You are here, with me
You are here, with me
You have been here,
And you are everything
You Are The Everything, by R.E.M
A common scene. Marriage in sunny July.
It was a big wedding, over a hundred guests all spead out in the pews. Decked out in tuxes and checking their watches: where is woman?
Everyone was there: Harold and Patty sat near the back, holding hands. They'd never gone apart. They were slated to get married the next year. Harold had fulfilled his dream and was now the owner of Green Meats, seeing as how Mr. Green had retired. Sometimes he'd still come in and badger Harold. Sometimes. It was getting hard for him to move.
Rhonda sat alone a few aisles up, talking frantically on a cellphone. The years had been kind to her body, her face, but her mind had been slowly melting into that of a blue-blood princess with little regard for anyone but herself. At age twenty-five she had hardly made billions playing the stock market. There hadn't been in a man in her life so far and it was unlikely one would appear.
Stinky sat beside her, looking uncomfortable in the suit. During the past few years he'd pioneered a new wave of agriculture and made millions selling the ideas to farms. Love had steered his way: him and Gloria were married and had a child coming.
Sid was leaning against a back wall, wearing sunglasses to hide his bloodshot eyes, going to the bathroom every five minutes and sweating uncontrollably. He was addicted to speed and LSD. He'd done three years in prison for a drug store burglary. He still wore white boots. Nobody wanted to stand beside him because he smelt like cigarettes and cheap whiskey. The doctors told him that if he continued with his lifestyle he'd only live another two and a half years, tops. They said 'go to rehab'. Sid told them to go fuck themselves.
Eugene sat with Sheena: an odd couple, her so tall and him so short. He'd studied drama in college and had become a stage actor, one of the most illustrious in Hillwood. His luck hadn't changed: even at the wedding he wore a cast from a recent accident. But, unbeknownst to him, something lucky had happened: Sheena was pregnant with his child. She hadn't told him yet because she was afraid he'd jinx it. He wouldn't.
Nadine and Pea-Pod kid didn't get together until high school, where they fell madly in love. Afer graduation Nadine took an internship with the Red Cross, working in Africa. Pea-Pod went with her and they came back married, converted to some kind of strange cultish religion, tanned almost black, and happy as can be.
Lila sat alone on the groom's side near the front, smiling at the groom himself waiting at the altar. She'd moved out of her father's house as soon as she hit eighteen and had gone to community college whilst living in a flophouse. She spent years making money. Eventually she went to college, spent a few more years doing nothing but work, and came out as one of the most respected psychiatrists in the country. She'd published self-help books. She was treating Sid at the moment and was, against her will, developing a strong attraction towards him. Eventually she'd save his life and they'd marry. Eventually.
Gerald stood beside Arnold at the altar and Phoebe across from him where Helga would be, both of them exchanging glances and furtive looks. For a long time they'd been together. Since freshman year, on and off. They dated through college. Gerald got a few bachelor's degrees and ended up playing saxophone at a blues bar. Phoebe worked at a research facility downtown, trying to uncover a cure for a rare type of disease that was destroying villages in Eastern Europe. They got together everytime they could. Gerald was planning on proposing to her at the reception party. Arnold knew about it. It made him happy.
The boarders sat in the second aisle from the front, Oscar with Suzie, Ernie by himself, and Mr. Hyunh with his daughter. Oscar's gambling debts had been cleared up by Lonnie at some point and he got a job selling dictionaries. Ernie was retired and lived in relative laziness, reading books and writing a memoir that wouldn't get published in a million years. Mr. Hyunh spent a lot of time with his daughter. He learned how to cook better.
Grandpa and Grandma sat in the top pew at the front aisle, grinning from ear to ear, giving thumbs-ups and winks. The boarding house was in excellent condition as far as that went: almost every boarder still lived there and the place was in good shape. Their health was declining but their minds were still sharp, except Grandma's, of course. They were proud of Arnold. They loved him to death. At some point Grandpa leaned forward and said, "I told ya that girl liked you." Arnold chuckled and told him to shut up.
Helga's mother and older sister were sitting across the way on the bride's side, front aisle. They were crying. At some point Olga had gotten married, in France, to a man who called himself "Marquis" and dressed in cravats and seventeenth century suits. He was a pervert with an insatiable sexual appetite. He wrote pornographic novels. Olga loved him and no one knew why. Even now as he sat beside her at a wedding, there were whispers of disgusting bedroom antics in her ear. Olga would blush. She'd carry out the disgusting bedroom antics later that night. Miriam had learned to control her alchol problem but the years of abuse had taken their toll, and although she was now capable of carrying on a conversation she still nodded off now and again and lost her train of thought constantly. Bob was nowhere to be seen. He was supposed to bring Helga.
Lonnie Doyle sat with Arnold's grandparents. Dr. Bliss was beside him. He looked older: crow's feet and laugh lines, black hair still long but graying. He had never gone back to the violent days but he stilled missed the excitement. Dr. Bliss helped him with that. She helped him with everything. It had taken him a while, but Lonnie had finally broken into the film business and he was directing a feature film to be released next September. The film was called "Guiding Light". It was a romance about two kids, one of which pretended to hate the other to cover up her true feelings of adoration. It had been a novel first, by Helga G. Pataki. Word on the street was that she was writing the screenplay as well. Dr. Bliss was pregnant, about a month into it. When Lonnie heard the news he punched a hole in the wall and kissed her so hard that Dr. Bliss thought she might've lost a tooth. He was still big. He still loved Dr. Bliss more than anything. He still had nightmares about the man he'd killed before his last prison sentence. He still talked with Arnold.
Arnold stood tall and broad shouldered, hair slicked back . He wore the little blue hat with his tux: out of respect. His parents were dead. When he'd found out he denied it until he saw the bodies. Helga comforted him. Three days later he'd asked her to marry him and then they'd made love. Him and Helga had stayed together all through high school. They went to different colleges for different reasons but saw each other at every chance and when they graduated and got jobs--Arnold worked for a corporation in a mediator capacity, essentially doing the same thing he'd always been doing but wih businessmen, and Helga started putting her love for Arnold into books and was now a published author with five highly successful novels to her name, and, of course, one screenplay--they started living together in Arnold's old room at the boarding house. It was an idyllic lifestyle: when Arnold traveled Helga went with him and when they were home they spoke about all things. Complete devotion to each other. Helga's dreams answered a thousand times.
"Gerald," Arnold said, tugging at his collar. Sweating bullets. "What if there was an accident?"
Gerald sighed and was about to tell Arnold to calm down when the double door's of the massive church opened and white light spilled in.
Helga came with it. Her father walked her to the altar, waving, grinning. He was still big. He was balding. He played poker with Lonnie Doyle on Thursdays. His relationship with Helga was still disruptive, but they got along most of the time. A drastic improvement.
She grinned at Arnold and tried to think of something witty to say but nothing came.
"You look beautiful."
"Guh."
The priest started speaking. They exchanged vows: Arnold's short and to the point, Helga's long and verbose and embarrassingly emotional. They exchanged I-Do's. They exchanged rings. Arnold took Helga's last name and so the priest said, "Mr and Mrs Pataki, I pronounce you man and wife."
They kissed: long and hard.
The room erupted.
A trail of happy people followed them to the limousine outside and that trail of people formed a mob around it, throwing rice and screaming and laughing. Helga saw Pheobe give her a thumbs up. Arnold and Gerald did their secret handshake.
The car pulled away. They kissed again.
Helga said, "I'm pregnant."
Arnold flew into the sky, grabbed the sun, pulled it down.
He said, "Is that good thing?"
Helga called him a football head. She grinned. He laughed.
The car pulled away into the sunrise.
Excerpt, Helga Geraldine Pataki's diary, pages 234-236.
I had the child last night. I've never seen anything so wonderful.
Arnold wanted to name him Leonard, and since I had no better idea that's what we called him. Leonard Pataki. It sounds good. The baby turned out beatiful: my hair and Arnold's eyes. Luckily for me he didn't get Arnold's head. I really, really didn't to have to push something like that out.
Since his birth we've done little but lounge around the house. Watching him. It's strange how this baby can enthrall us so much.
Lonnie came by yesterday and we talked about the movie, and him and Arnold shared a beer and watched a game show on TV. It's sweet how they get along. I can't wait to see Dr. Bliss again.
That's all for tonight, Diary. Arnold is beckoning. I don't even know why were bother going to sleep, they baby'll just wake us up. Oh, well. Maybe we'll fit in an hour or so.
- Helga G. Pataki
PS: I still smell his hair and I still have the locket. Everyone has secrets.
PSS: God, I love him. He's my everything.
THE END
Author's Note: Nothing much to say, except please read and review, PLEASE. The song is from the album Green.
It's really been a blast writing this. Like I said in the last chapter, I might do yet another sequel if I find the time. I really do hope you enjoyed it, and I hope it wasn't too sappy!