Terry immerses himself in the wedding planning; the kids' is over at our house more, going over venues, bridesmaid dresses, and the menu. We're all sitting in the living room as Terry and the aunt go over who the bridesmaids will be. Mickey hands me the bong and turns up the volume on the television. Family Guy reruns play on TBS and we're all stoned enough to enjoy it. Mandy takes the bong from me and asks Mickey where his fiancee is. "Don't know, don't care," Mickey responds, his red eyes refusing to move from the television set. I pain stabs my heart, but I say nothing. I'm furious at Terry, and without giving Collin a reason, I tell him that we need to cut his dope with baby laxative, giving him less and less of the stimulant each time he buys a bag. Terry has taken to drinking more than he uses anyways, so he barely notices...
The bong water bubbles as Iggy hits it. Offering it to anyone else, we all wave our hands. Suddenly, Collin turns his head to the kitchen and hollers, "Hey! Why didn't you do any of this shit when Jagger and I got married?" Terry grunts at the table, turns his head and says, "Well, boy, I didn't think you needed much help, seeing as how you married into the Ricci Crime Family." My face flushes, it I ignore him. Collin flips the back of his dad's head off. "For all you know," he turns back to the TV. "They cut her off for marrying into this family." At this, Terry slams his fists onto the kitchen table. "Judging by the amount of heroin the two of you are injecting into your fucking blood, I highly doubt that's the case." An anger floods me. Up until then, only Mickey and Terry knew about the method of use Collin and I indulge in. Eyes burn into the side of my head, and I know Iggy and Mandy are staring. Mickey's laser focused on the TV, glad to have the focus off of him. Iggy's mouth hangs open and Mandy's face is red. "What?" She asks me. "What the fuck is he talking about?" She looks to me then to Collin. Neither of us offer her an answer. "So that's why you're both wearing long sleeves ALL the time?" Hysteria laces her words and she gets up off the couch. Walking over to Collin, she slaps him in the face. Terry smirks at the sound, turning back to Aunt Maude, who seems unfazed by the entire scene. "Are you fucking STUPID?!" Mandy shrieks into Collin's face, then turning to me. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Shame hits me like a punch to the gut; unable to give her a decent answer, I, too, stare at the television. "You fucking assholes; so, what, you lost a baby and now you're just gonna kill yourselves?! GET OVER IT! BABIES DIE EVERYDAY! HAVE ANOTHER ONE IF YOU WANT!!" She storms out of the room, stops at the threshold, then turns to tell us, "In all honesty, it was the best thing that could've happened; look at what happens to the kids that get brought into this house." The door slams behind her. Squelching the emotions that threaten to overwhelm me, I just sit in silence. Mickey finally turns his head away from the tv and toward us. "Do me a favor, you two: dont try getting until AFTER my wedding. I don't need you guys puking all over my suit."
Aunt Maude asks Mandy and I to be bridesmaids for Mickey's Russian bride. Mandy shoots her Aunt a reproachful look. "Not a fucking chance." Maude turns to me and I shame my head. "Ima pass," I tell her. "You can't," she informs me. "Collin is gonna be his best man." Stunned, I just turn to Mandy. "I'm not suffering alone. Mandy let's out an exasperated sigh and we follow Maude into the living room, where a band of the ugliest hookers I've ever seen are waiting on our couches. Mickey's soon to be wife is the prettiest by far. Tall with dark hair and hooked nose, she watches us as we enter. Mandy shoots her a dangerous glance, but I just grit my teeth and watch Maude empty out a garbage filled with dresses made out of a heinous hot pink material. "No fucking way," I groan, kicking the nearest dress with the toe of my shoe. The prostitutes set to finding their sizes. Tugging at the sleeves of sweatshirt, I excuse myself to my room. Digging thru the pile of clothes, I find my thin, long sleeved black and white striped top, take off my sweatshirt, and throw it on instead. I head back to the living room and join mandy in rifling thru the dresses. "These are fucking disgusting," she bitches. "Being an extra outfit to change into after," I offer. Snorting, she picks one up, strips, and tries it on. I look for the smallest size; the one I found is still two sizes too big and hangs on my lanky figure, even with the long sleeves underneath. Maude eyeballs my sleeves but says nothing. A lock enters the front door, and Iggy, Terry, Collin, and Mickey enter, arms full with suits they swiped. I stare at Collin and he does a double take at my dress. A laugh escapes both him and Iggy. Mickey looks into the living room to see what they're going on about. "Jesus christ," he groans, walking past his brothers and dad and going straight to his room. Glaring at Collin, I tell him, "Thanks for the heads up." The grin leaves his face and he smacks his forehead. "Shit, Jag! I'm sorry, it all just happened like today; I didn't get a chance to tell you." Gritting my teeth, I just look back down at the pink abomination I'm adorning. Maude's head sticks up above the mass of bodies. "Here, Jagger; this one already has sleeves." Reaching, I take the dress from her. Somehow, it's even more heinous than the others. A pale pink, it has a cheap lace all over the collar that the sleeves are made entirely out of. Feeling the material in the palm of my hands, I'm dreading how badly I'm gonna itch wearing it. "Awesome," I murmur, avoiding looking up. Mandy picks up a sleeve on my dress. "You can always pack an extra dress," she winks. Smiling, I playfully slap her with the other sleeve. She smiles and turns back to her aunt, asking her where she got these things. "They're actually from your parents wedding," Maude tells her. Mandy and I look at each other. "That's not a good sign," she says under her breathe.
