Christmas (2)

The same wealthy aunt and uncle of mine always produced the most amazing Christmas lunches, spread out on a long trestle table in the garden Summer house.  The table would groan with food of every sort, and the usual crackers and hats and punch made it into a very festive time for us children.

One such lunch seemed to take a very long time in reaching the table.  One o'clock came and went, then two o'clock came and went and still no lunch.  By this time we began to ask questions, but none of the adults seemed to be saying very much.  We also noticed that my uncle was absent.  It was all a very big mystery to us.  Eventually at about three thirty my uncle reappeared with a strange man in tow, and the long awaited lunch got under way.  The strange man didn't seem very hungry, because he ate nothing, however we noticed that he seemed to toss down an inordinate number of beers.  Only very much later did the entire story come out.  My aunt being very superstitious had done a quick head count and on arriving at the number thirteen, refused to allow us to sit down to lunch unless my uncle went and found a fourteenth person.  Being Christmas day, I can image that finding someone willing to sit down with a bunch of strangers in order to placate my aunt, must have been almost impossible.  I think he eventually found such a man in one of the Johannesburg parks, hence the liquid Christmas lunch!

After lunch as all the fathers lay snoozing on the grass under the palm tree, we children quite oblivious to the days goings on, blissfully ran around eating slices of watermelon and sucking iced lollies.  As to the strange man, I guess my uncle deposited him back on the same park bench where he had first encountered him.  Life was never dull!