Josh, the cable tv installer, was in his van driving to his last stop of the day. He hated the last stop because that customer had been waiting all day for him, building up steam about him making them wait.
He pulled up to the intersection and checked the address on his call sheet clipboard laying on the empty seat next to him. It read '409 Gate' on the clipboard. The street signs said Gate and Parkshire, but there was no block numbers. So he looked both ways, guessed one, turned left and eased down Gate Street looking for house numbers.
The road was a no curb, narrow, asphalt road with deep ditches on both sides. "This is a ritzy neighborhood - 30'trees as thick as a forest, manicured park-sized lawns, white stone and brick walls, security iron gates in endless loops and knots, and long winding drives up to mansions far off the road," thought Josh.
The first house sign he found said 'Two Hundred Nine' in cursive writing. "2 blocks further", thought Josh, and he speeded up the van.
This last call was the worst part of the job, the part that made him uneasy and nervous every afternoon. Somehow he was supposed to defend the idiotic company policy of 'a representative will arrive there somewhere between 9-5 today'. He'd be mad if he had to wait, and sure enough the dispatcher Kath had already called and told him a maid from the 'Gate' house had called about 2 PM wondering when he'd be there.
The first call/customers on his daily list were always both shocked and delighted to see him arrive so early and get their waiting over with. But those that had waited patiently all day were none too patient in expressing their anger at being last on the list - a wasted day for them. And rich people were the worst ... and the cheapest. The office had a saying, "No one is more poor than the rich!"
Josh thought, "I just feel it that these 'Gate' people are going to be trouble."
Just then the dispatcher's voice came over the truck radio.
Kath: "210 Where are you? Field Drive's complaining (kurht) come back (kurht)..."
"Well that's David's problem, not mine," thought Josh, and he turned down the static of the radio.
300 block.
"Where does all this money come from? (Each house was surrounded by an oasis of picture perfect, blooming plants.) Each one of those is $7.00 or more at the SuperMart."
At one house he saw 2 girls' bikes laying on their sides. He thought of the Christmas list and the 2 ads he had in his pocket He tapped the outside of his jeans to make sure they were there. It made a krinkling sound like paper. But the list was so short he really didn't need it. His boy Marty wanted just one thing and that was that toy gun he'd seen on TV. That's all he or his wife, Alison had heard since the kid had seen it advertised.
But damn that was a lot of money for a toy! His wife had brought it up. Alison said, "It may be too expensive for our budget, but take a look at Luks and Jon Kinders. It doesn't hurt to look."
She'd given him 2 ads for the toy. One was crumpled up and dog eared from being folded up so many times. That one was from Marty's pocket. The other Alison had cut out from a Sunday circular from a discount house. But even at the discount house it was $89.95. He had stared at the rifle for some time. Someway he'd get it for Marty. Maybe a half price sale somewhere - but before Christmas? Oh well he was a decent kid and Christmas was a special time. So what if we have to pay it off...
When he was a kid he'd loved guns, leather holsters with the notches for each bullet on the back, scouts and indians, moccasins, Davy Crocket hats, knives, anything to do with cowboys. His grandfather called him 'Boots' because of the cowboy boots he always wore. (His parents had gotten them for him to correct his walking pidgeon toed. The boots were so long and narrow in the toe that they forced him to keep his feet apart when he walked...)
But this gun... He looked at it again in his mind and wondered how heavy it was. Some of them are just hollow plastic. He pulled out one of the ads to refresh the name in his mind again:
Ranger 330 Sub Atomic Blaster.
PART TWO
409 Gate.
He pulled into the cramped front drive before the security fence, stopped along side the intercom to the house, and pushed the red button, "buzzz"
"They may have given up and gone out"
"Buzzz"...
"Yes," said a woman with a hispanic accent - (maybe the maid?)
"Cable guy."
Pssst Psst. And the 2 halves of the metal door unlocked, squeaked, and clanked opened.
The wide, 2-story mansion was at the end of a long 'S' curve. He pulled up, got his toolbox and chord bag out of the back of the van, and rang the door bell.
A small dark hispanic woman in a huge white apron, fumbled with the locks, and finally tugged opened one side of the door. Behind her was a little white boy in a red sweater who had followed to see who was there.
"Cable guy. I've come to install the cable."
She turned her head and yelled into the house,"Mrs Marge! Cable guy."
"Show him the TV in the den, Rene."
He followed the maid through a high ceiling hallway packed with Christmas decorations: Santa cardboard cutouts, a table top, pine smelling, Christmas tree sagging with lights and ornaments, a bowl of assorted seran wrapped and decorated gingerbread men, stacked boxes of chocolates ... and even a left over pumpkin on the floor.
There was a huge den in the back of the house. Josh first saw the fireplace with the box as high as his shoulders, a massive decorated white and green marble mantle with stockings, holly, and Santa statues mixed in with miniature porcelain English cottages like you would find illustrating a Dickens novel.
The new media system/TV was standing near a decorated, bulky, blue green fir Christmas tree that was so tall its tip bent under the ceiling.
"That's a beautiful tree," said Josh.
The maid smiled quickly and pointed to the TV and left through a different door.
He opened up his tool box and chord bag and got to work - finding the outlet, hooking up the system's box, connecting the wires.
After he was well on the way he stopped to look around the room: intricate beige and gold wall papers with paintings and framed prints on all the walls; stout gilded antique chairs, couches, and intricately carved tables with inlayed patterns. On the chairs: decorator pillows, afghans, throw rugs. On the tables, glass tops; and on top of these wrapped presents, objects of art, more Christmas decorations, even an old timey, half-filled popcorn machine in one corner with lit lights, near a half sized bar.
The little boy from the hall, came into the room to watch.
"Hi."
The little boy didn't respond. Instead he placed his hand to his mouth and flopped back onto the couch. His red sweater had a tiny blue and gold ensignia over the breast pocket. He wore it over a white dress shirt. His blonde-brown hair was slicked back more than most kids and he had a field of freckles across his nose and cheeks.
The smell of something baking - cookies? pie? - was coming from what Josh figured was the kitchen.
"Brady," said a voice from the kitchen - probably the mom...
"What?"
Mom: "A gift came from your father. It's that big white box by the tree."
Josh thought the kid would light up. He did just the opposite and wrinkled his nose.
Mom: "Brady."
Brady: "What."
Mom: "Open it up so I can tell him you got it."
Brady gave a big sigh and went over to the gift. It took some effort to slide the package away from the tree because the box seemed about as heavy as the boy. He tugged and shoved it until the box was in the middle of the floor. Then he began to struggle with the chocolate brown satin bow. No matter what Brady did he couldn't get the tight bow to break apart or to slide over the sides.
Josh: "Here let me cut that for you."
Josh took a pocket knife and cut the ribbon in both directions. Without acknowledging the help, Brady kept opening the box.
Inside the wrap was a huge cardboard box. Josh couldn't tell what it was and he thought to himself it'd be too forward of me to ask, better stay out of it.
Brady opened up the box lid. Inside was another layer of packaging, a cellophane covering. Brady took his fist and punched it. He couldn't break it. He punched it again, and again his fist bounced off of the tough, see-through, wrap.
"Easy," thought Josh. "You'll go through it and break what's inside."
Brady raised his fist high and punched it a third time. It ricoched off the plastic again.
Josh took the wire cutters in his hand and carefully punched a hole in one corner. Brady ripped the cellophane off, undid a few twist ties, and pulled out a huge ray gun.
Brady: "It's a toy Mamma."
Mom: "What kind?"
Brady: "A toy for babies!"
A beautiful, thin but well stacked, dark-haired woman wearing designer glasses, black wool slacks, and a solid pea green pullover sweater; came into the room. Josh also noticed inmmaculate nails on very pale hands.
Mom:"What is it?"
Brady dropped it back in the box with a thud, and kicked the box toward her. It moved a few inches. His mother crouched down to look at it. She picked it up.
Mom: "Oh it's heavy!" She giggled,"A gun a space gun," and placed it back in the box.
Brady: "I don't want it."
Mom: "Oh Brady." Brady went back to the couch. "He'll probably call on Christmas and want to know if you got it." She got up and went back to the kitchen.
When she was gone, Brady got off the couch and came to the center of the room.
Brady: "I'm going to throw it away!" he yelled toward the kitchen. "I'm going to bury it in the yard, then toss it over the fence." He picked up the gun, jerked it over his head and tossed it with all his might toward Josh's open burlap bag. It landed smack dab in the middle with a clunk.
Brady: "Here you take it. I never want to see it again. Throw it in the sea." Then in a loud voice so his mother would hear, "I threw it down the sewer!"
Mom (from the kitchen): "I've got no time for you to act up today. We've got to go! We're going to dinner at Claissans with Barbara and her kids. Now get your coat."
Brady left the room.
The phone rang.
Mom: "Rene, after the sugar cookies cool put some in each of the tins with the candy canes - you understand? (Ring!) And clean up the kitchen. That call's Barbara. Tell her we're on our way and we left 15 minutes ago!" (Ring)
Josh heard Brady and his mother's footsteps through the house. Rene picked up the phone and was talking when mom and son closed the front door behind them. They were gone. The maid finished the call and hung up the phone. Josh was left, alone in the den, with the maid cleaning up in the kitchen.
Josh picked up the toy gun. It wasn't hollow or light plastic. It had some heft to it, some metal. It felt and looked like a real ray gun , if there was such a thing. He pulled the cream colored trigger. It didn't give easy but eased back. When it was full back the gun went off. "Whoop! Whoop! Whooop!" He released the trigger. While it was popping, lights were going off around the casing like sparklers, and the red snubby 5" barrel - Josh thought it looked like a used shotgun shell - pumped back and forth with every blast. At the end of the 3 rounds the gun gave a spacey 'Spizz, spizz, spizz." Like some kind of rays or gas had leaked out. Then it shut down with a shutter and a thump.
Josh quickly laid the gun down on the carpet and went back to work in case the maid happened to walk in and investigate the noise. She didn't.
He picked up the gun box. A spaceman with ranger insignias on his blue-green space suit and a glass helmet was firing the gun. Sweat was pouring down his face. In the backround were planets and stars in a black, no atmosphere sky. Off to one side was a tall, multi-story, red space rocket launching from a crater. Diagonally across the box in big red letters: RANGER 330 SUB ATOMIC BLASTER (as seen on TV).
On the side of the box was a small yellow pricetag: $129.95 Krugers of New York.
"The mother doesn't care. The father doesn't even live here. The kid hates it!. He gave it to me. Better my boy than a sewer."
"But maybe I should leave the empty box. He didn't throw that in the sewer..."
He finished his work and picked up the gun again ...
Josh went straight home. He didn't stop at Luks or Jon Kinders
Alison met him at the door.
Alison:"You got home quickly. What did you find out about the ..." Her eyebrows lifted and her forehead crinkled.
He heard Marty running through the house to the door.
Marty:"Dad?"
Alison:"... you know what."
Josh:"I'll tell you about it in a minute."
Marty rushed to his father's side.
Marty:"Hi Dad."
Josh:"How you doing boy?"
Marty:"Mom said we couldn't decorate the tree 'till you got home. Let's go ..." He tugged on his father's arm.
Josh:"First I want to talk to you a minute. Alison will you get 2 jars from the kitchen with lids. She gave him a quizzical look and left.
The 3 regrouped on the tweed couch. Josh pulled out Marty's add for the ray gun.
Josh:"I know you want this gun for Christmas but it's just too expensive for us to afford." The boy's face collapsed. "But don't be sad. I didn't say you couldn't have it. I just said we couldn't afford to buy it for you for Christmas. But you can save up for it if you really want it."
Marty:"I do Dad. I think it's awesome.
Josh:"I've seen one too and it's a pretty cool gun. Well here's what we're going to do." He turned to Alison, "Where are the 2 jars?" She handed him the glass jars.
Alison:"Cleaned and rinsed."
He opened them both up and set them down on the coffee table.
Josh:" Here's the deal. Any money you get for chores or gift money that you want to save for your gun, you put in this jar."
Alison:"What's the other jar for?"
Josh:" In that one we have to match Marty's money dollar for dollar, cent for cent." Josh got his wallet out. "Here's $15 to start you off." He placed it in the first jar. "Wait a minute. Mom we've got to match that money dollar for dollar and my wallet is just about empty." Marty said nothing but kept studying it all very carefully.
Alison: "I've got 3 fives." She took the folded bills from her purse and placed them in the other jar.
Josh:" OK Marty, how much so far?"
Marty:"$30"
Josh:"How much you need?"
Marty: (He unfolded his ad and searched for the price)"It says $99.50"
Josh:"Well mom's ad is even cheaper. Show him your ad Alison."
Alison "$89.50 Marty - see?"
Josh:"There you go Marty, you already have one third.
Marty:"Well what can I do to earn some more?"
Josh:"We'll think of things. But first get some tape and label each jar. Then find a safe place you want to keep them."
Marty left to get the tape.
Alison was wondering, "Josh said he'd seen the toy. How did he see it if he came straight home from work?"
Marty was wondering what type of tape he preferred - masking tape or cellophane tape over paper labels. He was also relieved, "Now I know I'll get the gun - a sure deal - no more maybes or worries!"
Josh was thinking, "If Marty is interested in it, we could build a space control instrument panel out of pegboard, paint, and that coffee can of assorted bolts and broken knobs like I had when I was a kid... Maybe some screwdrivers as levers, thrusters, blasters! ...
The End