CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURJesse and Kelly were having serious relationship issues as the 1974 Christmas season began to take its social toll. Jesse was spending too much time with his band and with his coworkers in the bar after work. His resolution to cut down on drinking had faded as life became more contentious on the home front. Kelly was coming home from work drunk more often than not.
To add even more stress, Kelly wanted her daughter, Berta, to move in for the holidays. “It’ll just be for a week or two,” she yelled from the kitchen at Jesse in the living room. “Come on, Jesse, she loves you. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to do Christmas morning right here with our baby girl?”
Jesse did not like the “our” part of the baby girl reference. But Kelly and Berta had always been and always would be
