Saturday, December 21, 2021
The first leg of our Christmas movie marathon went without incidents, mostly because nobody came to it. Which was not a surprise, considering that most people who knew about the marathon worked at Atlas. 

A bigger setback for me was that Rexi had taken a liking to Pete and insisted that he stay in the projection booth with him and since Rexi was the king of the booth, Pete stayed there. I noticed it halfway through the movie when I sent Sofie into the theatre to watch the movie with Pete. Or so I thought. 

“Don’t you want to see Gremlins? Go on, I can stand here,” I told her. 

“There’s nobody in there. This is stupid,” Sofie said, and scrolled down the page on her phone. 

“Well, you and Pete can watch it together,” I said, casually moving some coffee cups on the side table. 

“He’s upstairs with that … man,” Sofie said. 

“Still?” 

I knew better than to go up myself. Instead, I sent Sofie there with a large coffee (very black) and a hot chocolate. Call it bribery but I was certain even Rexi wouldn’t say no to that, especially when he saw Sofie. 

“And when you get there, tell Pete that I need a hand downstairs,” I told Sofie as she climbed up the stairs with two large cups on a tray. 

She returned sooner than I had hoped and shook her head. 

“Next time, maybe take the drinks up there yourself,” Sofie said when she skipped down the stairs. “Oh, and, Rexi says Pete’s busy.”

I sat in the back row and decided to watch a few minutes of Gremlins. I loved the movie and while it may not make you feel warm and fuzzy to see a gremlin explode in a microwave, it was on my Top 5 list of Xmas movies. 

I ended up watching the rest of the movie, transfixed by the small creatures on the screen in front of me. So horrible and yet so cute. They reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. 

I stayed in my seat until the end of the credits and when I walked into the foyer, I saw Rexi and Pete walk down the stairs, Rexi with his arm around Pete.

“And I need you back here for the 6.30 show. Those reels won’t change themselves,” Rexi said and let out a long and hoarse laugh. 

“Sooo… how was that?” Sofie asked Pete when Rexi went to the bathroom. 

“I’m so sorry about that,” I said, “I should’ve warned you. Don’t worry, I’ll talk to Rex–“

“It was a blast,” Pete said, his eyes shining with excitement. 

After the 6.30 Bond, I offered to drive Pete and Sofie home. Once again, Pete insisted on sitting on the back seat quietly, while Sofie played my tapes in the front seat. I was racking my brain, trying to remember whether “Relax” was on my “Top 10 songs that aren’t Bond songs but should be” tape but it didn’t come up before we said goodbye to Pete. 

Then I turned the Beetle around and headed to Mom and Dad’s. On our way there, just after the traffic lights, I noticed a Volvo going the other way, with Dad behind the wheel. I made a quick U-turn and followed him. 

“I’ll save him the trouble of driving all the way to Atlas with the posters,” I explained my move to Sofie. 

To my surprise, Dad took a right off the main street, and then another right, until he came to the bakery. He parked his car in the back and walked in. 

“What’s he doing?” Sofie wondered. So did I. 

We got out of the car and followed Dad in. The bakery was no longer a bakery, I noticed. It had been turned into a storage space, and Dad walked straight to a big door. He had just put his hand on the handle when we caught up with him. 

“Hey, Dad, what’s up?” I asked him. 

Dad was startled. 

“Hi, Peter, nothing much. I have your posters: Came here to pick up the Santa I mentioned,” he said.

Then he just stood in front of the door, in complete silence. 

“Well…?” I said. 

“You know what, I can bring it to you tomorrow, it’s getting late,” Dad said. 

“I might as well take it with me now,” I said, trying to be nice. 

Dad sighed and pulled open the large garage door. Nothing had prepared me for what was waiting for me on the other side. The storage space was filled with stuff, from snow blowers to rocking chairs and from beach balls to gym equipment. 

Dad was a hoarder. 

“Well, this is awkward,” Sofie said. 

“Agreed,” said Dad. 

➡️ More on Someday Jennifer (HarperCollins Canada 2019)