Chapter 5

     She decided to get some wine for the night. She could figure out about presents for the kids later. After all, there were still many days until Christmas, but the night would come fast. The wine needed to come first.

      Sam made her way back up E. Lancaster to the convenience store to get the wine. She had already gone into her secret hiding place to get the money out. Walking in the store, “Hey Delvin, let me see some of your cheap wine and the winning lotto ticket numbers.”

      Delvin looked over at her sarcastically, “You got so much wine out of here you could find it if you went blind, and you just bought the ticket this morning, they ain’t played the lotto yet.”

      Sam forced a smile, “Good, that means I still got a chance at winning. By the way I got to get the cheap wine today because I just got robbed.”

      Delvin laughed, “Hey man you really think the Eagles are going to win this week?” Delvin didn’t believe her story.

      “I’m not kidding man, I just got robbed.”

      Delvin suddenly turned more serious, “Who did it man. Did you call the cops?”

      “I don’t know who he was. I never saw him before. He was a regular looking transient wino though. He was maybe mid-twenties, unshaven, and he wore a distinctive thick red plaid shirt, and he had a knife.”

      Delvin now got the bug eyes, “He pulled a knife on you!”

      “Yeah and stuck it in my stomach. Told me he would cut me if I didn’t give him my money.”

      “Ya got to call the cops though. One of those foot patrol guys would probably help you. I would just love to see him around here.” He produced a sawed off shotgun from underneath the counter and smiled.

      “I didn’t call the cops because I only gave him about a dollar thirty five, but he did try to take me back into the warehouse to do who knows what. The cops ain’t going to do anything about it anyway.”

      “Man, you got to call the cops. We got to get this guy off the streets.”

      “Naw, I got too many things to do. Look, I found this Santa suit in the dumpster. I’m going to see if Brad will let me be the shelter Santa for a few days. What do you think?” As she pulled the Santa suit from under her coat and showed it to Delvin.

      Delvin is now confused about the whole situation, “Well, for one thing, Santa Claus is a guy. Another thing is, you’re going to take all those kids’ orders for Christmas and not deliver the goods. You can’t get those kids no presents.”

      Sam stood there for a second thinking, 'Delvin is right,' “Maybe Brad can do something, or, how about this ol store donating some presents?”

      “Man, I don’t know. I’m already short and you know I deal mainly in wine and snacks. I got no toys laying around.”

      “It was just a thought, after all I’ve gotten you a lot of business over the years.”

      “Okay Sam, I’ll see what I can put together. Now, let’s get down to some real business, what about them Eagles winning this week. I got ta know man. I really need a winner.”

      “Nope. Not this week.”

      Delvin got a disgusted look on his face, “What do you mean no. I thought you said the Eagles were good.”

      “Naw, they’re not as good as the Giants, plus the Giants are playing at home.”

      Delvin looked at her quizzically, “You sure know a lot for a homeless woman.”

      “I try to stay abreast of the sports scene. Besides, I’m a drunk, I’m not stupid.”

      “See, that’s what I mean, sounding all smart and everything. How did you end up homeless. Most people as smart as you got a home.”

      “Well, I tell ya, I think it’s this cheap wine you keep selling me. It keeps me homeless. Why don’t you get better wine in here.”

      Delvin looked at her kind of funny, “You couldn’t afford it anyways. You just need to get a good job and a home.”

      “Well maybe tomorrow I’ll get one. I’ll take this wine today, and I’ll probably be back later for more. I can tell you; this is going to be a two bottle day.”

      Sam paid for the wine and left the store headed for the railroad tracks to drink her wine with the Santa suit still in tow under her jacket. The winos need to drink wine down by the railroad tracks during the day. No one would bother them there. Sam was now drinking wine off in a spot all by herself, thinking about using the Santa suit for the children. She figured she’d better try the suit on to see if it fit. She went behind some bushes and began pulling the suit on. It fit pretty well. The legs were a little short, but the suit was plenty big around the waist and the sleeves were good. She then put the beard on and the hat. No mirror to look at herself but she felt like Santa. She was ready to be the mission Santa. Hopefully the kids at the mission could believe in Santa at least for a few hours.

      She decided to go to Brad tomorrow and tell him about her plan. Sam sat by the railroad tracks getting drunk and thinking of ways she was going to make the children of the mission happy about Christmas. She had talked to Delvin about a donation, maybe if he won some money on the Eagles/Giants game he would be more open to the idea. Maybe Brad would know someone that could give a few dollars for presents for the kids. Oh well, she was starting to feel pretty good and thinking everything would turn out alright. That’s why she got drunk, everything would work out in her mind. She was now day drunk. It was about time to go get ready for the evening. She managed to get back down to the convenience store for the evening bottle of wine. She was ready to go through her nightly ritual of getting optimally drunk and staggering into the Water Gardens to sleep it off.