CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT – The Gifts
Lee climbed into the car, irritated with his too-smart sister. Anita punched his shoulder playfully and grinned.
"You know you wanted to go back, anyway."
He looked at her sourly but said nothing. The area surrounding the Johns Hopkins University campus was a mixed bag. Within a small radius were lovely homes, some not so nice, assorted student housing, apartments, an art museum, several funky little shops, restaurants and food joints to satisfy the large student body.
We pulled up to a storefront with a hand-painted sign that said 'Karma Konnection'. It was an odd place with a young, long-haired proprietor who prided himself on keeping his finger on the pulse of the youth market. He stocked lots of incense, some strange books on topics that I'd never heard of, and assorted tie-dyed clothing. Most of his sentences ended with 'man' or 'baby'. As I looked around, I didn't think there was going to be anything there to help me, until I saw a small, glass-topped display case that held an assortment of unisex wristlets made of various colored round beads. The little card in the case said they were called Karma bracelets. The different colors and designs were supposed to stand for what you wished for yourself or the person who wore them. The long-haired man had one on, and I liked the way it looked, even on his wrist. I visualized it on Michael and knew this was what I wanted, even though I wasn't totally sure that he would like it as much as I did. Each wristlet had a little tag on it showing what it represented. There was success, peace, friendship, and other stuff along those lines. Then I saw one that was supposed to bring love and strength. That was the one I wanted. The beads were dark brown with a slight red undertone, mixed with some green beads that reminded me of Nan's eyes. I paid for the wristlet and the man gave me a little drawstring pouch as well as a box to put them in. Anita bought some kind of incense and a holder. I showed her the bracelet and she thought it would make a cool gift. We were about to leave, when I saw another Karma bracelet on display that was the exact violet-blue shade as Michael's eyes. It stood for love and happiness. I really didn't want to spend more money, but I had to have that one for myself.
School was out, on holiday break for nearly two weeks, but I was really busy at work as people shopped frantically. Michael was great about picking me up from work, always there waiting. There was barely any other time to spend with him until Christmas Eve.
Midnight mass on Christmas Eve was a long-standing tradition, even for Catholics who didn't attend much the rest of the year. Every church was packed that night. Mom and Nan used to go to Midnight mass before I was born, but had switched years ago to mass on Christmas Day.
Michael and I didn't even consider going to the service at Holy Sacrament, deciding instead to attend at St. Ignatius chapel. Most of the upperclassmen at St. Ig's went to the school's chapel for Midnight mass. It was as much a social event as it was a religious celebration, and the only reason my mom would ever allow me to be out so late.
Anyone who wanted a seat at the service had to be there before eleven-thirty. The choir sang Christmas hymns until mass began. It was a 'high' mass which just meant it was more formal and would take a lot longer than a regular mass – usually until one-thirty in the morning. In addition, some of the junior and senior boys' moms served a big breakfast afterward. So it was with special permission that I did not have to be home until three o'clock in the morning, as long as I called home when we arrived at the breakfast.
Michael and I would both spend Christmas day with our families, so Christmas Eve was our time. He arrived at my house around ten o'clock that evening and we had some Christmas cookies with mom and Nan. Michael was obsessed with my grandmother's sugar cookies, and would resort to inordinate amounts of flattery to get them. She put a bunch of them in a cookie tin for him as a gift, and you'd have thought she'd given him a million dollars. My own grandmother had trumped my present.
As we went down the front steps together, Michael held my hand tightly as the concrete was slippery from the previous night's snow. At least the plows had been out to clear the streets. Every single radio station was playing Christmas carols nonstop, so we listened to them as we drove to campus. The branches of the towering evergreens that lined the drive leading up to St. Ig's chapel were coated in white, and the moon gave them a magical sparkle.
We got there in plenty of time to get a seat. The chapel was abuzz with students greeting each other and shaking hands. I knew the majority of his friends, and due to his football prowess, Michael was a true gravitational force. When Mass concluded, we headed for breakfast at the home of a fellow football teammate named Joe Lentz. There must have been thirty or forty kids there. And it was catered – that blew me away.
Michael saw that I was tiring after all the hours that I'd worked that week, so we soon said our goodbyes and headed back to his car. His gift was in my bag, and it was staying there for now. I was a little worried because I hadn't seen anything resembling a present in his car on the way to mass. Maybe he didn't get one for me. We hadn't talked about it beforehand, and I bought his simply because I wanted to. Maybe he had something hidden under the seat. He glanced at his watch, started the car and then smiled with one raised eyebrow. I was getting pretty good at reading his different smiles, and this was the dangerous one. We'd been so good lately, behaving ourselves, resisting opportunities to spend a lot of time alone together. The reservoir was on the way, and we still had plenty of time before I had to be home.
I started taking deep breaths to stay calm as he parked his car between two tall, snow-capped trees. Perspiring despite the cold, I was afraid to take my coat off. The Christmas carols stopped playing as he pushed in a tape containing our favorite songs. He got out of the car without even glancing at me. What was he doing? I wasn't getting out... it was way too cold, below freezing. I turned and saw him open the trunk for just a second, and then quickly close it. He got back into the car and put his arm across the back of the seat. The anticipation was killing me, as he hummed to the music and hugged me to his side. He was doing it on purpose, knowing that I was intrigued. The side of his mouth suppressed a grin as he turned slowly toward me.
"Well, aren't you going to give me my present?" he teased. Two could play at this game, I thought to myself.
"Oh, I didn't know we were exchanging gifts," I said with mock surprise.
His head lolled back, unable to control his facial expression any longer.
"You are such a terrible liar," he laughed, taking off his soft woolen coat and draping it over the seat. Reaching into the coat pocket, he pulled out a tiny box wrapped in shimmery gold paper. "Merry Christmas, Kate," he whispered, putting the box into the palm of my hand. He watched my face carefully while I pulled the paper off. Opening the lid revealed a gleaming silver necklace with an intricately patterned silver heart attached. It had an old-fashioned design over the entire heart that I didn't remember ever having seen before. It was beautiful, and he could tell from my expression that I loved it. He took it from my hand and said, "Let me," as he placed it around my neck and deftly fastened the clasp. Reverentially, I ran my fingertip back and forth over the design.
"Oh, Michael, it's beautiful," I murmured and leaned in to kiss him.
It was a short, careful kiss, like he was holding back. I opened the zipper on my bag and took out my gift for him.
"Merry Christmas, Michael. I had a hard time figuring out what to get you, but I hope you'll like it."
His face was impossible to read as he opened the box and then the small bag. The moon illuminated the beads as he turned them over in his hand and then slipped them onto his wrist.
"Did you realize what colors these beads are?" he asked softly.
Unsure of what he was getting at, I said, "I bought them for what they're supposed to represent...love and strength...and I just thought they'd be colors you'd like," I stammered.
He wasn't smiling, and his eyes had that edge lurking behind the violet hue. A sensation washed over me, like being hypnotized, but still awake, as he put his lips against my ear.
"I like them very much, because they're the exact colors of your hair and your eyes," he breathed.
It was a dangerous dance. With one hand around my waist and the other at the back of my neck, he pulled me closer. I could sense his effort to control himself as he began to kiss me, and understood that if I responded too eagerly, things would accelerate. It was like torture. My uneven breathing didn't help as the kiss began to build. His hand slowly moved from the back of my waist, circling to the front. He broke off the kiss, his eyes inches from mine. Slowly sliding my arms out of my coat, he let it fall before resuming the kiss and following me down to the seat. Clearly, he was going to have to be the one to stop, because I was already past caring. His mouth moved down to my neck and then his face turned to rest on my chest. The sensation of his breath against my skin was driving me crazy. He stayed that way for more than a few moments, willing himself to calm down before pulling us both back into an upright position. Guiltily, I mumbled,
"I'm sorry, I..."
He laughed darkly, "No, you're not."
Draping his coat over my shoulders, he started the car's engine and took me home.