The Dowry Tree

Regina

I crept in behind some caterers beginning to go in and out through the service wing. I took the main stairwell and was trying my best to be quick. I didn't know if my mom, Lydia, was awake. If she were to catch me wondering around instead of getting ready, she'd surely disown me. If that wasn't her plan already.

I trotted down the corridor that ended in my bedroom and I quietly opened one of doors to sneak in. I was glad they were wooden, dainty French doors that could shut quietly without a creak. I regained a normal pace once I met the carpet inside my room and I slung off my slippers. My bestfriend, Gina, was still sleeping. I snuck in the bed beside her but I must have roused her. She threw her arm back around me after I got comfortable. I always loved when she did that.

"You're up this early? What are you? Sick?" She asked half awake. 

I rolled over to face her and answered, "I ripped out those curlers around 4am, it was like sleeping on an old washboard. It was impossible."

Gina smiled and she tussled her fingers through my head. She snickered under her breath,
"Lydia will have your ass."

"That's what Fiona said." I told her.

I was glad everyone was aware how cut throat Mother was about appearances. You'd think we were going to be graded like sheep at the county fair. Some picked for slaughter, some picked for breeding, others picked for shearing. I was still deciding which one of those sheep was supposed to be me.

Gina asked what time it was and I told her it was still a little early for breakfast. Breakfast was usually late anyway but I felt that today would be little more firm due to the circumstance. Gina rose from the pillows and began to remove the night wrap from her head. Her black, coily hair bounced away from her fingers and she stretched away all her stiffness from star-fishing her side of the bed all night.

Gina, you could say was like me. She was unmarried, not looking to become married either. Her parents begged and pleaded for her to find a husband but she convinced her folks thoroughly about her choice in partners when she brought home a date from the prom that was named Mackenzie. After that, I'm sure they had a better understanding of her preference. Her mother was accepting and her father was willing to ignore it. That was enough for her.

I'd been in many school yard rumbles and detentions over Gina. She was never the girl that had many friends or chose many friends either. But she preferred it that way. She once told me that the smaller her circle stayed, the easier it was to keep up with. Worrying about people's loyalties she felt was one of the biggest wastes of her time. I couldn't agree more.

"Cell." She said quickly snapping her fingers and she nearly sprung out of the sheets.

I turned away from the vanity mirror where I sat and watched her come down the risen platform where my bad stood. She slid the mirror away from one of my closets and she knelt to the floor to pick up a smaller, rectangular box.

"I found these online and I knew you were wanting to do something pretty outlandish today to spaz Lydia." She tapped the top of the box deviously and said, "These are gonna send her batty."

I do remember saying that. Last night if I remember. At the the bridal party.  Gina and I sat in the sunroom while the maid of honor and other bridesmaids did Jell-O shots in the adjacent parlor. They cackled and carried on, it must have lasted hours. I felt like I was sitting at the kid's table at Thanksgiving. Too immature to be involved in adult back and forths. But this year, luckily the kid's table was smart enough to put vodka in a water bottle and pass it between Gina and I.

The most vivid memory I have was Gina making the remark, "Pussies." Then, taking a drag from her black, plastic bong she swiped from one of my ex-boyfriends. I really couldn't tell you what his name was.