It’s December now, and despite the best-laid plans of the police, it’s not they who are closing in on Deuce but Christmas, that perversely jolly time of year when reality tends to fall short of all reasonable expectations. Deuce has longed for a good Christmas for years now, thirteen to be exact, which is the number of consecutive winters he has spent the holiday behind bars. Christmas Eve finds the couple booked into the Hyatt House in Richmond, Virginia, for two days.
They have eluded capture because they have kept moving. Police aren’t looking for Karyne because they don’t have her name; if they did, they could track her by way of credit card receipts. By Christmas, she has practically maxed out all her cards. So when they need money, Deuce robs some out-of-the-way mom-and-pop store, taking care not to hurt anyone, and moves on.
Two days ago, however, it wasn’t a mom-and-pop store Deuce robbed but the Mechanics National Bank in Worcester, Massachusetts, with Karyne as his getaway driver. He has a fat bankroll now, and he is eager to celebrate. He wants to go out with Karyne and find a nice Christmas tree that they can set up in the hotel room, decorate, and surround with wrapped gifts for each other.
Deuce is high on the season. Karyne is not. Their relationship has been a roller coaster of emotional extremes—petty arguments, joyous moments, hateful invectives answered with punches and backhands. Karyne has black-and-blue bruises more often than not; makeup may cover most of the telltale marks, but it does nothing for the hurt. She is feeling more and more trapped with every passing day, and she wants out.
Deuce doesn’t see it. Karyne is just an appendage. His focus is where it always has been, on himself. He gives Karyne money so she can buy presents for him.
He shops the way he does everything, to excess. If he sees something he thinks Karyne will like, he buys it. First a jumpsuit, then six pairs of shoes and a leather coat. At a jewelry store he narrows his selection to four rings but can’t make up his mind which would be best, so he buys all four.
He returns loaded down with gift-wrapped packages and eagerly sets them out in a display on a table in their room. Karyne bought him only two gifts, a long cotton bathrobe that was three sizes too big and a cheap liquor carrying case with no liquor in it.
Deuce is hurt and dejected. He makes one final grasp at this vision of a brightly lighted Christmas tree. He has been carrying that around for years like it’s some miraculous green wand that can transform a yuletide disaster into a joyous memory. He tells Karyne they should go buy a tree.
Karyne is Jewish, never thought much of Christmas to begin with, and she certainly is in no mood to trim anybody’s tree. They argue. They fight. They holler at each other. Deuce slaps her around some more, and when she concedes the round, he calls her more obscene names and announces that they’re going to Florida.