April 23, 2012

Grandpre and Grandmother Donna were spinning circles on the small dance floor while the DJ played some waltz or another from the front corner of the reception hall. Even in their seventies they looked quite graceful, I used to fantasize about being able to dance like that. Yet it was one more epic fail to add to what 'Sookie wasn't' and that seemed to be a 'true Peterson' equaled.

Copley and Amelia were spinning circles next to our table and Amy was curled up in my arms fast asleep. Pam was holding Jason Corbett Stackhouse III, whom we all called JC. Eric and Jason had gone to the minibar from some refreshments that were in the room over from where we sat. After the last three hours, I which I could have really used a very strong margarita to help dull the pain of being around my mother's side of the family tree right about then. The light headache which started two hours ago had turned into a pounding headache with the evening's progression.

We had eaten a dinner of light fish, asparagus, rice and a chocolate mousse. All of which was over salted and under cooked. Politely we murmured through it but true to his colors Copley took one bite of the iridescent fish and hacked it back on his plate. I saw my Grandmother's eyes flash from black to red and back again. That was when the headache appeared.

"That's raw, is this sushi Mom?" Copley honestly and openly asked.

Thankfully Eric soothed Copley into eating the smaller portion of cooked fish on the outer edges of the fish. Amelia who had been going through a growth spurt was a bit of klutz of current. She managed to knock over her water, Copley's fork on the floor, and my plate damn near slid into my lap when she was reaching for the salt in front of me knocking the ugly china plate sideways.

The Grandparents were sitting at a table in the front of the reception area, similar to a bride and groom at their wedding. They each had an extra person sitting to the left and right of them. I had never seen either of the extra people on the dais before this evening. But time and time again I felt the dark eyes land at our table, cringing each time and consequently making my headache worst with each passing. I had my back to the kitchen door and was able to discretely watch the rest of the room.

There were seven tables in a horse shoe shape with the center having a wooden floor reserved for dancing. Four of the seven tables were occupied by my cousins, aunts, and uncles. The other three were full of second cousins and more distance relatives. There were a few close friends of my Grandparents scattered throughout but it was mainly a family affair.

My two cousins, by Uncle Thomas, Rachel and Rebecca sat a table together with their husbands a combined total of six kids. They were at the table directly to the south of us. There were a few accidents at their table too. A water accident, someone getting a piece of rice sneezed through their nose and spraying the table in little white specks in the process; the normal stuff you expect when you are sitting at a table with a six and a four year old boy. I shared a smile with my cousin Rachel as her youngest daughter sneezed so hard she banged her head on the table and began to howl. It seemed we were both nervous about having this farce of a 'family reunion' with the family.

Donna and Boyd's two surviving children sat at a table with their spouse and one grandchild. Uncle Thomas and his new wife I had yet met, but thankfully she looked old enough not to be able to get pregnant, sat with their hands folded in prayer for what seemed half of the meal. I wondered if it helped any with the ability to swallow the food without choking. Aunt Bethany and Uncle Mike on the other hand were tipping back the drinks like they were water. I watched as my Grandmother stared down her youngest daughter in disapproval, either Aunt Bethany didn't care or was oblivious to the glares. My cousin Julia had her nose in a book for most of the dinner, I had thought she was being offal studious for not being in school. There were five other first cousins at that table, they would have been my mother's age if she had still been alive. Throughout the years I always wondered how my mother would have aged. I could see traits of her laced through the table. Most of the people were jolly, bright blue eyes in their youth that faded slightly with age, flaxen colored hair that had yet receive an abundance of graying, and their hands, which fascinated me, knuckles curving creating the illusion of the fingers turning the wrong way.

The last table I took time to watch was Cody and Cheyenne's table, they were directly diagonal, farthest point in the room, in the South-west corner which was fine with me. They sat with Daisy and her husband, the pair was young. Between them they passed back and forth a baby that was born a few weeks after we had Amy. I wondered if Daisy and I would have anything more in common than the age of our daughters. Other than the occasional coo from Baby Fiona, the table was particularly quite; the twins were using sign language and laughing at whatever they were silently conversing about. Daisy looked uncomfortable sitting with the twins. I spied her looking longingly at her father's table or even her sister's table. I felt her pain. I always wondered if the twins were discussing politics or me when they started their sign language crap.

The Grandparents swirled past us in a graceful arch ending the dance in a sweetheart wrap. Polite applause broke out throughout the room and a voice from above informed the crowd that children were now allowed on the dance floor. Amelia pulled Copley to the center of the room and miniature pairs of siblings and cousins dotted the dance floor. They were all extremely less graceful than their Grandsire's but they were cute and adorable nonetheless. Not surprisingly Daisy took her husband and daughter to sit with her sisters when the kids left for the dance floor. There was visible relief on her face when she embraced her oldest sister. The three sisters sat with their heads bent in conversation as the tiny dancers whirled all over the floor. The twins' three boys joined up in to a ring and went crashing into their second cousins. From there it went from bad to worse within the span of a chord.

Summer 1988 Gillett Wyoming

I was clinging to my father's leg. We were standing outside a clapboard house with dark trim and tan paint that was fading from the surface. The flowers in the front yard looked dark and scary. Rose bushes twisted into deformed aliens and a lilac bush seemed to be sad sitting next to the house. The branches were droopy like someone had forgotten to water them during the hottest part of the year.

The worst part of everything was Grandmother was standing on the front porch with her arms crossed and her face looking like she just bit into a lemon. Jason was sitting on the steps waiting for me. He had come to the conclusion we were going to be stuck here a week and best find a way to enjoy it. I on the other hand was not going to let go of Daddy's leg without a pry bar or dynamite.

Daddy leaned down to my ear, "Sweet Sookie it is one week. You are a brave girl, don't disappoint your Momma. She never showed her mother any fear. Grandmother is watching but as much as her face is twisted in disgust. She is very happy you don't want to stay with her."

That sort of calmed me down. My own Momma, who was watching down from Heaven would be disappoint if I was afraid to stay with the Grandparents.

"How come Momma never showed any fear to Grandmother? What did Grandmother do to make Momma afeared?" I asked loosening my grip on Daddy's leg.

"Afraid, the word is afraid not afeared. Grandmother told Momma what she had to do and when Momma told her no, Grandmother was very angry."

"Like she was after Momma's funeral?" I had completely let go of Daddy's leg. It was hard to have a conversation with a knee cap.

"Even more angry than that, they didn't speak for a year afterwards." Daddy had leaned up against his truck, relaxing against it. I followed suit.

"Wow, I can't go a whole day being mad at Eric or Jason." I was kicking at the rocks in the driveway next to the truck.

"Yep, it takes a lot of energy to be mad or even sometimes to be sad." Daddy looked at me his face was serious, like it had been since we buried Momma. "I know you will be good. I will be back in one week; mind the Grandparents like you would Gran."

"How come not like you?"

"Because you mind Gran better than you mind me lately." He opened the truck door, gave me a kiss on the cheek and drove off; leaving me and Jason in the middle of nowhere, with a woman who just looked someone had tinkled in her coffee.

I squared sucked in my tummy, straighten my back, and tossed my braid over my shoulders. Jason watched mildly interested from the steps. I took a deep breath and hollered at my Grandmother "I'm not afraid of you. My Momma is watching from Heaven."

"Good Lord," Was Grandmother's reply. She turned on her heel and went inside the ugly house.

Jason stood up and dusted off the seat of his britches, "Behave Sook, one week. That is all we have to put up with. Daddy, Gran, Pam, Eric and Mrs. Ravencroft will be waiting for us at home. We can do anything for one week."

Jason didn't realize how long one week was, neither one of us handled that one week very well but by the end of it our butts were bruised and we kept our mouths shut. But when we got home Gran heard about it all, so did Daddy.