No More Swedish Meatballs Pt. 02

“Look what arrived yesterday in a package of gifts for the kids,” he said as he tossed the letter onto Jim’s desk. “Who the hell does she think she is,” he swore as he tossed the letter onto Jim’s desk. “Not a word for six months and now this. The kids are just starting to adjust. Presents! But not one word to me or greetings to the kids. You should have seen their faces. This brought it all back to them like it was yesterday. I wish she’d stay the fuck away.”

Phillips handed the letter back to Karl and sighed. He’d thought something like this would be coming. It was rotten it had to happen at Christmas. “You know what we’re going to have to do, don’t you,” he asked. “This’s a break for us. We’ve been looking for Max and Evelyn for six months. We have to bring her in. She can lead us to Max.”

“I’ve thought about that. I’m not so sure that’s true. Evelyn isn’t stupid. Why the long silence and suddenly this?” It’s my guess that Evelyn and Max are on the outs. She’s probably holed up somewhere broke and scared. Why don’t I suggest to the lawyer that I make a visit to his office after Christmas? Evelyn and I can meet and work something out. She may need protection.”

How can a grown man be so naive? Philips thought sadly. That’s not a good idea. If Max put her up to this he may be planning something. I don’t think his group was very happy when he arrived with Evelyn and not you last summer. They may want to use more persuasive measures to get you into their camp.

“What do you mean.?

“This may be a trap to abduct you and use you’re talents or extract whatever they can get out of you.”

“Is that what they did to Evelyn?” Karl asked bitterly. He hated this cloak and dagger business. Sometimes he thought the whole world was insane. This race for new technology they didn’t understand. This spy versus spy crap and the unending demand for new military applications. And for what? It’d almost destroyed his family and practically taken over his life. Christ, I should’ve become a carpenter like the old man.

“We don’t know anything we’re not telling you, “ he said evenly. But if there’s going to be contact between you and Evelyn it’s gonna have to be on our turf. Contact the lawyer. Send him a note by overnight mail inviting Evelyn to the Christmas party.”

“That’s not a good idea. It’s not going to be the two families this year. Kristen and Lizzy have invited guests.”

“That’s even better. They won’t be able to try anything if there’re other people around. They don’t want to tip their hand.’ Beside, Evelyn has a right to see the kids. Things could go badly for you in court down the road if you decide to file for divorce.

“Forget it.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“Oh, so it’s like that is it? God DAMN you, and your agenda. If I had half a brain I’d walk out of this building and never look back. Who the fuck am I working for, anyway? How do I know you’re not as bad as the Cabal?

Jim remained unfathomed. He reasoned with Karl, knowing what needed to be done but not wanting to push his friend too far. “You know we’re not on Max’s side. You’ve been working with us for six months now. Sure, it’s spy versus spy, but you know what the Cabal is after. Do you want to turn your back on all you’ve accomplished over the past, what is it – 16 years.”

Sixteen years. Where did the time go? No. I don’t want Max’s Group to get the kind of power it’s looking for.

“Oh hell,” Karl knew Jim was right. “But I’ll be damned if I’m buying her a Christmas present. So, what are we going to do with Evelyn if she shows. And I’m not sure she will. For all I know this’s some kind of ruse by Max or his superiors.”

“I think it’s time Evelyn made a little trip to Princeton. I know some people who would really like to talk to her.”

“Christ. Be gentle with her. Remember, she’s not very stable.”

“I know. But it’s gonna be different than it was with you. You must know she’s already been debriefed by Max. That would have been SOP when he and Evelyn got to wherever it is they ended up.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Karl admitted. “Christ, what am I gonna tell the kids?”

Karl decided to leave the arrangements to Jim and his cronies. The less I know about it the better. He thought as he trudged through his office conclave. It’s going to be hard enough facing her with what I know now. GODDAMN Christmas. He felt somehow betrayed by Jim, who’d been his best friend over the years. I feel like a whore, except it’s my brain they’re using. I wonder what they’d do if I up and quit? He tried to imagine a life away from the Company in a rural setting where he made his living through the fruit of his hands and the sweat of his back. Visions of verdant farmland swam before him. He could almost taste what it would be like to live in such a world. Ned’s almost ready for college. Then Lizzy the year after him. Two more years with just Kristen and then….”

But he couldn’t imagine what he would do. Re-marry, maybe raise another set of kids. Hell no. Maybe I’ll teach. With that thought to sustain him Karl settled in for another day of theory, numbers crunching and design.

Then in the blink of an eye the holiday was before upon them. On Wednesday Lizzy came home from school and threw a tizzy fit. “Look at this place,” she shrieked at Kristen and Ned. Karl wasn’t home from work yet. “Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve and it’s a disaster area. We’re living like a bunch of pigs.”

Ned gazed at Lizzy with calm gray eyes. “What’s bit your butt, Lizzy?” he asked.

“This place. Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve. We haven’t even begun to clean.

“It’s not so bad,” Ned replied as he started up the stairs. “Oh no you don’t,” Lizzy was fast and could be mean when she was in a rage. She ran up the stairs after him.

Rats, Kristen thought sullenly. I wanted to go sledding. Maybe I should just duck out and….

“Don’t even think about skipping out,” Lizzy yelled from the balustrade as if she could read Kristen’s mind.

“Oh come on, I can clean later. I’m supposed to meet Rita and go sledding.” The snowfall the other night had given them a foot of powder. The neighborhood kids had managed to block off the street so the hated cinder truck couldn’t get through to ruin the near perfect sledding conditions. This was an era before snow removal had become a fine art. The local snow plow had come by halfway through the storm, blocking everyone’s car in and leaving behind a fine, hard packed layer of ice on the streets of the neighborhood. Snow had drifted over the ice turning the street into a slalom course.

“You’ve had enough sledding over the past few days to last for the rest of the year, Lizzy said with a nasty tone in her voice.

Kristen backed down. It wasn’t worth a pitched battle. Besides, Lizzy was right. The house was a mess. Best to clean now and sled after dinner. And there was always tomorrow. “All right, where do you want me to start?” Kris

“Get the vacuum cleaner out and… no. Dust first, everything’s filthy. Ned, you clean the bathrooms, I’m gonna straighten out the dining room.” They’d only eaten dinner in the dining room once since Evelyn left – on Thanksgiving. The room had become a catch – all for everything no one wanted to put away. Ned had a school project set up on the dining room table. The old secretary was spilling over with unsorted junk mail, bills and correspondence Karl had gotten behind on. The tops of the matching buffet and server were strewn with the flotsam and jetsam of their busy every day life.

Gosh, what am I going to do with all this stuff? How did we collect so much stuff since Thanksgiving? The next couple of hours were spent in a flurry of cleaning and then there was dinner to prepare. It was Lizzy’s turn to cook. When Karl walked in the door the three kids burst into a homemade version of “White Christmas,” with Kristen singing harmony. It was Karl’s most hated Christmas carol – sickly sweet and sappy as hell. It was, Karl thought. Hollywood at it’s worst.

Karl watched his talented children with amusement. “Whose house is this and what have you done to my children?” He pretended to turn around and leave. “This can’t be my home. It’s too clean. Oh, I get it. You’re sucking up to Santa Clause. Well forget it. The votes are already in. None of you are getting any presents. Just coal and switches. So you can go ahead and mess up the house.”

“Okay,” Lizzy said, laughing. “I’ll go throw out dinner. Come on you guys,” she said to her siblings. They headed into the kitchen to set the table and put out the food.

Karl followed pretending to have his eyes closed. He sniffed the air. Let me guess what’s for dinner. Could it be hamburger?”

It was a safe bet. They, and just about everyone on the block, and probably everyone in middle America ate some form of ground beef about five nights out of seven. If it wasn’t grilled hamburgers it was beef-a-roni, or chili, or spaghetti and meat balls, and so on and so forth.

Dinner was soon on the table. Tonight it was hamburgers in mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes and canned peas. Plain fare but good.

After dinner Lizzy declared the house presentable so they were able to get in a few good hours of sledding. Karl said they could stay out until 10:00 if they stayed together. No school ‘til next year,” Kristen thought happily as she dragged her sled out of the garage. She was a good student but school bored her. She often drifted miles away during class lost in thought and fantasy.

Karl heaved a sigh of relief after the kids tumbled out the door. He needed some time alone. He was dreading the Christmas party tomorrow. He was no good at subterfuge and hated the idea of pulling a fast one on Evelyn. He hated the thought that he was turning in the mother of his children for interrogation.

If she shows that is. God help her, let her not show.

H poured himself a shot of vodka from the bottle he’d bought for the Yule glug. He felt like leaving the dishes to do themselves and getting stinking drunk. He knew he wouldn’t. The specter of his alcoholic father loomed over him like the ghost of Christmas past. So he downed his drink and set about the tedious task of grinding the meat for tomorrow night’s dinner. Then he rolled a couple hundred little meatballs. Memories of past Christmases haunted him. Bad things always happened at Christmas – illness, eviction, death. Now this.

He lost himself in the little jobs which had which needed to be done to get Christmas right. At least I’ve been able to make Christmas Eve a joyous tradition for the kids. Unlike my parents. Let’s hope Evelyn doesn’t come in and ruin it. He wondered what Evelyn had been up to for the past six months. She’d probably been thoroughly debriefed by Max’s friends. Well, at least we know she’s alive. Deep down inside he’d been worried that they’d simply killed when they were done with her. Jim had told Karl a bit about the Cabal over the past six months. They were ruthless sons of bitches who believed they could do anything as long as it furthered their long term agenda. And they thought they were saving the world. Assholes Karl though bitterly. They’d be willing to destroy everything good and right in the present for their precious new world order. Like they can really predict what the future is going to hold. They just don’t get it. It’s Alice in Wonderland. Jam yesterday and jam tomorrow but never jam today. Fuck the present for the good of the future. But they never seem to fuck their own present. No, they were survivors. They knew how to stay safe and comfortable while they were carrying out their agenda. Bunch of delusional idiots, he thought bitterly. It’d come home to roost some day.

Finished with the meatballs he moved on to other tasks. The kids came in wet and happy after almost four hours of uninterrupted sledding. That’s the stuff that memories are made of. The kids went straight to bed. Karl followed shortly, shutting off lights and turning down the thermostat as he went.

As always Christmas Eve Day passed in a flurry of activity. There was the inevitable last minute rush to the store for Angel Chime candles and more wrapping paper. Karl let Ned drive. It was the first time he’d driven in snow and he sweated bullets the whole ways. The trip took three times longer than expected because the Hardware Store was crowded and the kids decided to pool the remains of their Christmas funds to get a gift for Evelyn. Then they couldn’t decide what to get. They finally settled on a fine wool sweater.

Karl was glad the kids didn’t know about Jim’s plan to take Evelyn to Princeton after the party. He hoped they never found out. It seemed like such a betrayal.

It was dark by the time they got home. “Come on kids, let’s go,” he directed as they started to throw snowballs at each other. We’ve still got a lot to do before 7:30.

Kristen didn’t mind. This was the fun part of getting ready. The pause between the lightening and the thunder. The magical time when anything was possible. She wrapped Evelyn’s present and put it under the tree, inhaling the wonderful pine scent that lingered and mingled with the other smells of Christmas. The allspice which made the meatballs so special, the wood fire in the fireplace, the scent of candles.

Kristen lit the angel chimes. The little brass angels began to spin and the sound, along with the happy clatter of the buffet being spread in the dining room added to the spell. She nabbed a piece of marzipan. The taste filled her with memories of past Christmases. Suddenly she was excited about seeing her mother.

Then it was time to get dressed. Lizzy and Kristen skipped happily up the stairs. They always got along on Christmas Eve. They chattered away as they put on their Christmas attire. Only twenty minutes until the guest were due.

The door bell rang. “Uh oh, they’re early,” Kristen said, her dark blue velvet dress over her head. I wonder who it is. Neither girl was fully dressed yet.

Karl was fussing in the kitchen. He had stage fright. He went through it every year. This year was the worst it’d ever been. New guests plus Evelyn. He worried about having enough meatballs. Was the silta up to snuff. Would anyone eat the lude fisck. He jumped when he hear the doorbell. I hope it’s not Evelyn. It would be just swell to have to entertain her while waiting for the other guests to arrive. Hi sweetie, how’s Max? he imagined himself saying. Ned was outside getting more firewood and the girls were upstairs. Karl went to open the door. He was surprised to find a police officer standing in the light of the front porch.

“Hello officer,” he said with a question in his voice. “Merry Christmas.”

“Are you Karl Hansen?”

“Yes.” Karl got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Can I help you?”

“Can I come in?” the officer asked politely.

“Yes, sure.” Karl stepped aside and let the officer proceed into the foyer. “What can I do for you.”

The cop looked distressed. “I’m Officer Brandon. I hate to break in on you at Christmas, but I’m afraid there’s been an accident.”

“An accident?” Karl was perplexed.

“An automobile accident.”

Karl felt like he’d been kicked in the stomach. It’s the Christmas curse. Almost everything really bad that had ever happened to Karl happened near Christmas.

“Why don’t you come into the living room,” Karl suggested, wanting to put off the inevitable moment when his world would change yet again.

Brandon followed Karl into the living room. It was well decked out for the season with a beautiful tree and lots of trimmings. “Nice,” Brandon said, “very Christmassy.”

“An accident, you said?” Karl prompted the cop. “Would you like a drink?” he asked nervously, wanting something to do with his hands.

“Sure,” Brandon said, surprising Karl. “It’s Christmas. Takes the edge off the cold.”

Karl stepped into the dining room and poured a couple of highballs. He had a feeling he was going to need some Dutch courage. He could tell by the cop’s demeanor that whatever was up wasn’t good. Goddamn Christmas jinx. He didn’t see Kristen peer over the balustrade to see which guest had arrived early.

“What’s this about?” he asked as he handed over the drink. He took a long slug of his own.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings,” Brandon said as he sipped from his glass, “especially at Christmas.”

“An accident you say?” Karl was nonplussed. “What...? Where? One of my guests?” Karl thought about the snowy rode conditions and was concerned.

“It’s your wife, Mr. Hansen. I’m afraid she was hit by a drunk driver. On her way here, I’m told.

“Oh my God,” Karl said worriedly. “Was she hurt? Where is she now?”

“Yes,” Brandon said shortly. It’s bad. She was pretty banged up. She’s on her way to the hospital by ambulance. She asked for you before she lost consciousness.”

“Oh Christ. She’s not….”

“I think she’ll make it. That’s what the attendant said. But you need to get to the hospital right away. I’ll drive. The roads aren’t in very good shape. Why don’t you get your coat.”

It’ll take me a few minutes to get ready. I have to make some calls and talk to the kids. You look hot, officer, why don’t you take off your hat and coat and make yourself comfortable.”

“I’m alright,” Brandon said stiffly.

“Another drink? Or some food? Just help yourself. The kids’re in their rooms,” he said as he went up the stairs. Oh God he thought. Why this? Why now? What am I going to tell them?

He told Ned first. Ned’s face drained of color. He looked like he was about to pass out.

“Go downstairs and mix yourself a drink, son. Keep the cop company. Ask him whatever you want. I’m gonna go talk to the kids.

“Hell,” Ned said. “This is awful. Are you sure there’s no mistake? Can I come with you to the hospital?”

Karl thought a moment. “Yeah, he said. We should all go.” He wondered if this would be the last time he’d see Evelyn. “The cop said it’s bad. That’s all I know right now.”

He left his son, who went downstairs and took up Karl’s offer of a drink. The cop was in the dining room helping himself to a plate of food. Meanwhile Karl knocked on the girls’ bedroom door. Time was slowing down for Karl as it always did during a disaster.

Kristen opened the door. She looked beautiful in a brand new blue velvet dress. She also looked very upset. She was wearing the faux pearls her mother had given her last Christmas. Karl wanted to cry. Kristen was becoming a little lady. They grow up so fast he thought.

“You look lovely, Kitten, “Karl said.

“What’s wrong daddy,” Kristen asked.

Lizzy was seated at her vanity fussing with her hair. Her maroon dress and green garnet necklace made her look like a budding movie star. Her glossy brown hair was a riot of curls. She got the best of both of us, Karl thought. Lizzy resembled Evelyn but her facial features were softened by Karl’s big, grave eyes and broad smile.

She looked like a Christmas wreath.

“Who was at the door?” Lizzy asked.

“It’s a policeman.” Karl said.

“I told you so,” Kristen said to her sister. “What does he want?” Kristen had gotten only a glimpse of the man from the top of the stairs but she had recognized him immediately as the man who had spooked her and Rita on the train two weeks ago. She was really scared.

“I have some bad news,” Karl said slowly.

“It’s mom, isn’t it?” Kristen asked.

“Yes. There’s been a car accident. Apparently your mother’s pretty badly hurt. Officer Brandon wants to take me to Bryn Mayr hospital.”

“Is she dying?” Lizzy asked in a small voice. She started to cry.

“No,” Karl assured her. “The cop said she was going to pull through. But we have to get to the hospital. Brandon wants me to go with him but I think we should all go together. I have to call everyone and cancel the party.” He glanced at his watch. “Oh hell, look at the time.” It was 7:50 already. “People are going to start arriving any minute. Well, we’ll have to wait for them before we can go.”