C4: The Book Family Cabin.
Up in the snowy mountains of Snowville, all the trees being Christmas ones--The only area covered with snow--at a Christmas decorated log-cabin, with their red rented van parked outside, the Book family was inside, getting ready for the arrival of James's mother. After school had let out for the holidays, Bonny and James decided to go out of the state of Mississippi to spend the week of the 25th. And since Aiden had been talking about wanting a white Christmas all year long, they decided to go to Michigan, as it snowed there every month of December. Bonny and James had decided to spend Christmas in Christmas Town--now called Snowville--the place where James grew up. Even though it hadn't snowed here since December-1997, it always did up here in the mountains every December, so they chose to stay here. They arrived in town today on an 1800s passenger-train. The rest of the family hadn't arrived yet, but they were on their way.
"James! Hurry up! You're mother's gonna be here any minute!" The voice of Bonny shouted.
"You know, Bonny..." James began, smiling as he came down the stairs and into the Christmas decorated living-room where Bonny was wrapping a present on the console-table behind the sofa, and he walked up to her. "i've been thinking. My Mom doesn't have to come spend Christmas week with us. She can just go spend it with my cousin Fred in Chicago. I mean, does have that big house. And it's just him living there. I'm-o call Fred." He said, still smiling, before proceeded to head back upstairs to his room.
"Fred's spending Christmas in Nebraska with other relatives, remember?" Bonny reminded while still wrapping the present.
"Well, what about my other cousins that aren't here?" James asked as he walked back over to Bonny. "Wilt or Carlton. Now Carlton owes me. I helped him with his high school graduation. I'm-o call Carlton." He proceeded to head up the stairs again, but Bonny stopped him by grabbing his left arm with both hands.
"What is it with you? Your mother's a sweet lady, from what you've told me. I'm gonna love having her here with us this Christmas." Bonny said.
"Oh. See, i get it. See...you think that the woman who's coming to stay with us is the same woman i grew up with in the 1990s. Well, you see, that's where you're wrong. See, that's the 90s mother. That's the one that use to say to all her female relatives and friends" James began, smiling. "Oh, so and so, you're looking more beautiful everytime i see ya"." He said, doing a fake female voice of his mother. "But the 21st century mother Baxter Book..." He said, smiling still. "is different." He said darkly, his face now serious. "She takes over EVERYTHING. Bonny, if we let her in here, she will be running our lives. She'll tell us when to eat, what to eat, what to drink, what time to sleep, how to dress, what to watch on TV, what to-"
"James...we're talking about your mother...not a dictator." Bonny said, cutting James off. Having finished wrapping the present, she picked it up, carried it over to the decorated Christmas tree, with James following her, and placed it under the tree where the other presents were.
Bonny then went over to the knobless push-open wooden door to the dining-room, pushed it open, and went inside.
"Okay, forget that. What about this?" James said before running into the dining-room where Bonny now was. "We can spend Christmas week in Disneyland. She hates amusement parks."
"Let it go." Bonny said before she got a red/white can of cinnamon spray off the long dining-table and sprayed some red fake poinsettia flowers in the middle of it.
"What are you doing? Bonny, you're spraying all these fake flowers? Now Mom's gonna expect flowers in this house everyday. I am not buying flowers for this house everyday." James said.
"I bought these with my money. You're not paying for a thing." Bonny said before putting the spray back on the table, getting the flowers, and carrying them into the living-room.
James followed Bonny out of the kitchen, stopping at the entrance to the dining-room, seeing Bonny go over to the coffee-table in front of the sofa and place the flowers on it in the center. "Okay, how 'bout this?" He began, smiling. "We by an RV, put Mom in it, and don't give her a key to the house." He said as he walked over to Bonny.
Bonny turned to face her husband. "James, it's over. She's spending Christmas with us."
"Alright then, suit yourself. But i think it's only fair to warn you...my Mom can be a real Grinch when it comes to the holidays. Especially Christmas." James said.
"Well, i'm sure it's nothing we can't love her through as a family. After all, family and love are what Christmas is all about." Bonny said.
The doorbell rang.
"That's probably her now." Bonny said, referring to James's mother.
"Boney, wait a minute. What do i do now?" James said.
"You could open the door." Bonny said.
"What are my other options?" James asked.
"You don't have any. Open the door." Bonny said.
"Fine." James said, rolling his eyes in defeat. "Let's get this over with." He said before he and Bonny went over to the front wooden door. "(Sighs)." James sighed before un-locking and opening the door, revealing his mother, Ebonisa "Ebony" Scroogeman, with shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes standing on the other side.
Ebony wore red lipstick a green fur-coat, a green army service skirt-uniform that stopped at her knees, black stockings, black high heel boots that went up to the calf of her legs, green gloves, and she had a green purse on her left shoulder. She looked like one of those army service people.
"Hi, Mom." James greeted with a fake smile on his face.
"There's my little boy." Said Ebony, also with a fake smile on her face, as she and James embraced each other with a hug.
"Hahahaha." James fake laughed as he and his mother hugged. They then ended the hug.
"OH, MY GOSH, IT'S BARBARA HERSHEY!" Bonny screamed excitedly. "OH, MY GOSH, YOUR MOM IS BARBARA HERSHEY, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" She screamed. "Oh, i'm such a huge fan! I've seen all of your movies and TV -shows, know what year they came out, and the names of all the characters that you played!"
"Bonny." James said.
"There's "With Six You Get Eggroll"-1968. There's "Heaven With A Gun"-1969. There's "Last Summer"-1969. "The Liberation Of L.B. Jones"-1970. "The Baby Maker"-1970. The Pursuit Of Happiness"-1971." Bonny said.
"Bonny." James repeated.
"Dealing: Or The Berkeley To Boston Forty Brick Lost Bag Blues"-1972. "Boxcar Bertha"-1972. "Love Comes Quietly"-1973." Bonny continued.
"Bonny." James said again.
"The Crazy World Of Julius Vrooder"-1974. And my personal favorite, "Once Upon A Time", where you played Cora, Regina's mother, from 2012 to 2016." Bonny said.
"Bonny." James said.
"What is it, James?!" Bonny shouted.
"That's not Barbara Hershey." James said.
"It's isn't?" Bonny asked.
"No. This is-"
"I may be 64 years old, James, but i'm fully capable of introducing myself." Ebony said. "Hi, my name is Ebonisa Baxter Scroogeman. I'm the governor of the state of Michigan." She greeted.
"Oh, i see. Well, come right on in out of the cold, Ebonisa." Bonny said.
"Please...call me governor Scroogeman." Ebony said.
"Okay, governor Scroogeman. Come right on in." Bonny said.
"Thanks. It's really cold out here." Ebony said before entering inside the house, with James closing the door behind her and locking it.
"I'm real sorry about that episode i just had." Bonny said. "It's just that i'm a huge fan of Barbara Hershey and when i saw you, well...i went a little fan crazy. I mean, you look just like her. You even sound like her."
"Yeah. I get that a lot." Ebony said before she turned to face her son. "James, you look so handsome. Thank you for inviting me to come spend Christmas with you and the family."
"Well, we're glad to have you, aren't we, James?" Bonny said.
"Uh...Oh, we're just tickled pink." James said, with a fake smile. "Hahahaha." He laughed falsely.
"Miss Scroogeman, come on in and tell me about yourself." Bonny said before she and Ebony walked over to the sofa and sat down.
"Mom! Dad!" Aiden Baxter Book began as he and Max ran down the stairs. "Is everything alright? I heard screaming." He said as he and the pup entered into the living-room. They stopped in their tracks when they saw Ebony.
"Well, who is this cute little boy?" Ebony asked.
"This is our 8-year old son, Aiden, and his dog, Max. Aiden, this is governor Ebonisa Scroogeman, your Dad's Mom and your grandmother." Bonny introduced.
"Hi." Ebony said.
"Hi." Aiden said.
"I'm sorry, he's not usually this bashful." Bonny said. "Listen, why don't you and James re-connect while Aiden and i head into the kitchen and check on the food?"
"That'd be okay." Ebony said.
"Alright. Come on, Aiden." Bonny said before getting up from the sofa and walking off, heading for the push-open door.
"Come on, Max." Aiden said before he and Max followed Bonny out of the living-room and into the dining-room to head into the kitchen.
Ebony's happy expression then turned into a bitter frown.
"Nice performance. It was so believable, you almost had me convinced. Maybe you should be in the movies and TV-shows like the real Barbara Hershey." James said.
Ebony turned to face her son. "Shut up, James."
"And there she is. The REAL mother Scroogeman. She was hidden for a minute there, but now she's decided to come out." James said.
"Bah! Humbug." Ebony said.
"Sure, that's always your response." James said.
"This place is so haunting to me. I can't believe it's still livable after all these years." Ebony said.
"Why do you have to be so mean?" James asked.
"Why did you get married?" Ebony asked.
"Because i fell in love." James answered.
"Because i fell in love"." Ebony said mockingly, imitating James. "Yeah, right."
"I'm sorry you feel that way." James said.
"And i'm sorry i came here." Ebony said.
"Believe me, i don't want you to be here anymore than you do. I'm just tolerating your presence for the sake of the family and because it's the week of Christmas." James said.
"Humbug." Ebony said.
"What is a humbug anyway? Some kind of insect?" James asked.
"No. It's an expression of contempt. Like having a distain for something or someone." Ebony explained. "Get it?"
"Got it." James said.
"Good. I'm glad we got that cleared up." Ebony said.
"I must say...i'm amazed that you showed up sober for a change, given your past history of being a drunk from 1998 to 2001. Assuming you ever stopped drinking, that is. Did you?" James said.
"What do you think?" Ebony asked.
"I thought so." James said. That answered his question. His mother was still drinking even after all these years.
Ebony then reached into her purse, got out her cellphone, called someone, and waited for them to answer.
"Hello?" Came Blair's voice on the phone.
"I'm up in the mountains at my old cabin with my son and his family. Where is everyone? The media, the reporters, the usual." Ebony said.
"I did just what you asked. Switched the plans and informed the press that you wished to be alone for personal reasons." Blair explained.
"Well, i thought you'd at least some of the information in the newspaper. There's nobody here. Ugh, do i have to do every myself?" Said Ebony before hanging up. "I swear, good help is so hard to find these days." She said as she placed her phone back in her purse.
"What else is new?" James said.
"I'm sorry, James, did you say something?" Ebony asked.
"Not a thing." James said. 26 Years and no change. His mother was still the same arrogant dictator she was all those years ago. Although she wasn't surprised by that. For if she had changed back into the loving mother he once knew, loved and respected, she would've got in touch with him somehow. But she didn't. No phone-calls...no letters...no E-Mails...nothing. He hadn't always been like this though. There was a time when James was a kid that his mother was kind, loving, sober self'LESS'...and loved the holidays. Christmas especially.
Please review.