The Nightmare Effect

Chapter Sixteen

        The official case had been closed. Warren was dead, but we had the evidence to justify his death, so Carter never suffered jail time. His family didn't have to see another squad car again. Winter rolled back into my mind like a crazy fucker. Snow was coming down everywhere, but it wasn't the dangerous kind of snow. This was more like the snow you'd want to have on a Christmas morning. Since I still had the insomnia, Kaily asked me to keep an eye out for Santa Clause. I told her I'd try, but that I would soon fall victim to his 'magical sleeping dust'. Needless to say, she was angry at me. We went over to Jen's mother's house for a Christmas Eve dinner. She was a big religious gal, so I kept my mouth shut. In all honesty, I don't have a problem with people who believe that Christmas is supposed to be about the 'Christ' part, but obnoxiousness knows no bounds. The dinner tasted pretty damn good and off we went to prepare for Christmas day.

        Christmas morning was more a game of silence than everyone rushing to the tree. I went into the kitchen to grab myself a glass of juice. But then a thought occurred to me. I had been drinking the same juice over and over for the last few years. Maybe a change of pace, at a small scale, wasn't such a bad idea. So, instead of grabbing myself a glass of juice, I got myself a cup of hot coffee. I blew on it to make sure it wasn't too hot for my tastes. Just as I was about to take a sip, Jen walks into the kitchen.

        "Mornin'," she whispers to me.

        "Hey," I whisper back.

        She walks over to grab herself a cup of coffee. "Too excited to sleep?" she smiles.

        "Of course," I prepare to take a sip, but Jen caught me again.

        "So, what'd you get her?"

        "If I tell, doesn't that ruin the gift?"

        "Do I look like your girlfriend?"

        "Good point," I think for a moment, "got her one of those detailed, tiny, metal horses."

        "Why so?" she asked me.

        "She's got a thing for those. Took me a hell of a time to find it. What about you?"

        "Ugh, Steven is so hard to buy for. With all of the... craziness this year, I bought him a new watch," she sipped her coffee.

        "Steven never struck me as the 'watch' kind of guy," I remark.

        "How so?"

        "Well, the first time I ever met him, he looked like he was about to sock me right in the face."

        She laughed. "Yeah, he's got that kind of thing around him, but once you talk to him, there's something strong about him."

        "It's because he's black, isn't it?" I joke.

        She laughs louder than before. "Jungle fever, am I right?"

        Well, shit. Jen might be my new best friend in the whole wide world. We talked a little more about a few useless things, mostly just meaningless shit. "You a big reader?"

        "I read, from time to time," she sips more of her coffee.

        "Tell me some favorites."

        "Why? Are you a book worm?"

        "Ha, if I was a book worm, I'd be in a mansion. I just liked to read a while ago."

        "Why did you stop?"

        "Eh, life just gets in the way, plus I started watching more T.V. than reading."