Testimonies
"Wow! Neat, Lynn! You tree's real pretty!"
It was 1962, and a cold Christmas in Philly.
Lynn's mom had driven me over her house; I couldn't
wait to see all her new presents! This was going to be fun.
"Oh, you should have seen it this morning. Bootsie
had been playing with it all night, while we were sleeping.
The decorations down at the bottom of the tree were a big mess!
It took me an hour to get everything fixed up!" Lynn's
mom took off her bright red car coat. It had
a green plastic leaf pin, with a silver bell attached. Underneath
her coat, she wore a red flannel nightgown. It had
big red candy canes all over it.
"Well, it's real pretty, Mrs. Maile. I like it!" I still had
my mittens on, and stuffed my hands in the pockets
of my jacket. For a moment, I wasn't sure what to do.
"Take off your coat, Julie! Help Lynn open her presents!
Do you want some hot chocolate?"
"Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Maile." Carefully, I unbuttoned my
cold jacket, and gave it to Lynn's mom. Then, I went over and
sat down, by the huge Christmas tree.
"Wow. How pretty." I kept looking up at the bright
things hanging from the tree branches. The whole room smelled
like my Girl Scout overnight camp. Christmas music was playing
on their stereo; Lynn and her brother were wearing brightly
colored pajamas too. Even Bootsie had on a red ribbon with
a little bell. It jingled every time she jumped on some wrapping
paper.
"Bootsie! Get out of here!" Lynn sounded cross for a
minute. Then, she leaned over to where I was sitting.
"Here, Julie. Let's open this one."
"Okay. Oooh! The wrapping paper's so pretty! Can I
keep it?"
"Why? You're supposed to throw that out, silly!" Robbie
said. "You don't know anything, do you?"
"Shut up, Robbie!" Lynn gave her brother a kick with a
floppy, red slipper. "Hey, Robbie! What'd you do with the
other Wise man? I only see two here! MOMMY! ROBBIE'S
PLAYING WITH THE MANGER!"
"Hey, Lynn! I did NOT! HEY, MOM! LYNN'S TELLING
ON ME, AGAIN! TELL HER TO QUIT!"
I was sitting cross legged, on the floor, in my heavy cordoroys.
A Barbie outfit, all new and plastic covered, lay on a box in
my lap. The green and red wrapping paper was neatly folded up,
beside me. "What Wise man?"
"You don't even know what a Wise man is? Boy, you're really
dumb!" Robbie laughed. "Boy, Lynn! Your friend's really dumb!"
"Robbie, shut up! MOMMY! Robbie's making fun of Julie,
again!"
The smell of coffee drifted from the kitchen. "KIDS! KEEP
IT DOWN! DADDY'S TRYING TO SLEEP!"
Lynn's dad was a policeman, and worked all night, sometimes.
"Come on, Julie! Let's look for the Wise man, before Mom
gets mad!" Lynn tossed her own ripped package down on
the carpet, and grabbed my hand.
"What are we looking for?" I whispered to Lynn. I was
afraid of being called dumb again.
"Oh, it looks like one of these people." Lynn picked something
up, and held her hand out to me.
Gingerly, I reached out and touched it. It was smooth, and
sparkley, and had lots of colors. The little face on it was
very serious. On its head was a towel. In its hands was a tiny box.
"It's a Wise man." Lynn cupped a moist palm over her little
treasure. "See? I'm going to put it back over here."
"Oh. That's pretty. That's Mary and Joseph, right?" I knelt
on some disgarded wrapping paper, squinting at the little
quiet figures. These didn't make noises like some of the
other stuff around the tree. The little people looked like
they were praying.
"That's Baby Jesus." Lynn whispered, as if afraid to wake
the Baby up.
"Oh." I stared at Him, for a moment. He was all wrapped up
in a blue blanket. He had blond hair, and his eyes were closed.
He had a big smile on His face. He was the special Christmas
Baby. And, He didn't mean anything to me.
"Come on! The Wise man's gotta be here somewhere!
ROBBIE! YOU BETTER HELP US LOOK! MOMMY'S GONNA
GET MAD AT YOU!"
"MOMMY! LYNN'S YELLING AT ME, AGAIN!"
"KIDS! I MEAN IT! STOP IT, RIGHT NOW! You're
supposed to be showing Julie Christmas! Lynn, quit that yelling!
You know Daddy's asleep! I'm gonna to smack you right now!"
Julie! Here's your hot chocolate. I'm going to set
it down here on the coaster. Oh, Lynn! Bootsie probably was
playing with that thing! Look under all the wrapping paper!"
Mrs. Maile sauntered back into the kitchen. The radio was
on, and the smell of cigarette smoke made me think of my
mom's kitchen. Both Mrs. Maile and my mom smoked the
same brand: Pall Malls.
"Is this it?" I looked down, and squinted under a box of
gingerbread cookies. My glasses slid down my nose.
I wanted to pick it up, but I was afraid to touch it
"HEY, MOM! JULIE FOUND IT! JULIE FOUND THE
WISE MAN!" Lynn yelled in my ear. "IT'S OKAY,
MOM! IT'S NOT BROKEN OR NOTHING!"
"OKAY, LYNN! OKAY! NOW, STOP ALL THAT YELLING!
AND YOU GUYS BETTER START CLEANING UP IN THERE!
I MEAN IT! DADDY'S GOING TO BE WAKING UP SOON!
ROBBIE! GET SOME SLIPPERS ON!"
Anxiously, I gathered the little Wise man in soft fingers.
I wasn't sure where to put him back, so I set him next
to the other people wearing towels on their heads, and
holding tiny boxes. What were the boxes for? I was
afraid to ask. I guessed they were little presents for
the Baby. Everybody was kneeling and praying, and looked
so quiet. So still. Even the little donkey, next to Mary,
kneeled. There was a cow, too, but he was asleep.
"Lynn, do you always have this out? It's real pretty."
"Huh? Oh, no! Right after Christmas, we put all the
stuff back up in the attic. It doesn't come out, till
next year!"
"Oh. Too bad." Disappointed, I scrambled up. My shoes
made crackling sounds from the pretty wrapping paper on
the carpet. "Was that the only Wise man we had to find?"
"Boy! What a dopey! There's only three, dopey!" Robbie was
busy with a GI Joe. He was still barefoot.
"Robbie! Shut up! Julie doesn't know about the Wise men!"
"I do, now. They came to bring presents to the Baby Jesus.
Then, they went back home, and told everybody what they did."
The End
"
"
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