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"Nope."
"Come on OJ, it's just for one night. You can let Ralph finish up. He's been working here for three weeks now."
"Not long enough. Boy doesn't know these horses yet."
Em threw her hands back in exasperation, turning on the spot to pace away from her brother, sighing loudly. "Look, I see you. You don't want anyone messing with your horses. I get it. But come on, man! I've been planning this for weeks!"
OJ, who was leaning against the counter in the kitchen, said nothing, only answering with a skeptical look.
"...Okay, so not that long, but still! Take a damn break! We ain't broke anymore! You gotta stop hustling every damn day!"
This wasn't the first time OJ and Em have come to blows over what to do. In the aftermath of Jean Jacket's demise, the Haywoods found themselves thrust into the limelight, which turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. They now had more money than they knew what to do with, more than enough to fix up the house and buy more horses. It eventually reached a point where OJ was no longer able to sufficiently train and care for every single one. It was only after his sister's constant pressuring that he finally relented and hired two farmhands to help out on the ranch. They both proved to be quite useful, though OJ still tried to save the bulk of the work for himself, and didn't let anyone put the horses away for the night without his supervision.
Em, meanwhile, oversaw the distribution of the footage they had gotten of Jean Jacket, and, much to her brother's chagrin, was raking in far more money than the horses were, even though OJ was seeing a lot more cooperation and eagerness from film studios to use his horses. He even began renting them for international filming, shipping a dozen of them to Australia. He resented the idea at first, but knew that he would have to expand the business eventually. Studios were paying top dollar to use Haywood's Hollywood Horses.
All the extra revenue and booming business came at a cost, though. There was a media frenzy surrounding Jupiter's Claim after Jean Jacket was destroyed, and the Haywoods soon found themselves receiving far more attention than even Em was comfortable with. She gave sparse interviews, and focused her attention on licensing deals, as well as the inevitable appearance on Oprah. With all the money coming in, they were able to fix up the house, even after Jean Jacket did a number on it. Cleaning up what remained of the guests at the Star Lasso Experience was a grim reminder of what Jupe had gambled in his pursuit of fame and spectacle, warning both OJ and Em to proceed through their newfound stardom with extreme caution. One particular morning, Em found a blood-soaked toy unicorn in the gutter, and was uncharacteristically silent the rest of the day.
Of course, the Haywoods weren't the only ones whose lives were changed. Though they held the rights to the distribution and licensing of the footage they got of Jean Jacket, they fairly split a portion of their money with Angel Torres, without whom they wouldn't have gotten it. Hell, without Angel, they might not even be alive. He was more than happy to quit his job at Fry's, which was already going out of business. While OJ kept his horses and Em navigated her newfound fame, Angel was content to simply slip into obscurity, not wanting to attract too much attention to himself.
Despite his need for privacy, Angel would sometimes make a rare appearance on camera, but only with OJ and Em. He'd grown closer to them, as no one else could have possibly understood what he had gone through. He would often stay at their place, especially if it was raining out. Angel didn't like storms anymore. He would show up, unannounced, wearing a wry smile and a pained expression, and without questioning him, Em would welcome him in, making sure he had a place to sleep. Even OJ enjoyed his company. They wouldn't talk much, but he always seemed relaxed whenever Angel was around.
It was for this reason that Em had invited Angel to spend Christmas with them this year. She was worried that, with everything in their lives having changed so quickly, the holidays wouldn't feel quite the same. She was still trying to convince OJ to take the night off when there was a knock at the door. She stopped midsentence and held a finger up, indicating that the conversation was not yet over. Silently, she stepped away towards the front door and opened it, beaming.
There stood Angel Torres. His bleached hair was tucked underneath a Santa hat, and he was wearing a red and green sweater, despite the fact that it was still rather warm out. Tucked under his arms were two large, poorly-wrapped presents. Em gave him an awkward hug as he tried to maneuver through the doorway. OJ stood near the door frame leading to the living room, arms folded, watching the two of them as they exchanged pleasantries.
"So i'm guessing he's the reason you wanted me to call it early today?" he asked, his tone flat but with a touch of mirth. Em had shown him where to set the presents down before giving her brother a reproachful look.
"It's two days before Christmas, OJ. Angel doesn't have anyone else to spend it with. You know how he gets sometimes...I don't want him to spend Christmas alone."
OJ sighed. His dad wasn't an unfriendly person, but he never really mixed family stuff with social stuff. Christmas was always a small, private thing. Although he liked Angel well enough, this was definitely different from what he was used to. Then again, a lot had changed in the past year. Having a friend stay for Christmas was probably the least strange thing he'd have to accept. Slowly, he nodded his head.
"Alright Em, I'll...I'll go talk to Ralph. First thing in the morning though, I'm checking the stables." OJ lowered his gaze, trying to avoid that gloating smile that Em would wear when she got her way. He hated seeing it when they were kids, and he still hated it. He didn't have to look at Em to tell she was wearing it; he could read it in the tone of her voice.
"Knew you would come around. We're gonna have a fucking awesome Christmas, you know that?" She nudged her brother's shoulder. "Hey, you still got some of that hobby weed?"
Angel, who had appeared in the doorway, looked between them, looking a little lost. "What's hobby weed?" he asked. "Is that a different strain?"
OJ and Em shared a pained look between them, as if to say, "Is this dude for real?" OJ shook his head slowly, giving a rare smile before slipping off towards the back of the house. Em laughed and waved her arm, inviting a very confused Angel to join her. "Come on Angel, baby. You're gonna learn today."
* * *
They were gathered upstairs, passing around a joint and listening to a Diana Ross Christmas album. Angel took a long drag from the joint, leaning back and slowly exhaling the smoke after holding it in for a moment. "Fuck," he said, handing the joint to Em. "That's good shit. Never had homegrown stuff before."
Em raised her brows, pausing to take a drag from the joint herself. "Really? You're lucky this is your first then. OJ knows what he's doing with this shit. Got a few plants out back." She passed the joint to her brother, who seemed to be a lot more relaxed, which she suspected was not entirely because of the weed. "What do you normally have going on for Christmas?"
Angel leaned back in his chair. "Well, when my mom was still around, she would just send me something, usually a card with money in it. Wasn't much, but you know, she tried. When she died I sort of stopped doing Christmas. Then I met Becca...her family was all about big Christmas parties. I would tag along. It was nice but like...it always felt so fake, you know? Kind of perfunctory."
OJ smirked at him. "'Perfunctory'?"
Angel shrugged. "I can use big words too, you know. Anyway, yeah, I never really enjoyed her family's Christmas parties. Although I might have gone this year if Em didn't invite me over." He took out his phone and looked through his messages. "Becca reached out to me a while back. Of course, she heard about all the shit that went down here, wanted to reconnect."
OJ shook his head firmly, but of course, it was Em who spoke up. "Nope. Mm-mm, no, you better shut that shit down, boy. She only wants to reconnect so she can use you. She's just like the paparazzi that came sniffing around here. You don't need to get involved with someone like that."
Angel sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just...with everything that happened, I kind of wanted something familiar, you know? Something from before my life became a...um..." He trailed off, gesturing with his hands wide apart.
"A spectacle," OJ finished for him.
"Yeah, that." Part of the reason he'd grown so close to the Haywoods was that they were probably the only people who understood what he was going through. "You're probably right though. What about you guys? What do you usually do for Christmas?"
OJ and Em exchanged looks. "We uh...we didn't really do much ourselves," said OJ. "Christmas was always Pop's thing. He'd invite Em over, and it would just be us." An uncomfortable silence followed, where Em promptly finished the joint and flicked the remaining paper into a wastebasket.
It was then that Angel realized that this wasn't just their first Christmas after Jean Jacket. This was their first Christmas without their father. He suddenly felt very embarrassed, as if he was intruding on something private. He cleared his throat and cast a furtive glance down at his feet.
"Hey, um, I should honestly check out. I won't crash Becca's party, I'll just head home." He had only just stood up when Em shook her head and pointed back down at the chair.
"No, come on, we...we want you to stay. I get it's a little weird for all of us, but we could really use the company." She turned to her brother, waiting for him to say something too, almost mouthing the words at him.
"Come on, sit. We still got that scotch in the liquor cabinet," was all he said.
Angel smiled. "Weed and booze, is that all it takes to get me to hang around?"
"Weed, booze, and Diana Ross's beautiful voice," Em corrected.
* * *
The next two days were full of new experiences for the three of them. Em had to keep prying OJ away from the horses, long enough to try new Christmas traditions, convinced that they would enjoy doing what OJ had so lovingly deemed "boomer shit." They made Christmas cookies, which looked less like stockings and trees and more like one of Jean Jacket's relatives. They also tried watching some classic Christmas specials, which quickly devolved into Em making commentary on every single one.
"Fuck that 'dahoo-doray' bullshit," Em protested at the TV screen. "If the Grinch tried to steal my shit, I'd beat his ass." Following that with Rudolph turned out to be a huge mistake. OJ and Angel got an earful about how greedy Santa was, exploiting something that Rudolph had been bullied for, commodifying what she saw as an allegory for a disability, and only seeing his worth once he proved to be useful to the very system that oppressed him. Angel decided that was enough Christmas specials, and desperately tried to think of something else they could do.
"How...how about singing Christmas carols?" he suggested, realizing how utterly stupid that sounded after he had already said it.
"Angel, baby, that's..." Em blinked. "Oh shit, wait, no. I've been working on some music actually. Tryna put something out there, now that people are actually paying attention to us. What if we made a Christmas album? Yeah, we could be like...Christmas with the Haywoods. Oh, and Angel. Angelwoods? Oh! Hark the Haywood Angels Sing!"
"I'm going to bed," said OJ sternly. "If I hear Christmas music coming from this room, I'm gonna move to Hawaii."
Em shot him a look as he got up. "You ain't going anywhere, you love us too much."
OJ paused in the doorway and sighed. "You're right. I can't leave this place. Horses need feeding and all that."
* * *
Christmas morning came faster than they realized. OJ actually slept in, though it was still early for Em and Angel. He had shaken them both awake after they passed out in the living room, surrounded by empty snack wrappers and hot cocoa mugs.
"Wake up. Come on. We gotta get this gift stuff out of the way so I can get to work." Angel stirred first, looking around groggily, eyes half-open.
"Hm? Oh, right. Christmas...we got presents. Come on Em." He nudged her with his foot, earning a hard kick in response.
"Keep your cold ass feet to yourself. Alright, I'm up." She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes, turning her attention to a pile of presents surrounding a small plastic tree. OJ was already kneeling in front of the pile, distributing gifts.
Em received a set of ring lights and a foldable green screen from Angel, and a bottle of her favorite bourbon from OJ. Now that they could afford the good shit, Em had become a bit of a connoisseur. She set her presents aside and watched as Angel and OJ each opened their presents from her. Angel received a new graphics card, ("How the hell did you find this? They're out of stock everywhere!") while OJ received a top-of-the-line horse grooming kit. It didn't seem like much, but Em knew how important it was for OJ's horses to look their best when he was trying to sell them for use in movies and commercials. OJ looked like a kid who'd just gotten a PS5.
They were fawning over their presents for so long, they nearly forgot about the gifts they had gotten for each other. Angel went first, opening his present from OJ. He balked, folding the wrapping paper away slowly.
"OJ, you...you really didn't have to do this man. We didn't even carry something like this at Fry's." He held up a state-of-the-art film camera. He was certain OJ spent more on this than he spent on his present for OJ. He almost didn't want OJ to open his present now.
Regardless, OJ grabbed the last gift, looking unusually happy. Maybe this dumb Christmas stuff really was making a difference for him. It would make Angel feel all the worse if his gift was a disappointment.
He bit his lip and watched as OJ peeled the paper off of the strangely-shaped present, revealing....
"It's a...a saddle," said OJ, sounding neither impressed or insulted. He mostly sounded confused. "It's a pony saddle."
Angel felt his heart sink. "Shit, you mean I got one that's too small?"
OJ shook his head. "No. I mean, yeah, my horses can't wear it, but I've been meaning to buy some ponies soon anyway. Can always rent them out to fairs and birthday parties." He was smiling, and it was an earnest smile. He hardly looked like OJ at all.
The moment was broken by Em, who clapped her hands and stood up. "Alright, I don't know about y'all, but there's some brandy and eggnog waiting for me, and I'm looking forward to playing with my new toys and doing fuck-all today."
Angel got up and followed her, but OJ was already putting away the wrapping paper. "Gotta do the horses." He heard Em groan and mutter something about "You and those damn horses," so he followed it with, "I'll try and make it quick today, alright?"
"Not gonna be any eggnog when you get back," she said after she heard the door shut, and she turned to Angel, grinning. "Help me finish off the bottle."
* * *
OJ kept his promise, and returned sooner than he usually did, even after starting late. Unfortunately, Em also kept hers, displaying the empty bottle of eggnog. "Shit's nasty anyway," said OJ, opting for another round of scotch.
Angel, who was already quite tipsy, glanced from one sibling to another. "Seriously? Do you guys just drink all day or what?" He knew he wasn't going to be able to keep up with them.
While OJ and Em's conversation became more boisterous, Angel took a moment to take it all in. Anyone else might have considered this an awkward Christmas, but even with his newfound fame and fortune, there was no one else he would have rather spent his Christmas with. These two were the only family that each other had, and now, they were the only family that he had too. Not sure if he would regret it or not, he stepped back in and joined the drinking, quickly losing himself. There was loud music, awkward dancing, and--not for the last time--Em celebrated Jean Jacket's defeat and getting the Oprah shot.
"I blew that motherfucker up! That motherfucker, right there!" She pointed to the wall, where a print of the picture hung next to a photo of their dad. Jean Jacket, with all his strange and ferocious power, being undone by Jupe's character balloon. The original photo was kept in a vault. No way was she going to lose that. "Macy's Parade looking ass..."
Things got quiet after that, as if the memory and shared trauma had hit all three of them at once. Em remembered what it was like, having the roof ripped away as she was pulled straight into the air. OJ, being pursued by Jean Jacket, saved only by a strand of flags. And Angel, sucked right into the beast's mouth, ensnared by barbed wire and tarp. He still had scars that would never fully heal. Then there was the screaming, the god awful screaming that haunted their dreams. All those people from Jupiter's Claim, being slowly digested alive before their screams were suddenly silenced. They tried not to think about what it was like for them, being trapped in there before their demise, but every now and then, as they lay awake, those thoughts would creep in, accompanied by the terrible reminder that they themselves nearly met the same fate.
Em seemed to pick up on the vibe before the others did, wearing a forced smile. "Hey, fuck Jean Jacket, right? He's dead, he can't do shit anymore. Come on, let's...let's um..."
OJ was staring hard at the wood floor, head shaking almost imperceptibly. Angel was staring out the window, at the spot where he was sucked up off the ground. His fingers were running over the pale scars on his arms. And Em was looking between the men, eyebrows furrowed, bouncing on her feet.
"It's gonna rain tonight," said Angel hoarsely. He was looking at the dark clouds moving in, making absolutely sure they were actually moving.
There was no talking, no planning. They had done this before, and would likely have to do it again. Angel moved his bedding from the spare room into the kitchen, making a small fort under the kitchen table, feeling almost like a kid. OJ made a spot on the floor by the door, and Em took the couch. They were no more than fifteen feet from each other. All the blinds were closed. They probably wouldn't get much sleep that night, and so tried to find some distractions.
But in the pale, colorful light of the Christmas tree, there was a certain warmth there that seemed to keep those racing thoughts at bay. After everything they had been through, all the horror and tragedy and loss, they realized they had found something they didn't have before, and it wasn't the money. OJ and Em were closer than they had ever been, and Angel now felt like he was one of them.
And so, even as the rain began to pour, bringing back memories of that terrible night, they all did something they hadn't done before during these nights. They talked. Mostly about their new presents and what they planned to do with them. It was an indirect way of saying how grateful they were for each other. So much had changed for the Haywoods, and more changes were bound to come, but they had managed to make the best of an awful situation.
Before midnight, they were all asleep. It wasn't the end of their nightmares, but it was a start. Whatever the new year held for them, the Haywoods, and honorary Haywood, would face it together.