A Christmas Wish Page #3

getting a ticket from him.

Hey !

See you tomorrow.

Bye !

Oh !

How was your first day ?

Good !

I did the best

in spelling today.

Teacher said I was a good

condition to the class.

"Addition," you're a good

addition to the class.

That's great.

All right, how about you,

Miles ?

How were you today ?

It's school.

Right, of course.

What was I thinking ?

Listen, I owe you

a big apology.

For what ?

For coming down so hard on you

when you were watching Lilee.

See, today she managed to

spread peanut butter and jelly

all over the room while

I was sleeping.

( giggling )

Forgiven ?

How about even ?

That works for me.

Thank you.

( video game noises )

Oh...

Oh.

Oh, why'd you let me

sleep so long ?

You were tired.

Oh, that's no excuse.

I've used it before.

Oh, I gotta get some

dinner going.

Pizza ?

No, I can't afford

that right now, honey.

Ta-da, ramen.

Again ?

Well, as soon

as I get paid,

I promise, I'll get us

some real groceries ?

Why ?

We don't even

have a fridge.

Well, I'm working on that.

How about... tree ?

Mama, we do

need a tree.

Yeah, well, I'm sure

wherever we're going,

there'll be lots of trees

in the yard.

No, a Christmas tree.

Here ?

Yeah.

No, I...

I can't afford

a Christmas tree

and we don't even have anything

to put on it anyway,

and I'm sure

Bullington would have a cow

if we brought a tree

in here.

A cow would take more

room than a tree.

You do need a cow.

( knocking )

Uh, no on the tree.

How about--

how about the star ?

Hi.

( girl )

Hi, I'm Jeanie.

Yes, Jeanie,

come on in.

( Martha )

Mel, come here, Jeanie's here.

I want you to meet her.

Hi, I'm Mary Ellen,

but you can call me Mel.

Okay.

Mrs. Evans ?

Mm-hmm.

Oh, it's Martha,

actually.

Oh, um, Martha.

My dad wanted me to ask you

about the money.

Right.

Of course, the money.

Um, right, straight to

business, that's smart.

See, I've only just started

at the cafe, so...

Heard you're working

at the Root Beer.

The-- Trudy's Model A,

right ?

Same thing.

Used to be called

The Root Beer Drive-In.

Had the best homemade

root beer anywhere.

Oh.

Well...

I can only pay you

$2 an hour

and I know that's

under minimum wage

um...

and they don't pay me

for another week,

so I can give you

half of it in advance

and then the other half

when they pay me.

Is that okay ?

Just one week ?

Well, then I gotta

pay your dad the rent

and then I gotta get

the groceries.

I didn't have too much

money when we got here.

$207, 'cause Daddy

took the rest.

Zip it, Mel.

$8 is just fine, Mrs.--

Martha.

Really ?

Oh, thank you,

thank you so much.

I really appreciate that,

thank you.

So what grade

are you in ?

A sophomore.

Getting my license

in a month.

Oh.

Can you drive a stick ?

I can.

Not quite yet.

My dad taught me.

Well, maybe

you can teach me.

Seriously ?

Yeah, out in

the parking lot.

Well, if my dad says

it's okay.

Sure.

Uh, I'll have to take

that under advisement.

Now here's someone

you haven't met.

This is Lilee.

Come on, sweetheart.

This is our Lilee.

She's three

and she's full of it.

Full of what ?

It's just an expression,

sweetheart.

I know what

she's full of.

So why don't I get

my dos and don'ts

for this crew together

and you can come back

maybe around 10:
30.

Mom says it'll be a good time

for me to do my homework.

Oh, yeah, well,

good luck with that.

It can get a little crazy

around here.

Well, better go,

but see you later.

All right,

thank you so much.

Woo, okay.

She's nice, huh ?

She's a lifesaver.

( Lola )

Side of gravy's coming up.

Need more butter.

You want some heart medicine

to go with that cholesterol ?

Got plenty on the truck.

You ought to take better

care of yourself, Frank.

I figured maybe I could find

somebody to do it for me.

Got somebody in mind ?

Might be.

Someone as pretty as you.

There's always one more

imbecile than you counted on.

( whispering )

Sorry.

You're late.

I know, I'm sorry.

I had to get

my sitter squared away.

So... here we go.

Mm-hmm.

Here's the deal.

This guy behind me,

that's Les McCallum,

he's a regular and he's having

what he always has,

a third of a pound

of ground round,

French fries,

onions and gravy.

Fries and gravy ?

Heart attack special.

Listen, we just give 'em

what they want.

Okay.

The guy over

in the corner,

that's Don Meyer

and you'll be seeing him

a lot around here.

Slow night, huh ?

Dead night.

I got this.

Well, it looks like

you've done this before.

A time or two.

How are the kids ?

They're managing.

Good.

And Christmas ?

I'm working on that.

Well, I put a tip jar out here

on the counter.

Everyone'll see it.

I don't know if they'll do

anything about it,

but they'll see it.

Okay.

Let's see.

All right.

Hi.

Most of the zoo

will be in tonight.

Oh, well, that should be

interesting.

So... tell me

about yourself.

None of my business,

but if you wanted to share,

we've got all night.

Oh, well.

I've been married twice.

First one lasted long enough

for me to have a daughter

and then for my 30th birthday,

I got a new husband

and a year later, a baby.

You don't waste

any time, do you ?

I wish I had.

He's the original bad boy

with a truckload

of friends to match.

Handsome ?

As sin.

Cowboy Cal Evans.

( sighing )

Didn't know much about

the sin part then, though.

He could take over a room just

by walking into it, you know ?

And then last week,

he took almost everything

that wasn't nailed down

and emptied the bank accounts

and ran off with the local

beauty school graduate.

So when did

things go bad ?

( laughing )

You're funny.

You're so funny.

You have homework ?

Did-- did it.

You did not.

Mind your own business !

Bed in 20 minutes.

You, go brush

your teeth.

I knew this

would happen.

What ?

You figured no rules ?

Wrong.

Why are you doing this ?

You ain't

making squat.

I like your mom.

She's not my mom.

Well, Carol Ann's not my

biological mom either,

but she loves me.

Lucky you.

What have you got

to complain about ?

She's taking care of you,

isn't she ?

'Cause she has to.

No, she doesn't.

She could have dumped you off

at the state.

Where's your dad ?

He left last week.

Two weeks

before Christmas ?

So ?

Seems pretty cold to leave

your family at Christmastime.

He'll find me.

Martha didn't leave you,

though, did she ?

Might wanna

think about that.

Will you tell us

a Christmas story ?

Yeah.

Did you brush

your teeth ?

Yes.

Yeah, last Tuesday.

Okay, all right.

You two in bed.

So can I get you

anything else ?

Coffee, tea, pie ?

The cherries are fresh,

cherry pie ?

No, I'm trying to

cut back.

Oh.

It's Martha, right ?

Uh, yeah.

Joe Hopkins told you ?

Yeah, this afternoon.

He says you're

looking for a rental.

Yes.

Do you have

anything that you think

someone like me

can afford ?

Yeah, I think I might have

one possibility.

I won't know until

I talk to the owner,

so why don't you give me

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