Free All I Want for Christmas by Lynn Emery Page A

insistent. She had
attended law school with Kevin Bates and they shared a deep dislike
for Constable Davidson.
    Carlos gave up pretending
that he wanted to eat. “That is months in the future, and it won’t
be a topic of conversation between Nedra and I. Look, where Nedra’s
mother lives and Rod Davidson’s political ambitions have nothing to
do with us. Please don’t try to insert yourself into my love life
again. I’ll give you the ‘I’m a grown man’ speech if
necessary.”
    “Excuse me. I was trying to
have a reasonable discussion with you. I’m not getting into your
personal business.” Yvonne sipped some more tea and cleared her
throat. “You don’t have to throw a hissy fit about your latest
fling. I’m sure there will be many others, as you said.”
    “I didn’t say anything
about...” Carlos stopped, counted to five and closed the top of the
plastic box containing his lunch. “Nedra is not some fling. She’s
not a woman I plan to throw away later.”
    “So this is serious?”
Yvonne latched onto his words, raising both eyebrows. “Well, well,
well.”
    “I also didn’t mean to
imply that we’re making wedding plans. We like each other and we’re
dating; that’s it. She’s smart, funny and has good common sense. I
can talk to her. She’s...” Carlos tried to put into words how Nedra
made him feel. “She’s not looking to get something out of
me.”
    Yvonne gazed at him. “I
see.”
    He held up his hands, palms
out. “Nothing complicated, Mother. We’re having fun, getting closer
to see if... where we’re going. Which could mean going our separate
ways,” Carlos added quickly.
    Yvonne tilted her head to
one side. “Let me say one last thing and then I’ll drop the
subject.”
    Carlos didn’t believe her,
but couldn’t be bothered to argue. “Fine,” he replied.
    “Rod Davidson is a
two-fisted campaigner. Don’t let that jolly, teddy bear facade fool
you. He’ll look for any scrap of mud to throw at Kevin. If he gets
wind of that little incident and the fact that the mayor helped us
out...” Her voice trailed off.
    Carlos did not return her
gaze. “I wasn’t charged with a felony. The district attorney and
police didn’t break any laws or rules.”
    “No one will care; not if
they hear that you got caught up in an investigation of drug
dealers,” Yvonne argued. “Thank God they had no proof that you
helped conceal cocaine and marijuana in those SUVs you detailed.
Why in the world you opened a business in the hood...”
    “Pop wanted me to stand on
my own, so he didn’t loan me the money for a better location.
Besides, not all of my customers turned out to be drug dealers.
There are a lot of good people in Easy Town,” added Carlos referred
to the high crime area of the city.
    “So, Ms. Wallace knows you
were doing the last few hours of your community service at the
Thanksgiving dinner?” Yvonne asked mildly.
    Carlos swallowed past the lump in his throat.
“No. I mean not yet.”
    His mother leaned forward. “Not ever, Carlos.
This isn’t just about you. I have an election, too.”
    Silence stretched several
beats before he sighed and muttered, “Fine.”
     
     

Chapter 6
     
     
    Nedra looked at the lights
downtown with a wide grin, feeling like a little girl again. The
second weekend in December brought on the first city-sponsored
celebration. A band played on the square in front of city
hall.
    After a short speech, Mayor
Bates and several other officials flipped the switches to light a
huge Christmas tree. Holiday lights strung up in the huge old trees
graced the boulevard and hung from street lamps. Sparkling LED
bulbs in the shape of stars dangled from street signs as well. A
cheer went up and the local band went back to playing jazzy holiday
tunes.
    “You’re really into
Christmas lights, I see,” said Carlos, squeezing Nedra’s hand as he
spoke into her ear.
    “Since the first time I saw them. My daddy
would put up our tree the Saturday after