Henry

Chapter 14

            The morning sun shone through my window brightly. I arose from my bed and stared out of the window. Though it was clear now I could still see clouds making their way towards us. Cars had already begun to gather in the backyard. Kids were running into the stable to look at my horses, supervised by parents. Down the hall, I could hear the chatter of excited men’s and women’s voices from the living room.

            “Where’s the bride?!” I heard Joy yell, followed by a loud response by the other women.

            “Men need to get out of the house right now!” my mother said loudly. “Go and get the groom ready! We have work to do on my lovely daughter!”

            I heard two things at once: the sound of men’s voices slowly disappeared from the house and reappeared outside as they filed into their cars and then the stampede of women’s heels coming toward my room. I barely had time to act before my door swung open and a blur of maroon filled into the bedroom. Every woman and girl in the room was dressed in a floor-length, maroon-colored gown, tied at the hip with a giant bow at the base of the spine with an ivory-colored sash.

            “You look like you just woke up!” Naomi said, pushing and shoving her way through the sea of maroon. As she was the Maid of Honor, not only did her dress have the ribbon on her hips, but the hem of her dress was threaded in an ivory-colored string.

            I scratched my eyes, my expression unchanging. “That’s ‘cause I just did…”

            Naomi rolled her eyes and grabbed my elbow, dragging me into the living room where there would be more space for everyone. “Girls, let’s get a move on!”

            One of my cousins came forward with a giant white dress in her arms, protected in a plastic cover. They ripped my pajamas from my body and pushed me into the shower where I did nothing but stand there as they scrubbed me down until I had literally lost a layer of skin. My legs were as smooth as silk, body smelled fresh, and hair was completely clean. No sooner was I thrust into the shower than when I was taken out and had multiple pairs of hands padding me dry, as well as a couple of girls attempting to begin drying my hair.

            As soon as I was dry enough for my bridesmaids, the dress was pulled over my head. I remembered how, when I had bought it, I had thought how stunning I looked in it. But now, looking in the mirror, I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted to crawl in bed again.

            “And now…” Naomi said softly, pulling a long pearly-white sash from the plastic cover. “…Crissa, you’re good at making bows, correct?”

            My older cousin nodded with a smile and stole the sash from Naomi’s hands. She evenly placed it around my hips and began the process of tying a ‘perfect’ bow. My hands came up and felt the texture of the material of the sash.

            “Right then… time to get to the church!”

                                                                        ***

            We were escorted into a back room of the church. We could hear the men’s voices in the room next to us. The wedding was just twenty short minutes away and all the girls were talking jubilantly. I, on the other hand, resorted to sitting in a corner and staring at the incoming clouds. I wasn’t in the mood to be happy and celebrate, not when I had just lost a very close friend, someone I loved and he loved me back, and he was about to be set up for all of New York to see.

            “Aggie?” a voice said behind me. I twisted my head around to see who had called me.

            “Naomi… what is it?” I asked, disregarding how rude it sounded.