Chapter 8

      Sam went to the Christmas room and sat in the chair waiting. Several people in the lobby gathered round to watch Santa talk to the kids. After a few minutes Brad showed up with the kids in tow. Brad told them to line up outside the room, he had a big surprise for them. The kids lined up quietly wondering what the surprise was. They had been told so many things in their lives they never quite knew what to expect.

      There were eight kids today for Santa to talk to. Brad brought the first one around the corner and the other kids peaked and saw Santa. Suddenly they all made a mad rush for the pallet with Santa on top. They began hugging her and asking for things. It wasn’t as Sam had pictured. Instead of the kids being excited they seemed frightened and desperate. The first little boy began asking for a toy, any toy to play with. One little girl got right next to Santa and began crying, “Santa, please help my daddy get a job, please Santa help him.”

      Sam became frozen. She was getting that sick feeling in her chest and stomach. She was having trouble keeping control, but the requests kept coming. A small boy began asking, “Santa please help my mom to stop drinking so she can get better.”

      Another child was asking, “Santa please help us to get a house to sleep in.”

      The requests began to jumble all together, but they were all things Coley had no control over.

      “Santa please help me find my daddy.”

      “Santa my mommy is sick, please help her to get better.”

      Sam began hugging the children and crying. She wanted to tell them everything would be alright, but she couldn’t stop crying long enough to say anything. Brad and the bystanders just stood there watching the children and Sam cry.

      Sam stood up almost in a trance and began to walk off. The kids were still sitting at the Santa chair making requests. Sam was now totally engulfed in tears. She walked past the adults and out the front door of the mission. No one knew what to do.

      Sam was now sobbing uncontrollably as she walked down the street in the Santa suit. She decided to walk to the convenience store for some wine. Wine was her only refuge. If she could get wine everything would be alright. She was walking at a fast pace in her Santa suit still crying uncontrollably. She had to stop for a moment and sit on the curb. Her face buried in her hands crying and wondering what led her to try and listen to those kids’ requests. After several minutes she managed to get to her feet and move towards the destination.

      She finally arrived at the convenience store and stopped outside for a minute to compose herself. The sick feeling in her chest and stomach was still there but the crying was coming under control. She stood there with her hands on her hips turning in slow circles trying to get right before going in to talk to Delvin.

      Sam needed wine immediately to stop the emotional microburst going on in her head. She never expected that reaction from those kids. She was now in the position that Delvin warned about, she took the kids orders but couldn’t fill them. It was time to get drunk and hit the water gardens. Maybe even try and get a lethal dose of wine.

      Sam enters the store, and Delvin gets a big smile, “Hey Sam … how’s the Santa business? Must be going pretty good, you still got the suit on.”

      Sam couldn’t look Delvin in the eyes, “It’s going great.” She walked straight back to the wine without saying another word.

      Delvin could tell something was wrong, “I got those toys for you Sam. Just let me know when you need them.”

      She just put two bottles of wine on the counter and said, “I’ll let you know when we can use the toys. Somehow though I don’t think I’m going to be able to fill those kids’ orders.”

      “What are you talking about?”

      “Never mind, I just need the wine right now!”

      Delvin decided to let it go and rang up the wine, “Okay Sam, okay. There you go, four dollars and twenty seven cents.”

      She handed Delvin a five and said, “keep the change. I’m outta here.”

      Sam stepped outside and began to guzzle the first bottle of wine right there on the sidewalk. Delvin was in the store watching as she downed the wine. Delvin knew something was wrong, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. He couldn’t do anything about it as he was stuck in the store.