The Last Noel by Michael Malone Read Free Book Online Page A

woman sat down and with one finger began to play “Scarborough Fair.” A man with a plate of little biscuits leaned over and sang in her face, “Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.” His red tie said, “Ho Ho Ho,” all over it.
    Another man in a shiny plaid jacket ran at a woman shouting, “Here come the judge!”
    Kaye noticed that the red velvet wings on the angel atop the fourteen-foot Christmas tree were the same color as Mrs. Tilden's dress. He noticed that hanging from the mantel above the fireplace were five now empty red stockings, five—even though Gordon had been dead for almost a year. He wondered if they had filled Gordon's stocking this year, and if so, who had taken out all his gifts?
    Behind a table with curved legs stood Noni's father with his handsome blond head and his son Gordon's soft sweet smile. He sang, “God rest you merry, gentlemen!” and called out “Peace on Earth, Ladies!” over and over as he poured eggnog from a huge scalloped silver bowl into small silver cups and handed them to the men and women buzzing around him. He wore a beautiful dark green jacket, and the color of thejacket matched his soft silk tie. Kaye noticed that Mr. Tilden filled his own cup with bourbon whenever he added more to the punch bowl.
    â€œHey there, Princess. It's been a hard day's night.”
    â€œI know, Daddy.”
    Noni's father pulled her under his arm and kissed her hair as he reached to shake Kaye's hand. “Hey there, Kaye! Peace and brotherhood, man.”
    â€œPeace and brotherhood, Mr. T.” The boy noticed the beautiful gold wristwatch Tilden always wore and then saw a swollen scab on his wrist; there was a red streak running from the sore up under his shirt cuff. Kaye pointed at it. “Something looks bad on your hand.”
    Laughing, Noni's father pulled up his cuff and showed a red streak following the veins of his arm. “Unscrewing a light bulb and it broke off.” He handed eggnog to a tall thin homely faced man in a pearl gray Nehru jacket listening to their conversation with an unlit cigarette in his mouth. “Hey, Jack, let me light your fire.”
    Tilden reached toward him with his silver lighter but the skinny man brushed it aside, then took the swollen hand and pulled it close to his face. Tilden winced when he poked at the sore and told him, “Bud, this kid's right. You got blood poisoning here that’ll be headed straight for your heart if you don’t look after it. I’m giving you a prescription for antibiotics. Start taking them tomorrow.”
    â€œOh sure.”
    The homely man turned to Noni. “And you, kid, you’re anemic. Eat more spinach.” Grinning, he pulled forward a tall, well-built teenaged boy standing bored beside him in a blue blazer and striped tie. “And will you tell my son the jock here to treat me with a little more respect? I’m a doctor, for Christ sake!”
    Noni smiled shyly at the older teenager. “Hi, Roland.”
    â€œTell him,” nudged the thin man.
    â€œTreat your dad with a little more respect. He's a doctor.”
    The handsome boy grinned, brushing back his black curls, looking her over. “Sure thing, whatever you say, Noni.”
    Noni explained as she and Kaye moved on through the crowd. “That was my godfather, Jack Hurd.”
    â€œAnd his son the jock.”
    â€œRoland's okay. Doctor Jack delivered me. He calls himself my ‘Deliverer.’ He's nice. He runs OB/GYN at the medical school.”
    Kaye wasn’t precisely sure what the letters OB/GYN stood for, and would be certain to check them out later. “Infections can go straight to your heart,” he told her. “Your daddy better be careful.”
    â€œI know.” Noni led Kaye into the crowd. “My mom met Doctor Jack in college before she met my dad. She said Doctor Jack wasn’t her type. He was a Roanoke Scholar; that's the best