“Hey, Oscar. How are you, buddy?” I picked him up and gave him a cuddle before putting him on the floor.
When I lowered his food and water bowls to the ground, Oscar licked my chin.
“I’ll be back and take you out to do your business. Don’t make a mess, please.”
Turning, I went out to the mudroom, stripping off my clothes after tossing my coveralls into the wash for a long cycle. I’d need to clean out the lint traps and run a self-clean cycle before washing any of my other clothes. Nobody wanted gravel in their underwear.
I pulled my robe from the basket of clothes I’d washed and dried the previous night, shoving my arms into it while I wentto turn up the thermostat. I went to the kitchen, grabbing a beer from the fridge, then I headed back to my bathroom.
After I turned on the water in the shower, I stepped in, taking my beer and putting it on the empty soap dish above the spray. My mind wandered back to the night of Holly’s accident, a week before Christmas.
Holly had mentioned to me during our weekly chat that she was planning to go home early from New York since she wasn’t in the holiday performances for “A Midsommer Night’s Dream” at the Delacorte Theater where she was in the chorus. I decided to leave for our parents’ house early and took the week before Christmas off, promising Shelby I’d be back on the day after Christmas to take their place answering emergency calls through the new year. They were going to the Bahamas with their then-girlfriend, so it worked out perfectly.
The sound of Holly’s voice on my voicemail was still fresh as if it just happened earlier in the day.
“I have some big news for you guys. You’ll never believe what happened. No, I’m not telling you yet. You’ll have to be at Mom and Dad’s for Christmas to hear the news. Love you!” The excitement in her voice still made me smile when I listened to it every Valentine’s Day on her birthday.
Unfortunately, we never heard thebig newsfrom Holly. We heard it from one of her roommates. A truck ran over her little Prius on the turnpike because the driver was blitzed on cocaine and going far too fast down an icy hill. My sister didn’t die immediately, but she didn’t wake up to say goodbye.
I shook my head and quickly washed up when the water started cooling. God, those thoughts would make for a horrible night’s sleep. The first sign of snow always brought out the melancholy.
It was no surprise that I dreamed of Holly that night in her high school dance team uniform during a basketball game. Shehad been a dancer since she was three, and except when I was attending auto vocational school in Northern Virginia, I went to all her recitals and exhibitions. The high school basketball games were a bit more difficult to attend, but I made it work when I could. I wouldn’t miss one if I could help it.
When I woke in a cold sweat at four in the morning, I was grateful. My phone chimed on the nightstand, so I sat up and grabbed it.
FYI – no calls today. Look outside. Merry Christmas. Shelby
I stood and walked over to my window to see the reflection of the streetlights on about six inches of fresh powder. Yeah, nobody would be working today.
The snow was still coming down, so I went back to bed. Nobody needed to be up that early.
I woke at seven and sat up, seeing Oscar with his paws on the mattress as he patiently waited for me to get my lazy ass out of bed.
“Come on up, little boy.” I hauled Oscar up on the bed as I turned on the morning news to find out how much more snow we were going to get.
He curled up on the empty pillow next to mine and nodded off again. That pillow hadn’t been used in a very long time, so sometimes I’d let Oscar sleep there, but I didn’t make it a habit. When my dog became a substitute for a hard body in my bed, I was going to give up completely on finding happiness ever after.
“Let me get dressed, and we’ll get our day started.”
Once I had on warm clothes, I put Oscar’s wool coat and snow boots on before sliding on my own. When I opened the back door to lead Oscar out, I looked at the thermometer on the back porch to see it was twenty-eight degrees. Really fucking cold.
I glanced down at Oscar. “Buddy, do your business fast. It’s cold as a witch’s titty out here.” My dad used to say that during the winter, but I was sure he meant no disrespect to witches.
The wind through the maple and oak trees in my backyard sounded like Holly’s laugh, which made me smile. I heard it every now and again when I really needed to feel connected to her. It was a huge comfort.
We went around the garage to the street, which had been bladed already. When we finished the walk, I’d need to get out with the shovel for my driveway and sidewalks, which reminded me of my parents. Neither of them should be shoveling snow, and the Clemmons boy who used to do it went off to join the Navy.
Once Ossie was done with his morning bathroom business and sniffing every damn bush, rock, and spot of sidewalk, we went back into the house. I took off Oscar’s boots and coat before mine, storing things in the mud room. He got excited when he saw me sidling up to the stove to make him some runny scrambled eggs to go over his dry food.
I turned on the local radio station for a little holiday atmosphere. Christmas music filled our kitchen, and I grinned. I glanced into the living room, seeing my little tabletop artificial tree covered in multicolored lights. Sadly, that little tree was the only holiday cheer I had. My sister’s death overshadowed everything.
After I served Oscar his breakfast and ate the rest of the eggs myself, I picked up my phone, took a deep breath, and called my parents’ landline.
Mom answered. “Hello?”
I laughed. She had caller ID, but she never checked it. “Mom, it’s me. How are you and Dad? Did you get as much snow as I did in Maryland?”
Mom laughed. “We got a fair bit, but nothin’ we can’t handle. How about you? How’s business, Holden?”
