Currently listen to Selofan – In the darkness 😊
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The double doors of the banquet room were already open when I stormed in looking for my Pops. So much for the Hollywood entrance again. To my right was a mass of white fluffy fabric clustered together. All the women were huddled around Charlie's two sisters – it looked as though my family and friends were gushing over the gowns of Charlie's sisters. Their gowns were "cream" colored. For the life of me, I tried to remember their names. Candy, Claire, Carmen, Cadberry, Cranberry – hmmm…I don't remember and don't care. They have the same snooty attitude Darcy carried with him and I could do without them here.
While receiving all the positive envious attention for their gowns, I couldn't help but notice their smug expressions with the occasional eye roll. If you ask me, when I first saw their dresses floating around the room, the color reminded me of urine stained fabric. Take that you highfalutin wenches.
My eyes then land on the one face that stared right back at me. Char, who was near the gaggle of women, scowled at me fuming with anger.
Oops! By her murderous glare, she knows I had initially left without telling her/without her.
I give her an "it wasn't me" shrug and she shakes her head furiously at me. Her nonverbal headshake spoke volumes, it said, "If you ever leave me again like that, I will shave off your eyebrows and superglue the tiny hairs to your upper lip."
I salute her with a peace sign before marching over to my Pops.
My Pops, Mr. Lucas, Charlie, Darcy Fancy Pants, and Mr. Che and his two adult sons were all huddled around one of the round tables in the far end of the banquet room.
Thinking the worst, I quickly walk right to my father.
"Papa. Que paso? Como te sietes?" (Father. What's wrong? How do you feel?) I knew none of our neighbors spoke Spanish and I assumed Charlie the Navajo and Darcy the Korean-American didn't speak Spanish either. If my father was feeling ill, I didn't want any of them knowing.
"Nada Mija, ven aca. Mira." (Nothing Daughter, come here. Look.) He points to the table.
In front of my father and what everyone was huddled around, was the biggest iPad I've ever seen. The iPad had a website open showing a map, specifically a map of our neighborhood, even more specifically a MGRS Grid and Coordinates map.
My father looked at Charles, "My daughter was a map reader in the Marines. She'll help us with the specific land boundaries."
"You're a Marine Rocky? You were a Navigation specialist." Charlie's sincere smile warmed me inside. I nodded.
"That wasn't my actual post, but I was the expert map reader in my Mobile Assault Platoon. In the Marines, I majored as a mechanic and minored in navigational management." I gave Charles a wink at the nonofficial military titles. "We trekked through the outskirts of Falluja and Kabul with ease because of me and never got lost. More importantly we never were stranded with a broke down Humvee because of me." I gave Charlie another quick wink as a military man like him would know about broke down Humvees in Iraq/Afghanistan.
His eyes widened at the mention of Falluja, "Falluja was extremely dangerous and hostile terrain."
I simply nodded and my father cuts the small talk. "Okay Rocky get to mapping girl."
"Char. Are you okay?"
Char's quietness upset me. I don't like seeing her like this. As soon as she entered my truck, I knew something was bothering her.
She let out a stifled cry, "I'm so embarrassed Rocky. My father was so embarrassing."
"Your father was fine. I think my mother took the gold with embarrassing her children."
She glared at me.
"We are in our late 30's Rocky, why can't they leave us alone?"
"Because Char, they come from a time where you grow up, get married, have children, and then raise grandchildren. Period! In their time, working single women were considered the bottom of the barrel women. In their eyes, unmarried childless women in their 30's are spinsters."
Horrified and wide-eyed, my best friend blinked back tears.
Oopsy, I better fix this.
"Spinster is an old term Char. It was created to scare woman into settling down. A man who didn't marry was and is called a Bachelor – not at all insulting as Spinster. Also, a woman who sleeps around without marrying is called a slut/whore/hussy, but what are men called: A man. You see how one-sided it was back then and that is the era our parents and their parents were raised in. Sadly, all these generations later nothing really has changed or evolved according to our parents."
"Fine you're right, but what saved you was the slut comment. A man who sleeps around gets a pat on the back, but women are ridiculed and censured – not fair."
I nodded. "Enough about you and your Pops, need I remind you what that asinine Darcy said about me...about us?"
l*l
Charles, Carol, Louise, and Darcy were now in the white room each doing their best to relax after such an interesting evening. The white room was the biggest quarters at Nether Fields Manor and they all had space to decompress.
Louise was playing La Campanella on the Grand Fazioli Piano. Carol was standing near Darcy trying not to gawk at him. She had stared at him all evening. She thought he looked exquisite in his suit. Darcy stood in front of the large window that was the length of the entire room staring out into the dark desert. He was replaying the entire evening back in his head. He began to pace with a Carol-Shadow behind him. Carol noticed his limp, she had also noticed him limping while at the restaurant—she didn't dare ask him why he was limping. She knew he tried so hard to hide it.
Darcy was usually successful with hiding his limp, he didn't want anyone knowing the truth, a truth that only two people in his circle knew about. Today, however, he was having a hard time hiding his secret and it was because of the pain.
Charles sat on one of the uncomfortable couches in the White room – placed there as a show piece and not for comfort. Charles was writing and deleting a text message. He was on his eleventh draft but couldn't quite capture the poetic words he wanted to express to Jean. He had been mesmerized by her and he wanted to write the most perfect words. They had exchanged numbers right before Jean left for the evening with her family.
Charles finally looked up from his phone and noticed a limping Darcy pacing the room.
"Darcy, can you please come here and read this for me? I need your advice." Charles patted the spot next to him. Charles knew that if he had mentioned anything regarding Darcy's limp or show any concern for him, Darcy would excuse himself from the room completely. Darcy didn't like to feel or seem weak in front of anyone.
Darcy stopped in his tracks and turned toward Charles who he noticed was glaring at his phone furiously typing. Without hesitation he began to walk toward Charles almost bumping into Carol who he didn't notice was right behind him.
"Why do you need Darcy's help to write a text Charles? I hope you are NOT writing to any of the Benito daughters." Carol said while scowling at Darcy who slowly walked to Charles before sitting next to him. Louise chimed in by loudly saying she had seen better manners and prettier faces at Skid Row. Darcy laughed, but Charles looked up from his phone before announcing that all the Benito daughters were beautiful and delightful.
"Charles you surprise me. I saw no beauty in their dark faces at all." Charles lifted one eyebrow at Carol but didn't remark that they were all dark except for Darcy.
"You agree with me don't you Darcy."
"I do indeed. Although, Jean is a beauty. It's unfortunate she's a part of THAT family. Backwoods manners and no class, and let's not even mention the MOTHER." Darcy heartbeat thumped rapidly in his chest the moment Rocky crossed his mind.
Carol and Louise each laugh at Darcy's remarks, "What about Rocky, Darcy? The locals also call her a beautiful Benito daughter."
Thumpthumpthumpthump, Darcy's heart raced betraying him and he became angry.
"Locals, what locals call her a beauty? I don't know what was worse her manners, her dress, or her peculiar face?"
"Never mind all of you. I'll not let you taint my high respect for the Benito family." Without another word and with his phone still clutched in his hand typing, Charles left the room.
l*l
"Can you believe he has all that money and no manners Mr. Benito? How dare he look down on us? How dare he call my daughters urchins? Rocky even dressed up today and he called her a Thing."
Earlier at Nether Fields, my mother saw how impressed all the men were as I was "mapping," so my self-assured mother took this opportunity to try and pull me toward Darcy. I immediately decided to inform her what that ass-hat said about us. My mother was livid. Although, what really upset her was the "urchin" comment involving her beloved Linda.
"He insulted my Coyote." My father took this in deep thought as we all walked in the house after the gathering.
"I would not talk to him again if I were you Rocky." Yelled my mother as she stomped to her room.
I looked at Jean, "I swear I'll never see that jerk again, so I can honestly promise I'll never speak to him again."
As Jean and I walk toward my room, we hear Linda and Kat snicker about how embarrassing it was to be called urchins and even more humiliating to be called a Thing like I was.
I ignored them and continued to debate with Jean as to why Charles would be friends with such an asinine ass-hat.
