Chapter 322

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I sent the burn phone home with Tiny Dancer and used the smarter than smart phone to call anyone I needed to call. My plan was to trade gifts with my friends the next day. I planned to put on my red pointed elf hat and make the rounds.

In the meantime I planned to enjoy the day. It was getting close to noon and all my shopping was done. I might be the only one in town who was sitting a story above the street watching the traffic run up and down. It was quite a sight even in a small town. Heavy traffic is a relative term. A hundred cars might be considered heavy in Aster and a thousand in the same space might be considered light in New York City.

I didn't need to dress warm even though it was thirty degrees outside, but I did anyway. I had to pretend to be just like the rest of the people on the street. At first glance all the downtown traffic was passing through. However when you looked closer there were people working even on Christmas Eve.

I left home with a very large black backpack. Inside that backpack I had small boxes of candy. No I hadn't been thoughtful enough to buy the candy, Sylvia had. She and Peter had bought it for me. I mentioned that I would like to do a give away someday, so they decided this was the year. I decided on the spur of the moment to go along with it. Too bad they weren't around to see it.

I wore red stretch ski pants and a red sweatshirt and a red sweater. Dressed in red with the elf hat, I made a pretty fair Anorexic Santa. I stopped in the news stand first to deliver my candy. I had been inside the newsstand maybe twice my whole time in town. Still it was Christmas and I was determined to walk down the street from end to end or until I ran out of candy. The owner was middle eastern he was not Christian, He took the candy and thanked me regardless. Several customers also took the small boxes.

From there I just just went randomly along the street dropping off boxes of candy. It didn't seem like a big deal to me, but the few kids I ran into loved it. It did nothing for my cover, nonetheless I was glad that I had done it.

I got about three forth of the candy distributed when Dancer called. "We have an after lunch date. Leon insists on going along." she said.

"I'm sure Vlad will want to go as well. What time is the meeting?" I asked.

"3:30 PM seemed to be the least crowded time. They seem to think I have a lot of money, so they are all hot and bothered to make the deal." she said.

"I hope Leon understands that if he goes in with you, he is going to have to play a pervert." I informed her.

"Sweetie according to himself, Leon was an excellent pervert player. He said to tell you that he has played a pervert most of his life," she said it with giggle.

"Very well, we shall see how he does. If he does a really good job, we will try to get him the perv of the year award." I said laughing. I worried for a second that he wouldn't see the humor, then I forgot it.

I still had candy to deliver. I took candy into a downtown jewelry store. "Merry Christmas," I said to the single man working there.

"Merry Christmas to you as well. It must have been a lean year Santa," he said.

"You know that the president's council on fitness is everywhere," I replied handing him the box of candy. "I expect to see you out at the mall walking after Christmas."

"I promise Santa," he said.

"Good, we want you around many more years," I said. I turned to walk out when the two young men rushed into the store. I knew from the looks they were giving me, that it was to be a hold up. Some things you just know without being told.

"Santa you need to put the bag down and get behind the counter with the clerk." one of the young men said.

I didn't like the vibe I got from the young man. He was too nervous and seemed to be manic. I had a bad feeling about them. I also had the .38 in a holster under the sweatshirt. Getting to it wouldn't be difficult. I just needed a distraction. It came when someone opened the front door. It was a young woman.

When both men looked to the door, I went for the .38. It came out clean as it always did. I had the pistol in the ear of the one closest to me.

"Now you want to hand me your pistol, or I'm going to blow the top of your head off. I'm the Homicidal Santa," I said. The one I had under control handed me his pistol. "Now get down on your knees and don't give me any shit."

I looked over to the second one. He had the girl who had entered in his hands. "You need to put those guns down," he said.

I didn't even answer him. I shot him right in the face. When they asked me later, why I did that without any warning, I explained that I was standing in the open with no cover. If I hadn't shot him, he could have shot me at any time. I did wait until the pistol was pointed at me before I shot him. It was an instant brain death shot. He was never any threat to me.

Of course I pretended otherwise. I cried and was traumatized to anyone who saw me after. Blevins came and interviewed me. "Turn it down a notch," he whispered as he smiled at me.

"Is there someone I need to call for you?" he asked as if he expected me to need help.