*
The last thing I ever wanted to do was to walk back into Dad’s church – especially to watch my mother and father renew their marriage vows. However, Mom called me after I got home from work the next evening and pleaded with me to the point that I thought surely I would lose my mind, and I finally said yes, just to get her to shut up about it. I couldn’t wait to get off the phone.
It wasn’t merely the fact that they were renewing their vows – something I considered utterly ridiculous at this point – I was uneasy as to how Greg was going to react to having seen me with Paul. I know he saw Paul’s necklace with the sigil, and I had been expecting to have Greg and my Dad tearing down my door that evening.
Only, it didn’t happen.
Almost a week went by, and Saturday was fast approaching. They were to renew their vows around six in the evening. I had been scheduled to work, but Miranda let me off the rest of the evening. Said I could come in a couple of hours early on Monday, since I worked the afternoon shift then. Truthfully, I had kind of hoped she would give me an absolute ‘no’, but it didn’t happen.
I ate a light, early dinner, showered and wriggled into new jeans and a red, long-sleeved top. I certainly wasn’t attired in any fancy manner, but what I put on had never been worn and was clean. I did wear my pretty red pumps that matched my top.
The wedding wasn’t a fancy affair, but the entire congregation had been invited. All the pews in the front half of the church were filled. I took a lonely one in the back.
Mom and Dad stood at the right front of the church talking to Greg. I took it that Greg was to perform the ceremony. He glanced at me and smiled strangely. I’m not sure I’d ever seen that look on his face before, but I did my best to dismiss it. Mom saw me then, waved and smiled happily.
Shit! I was filled with a mixture of disgust, apprehension and dismay. I was only there for Mom, and as I sat there with many of the parishioners glancing back at me here and there, I just wanted to run out of the building. I felt like an enormous hypocrite just sitting there, letting them stare at me like that. It hit me then that I did not have to do this to myself. It was Mom’s choice to return to a relationship she was miserable in, not mine. Then Ruth Jamison turned her smug, cocky face my way and that did it. I jumped up and ran out of the church.
I thought I heard Mom call after me, but there was no way I was going to go back in there. Just because she hadn’t been strong enough to find her own way, and had chosen to return to a marriage of enslavement and live a lie, didn’t mean I had to suffer the crap that went with it. I was a grown woman. I had Father Satan, Paleo, and Cal. They were all I needed. With that thought, I held my head high as I strode briskly up the park walk.
Of course, someone could have come after me, but I believe they felt I wasn’t worth it – considered me a lost soul. I knew better. And it was also too close for their scheduled ceremony. Dad wasn’t going to put off getting Mom back to chase after their evil daughter. I chuckled at that thought as I approached the park bench and sat down.
The service was beginning with a hymn, of course. Afterwards, I heard Greg’s voice. I felt kind of numb at that moment. Suddenly I was aware of someone approaching and was glad to see it was Erick. He had on jeans and a dark tee-shirt, looked black, but I wasn’t sure in the soft glow of the streetlights. Nevertheless, he looked awesome.
It was as though he knew. He greeted me with a friendly smile and a nod and took a seat beside me.
“Evening,” I said.
“Thought you might be here. They announced the wedding Sunday evening. I wasn’t sure if you would attend or not.”
So he does go when I’m not there. “I did go. But I suddenly realized that this is Mom’s mess. I don’t have to deal with it. She wants to suffer with a life of blind obedience to Dad, that’s her problem. Not mine!
“Good for you!” he said, and laid an arm across the bench behind my head.
I wondered why he even went to church there when, apparently, he really didn’t believe that way.
He must have read my thoughts. He grinned perceptively. “The church is close. I just started going there more out of curiosity than anything. Met you and kind of got interested in your little dilemma.”
“Well, I don’t know why. But you sure have been there for me. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your more than kind generosity: Spending the night in the car with me that one night, to name one.”
“You were in dire need of help, and I was more than glad to do it.”
I really appreciated his friendship, I did. But he was so mysterious. He seemed to know almost everything about me, but he managed to be evasive when it came to himself.
Again, he must have read or heard my thoughts. He suddenly jumped up, and said, “Good to see you, Brenda.”
“You too!” I stared up at him confused as to his sudden hurry.
Smiling pleasantly, he dismissed himself with a cordial bow and two-finger salute, and then briskly walked off to my right.
“Oh well,” I mumbled to myself. “He is such an enigma.”
Suddenly Mendelssohn’s Wedding March being played on the church piano found its way to my ears. “Seriously? You’ve got to be kidding me!” I wasn’t the one playing the piano, and I knew Mom wasn’t. I figured it had to be George Fontaine, the regular pianist, or Ruth Jamison, at the keys. She was the only other person in the church that was good enough at the piano to play for the wedding. Not everyone knows it, but every pianist has his or her own unique style of playing. And it sounded like Ruth’s touch at the keys. “Crap!”
Everyone was lining up outside on the church’s front steps. Soon as Mom and Dad appeared at the door, they were showered with rice. Aghast, I shook my head. I had seen enough. I took off running and didn’t stop until I reached my apartment. I quickly opened the door, ran inside, slammed the door and locked it. I was out of breath from running so hard and shaking from emotions that I could not ever begin to describe. I began shedding my clothes before I even got to the bathroom. I just wanted to take a shower and go to bed.
I stopped at my bathroom door. The water was already running and a yellow towel placed neatly-folded by the sink for me. “What the?” Then I realized Cal was standing just to my right.
I was naked as naked gets.
Eyes shining brightly, he grinned hugely but bowed politely. “Enjoy your shower, Brenda.” Then he vanished.
“Thank you! I think.”
Muted laughter.
I couldn’t help smiling to myself. He was a stinker, but he was an adorable one. I did really appreciate his thoughtfulness, even though he might have harbored a few of his own ulterior motives behind it.