Miracle on Slutty 4th Street Ch. 00

Snow fell outside as night set in, and the house was filled with voices. Lights on the Christmas tree twinkled in the windows, and the Carroll family caught up with each other, coming together like all good families should during the holidays.

For the moment, all was well.

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The Fourth Street neighborhood meeting had been a staple for this small group of homes for years now. People came and went, but these meetings kept happening. Doris Carroll was the one who had originally spearheaded this get together decades prior, and through thick and thin, the meetings never ceased. Every two months or so, one of the houses in the neighborhood would host a get together where people would eat and drink and go over neighborhood issues. Doris took pride in the neighborhood, and she took steps to ensure the neighborhood was putting its best foot forward, and if any issues arose, they would confront them head-on. Typically, these things were minor, an unkempt lawn here, deteriorating paint there. Sometimes, the issues would be bigger. A few years prior, a group of college kids shared a house at the corner, and with that brought parties. And with that came noise complaints. Thanks to the gentle but insistent haranguing of the neighborhood homeowners, those kids didn't last long before they began looking elsewhere for housing. This was a good little neighborhood, and they wanted to keep it that way. Doris had lost a lot in her life. But, other than her family, this neighborhood was her biggest point of pride. Once her husband had gone, and her kids had grown up and moved away, it was all she had left.

Doris had hosted the previous meeting a couple months prior, so this time, her next-door neighbor, Polly, was hosting. Even though there was only about a 15 year difference age-wise between the two, it seemed like there was a whole world of difference between them. Doris was your standard, average grandma. She was a friendly, grey haired, plump, bespectacled old lady. She was a woman resigned to old age and accepted it with pride. Polly was younger, and she still seemed with it in a way Doris never could. She knew all the current trends and pop culture. She dressed fashionably and kept herself looking good, staying fit and healthy. Polly had been a major looker in her younger years, and she had held onto her good looks even though she was now a grandmother. On top of that, she could easily talk with younger people and not seem like some doddering old lady. Doris couldn't make that same claim. Both women were grandmothers, but only one of them acted like one.

Polly had three kids, just like Doris did, but instead of three boys, Polly had two boys, with her eldest being her daughter. Her house was busy at this time of the year too, as all her kids were home, as were the grandkids, but they were all out for the night to leave room for the all-important meeting. Doris and Polly didn't see eye-to-eye on everything, but even Doris had to admit Polly was an excellent cook, and she had put together an exceptional spread of food. Prime Rib. Mashed potatoes. Green Beans. On top of that, there were snacks. A meat and cheese tray. Outstanding cookies, the best you've ever had. Polly went all out.

There was someone here from every house on the street, well, most of the houses. There was Doris and Polly, obviously. There was also their neighbor from across the street, Sylvia Morris, a mom in her forties with two grown kids. The attractive, dark haired older woman fit in well with her older peers, although there were moments that showed she might have a darker edge. But she behaved herself in these meetings, and her favorite topic of conversation was her two kids. Her daughter just gotten married, and ever since, Sylvia had been gushing about her new son-in-law and how well he was treating her daughter.

Then there was Janet Winston.

In Doris's mind, Janet had been a blight on the neighborhood ever since moving to the area so many years back. The old bat stuck out in the neighborhood like a sore thumb. For the longest time, she was the only one on the road who didn't go to the church. Or have a family. But she always had an opinion about how things were going, and she did just enough in the neighborhood to stay involved in these meetings.

Doris had never liked her, and with good reason. They were complete opposites. Doris had been a family-centric, church-going, kind-hearted woman, and Janet was, well... a complete and total slut. She'd always been that way, from the day she moved in to the neighborhood to the present. Janet was closer in age to Doris than she would like to admit, but she carried herself like a hot young thing in her twenties. Sure, in her younger years, she had been attractive, but that was years ago. Now, her hair was grayer, she'd put on the kind of weight that comes with aging, she had a lot more wrinkles, and her large breasts had some significant sagging. Yet, she still dolled herself up and acted like she was a young hot babe. To Doris, this was nauseating.

They'd been at odds for years. When Doris was still married, and they'd have neighborhood events, it wasn't uncommon to find Janet flirting with Doris's husband. Doris was never one to get in screaming matches, so she simply made some passive aggressive comments and left it at that, confident in her husband's fidelity. And when her husband did leave her, no one took more delight in it than Janet, happily spreading gossip to everyone that would hear her.

Doris would gossip back, but it wasn't so much gossip as it was sharing of total fact. Because it seemed like every time Doris would look towards Janet's house, she'd see some new guy going in or leaving. Janet was a total whore, and she was pretty bold about it. Keep in mind this was happening a long time ago, when behavior like this wasn't normal, and Doris made sure to share the news of their spinster neighbor, in hopes of getting her shamed out of the neighborhood. But Janet was a woman without shame, which is why she still lived here to this day.

But as time went on, Doris's feelings softened. Not that she didn't still dislike the other woman, because she did, but to her, there was no point in carrying a grudge for so long. Doris was decent enough to keep thing cordial as the years passed, even as Janet took great pleasure in needling her. It always felt like Janet was trying to get one over her, even from the start of them knowing each other, and that continued to this day, in ways that Doris didn't even know. If she knew that Janet had been shamelessly flirting with each of her sons for years whenever she ran into them, from when they college-aged to the present, maybe Doris would not be so forgiving. Janet knew this cold war was going on between them, and she knew that if she could lure one of those young men into her bed, that would be the ultimate point of victory. The winning chess move in their lifelong rivalry. But alas, none of them took the bait, and none of them ever mentioned these strange encounters to their mother, as they were used to their old neighbor being like this.

So, their rivalry was currently more about catty comments and the spreading of gossip, mostly coming from Janet. Janet took great joy in frustrating her old neighbor. But Doris didn't let the old spinster get to her, and she didn't let the other woman's salacious lifestyle stop her from being polite. She wouldn't dare descend to that woman's level.

That was the most negative Doris felt about any of her neighbors. Let's move on to some people more positive. Lacey and Derrick had moved into the neighborhood this past spring, and Doris was delighted by them. They were a couple fresh out of college, and they were the exact type of people who belonged in this neighborhood. Friendly and polite, they were happy to get involved with their neighbors and help out in any way they could. These two were outgoing and well-informed about current events and could hold a conversation about anything. On top of that, they were both very attractive. Derrick was a handsome, clean-cut young man, a kind and caring husband who worked hard and treated his wife well. And Lacey was a blonde haired, blue-eyed stunner, as effervescent and kind as could be, with a big heart and even bigger breasts. Derrick was a lucky man to land her, but when you spoke to her, you could sense a strength and toughness to her that let you know there was substance there. They were a great example that the next generation of people coming up weren't so bad after all.

So, that was who was here at the meeting at the moment. Doris, Polly, Sylvia, Janet, Lacey and Derrick. But that didn't represent the entire neighborhood. There were the Burkhouses, Kevin and Cassandra, and they usually attended these meetings, but with the holidays, Kevin was working long hours, and Cassandra was at home with the babies, so no one could really criticize their absence. There was also Dr. Wen, who as a doctor was so busy that he never showed to these things, and again, no one could really disapprove of that.

Then there was Bruce.

A resident of the neighborhood for a few years now, Bruce had made exactly zero effort to make friends with his neighbors or participate in any of the local activities. He went to work, or went to the bar, or just came home. That was it. None of them really knew him well, and any conversation any of them had with him had been unpleasant to say the least.

To put it bluntly, he was a mean, unpleasant old man who made it a point to be as unfriendly and unlikeable as possible. Not one person had a good thing to say about him. The funny thing was he wasn't even that old, maybe 50 or 55, but he was going on 70 the way he carried himself. None of them looked forward to ever dealing with him, so it was a relief that he never showed up to any of these meetings.

After meals were served and they all chatted, they began talking about various neighborhood issues. At this time of year, a lot of typical issues weren't there, but some new ones did arise.

"We need to have someone look at that intersection," Doris stated. "The stop sign is hidden by the trees, and it always seems to ice over as soon as the first snowfall hits..."

"Yeah. Kevin Burkhouse got into an accident there last night," Sylvia stated. "I was talking to his wife. Apparently, he slid through the intersection and got hit."

"Jeez..." Doris said. "You know someone who works in the city, don't you, Polly?"

"Yeah," Polly replied. "I'll talk to him. He's been really busy with all the stuff with that 'North Pole' plant they just opened, so I don't know how free he'll be."

North Pole LLC was one of the fastest rising companies in the world. It had existed forever, but in the past few years, it had made its presence known, becoming a multi-billion-dollar company seemingly overnight. They had their hands in everything it seemed, from toys to clothing to food and chemicals. It was centered on Christmas related stuff, obviously, but they had their hands in so much more. They had opened these giant plants across the nation, including one here. These plants produced most of their product and distributed all of them too. The plant was gigantic, and while it did bring in jobs, it was not without controversy, as it quickly ran mom and pop businesses nearby out of business. It was a big, unescapable vortex of capitalism, and it made some people nervous.

"Oh!" Sylvia interjected. "Liam's gonna be interviewing the woman in charge of that plant tomorrow morning!" Sylvia said proudly, referring to her son Liam, who worked for a news website.

"Well, I hope he asks some tough questions," Lacey said. Her and her husband weren't fans of this big plant and had protested some of its more unpleasant features.

"He'll be tough on them. Liam's not so easy to please," Sylvia said. "Probably why he's not married."

"Oh, send him my way," Janet interjected with a wry smile. "I'll teach him a few things."

"Oh, stop..." Polly said, and Janet simply laughed.

"Feel free to send over that hunky grandson of yours too," Janet added. "I saw him out shoveling the snow, and mercy... that boy can shovel my snow anytime." Polly rolled her eyes and Doris blanched at this kind of talk. Polly and Janet actually got along well, with Polly often acting as an intermediary between the two women, as Polly was not one to wilt up when the conversation turned a bit blue, unlike Doris. Seeing the discomfort in the older woman, Janet continued. "What? There's been no hunks around for years, not since those delightful college boys lived here."

"Those 'delightful' college boys were loud, rowdy drunks who destroyed neighborhood property," Doris stated bluntly.

"Yeah, and that made it easier for me to pick off some of the stragglers for a bit of fun," Janet said, smirking and raising her eyebrows.

"Oh... God forbid," Doris said, disapprovingly. Janet chuckled at this. An awkward silence fell for a moment, before Janet interjected again.

"Well, if any of you want to talk about that new plant, you should talk to old Brucey," she said with a knowing smile. "I think he's working there now."

"Is he?" Sylvia asked, and Janet nodded. "How do you know? You two friends now?"

"God, no," Janet said. "Trust me, I don't like that asshole any more than anyone here. But... I just know things."

"We should talk about Bruce..." Doris began.

"Ughh..." Sylvia said.

"Well, it's just, as you all know, tomorrow is the biggest night of the year for Christmas lights and decorations. People from all over come driving through here. And everyone on the street participated and has made the street look great. Except him. I kinda think it's an embarrassment that he's the only one who hasn't put anything up," Doris explained.

"Does he even celebrate Christmas?" Polly asked.

"Who knows what unholy pagan holiday that unpleasant old fuck celebrates," Janet stated.

"Someone needs to go talk to him... see if we can change his mind..." Doris stated.

"Whose gonna volunteer for that death sentence?" Janet replied. The room remained silent. "You should go, Doris. You're the one that cares most about this stuff anyway."

"He..." Doris began. "He doesn't respond to me well." It was true. Last time she tried talking to him, he slammed the door in her face without a word. The room remained silent, until an unexpected voice entered the conversation.

"I can talk to him," Lacey volunteered. Immediately, the other women interjected.

"I don't think that's a good idea..." Polly said.

"I don't know..." Doris said.

"Hon, he'll eat you alive," Sylvia said.

"Well..." Derrick began. "Don't underestimate her. Lacey's a tough cookie. You'd be surprised what she's capable of. She can change even the most stubborn mind. She once talked the head of some aquarium into releasing their sea turtles. She... she might surprise you." Lacey smiled at her husband. She seemed like such a delicate, beautiful flower, but there was a fire to her. "She could make even the most hardened man crumble." They were all wondering how such a beautiful, pure, friendly young woman would fare against such an unpleasant, awful old guy like Bruce.

"I'm up for it," Lacey stated with a bright, effervescent smile, completely unafraid.

"Like I said, don't underestimate her," Derrick said with a proud smile. "She'll have that guy hanging up Christmas lights in no time!"

"She..." Janet began with a nod. "She should do it. Wouldn't hurt to try a different approach," she said, smiling, as if amused by the idea of Lacey the sweetheart interacting with such an unashamed prick like Bruce.

"Are you sure, honey?" Doris asked.

Putting her hands on her hips, and screwing up her face cutely, she spoke up.

"I'll have that mean old man singing Christmas carols," she said confidently.

Unsure, but admiring of her confidence, they gave the young blonde an impressed applause.

Things wound down from there on out, as each of them, other than Janet, helped clean up, and talked about their plans for the next day.

But none of them knew what the next day had planned for them, and how each of their lives would be impacted from it. Some good. Some bad. And they were all about to learn a very important lesson.

Christmas had changed. And Christmas was indeed coming for all of them.

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