A Christmas (horror) Story

I hope that everyone had a very merry Christmas! 



I am not a huge fan of Christmas day; I do, however, adore Christmas Eve.  I love the anticipation, and the carols sung in church.  There is just something very magical about that day of the year and it doesn't matter if it is raining or snowing or if the sun is shining; the day just reeks of pure intrigue for me.  Yesterday, however, someone(s) tried to ruin that for myself and for Aaron, though I am pleased to report that it was foiled in the end.



A bit of history



Back in 1980, I was the new kid in town, having just moved here from southeran California.  I didn't really know anyone in school and then one girl latched onto me.  For the sake of this story, we'll call her Psycho Mom or PM for short.  It didn't take me too long to discover that PM really didn't have any other friends; in fact, she was often teased or ridiculed by the other kids.  It didn't take me too long to discover why.  PM was odd.  I mean, really odd.  I ventured into friendship with her tentatively and as most teens do, I spent a couple of nights at her house from time to time.  There were times that she was perfectly, or at least realitively normal, and then there were other times when PM would be trying to convince me that while I slept, she had been busy levitating herself across the room.  I, of course, did not believe this and to this day, I don't believe this, but as I said, she was odd. 



The one positive thing PM did do, was to introduce me to her church, which is now my church as well and has been for twenty-five years.  My parents soon followed me to her church as well.  PM and I started high school and beings I was not "odd" and I was rather outgoing, I soon found myself with many other friends and started to pull away from the "supernatural" PM.



One day, my mom ran into PM's mom while out shopping.  PM's mom proceeded to lament to my mother about how her daughter, PM, had no friends and no one liked her and PM was miserable and hated school.  My mother promised to talk to me to see if I could help at all.  I have always been a bit of an adopter of strays (cats in need, kids in need, you get the picture) so when mom told me about what PM's mom had said, I agreed to take PM under my wing and I did.  That was when my high school life became a rollarcoaster. 



PM could be a really good friend when she took a notion to do so, but when she wasn't taking that notion, she could and would do things that would cut me to the quick.  As teens we are in a process of learning the ways of people and life and PM quickly taught me all about trust...or more like, who not to trust.  She would say terrible things about me to my friends, knowing that they were going to tell me what she said.  Once PM walked up to a boy I had liked for the better part of a year and planted a kiss on him right in front of me.  Beings she was the school whackjob, he was horrified, but again, the stunt was carefully orchestrated just to hurt me.  What makes it all even more shocking is that she referred to me as her best friend (I'd hate to imagine how she treated enemies.).  Each time PM would do something hurtful, a day later, she'd come begging my forgiveness and I'd take her back.  Finally in my senior year, I called it quits with her permanently.



We graduated high school and moved ahead, neither of knowing what the other was doing with her life.  PM actually married long enough to have a daughter (we'll call her PMJ or Psycho mom Jr) before divorcing the husband (who by the way is a special kind of weird all by himself).  When I returned to my church after a long absence in young adulthood, PM was no longer attending there, but after the split in the church, she returned with PMJ, who is now about ten.  Aaron has carried a small torch for PMJ desipte my warnings.  From what I had gathered about PMJ, she was an odd duck as well, which was bound to happen as she lives with mom.



The Story



Aaron had made PMJ an ornament for Christmas that said "I love you, PMJ".  PM and myself have a strained relationship at best.  Though we only see each other at church occasionally (I attend first service and sing on the praise band and she attends second service and sings in the choir) conversation to this day is kept at a minimum between us.  I have not been fond of Aaron's crush on PMJ, but it was, after all, only a crush.  After all, he is only eleven.  But knowing the weirdness which is PM, I did not think Aaron's ornament was a good idea, so I ventured out to the mall before Christmas to a little ornament place and purchased a $13 ornament that said "Aaron" and "PMJ" and in between their names was the word "Friends".  He was happy with it and I was resting easier about his gift to PMJ.  I will now relay the events of yesterday as they became known to me.



The Brit did not attend church yesterday morning because we would be attending the candlelight service that night, but it was a combined service and both the praise team and the choir were singing, so I took both boys and headed to church for 9:00 Sunday School.  Aaron had his gift to PMJ in his hand when he headed to Sunday School (they are in the same class) and I headed to the santuary to rehearse.  After rehearsal, I went into the office and Sandy, Aaron's Sunday School teacher and a good friend of mine, was there running off some copies for her class.  I asked her if Aaron had given PMJ the gift and Sandy smirked and said "yes".  When I asked what was wrong, Sandy told me that PMJ had said something to him after opening it that had upset him, but she didn't know what was said.  I rolled my eyes, only able to imagine.  Aaron is pretty backwards and awkward around girls, and though annoyed that maybe he had gotten his feelings hurt, I didn't think too terribly much about it.  When he appeared for church, he seemed fine and he was going to run the powerpoint for the opening song.  He was sitting in the first pew with me directly behind him.  Just mere minutes before the service was to start, PM comes up the aisle, choir robe billowing out behind her, she puts her finger in Aaron's face and says "No physical contact.  PMJ did not appreciate being tackled."  Then without a word or a glance at me, his mother, she turns on her heel and heads back. 



I was flabbergasted.  Fact is, had I had time to collect my bearings she would have gotten a mouth full, but I was so shocked (as history repeats itself and PM has always loved to shock me with her behavior) that words failed me.  I looked at Aaron after she left and said "What did you do?"  He muttered something about them playing a game and PMJ getting knocked over.  Though not angry with Aaron, I told him he was to stay away from PMJ from now on.  Period.



I seethed through the service, but smiled the whole time as PM was sitting up in the choir loft looking like the sour puss that she is and I was not about to let her see me angry or upset.  So, I smiled the whole time.  After church, a few people who had witnessed PM's attack on Aaron were questioning me about what had happened (PM has no friends in the church, so situation is still normal...everyone finds her very odd) and I helplessly told them what little I knew.  Then Sandy's husband told me that he had been present for what had occured.  It seems the kids were playing keep away with a stuffed toy and two of the boys (Aaron being one of them) were behind PMJ and she got knocked over.  It was not intentional and no one was hurt.  Again, I rolled my eyes.  Then I asked Aaron what PMJ had said to him when he gave her the ornament.  Her words were "I'm just going to smash it when I get home."



Now, had I known this when PM came forward to make her little diva scene before church, I would have had ammunition about how maybe Aaron didn't appreciate her daughter's lack of manners and grace when receiving a gift.  I struggled all day yesterday with whether or not to confront PM at church that night and I decided against it.  Though if she ever pulls a stunt like that again, she is going to have me and a Brit in her face.  If PM ever brings this up to me again, she is going to get told that if she has a problem with my child, she is to speak to ME and not to wave her stubby little finger in my child's face.  The only thing that saved her last night was that it was Christmas.



Aaron was in tears after the service over PMJ's words to him, but I had a chat with him that was perhaps too honest.  I told him that it wasn't really PMJ's fault; that she had weird parents and that is who she is learning from and that unfortunately, she is already taking after her mother.  It's a shame really that the unhappy teenager that PM was at one time, is going to repeat on her daughter.  But already, PMJ is learning mommy's way of biting, hurtful words and actions, which will probably leave her with very few friends as she gets older.  Aaron seemed better after our talk and was fine by the candlelight service where he neither looked at nor spoke to PMJ.  In all honesty, despite the fact that he got his feelings hurt, I do breathe a sigh of relief at knowing that the "little romance" is over.  There was no way I would have been able to stomach the inlaws.