CHRISTMAS 1978
Shopping.
If
there was one thing he hated the most in the world, it was shopping. But not just any shopping; Christmas Shopping. And yes, in
his mind, such an abhorrent thing did deserve capital letters.
For
a religious festival that was to celebrate the birth of the messiah and saviour
of the world, the traditions that had sprung up around it could only have been
devised by the devil. Not that he was particularly religious, but that was
beside the point.
The
actual point at that moment was what to get his guys as presents this year.
He’d already spent and hour trudging around the stores, aware that the more
time he spent shopping, the greater chance BA had to follow through with his
threat to kill Murdock… or at least to bind and gag Murdock. He actually
wouldn’t be too surprised to return to the apartment Face had scammed for them
to find Murdock bound like a turkey.
Which
reminded him, he still had to get the turkey.
He
sighed. Too many things to do, but he would get it done. He was the leader of the A-Team, after
all.
So
first, presents.
BA
was reasonably easy to buy for. The big guy’s collection of gold jewellery
seemed to be growing at an alarming rate, but at least it was easy to buy.
Maybe he could get a chain with a charm that had a flat edge to it so it could
double as a screw driver should they ever get into difficulty. Or, maybe some
new tools would do.
Okay,
so that was BA planned for. More or less.
Next? Murdock.
Hmmm. Nothing too dangerous.
A Straight jacket? A nice new one
with planes across it? Hmm, maybe not, although maybe
he would suggest it to BA. He
grinned to himself. He could just see BA
getting one for Murdock and threatening him with it. Not that BA would ever actually force Murdock
into one, but it would be a good threat. Not that it would really work. He wouldn’t put it past Murdock to be able to
get out of any straight jacket. So, what about a serious suggestion then? Maybe something to annoy the VA staff with? On
second thought, after the cap guns Face had bought Murdock for his birthday,
maybe that wasn’t a good idea.
Something
that would keep Murdock occupied then? Books? Murdock was
always reading something. Kept coming up
with random facts to which he could all honestly reply, that ‘no Murdock, I
didn’t know that English novelist George Elliot was not actually a man but a
woman writing under a man’s name.’ Of course, when it came to English writers
his knowledge stretched little further than Charles Dickens and William
Shakespeare. Hmm, that was an idea. What about the full works of William
Shakespeare? Or even better, what about something by Sigmund Freud? Yeah, that
would keep the pilot occupied for a few days at least, with the added bonus of
being able to use some of his newly found knowledge against his shrink.
Okay,
so that was Murdock done. That just left Face. What to buy Face?
Funnily enough, the kid was by far the hardest one to buy things for. His
tastes seemed to be so exact that you were sure you would never be able to
figure them out. Maybe he should just buy the kid a new set of lock picks or
something. You know, something useful. No doubt
Murdock would buy the kid some kind of novelty present that Face would protest
about, saying it was for kids, but would actually secretly spend time playing
with. Murdock was great at buying those sorts of presents. So, something useful
then….
Wandering
through the stores, he continued to ponder what to get, hoping to get some
inspiration from what he saw, but there was little that would be suitable. Just
row after row of decorations, gimmick toys, Santa hats and….
He
stopped, looking back at what had caught his eye. A nativity scene was laid out
to his right, with all the usual suspects present: the shepherds, the kings,
the cattle, Joseph, and in the centre Mary and Jesus. Turning back, he walked
over to it. Face may have slipped in his religious practices over the years,
but deep down the kid still had some kind of belief. The kind of belief that
had him going to confession every few months and Mass at
Maybe
he had found his present.
The
nativity wasn’t particularly big and it looked tasteful enough, carved
intricately out of wood. It would go with any decorating scheme and wouldn’t
take up much room. And anyway, even if he never used it again, at least Face
would be able to admire his own nativity set this year.
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