Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter Ten

Carmen tugged at the end of the French braid that the hairdresser had given her. It was like she was just an object. They didn’t show her hair or makeup when it was finished, they handed her the dress she would wear. Did they even know her name? The dress was a shade of powder box blue with a pink and orange flower pattern, the top was bulbous, the skirt was tight and there was a big tear dropped shaped hole in the back. They’d even dragged out the wings of her eyeliner to make her eyes look oriental to fit the theme.

Carmen had forgotten there even was a wedding shower until this morning or maybe her mother had never told her. It was at The Chinese Gardens in the city, they were pretty enclosed by tall elaborate walls and with an ornate tea house like function room seated in the middle of it.

Carmen had hidden herself in the industrial kitchen, haunted by her own reflection in the surrounding aluminum surfaces. The caterers were using the scullery.

“Carmen, what are you doing?” Audrey looked down at her as he walked into the room. “People have already arrived.”

“Everything’s wrong.” Carmen sat up on the counter. “I look stupid. So do you.” His tie was the same pattern as her dress.

“All your friends are out there. And you look stupid because you’re not at your own mother’s wedding shower.”

“Audrey I have no friends.” Without anything more to say Carmen followed Audrey down the stairs and outside to the lawn that was crowed with people dressed in afternoon colors. She looked at the people. In some ways she knew all of them, in some ways didn’t know any of them.

“Leon?” A girl touched her brother by the shoulder. Carmen stopped before he did.

“Uh… No that would be my brother. I can get him for you…” Her brother turned around slowly.

“Sorry. You look just the same.” Carmen didn’t recognize her. She didn’t look glamorous enough to know Leon. She was plain looking.

“There’s three of us.” Audrey laughed pushing his hand through his hair.

“There’s actually four of us.” Carmen pointed out.

“Leon is this your sister?” One of about five of the girls who followed Leon around pulled Carmen up by the elbow. Leon being a rich, handsome, gay socialite meant that he was always surrounded by a selective entourage of girls. They were always loud and glamorous, and Leon’s favorites changed on a regular basis. If you didn’t know he was gay you’d have thought he were a pimp.

“That’s Carmen.” Leon said, he was sitting down in one of the garden chairs with the girls clouded around him.

“She’s beautiful Leon! Why don’t you bring her out with us sometime?” A girl with straight black hair who Carmen didn’t recognize touched her plait. Collins, a girl who had been friends with Leon for a long time exchanged a knowing look with Leon and they both laughed. Carmen didn’t feel as though any of them actually wanted to talk to her. No, they just wanted to talk to Leon and she was a good excuse to.

“She’s a tricky one.” Leon said.

“She twisted our arm a few times.” Collins agreed. “Carmen tell them about that time when you slipped a bra off the rack into my school bag at the Myer? Just loves getting other people into trouble.”

Carmen didn’t know whether to laugh or not. She had been ten years old and Leon was supposed to walk home with her from school but instead he’d always dragged her around with his friends, not letting her talk to them but not letting her walk home by herself either. So onetime when they’d gone to Myer a Carmen had come up with a plan to stir things up.