and called up the doorman, who rang the police. It made a nice juicy story for the television news that night. Minnie was having dinner when she saw it. She called Karina to tell her to watch the news on the TV.

 

Karina switched on the TV from her place at the dinner table with the remote control. She had no idea why Minnie had rung her at such a late hour. The image on the screen was that of the shopping centre. ‘This evening after closing time, at the shopping centre two dead bodies were discovered by a member of the cleaning staff and the doorman. The discovery was rather fortuitous, as the centre will be closed for the next two days and will reopen the day after Boxing day. The men have been identified as Leon Exely, the best known businessman in the shopping centre, and Arthur Mars, a detective in the local fraud squad.’

Pierce and Lilias were stunned and couldn’t take their eyes off the screen. Karina suffered double emotions: one that Leon would bother her no more, and the other that Arthur had only used her to get Leon. She felt that, in the end, neither of them had been worth much. Anything she had felt for Arthur had dissipated in a flash.

She then took a long look at her son and daughter. Pierce and Lilias had known nothing about Arthur at all, and Leon had been a human piggy bank for them both, especially for Lilias.

 

Lilias grumbled, “Now, I suppose, I’ll never know what my Christmas present from Leon was.”