I want to take the chance to thank all my friends who supported and encouraged me with their feedback this past year:
Eli, Starsky's Strut, Kreek, Nelleke, Karen B., Becky, Bobbie, Higgy, Delia, aussie angie, merryw, Jan, Rainey, Trish, Pony, M.Willow, Kirsty Welsh, Shawne.
Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year!
Monika
Christmas Eve – A Nice Mess!
.
By Monika
.
Hutch yawned. This stake-out was the last thing
he needed on Christmas Eve. They had been waiting
for hours now in front of Amboy's residence but it
seemed that the suspect had vanished into thin air. On
the other hand it was half the battle
sitting in the Torino instead of being forced to
attend the Christmas party at the precinct, where
his colleagues sang Christmas carols and exchanged little
gifts.
Hutch had never felt comfortable with this kind of
artificial joy. The past year had been hard for Hutch
and his partner. Hutch still suffered from his
addiction to heroin. Though he had been forced
he sometimes felt like a junkie. Starsky had helped
him get through the "cold turkey" and showed
him that nothing had changed between them.
With a sigh Hutch looked at the sleeping partner
by his side. Starsky had kept the ability to forget
the awful things and to cherish instead what life had
given him. Hutch remembered that night
in the Italian restaurant. Starsky had been shot there
and though hurting badly he had crawled on
all fours to help Hutch. Starsky had worked hard
on his recovery and then with this Christmas coming nearer
he was full of joy, decorating his place, his desk at
the precinct – and even his car.
Hutch couldn't handle the bad things so easily.
This time of the year he was always reminded of
his youth in Duluth. He had wealthy parents and there had been
a huge Christmas
tree every year, a lot of presents for him and his
younger sister. But there had never been a
cordial atmosphere. Too often his father had been
absent – maybe on business trips and the sad face of
his mother had shown Hutch that she wasn't happy at
all. She concentrated on organizing charity parties
while a housemaid took care of the children.
Since then Hutch had disliked, with a passion,
all the festivities referring to Christmas.
Starsky stirred and let his head drop against the side
window. Not a comfortable position Hutch thought.
He looked over to Amboy's mansion and decided to call
it a night.
"Starsk, wake up. It's over. I'll log us out.
Obviously Amboy has better things to do than meet
us."
"Wha…?" Starsky mumbled, looked at his
watch and said with a smile: "Hutch, it's
Christmas Eve and in the morning we'll have presents –
let's go to my place, okay?"
He turned the radio on and soon Christmas carols
filled the air.
Hutch rolled his eyes and started the car.
The houses on both sides of the street looked
peaceful, decorated with lights and illuminated
figures. Slowly Hutch turned round the next corner
only half listening to Starsky's
enthusiasm about the reindeers and
Santa Clauses in the gardens, when suddenly Starsky
said in an urgent voice: "Didn't ya hear what I told
you? Over there, look, somebody's broken the
window from the inside of the house and is running
over the lawn! Must be a
burglar!"
In a second Hutch stopped the car and both
detectives rushed out of the car to follow the
man.
"Freeze! Police!" Starsky shouted now fully
awake. The man came to a halt and turned round.
Then the unexpected happened.
The man came with open arms toward them.
"You're the police? Thank goodness! Am I happy to see
you!" His stubbled face
lit up. He was about 60 years old and he wore a shabby coat.He tugged on Hutch's sleeve and pointed back to the house
he had just escaped from.
"There's an old woman. She's nuts. She thought I was
Santa Clause and she almost shot me – with my gun!"
The old man's legs began to wobble
and Starsky led the man to their car.
"Calm down, and sit down. Now tell us: You broke
into that house, right?"
The man nodded exhausted.
"Yeah, you know, I was hungry and I thought maybe I
could get something…"
Starsky and Hutch both leaned against the car door,
looked down at the man and said in unison: "And then?"
"Well," the man nervously moved his hands, "I went
inside through a little open window. It was dark in
the house; nobody at home I thought. Then I saw
the Christmas tree with all the presents under it. I
always carry a sac with me and so I grabbed all the
presents and put them into it. Somehow I lost track
of time when I saw the modelrailway on the floor. As
a child I loved playing… – anyway. Suddenly an old
woman was standing in the doorway. She said:
"You must be Santa Claus! How wonderful, that I have
the chance to meet you at my age."
Then she offered me an eggnog, was
very friendly and told me that her eyes were
not very good and her hearing not much better
either but that she knew exactly what I had in
the sac: All the presents for the family! And she took
out all the things I had just put into the sac and
ohhhed and awwwed about each item she
saw. "Oh, that must be the pearl necklace for me –
and that is the camera John always wanted to have!
Thank you, Santa Claus, you are so wonderful."
I felt terrible – but what could I do? I decided
to play along.
The old woman got more and more excited when she found
all the other presents in the sac. She put them under
the Christmas tree, smiled at me and was about to give
me the sac when she realized that there was still
something in it. She grabbed for it and it took my
breath away!
My gun! She had found my loaded gun!"
Starsky and Hutch locked glances. The man gave a sigh.
"And then she smiled, looked at the gun and said
softly: "That must be the gadget to decorate my cakes
with cream. I was always dreaming of such a modern
kitchen helper. How did you know, dear Santa Claus? Oh
yes, you are all-knowing." She
fumbled with the gun looking at it. "There must be a
button to start the gadget… Ah here is something." And
then she pointed the gun in my direction. I moved
backwards and she smiled: "Are you afraid of a little
cream, Santa Claus? It isn't even filled with cream
now. Let me try this button…"
At this moment, officers, I couldn't stand it any
longer. I hurried over to the window, smashed it and
jumped out. I almost lost my life. Please help me!"
Starsky and Hutch looked at the picture of misery in
front of them and Hutch said: "Okay, we'll look after
the old woman. You wanna join us?"
"No! Please don't do that to me! Leave me here. I
won't escape," begged the man and Starsky only nodded.
He cuffed the burglar to the steering wheel and
then both detectives walked over to the house. More
windows were illuminated now and when Hutch rang the
bell, a middle aged woman opened the door. After they
had introduced themselves the woman smiled and said:
"Please come in." She led the detectives into the
living room where the family sat
together: Father , mother and two children. In
their middle obviously the grandma of the
family.
"Hum…," Hutch cleared his voice, "We're a little
worried about that thing," and he pointed to the gun
that was lying on the table.
"We were worried too when we woke up because of the
noise of a broken window," the mother said. "We came
into the living room and saw Grandma still with the
gun in her hand…"
"And then?" Starsky asked curiously.
"Let me explain it to you, officers," Grandma smiled.
"I was indeed very astonished and, honestly
speaking, a little frightened when I walked
through the house because I couldn't sleep. I
saw the man in our living room. I also noticed that
all our presents from under the tree were gone and the
man was playing with the model railway,totally
absorbed.
A big sac was lying beside the man and I guessed that
all our presents were in it. So I decided to trick him
and save our Christmas. I called him Santa
Claus and welcomed him.
But when I found the gun in the sac I had
to make him leave the house. Wasn't my worst idea to
pretend it was a kitchen helper to decorate a cake
with cream, was it?" smiled Grandma proudly and
little Timmy hugged his grandma and said: "You're up
to every trick!"
Then the little boy looked around and asked: "Who's
going to play model railway with me?"
"Me!" Starsky said without thinking. He
blushed a bit and added: "Sorry, but we have to
go, I think."
"Not before you have tried Grandma's eggnog," insisted
the father of the family. Soon they were sitting round
the table; there was laughter, joy and harmony.
Grandma even asked for the burglar to join them
because she felt pity for him but Hutch said
that the man wasn't in any condition to stay
with them.
Hutch's gaze fell on his partner who was sitting on
the floor next to Timmy. Both were lost in their game
– little trains were running and the stationmaster's
cap suited Starsky quite well…
Suddenly Hutch had to think of something.
He asked for
the telephone and was led into the hall.
"Hey, what's up, man?" Huggy grumbled but when he
heard about Hutch's problem he promised to do all he
could to help.
Hutch looked out the door and saw the man still
sitting in the Torino. "Are you going to leave
already?" asked Lisa, Timmy's older sister, and Hutch
shook his head.
"No, I'm just thinking of the man in the car over
there. Though he broke into your house he's a lonely
man. Maybe he should join us. Would you come with me
to convince him that your grandma isn't at all nuts
and that he needn't be afraid of her?"
"Of course," Lisa smiled and a short time later the
man was pulled and pushed carefully into the living
room. Grandma stood up to welcome him and hesitantly
he grabbed her hand. He was offered something to drink
and to eat and his eyes looked a little damp.
"Let's celebrate Christmas together," Grandma said
looking around. All gathered around the Christmas
tree, but Hutch put his hand on Starsky's shoulder.
Starsky looked up and understood. He got up and both
detectives said their goodbyes. Before they left the
house they looked back to the living room and saw the
new guest sitting next to Timmy on the floor…
"Well, my place or your place?" Starsky asked and
looked surprised when Hutch said. "Mine first."
They drove in silence and Hutch tried to arrange his
thoughts. He wasn't sure if Huggy had been able to
help him with it all. He took Starsky's wrist to
see what time it was.
"Night's almost over, buddy," Starsky smiled. They
turned into the small way to the cottage when Starsky
suddenly froze.
"Huuu…tch, can you see what I see? There's a reindeer
in your front garden with lights…Can't be possible…
though this is your
place, right?"
Hutch didn't say anything. He followed Starsky
who stopped to admire the reindeer. Hutch opened
the door, stepped in, smiled and called: "Starsk, come
in. We have a guest, and it's no housebreaker."
In two long strides Hutch was near Huggy and pulled
him into a tight hug. "Don't know how to thank
you, friend," he mumbled squeezing him again
till Huggy joked: "Baby, not now, I have a
headache." Hutch smiled, released him and looked at
Starsky who had entered the house.
"Huggy, didn't expect to see you here at this
time. What's up?"
"Had a little to do here, and by the way: Merry
Christmas! Don't forget our party tonight. See ya!"
and with a pat on Starsky's back Huggy left them
alone.
There was a sudden silence. The room was dark except
one light next to the table. Hutch stood with his back
to Starsky. He fumbled with the ribbon of a bigger
package on the table, then turned round and cleared
his throat.
"Starsk, don't know how to say this but in the last
couple of weeks when you were in your Christmas
mood…"
"I got on your nerves, right?" Starsky interrupted.
"Sorry, but I just get this feeling, you know? Hey, I'm
Jewish, but I know the meaning of Christmas. I don't
mean to get on your nerves, but-"
"Stop it," Hutch interrupted him. He went over to the
kitchen window and looked out into the garden where
the reindeer was sparkling.
"This evening it became clear to me that I'll
never have the caring family I've wished for. This
evening we've been with a family that shared the
laughter and the joy and, I'm sure, the sorrow with
each other and they're able to give their sympathy to
a man who broke into their house.
Not to concentrate on myself but giving joy to the
people I love, that's the right Christmas spirit. This
is my Christmas present for you." Hutch pointed to the
big package. Instead of opening it Starsky walked
past it toward Hutch. Before Hutch could react Starsky
had slung his arms round Hutch's neck. Time stood
still as they held each other tight.
"Woah, that's incredible!" Starsky couldn't believe
what he saw: A brand-new model railway with many
wagons and engines. Carefully he took one engine out
of the package and admired it.
Hutch smiled.
For a brief moment he had to think
of the present he had intended to give to Starsky: A
donation to a project in the Third World…Minnie at the
precinct would be glad to get that special
gift from Hutch this year…
"Thanks so much, Hutch! And Merry Christmas to you!"
"Merry Christmas to you too, buddy! But
don't you think we should go over to your place? It's
decorated so much better than my place and you can set
up your model railway there at once…"
"You're right, Blondie, but only if you promise that
next year we'll celebrate Christmas at your place. The
reindeer is already there," Starsky smiled.
They left the cottage and Starsky had just put his
present in the trunk and was about to climb behind the
steering wheel, when Hutch mumbled, more speaking to
himself: "You're my family, Starsk!"
"What was that?" Starsky asked but Hutch refused to
repeat it. "Too soapy, buddy."
"Hey, I wanna know!" Starsky said. Hutch only
smiled and Starsky came around the car, an evil grin
on his face. "Well, I've got my ways of making you
speak…," and he poked Hutch in the side knowing that
he was very ticklish there. Hutch gave a yelp and
tried to escape. Soon they were chasing each other
round the car…
The End
Author's comment: Let's hope that they at last got to
Starsky's to celebrate Hutch's first real Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you all!
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