The Photographer

Chapter 6

Sunday, December 25, 2011
Toronto, Canada

"Ness where'd you put the paper plates?" Kathy yells.

It was Christmas Day and Vanessa and her mother had spent most of the day decorating the house for tonight's small family gathering and celebration for the holiday. Vanessa had tried as best she could to keep up with her mother's orders in an attempt to make tonight perfect. Their family was coming over and Kathy wanted everything to be presentable. That meant thorough cleaning of the house, cooking, and decorating. It was a very tedious process and although tired, Vanessa enjoyed the time spent with her mom, helping her to fix the place up while recalling events from past Christmases.

"They're on the kitchen island, next to the plastic silverware," Vanessa responded to her mother's question.

"Thank you dear!"

"Zima, which one should I play first tonight?" Her father suddenly asked.

He held up two different vinyls--both African music artists that were her father's favorites.

"Miriam Makeba," Vanessa said while pointing to the vinyl in her father's right hand.

Abraham nodded with a smile and placed the winning vinyl to the side for later. Vanessa turned her attention back to the decorations on the family tree. It sat in the far corner of the living room just enough to be out of the way but still attract attention. The African ornaments her father had brought up from the basement had added a very nice touch to the tree along with some more traditional items for the holiday.

"So, what do you think papa?" Vanessa asked while taking a step back to admire her work.

She felt her father's arm around her shoulder, pulling her in a comforting hug and his warm lips on the side of her head, "I think it's perfect Zima. You did good."

She smiled up at her dad and he tapped her nose playfully before leaving her side to finish playing around with the turntable in the room.

"Vanessa! I need your help!" Kathy suddenly yelled from the kitchen.

Vanessa went into the kitchen, where she found her mother using a mixer to stir something together in a bowl.

"Place the dressing in the oven while I finish making the pies."

Vanessa nodded and did as her mother commanded. She grabbed the large pan of chicken dressing and placed it in the pre-heated oven then closed it.

"Did you finish the tree sweetheart?" Her mother asked.

"Yeah."

"Good. Where is your father?"

"He's in the living room testing out the turntable."

Kathy groaned but said nothing as she focused more on filling the pies.

"Anything else I can help with?"

"No dear. Why don't you go home and relax. Your father and I will finish the rest."

Vanessa nodded then kissed her mother's cheek and headed for the door. She drove the twenty minute drive back to her apartment and let out a sigh of relief that the group of bad boys were nowhere in sight. Maybe they were at home with their own families for once and not stirring up trouble around the building. Whatever the reason was, Vanessa was grateful and quickly got out of her car and headed for her apartment.

She took the stairs by two and unlocked her door before going inside and getting comfortable. She was tired. Very tired. Having been up since seven a.m, she was glad to finally be in the comfort and silence of her small apartment. She shrugged off her jacket and kicked her shoes off before relaxing on her couch. She pulled her phone from her pocket and set an alarm to get up at seven before falling asleep.