THE BOLAN CHRONICLES: Reading #17

17. Approximate Minutes Reading (AMR): 9

Introduction to Characters
Malcolm Brice: Police Officer
Tommy Coldfield: Probationary Police Officer
Tina: New Hire at Ken's Diner

THE BOLAN CHRONICLES

Chapter 3

A House

**The Gifts**

The two weeks that remained before Christmas day were filled with activity for the new Bolan family. Jake was busier than ever at work, and Donna had found a satisfying routine at home. 

Twila had warned Jake of what she called 'The Coming Black and Blue Storm.' She told him that because December is generally a slow month for police officers in Bridgeport, many of them came into the restaurant more frequently than usual. Jake was excited. Officer Palmer had taught Jake a lot about police work, but Jake was always willing to take advantage of any opportunities that might be advantageous. Even at age 18, he knew that life was a game, and that those who win the game are those who are willing to work hard, but no win was achievable without knowing the right people.

On an early Tuesday evening, a week before Christmas, Officer Malcolm Brice ordered a bacon and tomato sandwich with fries and a 7-Up. His partner, a young probationary officer named Tommy Coldfield preferred a chicken salad sandwich with coleslaw and water. As their waitress, and new hire named Tina, was about to deliver the plates to the table, Jake asked if she wouldn't mind if he served them. He explained to her that he knew the officers and that he was sure that they wouldn't mind. He promised her that he’d bring her the tip. She happily obliged.

When he arrived with the food, the officers looked at him then at each other. Jake set the meals on the table and said, "Hi guys! My name is Jake Bolan." And he offered his hand. "I'm looking forward to serving you today."

Malcolm said, "Okay, but what happened to our waitress?"

"Well, I told her that I wanted to take this table today, just to get a little practice."

"Ah!" Malcolm replied. "So you're training to be a waiter?"

Jake thought for a moment then said, "Well, something like that. I've worked a few positions here at Ken's, but I haven't tried waiting tables yet, so here we go!"

He returned with the drinks and asked if there was anything else that they needed. Malcolm requested a side of green olives and a few pieces of toasted rye bread. Jake was more than happy to take care of that for him. Jake avoided everything else. The dishes piled up, and the cooks found themselves making more trips to the walk-in box than they were used to. And when the waitress informed the cooks of Jake's whereabouts, they found him on the floor waiting the cops' table, and they looked at each other and laughed.

The next time Jake walked into the kitchen, Jose the cook asked him how the girly work was going.

Jake replied, "What the hell are you talkin' about?

Jose looked at Lonnie, the head cook, and the two snickered, then Lonnie said, "I'll bet one of the waitresses wouldn't mind if you borrowed their dress. You might get a bigger tip if you showed some leg, big fella!"

Jake smirked and flipped him the bird. "So you're a leg man, huh? Does your boyfriend shave his? Fag!"

Lonnie and Jose laughed and returned to cooking.

The price he paid in humiliation was well worth it, and Jake learned more about the police academy. The officers had advised him to continue working until he was able to afford to pay cash for his training. The probe, Tommy Coldfield, had apparently borrowed the money and dreaded the many months that he would have to send a check off to the lending agency.

Officer Brice agreed, and he also advised Jake to consider getting a second job while he was still childless. "'’Cause when a baby comes along, you don't need to be adding to the kind of stress that bein' a new daddy brings."

Jake asked, “Where did you guys get trained?”

Coldfield replied, “BPA…Bridgeport Police Academy,” Then he looked at his partner and they both laughed. “But we have another name for it.”

Brice added, “Okay, Jake. Here’s the deal,” He used finger quotes. “’Training’ is what they call it, but since most of it is really unrealistic fluff, Tommy and I have decided it more appropriately named ‘Bridgeport Police Preschool,’ otherwise known as BPP!”

Coldfield laughed and added, “And even though that’s the most expensive preschool you’ll ever attend, it’s a requirement, so save early and save all you can,” Then he looked at his partner and added, “Unless you have no problem with paying for preschool for the next few years, long after diaper training has ended.”

The police officers finished their meals, paid the tab, and left a two dollar tip on the table. Jake pocketed the tip as they turned toward the door to leave, and he thanked them for their advice. When he stepped into the kitchen, Tina asked how it went.

“Oh, It went great. But those cops are hot and cold when it comes to tips. It’s all or nearly nothing with ‘em,” He shrugged his shoulders, pulled two quarters from his pants pocket and handed it to her. “Maybe I should stick to washing dishes!”

And Jake took seriously every piece of advice that every officer who came into the restaurant gave him. He would come home after work and tell Donna some new story about how he had met yet another police officer who had given him some professional words of wisdom, and he told her about how much they'd wanted him to become a part of the force as soon as possible, but that he'd need to work hard before that so that he could pay for the academy and not worry so much about money when the city finally hired him.

This all sounded encouraging to Donna, and she knew that Jake would make the right decisions about everything that he planned to do with his career. And her plan was a simple one, to raise a child with him and to be as supportive as possible as a wife. 

Donna had worked hard to do just that for their first Christmas Eve together. The restaurant was open until 3:00 PM, so Jake was forced to work a half-day, but when he arrived home at 3:30, he was pleasingly surprised that his wife was working hard in the kitchen, putting together a warm meal. When Jake asked about it, Donna told him that her mom had brought over a couple of boxes of food. She had gone through the pantry and had weeded out food items that she felt she would not consume. Some were things that Mr. Keller had liked and she hadn't. Donna was grateful, and when she came across enough ingredients to put together a hot dinner, she got right to work.

Her mom had asked to help her get the meal started, and the two worked furiously to ensure that it was ready by the time Jake arrived. Donna asked Jake to have a seat at the table. A small snowman centerpiece accompanied red and green plastic Santa Claus plates. Jake smirked when he saw them, then he complimented her.

Donna brought out a large plate of ham. She had heated a can of green beans to go along with it and toasted bread with margarine. When she sat down, she smiled. 

"Wow!" Jake said. "This is great, Dearie. It must have cost us a pretty penny."

"Nope! My mom brought it over along with more food stuff that she said she wouldn't have use for."

Jake pulled a green bean from the bowl and ate it. "Yum! Me like!"

Donna giggled. "Okay, let's eat then!"

The meal was a success, and Donna was thrilled. Jake stuffed himself and was splayed out on the living room floor. When Donna began washing the dishes, Jake called out, "What do you call that ham?"

"What do you mean?"

"My mom used to make that stuff. I can picture the can in my mind, but I just can't remember what the name of it was."

Donna dug through the garbage can under the sink. When she finally retrieved it, she said, "It's called 'Oscar Mayer Jubilee Ham.'"

"Oh, yeah. That's it."

Donna asked, "Did it taste the same to you?"

Jake paused. "Yours was better, Dearie."

"Ah, Jake. That is so sweet!" And she dried her hands and walked down the hall to where he lay. She got down on her knees and kissed him on the forehead.

Jake yawned. Then he said, "I remember my mom letting me open the can of ham 'cause I loved that little key that you used. It was like the thing was soldered to the back of the can, or something."

"It's still the same!" Donna added.

"Yeah? And I remember she would come home from the grocery store, and sometimes the can that she brought wouldn't have a key; it had broken or dropped off or something. That used to piss me off, 'cause then my dad would come home and he'd grab the needle nose pliers and just rip the thing off himself."

Donna was listening intently.

"And I remember trying not to look at what was in the can, 'cause it used to make my stomach turn to see that gelatinous goo that she'd have to rinse off. And it would jiggle like jello when you moved it! Disgusting!"

Donna laughed and said, "Oh, I'll bet you were so cute when you were little."

Jake turned his head and looked up and into her eyes. Donna thought he looked disturbed, so she asked, "What is it?"

His locked gaze confused her, and she repeated, "Jake? What is it?"

Suddenly, he stood up and walked down the hall toward the basement entrance. "It's nothing, Donna." He turned to her as he opened the door. "Thanks for the yummy supper! I'll be back up in a few minutes."

Donna finished her work in the kitchen. She grabbed a small gift-wrapped package from under the bed and set it on the small coffee table in the center of the living room and she sat down on the fireplace hearth. She waited quietly for Jake to come up from the Basement.

When he returned, he too had a gift that was wrapped. He set the gift next to the other and sat down on the hearth, next to his wife. They bantered over who would open their gift first, and in the end, rock-paper-scissors was the determining factor. Donna won, and she asked Jake to open his first.

He unwrapped it quickly and pulled a Fisher desk pen set from the box. The base was made of black plastic. Two gold-plated penholders were turned down, with two long, pointed ballpoint pens lying at the top. Jake pulled the holders upright and inserted the pens. He set it on the table and stared at it.

Donna said, "I hope you like it."

Jake replied, "I really like it. It's nice! It will look perfect on my desk."

Donna said, "The lady who I bought them from said that they've never been used."

"What do you mean?" Jake asked.

"She said that she bought them for her son to take with him to college, but he left them home."

"Where did you get them?"

"Remember that garage sale that we went to the other day?"

"Yeah, I remember. That’s when I got the folding lawn chairs for next to nothing. You got these there?"

"Yep! And I was so proud of myself that I was able to do it without you even knowing." She smiled.

Jake pointed to her gift. She smiled and carefully opened it. It was a small black box with the words 'Brennen's: Your Jeweler For Life' in small gold lettering embedded across the lid.

Donna looked up, mouth wide open, and said, "Jake!"

“Don’t prejudge, Dearie. Could be a Hershey’s kiss. Never know!”

Then she opened the box to reveal a gold band with two small diamonds set in the center. Donna carefully pulled the ring from the box and stared at it. Then she threw her arms around Jake.

"Try it on!" He said.

She placed it on her ring finger. It fit a little loose, so Jake asked her to try it on the other finger. A perfect fit.

“Well, it isn’t a wedding ring. We’ll get those when we can afford something really nice, but I suppose I could get that one resized.” Jake said.

“No.” Donna replied. “It’s perfect! And when we do get our wedding rings, this one is staying right here.”

Jake grinned. Then he told her that he had been saving a little at a time out of each week's paycheck. He also told her that he'd chosen that particular ring because he felt that the diamonds represented the two of them.

"You must have paid so much for these, Jake!" She exclaimed.

Jake replied, "You're worth it, Dearie." 

She smiled and asked, “Where did you get this?”

Jake looked at her and said matter-of-factly, “At Brennen’s, in Hartford.” Then he added, “Remember the day I called you from the restaurant and told you that I was going to have to spend a few hours at my parents’ place, gathering a few more things?”

Donna smiled and said, “You!  You’re sneaky!”

Jake grinned, and using his best Jimmy Stewart impersonation, said, “Why, I’m just a regular George Bailey, huh? Gone for hours, and you didn’t even know it!”

Donna took more time to admire her ring. She was quietly crying, and Jake asked why.

"I feel like my gift to you is so little compared to what you got for me." And she added, "I feel bad."

Jake assured her that she had gotten him the perfect gift; that one of his favorite places in the house was the basement, and that he would be spending lots of time down there, and that this pen set was going to get a lot of use in the future. Then he hugged and kissed her. "And now," He added, "I'm going to see how handsome this desk set looks sitting where it belongs."