Chapter 6

      The next day Tracy and Fitzgerald rousted Sam from the Water Gardens. She acknowledged the officers and talked for a few minutes before heading down E. Lancaster towards the convenience store. This morning though, Coley decided to bypass the store and go straight to the mission. She was excited about showing Brad the Santa Claus suit and telling him her idea.

      Sam was still cold and slightly drunk but got in the mission anyway and found Brad in the main lobby. “Hey Brad, how’s it going this morning?”

      Brad looked up, “Hey, Sam you look spry this morning. How are you doing?”

      She pulled her Santa suit out from underneath her coat, “Hey Brad I want to put on this suit I found and play Santa for the kids. I’ll let them tell me what they want for Christmas. I was thinking maybe you’d have some connections someplace to get them some little presents. What do you think?”

      Brad looked at Sam for a second, “I might be able to get something working. I’ve been worried we won’t have enough kids at the mission this year to get Santa Claus. I was working on taking them to a mall or something so they could talk to Santa, but hey, I’m sure they would love to talk to you. Where’d you get the outfit?”

      “I found the thing in a dumpster. It’s in real good condition.”

      “So, you just want to put it on and let the kids tell you what they want for Christmas?”

      “Yeah, that was kind of the idea. I didn’t want it to be completely empty so I figured on Christmas day we could give them some little presents.”

      “Sounds like a good idea Sam, I guess.”

      She looked at Brad quizzically, “What’s wrong Brad?”

      “Oh, I was just thinking, a woman Santa. That’s a new one.”

      Sam was unwavering, “What difference does it make. I have all the accoutrements. They’ll never know it’s me and love every minute of it.”

      Now it was Brad’s turn to be unwavering, “I’ll tell you what, you can be Santa if you come stay at the mission for a few nights, sober.”

      Sam thought for a minute and stared at Brad, “Come on Brad, I don’t want to do that. It bothers me to stay here at night, you know how it is.”

      “Okay, just for one night and then you can go back to your regular routine. A change of pace will do you good. Come on, how about it?”

      She continued thinking, “Alright, I’ll do it for one night. Let’s get everything setup.”

      Sam talked with Brad, and they decided to set up Santa for tomorrow in the side room just off the lobby where the kids had been playing with the rubber balls the day before. There were about 12 kids at the mission right now with at least one parent each so it shouldn’t take very long. Brad will provide a large chair for Sam to sit in and they’ll just run the kids through, letting them tell Santa what they want for Christmas. Sam really felt satisfied with the arrangement other than having to stay at the mission for one night, but maybe it would be a good change of pace.