The Jenkinson debócale

“Merry no!” Frank said within the fullness of concern. She was across the room. The party halted and all eyes were on him. Merry herself was quite startled and stood frozen, with a Christmas cookie in her hand. “Frank, don’t embarrass me” she stomped over in a huff as the crowd began to regain the momentum of the neighborhood party. It was being held at Jenkinson's this year and Merry felt pressured to look her best. The Jenkinson’s always had the best things and threw the best parties and always boasted of it as well. Frank hated the Jenkinson’s. “What is it?” asked Merry angrily. “Wait, wait look” said Frank pointing over at the snack table that Merry had just marched from. Merry looked over just in time to see George Jenkinson take a bit of the very same type of cookies that she was seconds from eating herself. Mr. Jenkinson ate. “Slam dunk” whispered Frank. “You didn’t” Merry whispered in response, though she needed no answer, the look in his eye was all she needed. “How much did you put in?”, “all of it”, “all of it?”, “Every. Last. Drop”. Merry looked up in desperation to see if anything could be done to change what had just happened, but to her dismay all she saw was George Jenkinson scarfing down their cookies. Helpless, she watched as he praised their freshly made cookies to all the guests and offered them to everyone. Everyone at the party had taken one at this point.

It wasn’t long before joyful faces turned almost sour, strained, and uncomfortable. Some moved as quickly as they could to find the best source of relief for their infirmity, only to find their way barred by an immovable door handle. “You locked all the bathroom doors?!” Again no response, for none was needed, it was certain. “Let them stew a little longer” Frank whispered but this time more to himself than Merry. They waited a moment, watching the crowd shuffle along, as none of them felt safe making any quick motion. Then at the first sign of a guest deciding to leave, due to extreme discomfort, Frank taped his glass loud and clear. The speech had begun. “Ladies and gentlemen, I wanted to take this moment to thank the Jenkinson’s for being willing to hold yet another party at their enormous house they keep going on and on about. I know that we have all been feeling the intense pressure of the holiday season, and it feels so good to take a deep breath and just release our loads”, there was a subtle, yet quite collective, groan amid the group. Merry thought she had seen the worst of it, but then Frank, still continuing his speech, made his way to George Jenkinson. “This man knows how to relax, am I right?” Frank tapped him on the belly with supreme precision, knowing exactly where would apply the most pressure upon his colen. George began to sweat. “Thank you for allowing all of us to take part”, something in his smile turned malicious as he began the next line. “And so big fella, here is a hug from all of us” Frank grabbed hold, and squeezed tight. Merry thought he would let go but he held on for a moment longer, giving one final squeeze as he let go, and as Frank released, so did George. “Merry Christmas one and all'' Frank exclaimed, with the most sincere amount of joy on his face Mery had seen in a while. They were never invited to another party at the Jenkinson’s again.