Chapter 5: The Marriage
The horrid deed occurred on July 22nd, 2003-- my father married Jacqueline, I mean. They were married in some depressing church by some priest who looked as though his heart could go out at any given moment without any warning; a man of the cloth, he seemed quite pleased by Jacqueline's beauty, and even commented on it once after he had performed the ceremony; Jacqueline had just giggled, and thanked him for his kindness.
Everything for the wedding had to be just right, from the size of the wedding cake to the gown Jacqueline wore-- some flowing creamy dress handmade by some snooty prick in Paris. She didn't deserve it.
I stood directly beside the 'blessed' couple while the hundreds of guests watched; most of them, however, were from my father's side, so you can bet I was rather pleased that hardly no one from Jacqueline's side of the family had bothered to show up, other than a few second cousins she had not seen in years, and she barely bothered speaking with them; leaving me alone with them, and being forced to try to make small talk. As I stood there, I felt like screaming, and why, exactly, you might be asking was I standing beside the two people whom I resented the most in the world...?
I was forced to be the flower girl-- a job which I of course detested with the utmost loathing. Not only did I look and feel like a complete goof ball in the long pink dress, but I was much too old to be a stinking flower girl! And when the bitter tears began pouring out of my eyes, as the newly wedded couple climbed into the long black limousine, and headed off to their blessed honeymoon, I'm sure that most of the guests figured that I was crying tears of joy... they certainly were not tears of joy! I was crying because my father was marrying that old bitch who had done nothing but tried make my life completely miserable, and in doing so, he was abandoning the memory of my mother, and most importantly, he was abandoning me!
Ever since he had proposed to her, less than a month before, all my father could do was talk about the upcoming marriage; forcing me to help Jacqueline try on wedding gowns, choose a wedding cake, and even plan out the ceremony; a couple of times I tried to convince my father to simply not marry her, but he could see no wrong in her-- no reason; he simply shook his head, and told me that he would hear no more on the matter.
I just didn't understand it all; Jacqueline had shown up on our doorstep nearly three years earlier without any warning, and before I knew it, she had cast some love spell on him, and all he cared about was her, and her feelings, and her needs; and now, he was rushing into some marriage that would inevitably end in divorce.
I missed the way things used to be, but I knew that wishing they would return would only make matters all the more worse; there I stood; decked out in my ghastly attire as they spoke their vows which condemned me. I stared at her as she whispered, "I do," in her horrid voice. I stared at them as they kissed, passionately, sealing the envelope, and making their marriage final; him enveloped in her beauty… her false beauty. And then, something very strange occurred; as their kiss ended, I saw that her eyes fluttered upon me for a moment; giving me a look of hatred… a look of happiness for her fortune… a look of loathing… a look of triumph.
I did not understand why at the time-- although along with other matters, I would later on, but the look she gave me seemed to foreshadow some future event that would change everything once again, but as soon as it had come, the look was gone, and I wondered if I had imagined the entire thing.
As she walked passed me, with a bouquet of blood-red roses in her pale hands... in her gorgeous white gown, I had to restrain myself from stepping on her long white veil, and making her fall… possibly breaking a few bones in the process... Maybe even dying…
But, the "happiest day of my father's life" simply would not end. After the ceremony, Jacqueline invited everyone out into the courtyard of the church, and whirled and twirled in her pure white gown-- although I knew for dammed sure that she wasn't a virgin, and didn't have any business in it, while a very flamboyant photographer whose extensive vocabulary consisted of two adjectives-- both of which were "fabulous," snapped pictures of the blushing bride in front of us all.
I could havesimply laiddown and died.
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I stared at the fading flowered wallpaper that covered the graying walls in the Guest Bedroom of my grandmother's home; it was eight at night, and her loud snores coming from the other side of the wall told me that she had fallen asleep long before. I bit my tongue in frustration; it was almost a relief being away from my father and his girlfriend-- wife, for a couple of days but it was quite troubling nonetheless, as when they returned, I would be forced to comply with the changes to be made.
I sighed, and allowed the bitter tears that had been waiting to exit my eyes all night to come out once again.
Everything had changed.
Everything had changed, and nothing would ever be the same again.
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After one extremely long couple of days, and they had at long last returned from their honeymoon, I saw that Jacqueline would no longer be wearing white, thus opting for black once again... My father also was to return to work; we barely said three words to each other; it was as if he were a ghost, and I would never know him again.
They picked me up from my grandmother's house at about three on a wednesday afternoon; Jacqueline was all smiles-- especially after having seen my saddened expression after having seen her for the first time in a while; my father kept on babbling during the car ride back home about how wonderful a wife Jacqueline was, who simply giggled, and told my father to please stop being so silly.
As soon as we got back home, I ran upstairs, and barricaded myself within my bedroom; determined to not allow the pair-- now married couple to screw up my sorry life-- but try as I might, I knew that they would always end up succeeding; Jacqueline even more so than him.
Since it was still summer vacation, and Jacqueline was sadly on 'break from work,' although I suspected that they had at long last fired her as she was rarely there on time-- if she bothered to show up at all... I would be stuck all alone with her for a couple of weeks; all of my friends were either at some degenerate camp or in summer school until the early days of August.
I stared out of my window, and into the outside world, frowning, slightly, as I waved at my father at 7 AM as he backed out of the driveway; although I was extremely angry with the man for betraying me, I still wanted to make amends with him, but whether or not he saw me, he did not choose to respond.
I heard a gentle knock on the door, and Jacqueline's voice asking, "Bea, are you up yet? Do you want some breakfast?"
I did not respond, and opted to jump back into bed, just in case that she decided to burst into my bedroom, and check in on me.
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I began to feel hungry at around noon, so I gathered up all of my courage, and ventured down the stairs in order to make myself a sandwich... After all, this was my house! It wasn't like my father had handed her over the lease or something, and besides, who was I to judge, but maybe Jacqueline was out having an affair-- she did seem like the type.
I looked around the living-room, and realized (with quite a bit of happiness) that the bitch's presence was for once absent from the spacious room-- there was no sign of her; perhaps I had been right in assuming that she was out cheating on my father-- in any case, it would make it easier to convince him to kick her to the curb.
I instantly felt happier than I had been for the past three years, and I felt a light spring in my step as I walked towards the kitchen; this was my day, and if Jacqueline thought that she could ruin it, she was mad-- there was no way around it, I was not going to let her try to ruin my life any longer-- I was going to live my own life-- without any of Jacqueline's influence from now on.
It was a vow that I would not be able to keep, for Jacqueline's actions would eventually change everything, and rule my life, but I could not know any of the dire consequences that would come of being around Jacqueline just yet, for I was naive; to me, Jacqueline was just some bitch whom my father had married-- little did I know what she truly was.
I pushed the door that led to the kitchen open, and to my disappointment found Jacqueline sitting at the kitchen table, looking into her hand-mirror, and combing her long blonde hair, Just when you think you're rid of her, there she is, I thought, angrily, and to add to my annoyance, she wore black pajamas today (no surprise there!)
"Hello," she said, as I entered the kitchen, "I tried to make--"
"Hi," I replied coldly, instantly cutting her off.
"How'd you sleep?" she asked, quickly trying to change the subject.
"Why should you care?" I asked, frankly surprised by her question.
"Can't a girl ask a question around here?" she asked, innocently, as I walked around her; trying to avoid her, and towards the cupboard.
"Look, Jacqueline," I answered, pulling out a large jar of peanut butter, "I know that you don't want to be here with me, and frankly, my worst nightmare is being stuck here with you," I grabbed a butter knife from a drawer, and opened the bread-box.
"Cold," she remarked, as I stared at the label on the bread: Carb-Free Whole Wheat Bread; "What is this shit?" I asked, pulling it out, and throwing it down on the counter, Who can ruin bread? I thought, annoyed.
"It's bread for people on the Atkin's diet," she replied, smoothly, "It's totally good for you."
I rolled my eyes, "So, now we all have to suffer?" I asked, and I opened up the package, "Maybe you should start it too," I heard Jacqueline going on from behind me; totally nonplussed by my attitude towards her, "Why?" I asked, exasperatedly, as I began spreading the peanut butter over a slice of bread with the knife.
"You're looking a bit hippy nowadays."
"Ha!" I replied, grabbing another piece of bread, and putting the two together, "Jacqueline, please don't give me that shit right now, I'm not in the mood-- it's bad enough I'm stuck here for most of the summer with you... And besides, and my weight is perfectly fine... I wear Size 5 jeans, and I don't want to be anorexic like you-- my father may like it, but I find it quite disgusting," I threw the ingredients back into the cupboard, threw the knife into the sink, and began exiting stage-right, and then, "Do you like my new things?" she suddenly asked, holding it up the mirror and comb for me to see.
I turned around, and saw for once how beautiful the mirror and comb she held were; the frame of the mirror was carved with realistic leaves, and the glass was clear and smooth... It was so shiny that the sun, which was streaming in through the window made it glow. The comb, was long... It was pure silver, embedded with small stones, though the teeth were quite sharp, they remained beautiful, "Your father gave them to me."
And then I absolutely hated them, "They're nice," I replied, and then went upstairs to eat my lunch in privacy, hoping that I would not be forced to see Jacqueline again all day.
