Christmas Writing 29: Nellie and The Christmas Gift

 

Nellie and The Christmas Gift

From the Novel Nellie

By Bill Ferguson

“The place we live in is not in the best part of town,” thought Nellie Harmon, “but at least this house is as nice as we can make it for Christmas.” She was just finishing up her preparations in the kitchen when there was a knock at the door. 

“I will get it,” said her mother. She looked back at Nellie as she opened the kitchen door “You stay in the kitchen.” Nellie knew that meant that her mother did not want anyone to know she had a daughter. That would simply ruin her image. It was somewhat late after what happened at the ball but her mother still pretended.

Nellie strained to hear what was being said. The voices however, were being spoken in quiet tones. Nellie nudged the door open with her foot, careful not to open it too wide. Her eyes were shocked at the sight in the doorway. 3 men stood there. Three men she knew very well as they were speakers at most of the outdoor speeches she had been at. All three were bearing gifts. Her mother welcomed them in.

Maizie,” spoke the Premier, “What an adorable little place you have here. Appearances certainly are deceiving.”

“They certainly are,” echoed the second man. “Although I must say that I am not at all surprised by where you live nor the charm and warmth of this.... house. You have a way of taking care of yourself. “

“Why thank you for the compliments,” her mother gushed. “Merry Christmas to you. What brings you by on this special night?”

The third man who had been hanging back spoke. “You have performed many services for my company over the past year. I am pleased to give you this little gift for the caution and consideration you have had for me and my company. With your help we averted a huge crisis.”

“I was pleased to be a help,” she said as she reached out for the envelope. “Thank you.”

“And my law firm has benefitted much from the information you have found for us this year. It allowed us to solve a number of cases peacefully without any harm coming to our respectable clients. Thank you so much.” and the lawyer handed over an envelope as well. “I have to join my family now so I must leave but I think we will be talking soon.”

“And I must go too,” said Mr. Eaton. “Have a Merry Christmas” and with a flourish both men exited the house. 

“Mr. Premier, I would think you have to go too.” she stated firmly, looking him in the eye. 

“Maizie,” he said softly.

“We agreed that this was going to be strictly political and nothing else. Now you go around having all these funny notions. I will help you where I can and that is all.”

“But Maizie,” 

“No buts about it, Mr. Premier. The past is the past. It always has been and always will be. I am moving forward and suggest you do the same.” 

“I have a gift for you,” he replied.

“And I thank you for it,” she replied, taking the package from him and putting it on a chair. “Now I think you need to go to your family. They will be pleased to see you.” she said, opening the door. 

He stepped towards the door and whispered, “Merry Christmas Maizie.” He stepped through the opening and the door closed tightly behind him. Maizie paused behind the door as Nellie stepped out from the kitchen. 

“That was interesting,” Nellie observed.

Maisie shot her quick look as she leaned against the closed door. “Business arrangements are never neat and tidy. Speaking of business I understand that you met with Merle Foster today.”

Nellie could feel the tension growing in the room. “I met Merle. She asked me to pose for one of her drawings.

“Did she have anything to say about me?” questioned her mother.

Nellie answered her directly, “Minimally. She was too focused on her drawing to have much conversation.”

Maizie looked at her daughter with a thoughtful expression. “Be careful around her. Her reach is long but her interests are selfish.”

Well now that is an interesting thought, thought Nellie. “Ok. I will be careful,” knowing full well the intent of her mother ran much deeper than that. Nellie knew that she would have to be very careful, not only with Merle but with anyone she met as her mother also had far reaching contacts as she had just witnessed.  

“My goodness, look at the time. I should be off to church.” Maizie replied quickly, moving to put on her coat and boots. “What are you going to do?”

Nellie eyed her mother carefully. “I think I am going to visit a friend for a while before I return to finish up here. With tomorrow being Christmas I should pay a visit. A short one I would think.” 

“That’s nice,” replied her mother absently. Nellie noticed a rushed tone to her answer. Maizie quickly opened the door and stepped outside before quickly closing the door behind her.

“Odd,” thought Nellie but then again this whole evening has been odd. She went to the kitchen to pick up the package she had been preparing. “There are things that need to be done,” she said to herself as she set her package down by the front door. She turned down the lights before she put her coat and boots on.  

Outside it was a crisp winter night. The moon was bright and the skies were filled with stars. There was a feeling in the air that one can only feel at Christmas time. The sense of peacefulness was paramount.

Nellie walked slowly across the open space to the place she had come to know very well. The outside view may have been among the worst she had ever seen. What lived on in the hearts of the people who lived inside the tiny shanty were huge and overflowing with kindness. It may be a tiny shanty but Sally and Thomas had made it their home. 

Nellie knocked on the door and waited. Soon a set of small eyes peered at her through the small crack that had indicated the door was open. 

“Good evening,” she said in her best voice. 

“Good evening,” replied a tiny voice. 

“Who is it?” inquired a voice much deeper in timbre.

“It is Miss Nellie!” squealed the young voice with excitement.

“Well then open the door and let her in,”  and with that, the door opened wide allowing Nellie to see the faces inside lit by candlelight.

“Welcome Nellie! Merry Christmas!” said Sally Reynolds.

“Merry Christmas Sally, and Thomas, and Frederick!” replied Nellie. “and Douglas she said as she spied him back further, away from the light. “I dropped by for a quick visit.”

“How nice!” said Thomas, his deep voice rumbling with pleasure at her visit. “We always enjoy your company. But on such a special night it is even grander to share it, if for a moment, with someone so special.”

Sally spotted the canvas bag Nellie was holding her dark eyes growing with some concern. Nellie looked at her nervously.

“I brought you a few things to make tonight and tomorrow more special.”

Sally replied, “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I felt the need to do something so here I am,” and with that she opened the bag to share her gifts. “I brought a pie I made as well as some fruit for the children.”

“Oranges?” Sally said, spying the fruit with some eagerness.

“I haven’t seen an orange since before we moved to Toronto. There were plenty on the plantation.” Thomas said softly with some wonder in his voice. HIs work on the plantation gave him some cause of both joy and sorrow. His thoughts were withhis parents who still worked there.

“I came across them and thought maybe your family would enjoy some at Christmas. I know they are hard to come by here. I thought it might be important to you.”

Sally sniffled for a few seconds.”That is so nice. Thank you.”

“You are welcome. I also have a small gift for Frederick and Douglas.” She pulled two books from her bag. “The Voyages of Dr. Doolittle and Just William are new this year. I have read them and think that they are very good books.”

“Thank you Miss Nellie,” said the boys in unison as their parents stood there speechless. 

“That is so nice of you. You didn’t have to do this.” said a teary-eyed Sally.

“Oh, but I did,” replied Nellie. “You have treated me so kindly since we moved here that I thought that I would give a little back in a way that I can.”

“You are doing too much,” said Thomas matter of factly. “As the family provider I should be able to do this.”

“And you will,” said Sally. “You have a job and shortly we will be moving ahead in our lives. Nellie has been kind to us. Accepting her Christmas gifts is a step towards leaving our past behind. It is a step towards a kinder, more trusting world.”

“I suppose so,” said Thomas as he moved towards the back of the shanty lost in his thoughts.

“I never thought that this would upset him,” said Nellie. 

“In our lives, before we came to Toronto, no one ever treated us nice. Being a black family anywhere in the States is tough. He is having a hard time letting go of the past. Like I have said before, we can walk around Toronto with our heads up, a smile on our face, and a love of life in our eyes. Thank you for your gifts, but for now it is time for you to go. We can talk more later.”

Nellie nodded at this. “Merry Christmas,” she called out as she turned towards the door. “Merry Christmas,” they returned. As she opened and stepped through the door she heard a very faint but clearly audible, “Merry Christmas,” in that deep tone she knew and loved. She paused for a second, smiled and then headed towards home. 

As she headed further down the alley a buggy with a horse pulling it passed her.  There was barely enough room for her to flatten herself against the wall. As she moved on, Nellie mused at what it must have been like growing and living in a hostile environment. It couldn’t have been good if they found their shanty to be a slice of heaven and Toronto to be so open and welcoming. She hoped she never had to find out.

Nellie thought it was rather strange that the small decorations they had placed on their door were gone but that was nothing to the shock she got as she opened the front door. She stood there with her mouth open looking around. There were no Christmas decorations in the house. 

Everything she had put up was gone! So too was the tree and the presents she and her mother had got for each other. The room was devoid of Christmas.

“Mother!” She yelled. “Mother!”

“Oh you are home.” was her mother’s reply as she entered the room. 

“Were we robbed?” she whispered.

“Nellie, I need you to calm down. We were not robbed.”

“Then what happened?”

Daisie stood there for a moment looking at her daughter. “When I was at Church tonight I heard a couple talking about how Christmas was going to be for them. The husband had been ill for quite some time. They had no money to provide for their family and the more they talked the more a plan formed in my brain. I offered them everything that we had in the house for Christmas.”

“Everything?” questioned Nellie. “What do you mean by everything?”

“Everything. The tree, the decorations, the presents and food.”

Nellie stood there with her mouth hanging open. “Everything,” she replied. Our Christmas has been ruined because of your charity?”

“Ruined? Heavens no. Not ruined. Changed. Don’t give me that look,” intoned Daisie. “We have so much and others have so little. I decided to help them out so that their Christmas would be better. Almost everything we had could be replaced.”

“On Christmas Eve?” stated Nellie firmly.

“Oh Nellie. Can’t you see that helping others is important?”

“Of course I can, mother.” She replied.

“When the stores open we will go and buy new presents for each other.”

“And what about dinner? And opening the presents? It isn’t Christmas without opening the presents.”

“Christmas is about so much more than opening presents. And as for dinner we will be fed.”

“With what?” Nellie shot back.

“Why, the Church is having a meal for all who would like one. I volunteered for us to help out there tomorrow. It will take most of the day. 

Her mother paused and looked around.

“Nellie, never forget where you come from. It’s the one thing I have brought from the docks of London with me. I look at what we have and then at these poor, hungry, faces, who have so little in their lives. I have been there and know what it is like. I like to give back where I can. Fortunately I have friends who agree with me. 

“But what about our Christmas?”

“Let’s make it ours to remember. Sometimes it is better to give back.”