Cursed Pool

Chapter 25. Karaoke Night

I sit down on a white wedding chair expecting great vocals from the the people. I found myself digging my feet way too far in the sand, I became hopelessly stuck though I so badly wanted to leave the chair and go back to the buffet table. I didn't risk it though because my new cane was next to me, not exactly in my hand.
  The Karaoke thing was the calmest part of the beach party I guess. At least everyone went to the wedding chairs, except for Christopher. Since this was a beach wedding there wasn't a dance floor like there should. Christopher turned on the karaoke machine and sang in his piercing voice
🎶 "There ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough, ain't no river wide enough!"🎶 As he continues to sing, Philly told me "I don't think that sounds right." "Really let's hear you sing." I told him.
  After Christopher sang about three more songs, Phillip went to my microphone. "Alright alright alright people. This is newish, it's called What Are You Wearing and it goes like this."
First I hear the beautiful light piano music that I think is coming from the karaoke machine, but I could be wrong. I think Phillip's voice is slightly quieter than Christopher's when singing, but he has a decent voice
🎶" I bet your alone in your house, I know why someone like you isn't worth it to have a spouse. Oh oh oh oh. Nobody noticed you weren't there, till we saw you at the formal party walking down the stairs. Oh oh oh.
There's something weird about the way you love me. I know your not afraid to shove me. So when I see you on the stairs above me you don't look the same. What are you wearing? What are you wearing? What are you wearing? What are you wearing? I avoid your eyes because when you get mad you're scary, so what are you wearing tonight? I used to make you mad, I used to make you sad, we just used to hate eachother really really bad. Oh oh oh. Now that you're in the crowded room, I get jealous of the new people who are in love with you. Oh oh oh. There's something weird about I way I love you, I hate you at the same time and it's true. I can't dance because I don't want to now that I see you. What are you wearing? What are you wearing? What are you wearing? What are you wearing? We're feisty again and now you begin your swearing, what are you wearing tonight? I love and hate you, there's too many thoughts to carry, what are you wearing tonight?"🎶
  "I hate that song." Olivia said under her breath. "It was a nice melody." I said flatly.
  Mr Espcu was sitting on the far left. "It's my turn." He says loudly. Nicholas and Autumn were sitting on the top of somebody's car. Nicholas's gave his Father a look of disbelief. "But aren't you too old?" He said in a briskly, somewhat comfused voice. Mr Espcu shot a critical look at his son. "I'm only sixty five." He said with his eyes wide in shock.
  Mr Espcu switched on the karaoke machine and a misty gentle breezy relaxing piano music played as Mr Espcu sang 🎶"Spend a lot of time in the dark, looking for something. Hear a lot of voices in the air calling for me, but your eyes shinning through my window. Falling for your voice and strains of hair, and secrets that I didn't know I'm keeping. There's a lot of ways that the snow can make you lose patience, while yelling through the darkness, stuck in an crazy place, where the sun is hot, but the wind is blowing, but your words rap around me like a river, I know that your stuck with someone else, and there's so many reasons I must avoid you. Spend a lot of time with a fear of my worst possession, the possession is switching, my heart is in your pocket and you know I want it back, while the winds are changing, and your eyes shinning through my window given me the strength to climb the hill, and the reason the world's gonna keep on spinning!"🎶

As Mr Espcu came back to sit in the chairs he looked critically at his brother who was sitting upright. Mr Peachfuz didn't look into Mr Espcu's eyes. "That song is worse than three hundred itchy sweaters." He said with a great sigh. "Well, you wrote it." Mr Espcu said airily while strolling around the beach. Mr Peachfuz slides off the chair. "Why do you know that song anyway? I wrote that song in the hotel room." Mr Peachfuz said angrily. "But I planned that when my son gets married I will sing it outloud. You do know when I heard you sing it I wrote everything down on a napkin." Mr Espcu said with a light smile. "Yeah, well those were my thoughts before during the horrorfying night when we escaped the hotel room." Mr Peachfuz said bitterly. "I swear everyday you're backstory gets more tragic, but it'll never be more tragic than mine." I say briskly. Mr Peachfuz held up a finger "Evangeline, you are seventy?" He asked. "Yes. I figure you are too?" I say boardly. "Okay, so you probably hate a lot of people at this point don't you Evangeline?" He said. "I like to see the good in people, but I get irritated and I get spunky and I've seen the world at it best and certainly at it's worst and because my Mom was dead for all my life I pretty much hated every kid with alive mothers y'know and because my Dad was a angry phyco I hated everyone with a good Dad y'know, just the world was so mean to me, and I began looking for love when I was eighteen. I traveled so much and I finally found Richard after twenty years, he liked California. We had Perri and now there both dead. You Don't know what it's like to lose a loved one do you?"
Mr Peachfuz gave me a disturbed look. "Yes I know, I'm an elder of course I know."
"Yes, but Richard was everything I liked in a person... well intill he started growing gray hair... but besides that he was perfection. Oh Mr Peachfuz you don't know what it's like to let someone cut your hair, then you fall in love.... during a vacation..."
"Yes I know what it's like. I know exactly what it's like." He stands up beginning to get angry. "Hair dressers like Mr Peachfuz are beautifully unique and he had the-"
"I... don't want to talk about this actually, how about you sing something Evangeline?"
"I won't be caught dead singing with a karaoke machine." I said hastily. (While this is going on Christopher is singing Tip Toe Through The Tulips and getting the verses so mixed up.)
"So, when I met Richard Blossom I asked him the burning question.... he needs to know fashion."
Then Mr Peachfuz squints. "Evangeline, most important location you'll-" he starts to say, but he noticed that Nicholas and Autumn are finally back in the Restaurant opening wedding gifts. Since they are rich, they probably have a lot.
  Mr Espcu decided that it was boring, so he sat outside with the rest of the old people. That being me and Mr Peachfuz. "That Banana chocolate ice cream is the best thing that ever existed." Mr Espcu told us with wide eyes. "I should probably just leave, all these family members look so happy and I'm here wondering whether or not I should become a purple squid and see Perri again." I said. "You should not be sacrificing like that." Mr Peachfuz said. "I'm old anyway, and the Espcu kids are going back to summer camp and I would HATE to be alone without company." I said. It's so dark out that I could only see the silhouettes at this point, so I turned my car light on the see them. "If you want company you should join to people in the restaurant." Mr Espcu insisted while nodding to himself. "I'm not a party thing like they are." I said glaring at the restaurant. (We are sitting on top of my car on a dark beach) "You know Evangeline, I can't tell if you're an introvert or an extrovert." He said simply. I had to admit I didn't know either, nor did I know which Mr Peachfuz was.
  Mr Espcu went singing again. A song that Mr Peachfuz requested.
🎶 "It's a small picture in a shop somewhere... and I know who it is... it's what are the words?"🎶
  My God old people are worse at remembering than I thought. Mr Peachfuz didn't actually help him, he just said "A little pitchy, but mmmmm good stuff."
  Of course I didn't want to admit how I wanted something dangerous to happen so we can all leave, but nothing happened. I saw Phillip fell asleep on a restaurant chair at midnight, Christopher was drifting away, but he forced himself awake by eating more cake. Olivia was reading something. I wanted to say goodbye to her because after today I might not see her for a while. "Well, it was nice knowing you and your crazy brothers Olivia. I hope the kids will be decent." I said boardly feeling the yawn arrive in my voice. Olivia looks up from the pages, her eyes were sharp like kitchen knives waiting to cut. "It's five whole weeks doing outdoor things, kids pound the crap out of eachother everyday and I don't think I can face them." She shivered. I sighed a long and tired sigh. "Intimidate them with your uno skills I guess." I said to her. Olivia looked around at the restaurant. She nods slightly. "Seems like a reasonable thing to do." She said quietly, but in her eyes I can see the light bulb in her head.
  Nicholas eventually demanded me to take a photo of Mr Peachfuz and Mr Espcu before they leave. "Why?" I ask. "Because, these people have never been in a photo together. It would look good on the wedding album." I sighed. "Alright."  Mr Peachfuz and Mr Espcu are looking at the water boardly. Mr Espcu is on top of my car smiling only slightly while holding someone's keys. I took the photo. "I don't know if I did it right." I said to him. I hand him the camera. (At this point, a lot of the guests are leaving.)
I didn't tell them that I took that photo. Nicholas looked at it and said "Hmmm. It looks.. it looks good, ah, wait, why is it- oh hold on."
"Nicholas what?"
The window of my car opened slowly. I got comfused because it doesn't make sense. A wrinkly old woman strolled out of the car struggling with her cane. She reminded me of a raisin. The sky was dark, but the light shined on her hair which was light grey, but had strains of dark grey. "Evangeline, Evangeline, Evangeline, Evangeline, Evangeline, you shouldn't be walking on the beach with a cane." She said in her INSANELY surprising voice. The woman of course had to be older than me, but her voice was loud like a phone ringing. Surprisingly loud, but calm, calm like spreading peanut butter on bread, it was young, not too young, but it sounded like someone I recognized. She tapped me with her cane of my head. She gave me a framilier stare. "I knew it was your car when I saw it. Evangeline." Her voice changed into a whisper. I think I am losing my memory because I don't recognize her. She turned to Mr Peachfuz and Mr Espcu who seem disturbed. "This is my new cane, I like to use it so I'm not clumsy." I said with elderly attitude. "It doesn't work on the beach." She argued. I saw her walking with her cane so I get secretly angry, she could probably read my mind because she went on to say "I've used this cane for fifteen years, so I don't need to worry because-"
"Stop! Why are you familiar?" I ask.
"So, Evangeline, Scott Blue told me about your house and your-"
"Woah woah wait... Scott Blue? Like that child who constantly runs from his problems?"
"Yes Evangeline. I was at the coffee shop, and when the coffee guy called my name and he said Alandra Conalie, I took my coffee, this one kid was there and he must've recognized my last name, he dashed toward my table. The kid was so dirty that I didn't want to get to near to him and asks me if I knew a person named Evangeline Conalie and I'm like Yeah that's my decade and a half younger sister. Then I wondered why. So I took Scott to my house and he begged me to help keep him hidden so I've been doing that recently. Scott claimed you were good at knit-"
"STOP STOP STOP STOP!" I yelled. She stopped. I saw my oldest sister for the first time in sixty five years. She had mostly wrinkles around her eye sockets, but I couldn't look at her eyes. Her eyes looked exactly like my Father's so instead I looked at her giant pearl earrings. "Alandra?" I say overwhelmed by horror.  During the past several years I just figured she was gone from the world. Alandra crackled her knuckles. "Evangeline." She responded. "You are keeping tabs on Scott? You have to get him back to his Aunt!" Shouted Mr Espcu with his hands in the air. Alandra turned away from us. "Ooh, well, I wanted to of course. Scott's a young child, but he's too secretive!" We all nodded in agreement. It seems like we are the four elders left on the beach. "I can't rap my head around the fact that you and Scott happen to find eachother at a good time. My God." I told her.
"It's true." Alandra then told me. "Yeah, we're not doubting you." Mr Peachfuz interjected.