Christmas Blues

Thankfully, my mama allowed me to wear my favorite pink shirt. She probably knew it would add bonus points to grammy because pink is her favorite color. Throughout our drive to grammy, mama and papa teased me about the cheap gifts that I would get, but I didn’t let them bother me. I was very focused on making sure I would win against Tammy.  She got lucky last year.  My annoying uncles and aunties convinced grammy that I messed up. I tried telling them that I stopped dancing for a second because my swinging arms were about to hit Uncle Leo’s baby, but they wouldn’t listen.

Grammy greeted me with a hug. And as I expected, my uncles and aunties were already being loud in grammy’s dining room. The smile on my face dissolved immediately when Tammy walked up to me. She was wearing again the ugly sneakers that lit up. She grew a couple of inches but her tiny feet probably remained the same.

“Merry Christmas,  Ava,” she said.

“Merry Christmas too,” I said.

Like last year, my grammy, my uncles, my aunties, and my parents encircled us. I got annoyed watching my parents cheer Tammy’s simple dance number.  After her performance, I stood at the center of the room and immediately smiled at everyone. It was Miss Caroline’s advice. She told my class that a smile will always make people happy.

“Are you ready to dance, baby bear?” grammy said.

I shook my head, surprising and confusing everyone.

“Are you shy?” she said. “It’s okay if you don’t want to dance. We can just open the gifts.”

“It’s fine, grammy,” I said. “Watch this.”

Suddenly, I repeatedly snapped my fingers and shook my shoulders, then began to sing the song, Jingle Bell Rock. People beamed. Their heads bobbed. My genius plan worked. I was about to win until everybody in the room started to sing along and drowned out my voice. Even Tammy sang along. Her lyrics were all over the place, but it didn’t matter. In the end, no one won. Everyone just kept singing.