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"Mom, pass the potatoes please!"
"Is there any relish?"
"I have to pee!"
"Well then go...the bathroom hasn't moved since this afternoon."
My dad was seated at the head of the table, his face shining with admiration as he looked around at his children. It wasn't often that all 10 of us were together, even at Christmas it rarely happened. You could hear the neighborhood kids outside whooping and hollering as the nightly ritual of kick the can and red rover ensued. A light breeze flowed through the open windows of the kitchen as the sun slowly set, casting an orangish glow through the thin curtains.
"So Pop, I'm working on a new piece. Hope to get it to the publisher's in a few months." Ryan said as he took an extra large bite of roast beef. He was an author with one book under his belt. Although it didn't hit the bestsellers list, he made sure every one of us got more than one copy anyways.
"It's not another one of those science fiction thingys, is it? God help me if I understand the first thing about that stuff." Dad replied with a sigh.
"I loved it."
"Yeah, me too. It had real depth to it, Ry, especially the part where..."a hand clamped over my mouth before I could get another word out.
"Don't ruin the ending, Squirt!" Ryan raised his eyebrows and motioned towards Janine, who was picking apart her roll.
"Oh fine. But don't call me Squirt, I'm almost as tall as you are."
To this Ryan let out a loud belly laugh and messed up my hair. One of the many perks of being the baby, I got picked on incessantly, intentional or not.
"Hey Mom, could I borrow your car after dinner? Peter wanted to hammer out some final plans."
Peter Burroughs, my soon-to-be brother-in-law. He was a great guy: stable job at a law firm in Biloxi, a good head on his shoulders...everything Janine deserved and wanted in a husband.
"I can drive ya, sissy." I piped up, taking a sip of milk. It would be a good excuse to get out of the house.
Once dinner was done and the dishes put away, people began to trickle into the family room. With the TV blaring football, I was upstairs getting my purse. As I passed by the night table, a thick black leather-bound book caught my eye. I sat down on the bed and pulled the book onto my lap.
"Oh good lord, it's my yearbook." I bit my lip and flipped through the first opening pages. I snickered at all of the underclassmen, who were forever immortalized in a sickly shade of grey, while the senior pages came to life in living color, "Hmm. I had good hair that year."
After my head had deflated, Janine called me downstairs. I brought my hair back in a ponytail and bounded down the stairs.
"You ready, freddy?" she asked with a little too much enthusiasm.
"Yep, lead the way dear sister."
She ran to the car, her sandy blond hair flapping in the wind. When she got to the passenger side and realized the door was locked, she began to stomp her foot and mumble obscenities under her breath. Hmm, impatient much?
"Geez, chill Neen. You need to stop smoking the crack."
"Ha ha h-ha...your wit astounds me." thrusting the gear into reverse, the engine roared to life and lurched back onto the street, "So now you can meet Peter's brother!"
She was so excited, I thought she was going to pee her pants. I just gave her a look, shook my head, and went back to navigating through the windy side streets.
"Why would I care about meeting his brother?"
"Because, weirdo, he's your escort in the wedding!" she slapped my shoulder and scoffed, "This isn't the first time I've mentioned Alex."
"Whoah... Alex... AlexANDER Burroughs? That moron is Peter's brother?!" He was the class clown my senior year, and I swore up and down to everyone that he was going to be working at Burger Barn for the rest of his pathetic life.
"Hannah! Be nice! Alex happens to be a VERY nice guy. What, with him going to Yale..."
"Whatthefuck...YALE?!" I screeched in total disbelief, "Who'd he do to get into there?"
"I'm going to disregard that, sister." she gazed out the window and sighed, "He is bringing along some friends too, I think."
"Oh I am on the verge of being giddy."
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