Chapter 19
“So, Lindy,” said AJ that afternoon, as he and Lindy strolled
through the crowded mall, passing right through the herds of bustling shoppers,
“anything special happen to us angels on Christmas?”
“Such as…?” Lindy asked vaguely, gazing into the windows of the
stores they passed.
“Well, I dunno… I was just thinking that since angels are such a
big part of Christmas, something special might happen to us.” The thought, which had sounded sensible in
his head, seemed stupid now that the words were out of his mouth.
Lindy drew her attention away from her window-shopping long enough
to roll her eyes at him. “No, dumbshit,
nothing special happens to us at Christmas.
Christmas is all about the birth of Christ, moron, not about angels.”
“I know,” AJ muttered. “I
was just wondering…” He trailed off,
leaving it at that. He followed Lindy’s
example and turned his attention to the store windows, deciding to just shut
his mouth. He always ended up feeling
very stupid when he talked to Lindy.
Suddenly, as they passed one of the jewelry stores, something in
the window caught AJ’s eye. “Wait,” he
said, grabbing Lindy’s elbow and dragging her closer to the window. “Look,” he breathed, pointing past all the
fancy diamond rings and sparkling bracelets to a gold necklace lying in an open
box on a velvet cushion off to one side of the display. It had a thin, delicate chain and just one
pendant hanging from it, a little golden angel with a halo and wings encrusted
with tiny glittering diamonds. It was
simple, but beautiful, and AJ was drawn to it.
“I want to get that for Bianca,” he said.
Lindy stared at him in repugnance.
“Uh, hello, AJ, you’re forgetting one thing,” she said. “You’re dead ! You don’t buy Christmas presents for people
when you’re dead!”
“I want her to have it,” he said stubbornly. “Maybe it would make her understand what I
am, what I’ve become. It would show her
that I’m still here with her and that I still love her.”
“Oh brother,” Lindy said with an exasperated roll of the
eyes. “You are pathetic, you know
that? Just pathetic.”
AJ rolled his eyes back at her.
When he turned back to the necklace, he was startled to see a man reaching
into the window display from inside the store.
He watched in horror as the man took the necklace from the display and
disappear back into the store. Without a
second thought, AJ hurried in, Lindy reluctantly following him, muttering about
how utterly pathetic he was acting.
“Oh no!” AJ said, as he watched the salesperson holding the
necklace box out to a woman, who bent over it, inspecting the necklace.
“Would you like to try it on?” he heard the salesperson ask the
woman.
“Yes,” said the woman. The
man led her over to one of the counters, where there was a mirror, and fastened
the necklace around her neck. She leaned
against the counter, studying her refection in the mirror and gently fingering
the necklace, the salesperson standing watchfully behind her.
“Lindy, what am I going to do?” AJ moaned. “That necklace would be perfect for Bianca,
and that lady’s probably going to buy it!”
“What a pity,” Lindy said unsympathetically.
AJ sighed. “Thanks,” he
muttered sarcastically.
Lindy rolled her eyes.
“Well, you can’t just stand there and let her buy it if you want it so
bad,” she said. “You gotta take action.”
“What kind of action?” AJ asked, puzzled.
“Watch the pro.” AJ obeyed,
watching as Lindy stood still for a moment, holding one hand out in front of
her. Then she crossed to the room where
the woman and salesman were standing, bent over, and pinched the woman’s
rear. The woman let out a shriek and
spun around, her eyes flashing angrily at the salesman.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” she screamed.
“E-excuse me? What are you
talking about, ma’am?” the bewildered man asked.
“Here, take your necklace!
You’ve just lost a customer,” spat the woman, quickly unfastening the
necklace and roughly shoving it into the salesperson’s hand.
“Wait, ma’am, I don’t understand!
What’s wrong?” the man cried, chasing after the woman as she stormed out
of the store.
“Stay away from me, or you’ll be facing a sexual harassment
lawsuit!” she hissed, hurrying away and disappearing within the crowds of
people walking the mall.
“Lindy! That was awesome!”
AJ exclaimed, impressed. “You rock,
girl, thanks!”
“Whatever,” Lindy said with a wave of her hand, but AJ could tell
she was quite pleased with herself.
“Now there’s only one problem,” AJ said. “How am I supposed to buy that
necklace?” It wasn’t like he could just
walk up to the salesman with his credit card and purchase the necklace, not
when he was invisible and could barely use his hand. No, it seemed the only way to get the necklace
was to… steal it.
How hypocritical would that be? AJ thought. An angel shoplifting from a jewelry store?
But then again, it was for
a good cause…
***
“I can’t believe we’re doing this!” Lindy hissed, as she and AJ
passed through the walls of the jewelry store late that night. The store, like the rest of the mall, was
dark and deserted, for it was hours past closing.
“It’s not really stealing,” AJ insisted. “We’re leaving money behind to pay for
it. You’ve still got the money, right?”
Lindy rolled her eyes and held up a fistful of bills, which they
had recovered from the secret supply of cash AJ had always kept hidden in his
house, just in case. And now, AJ
thought, it’s finally come in handy.
“Good,” he said. “Okay,
take the necklace from the display and just leave it all there on the cushion
so the owner will know what it’s for.”
“You are completely insane, aren’t you?” Lindy said in
disgust. “Do you really see nothing
wrong with doing this?”
“Of course not. I’m not
saying it’s exactly right, but we are paying for it, and how else to you
expect me to buy it?” AJ shot back.
“You don’t buy it!
That’s just it. Whether you like
it or not, you’re dead, and dead boyfriends don’t go buying their girlfriends
Christmas presents. It’s not like Bianca
will believe it’s from you anyway. She’s
going to think it’s some twisted joke again.”
AJ was afraid of that, but he had to try. He just had to get in contact with her
sometime. He had to make her believe.
“Well, whether you like it or not, I’m buying this
necklace. So get the necklace, put down
the money, and let’s go,” said AJ firmly.
“Fine,” muttered Lindy, reluctantly exchanging the necklace for
the wad of bills. She closed the open
jewelry box over the necklace and handed it to AJ. “There you go. Happy now?”
‘Yes,” said AJ with a grin.
“Thank you, Lindy.”
“Whatever. Let’s blow this
joint,” said Lindy, turning on her heel and stalking out through the wall, AJ
happily tagging after her.
***
