And Peggy

Drunk on misery

"I hear that there's a new burger restaurant along the pier. We could try that?" Angelica suggests.

"Angie, we've been searching for thirty minutes. We must've checked every restaurant in New York City! I'm about to die of hunger!" I whine and pull on Angie's arm to keep my jelly legs from collapsing.
My sisters laugh and drag me along the pier to "The Bread and Pickles" burger restaurant.

"Hi, table for three please." Angelica says sweetly to young man at the counter, twirling her hair to hypnotise him into giving us a table.

"Yes, ma'am. Right this way." He says offering his arm. Angie links arms with Eliza and I instead but beckons the embarrassed waiter forward to our table which backs right onto the beach below, giving us an amazing view of the jetty and the shimmering sunset on the water.
Angelica orders three pink lemonades for us all and then reclines on her chair.

"This where Stephan and I had our first real date." I say out of the blue. "We ran along the beach with a kite. It was fun." A small smile passes my lips but It quickly gives way to a frown as I remember. "They should burn that beach. It brings back painful memories."

"Yeah," Eliza chips in. "And we should have mother and father demolish the rotunda where Alex proposed to me."
We all break out into giggles.
"Well, if we're trying to erase the memories from our lives, I guess we'll have to take down the house. Two of us got married there!" Angie points out.
There is a fresh wave of laughter.
When the waiter brings our pink lemonades over, we thank him and order our main meals.

When our burgers come, I dive right in, ripping at the fleshy meat and bun.
"Peggy! That's no ladylike way to eat." Angelica mocks. "Where are your manners?"
I just smile, revealing g a piece of chewed lettuce and with my mouth full, exclaim,
"But I'm no lady. I'm Peggy the pig!" And I snort through my full mouth before taking a drunken looking swig of my lemonade.
Angelica raises her glass and taps her spoon on it to grab our attention. We stop laughing at once and sober as Angelica holds a serious glare.

"Girls," she says "we have been mistreated and cheated, but, no more. We are the Schuyler sisters! Angelica Eliza and Peggy! A toast. To us!"
"To us!" Eliza and i echo (my cry muffled through my full mouth).
"To being single!"
"To being single!"
"To the Schuyler sisters!"
"To the Schuyler sisters!"

"To demolishing our property!" Eliza cries

"To building on the beach!" I exclaim.

The toasts gradually become more outrageous until:
"To no men on earth!"

We are so drunk on misery that we are ecstatically happy. I feel sorry for the neighbouring tables.

"Let's hit the beach!" Eliza calls out. So we all take off our heels, hide them under our chairs and take off along the jetty. When we get to the end, Eliza attempts to jump into the desk water below but Angelica and I grab her elbows before she can take the leap. None of us are very good swimmers let alone in a heavy petticoat and corset.
We all sit on the jetty and watch as the sun goes down. Then, all at once the city lights turn on illuminating the dark sky.

"Ice cream?" Angie suggests, rattling the coins in her pocket.
"Yes please!" Eliza and I say in unison
Angelica hoists Eliza and I to our feet and together, towards the small ice cream stand.
While we are in the line up, I catch a familiar French accent.
Sure enough, as I turn around, walking in our direction is Lafayette and by his side is,

"Crap!" I mutter under my breath. I nudge Angie and she follows my gaze to the two men. Alexander Hamilton and Marquis de Lafayette stroll nonchalantly along the pier.

"Mon ami, let us eat here, please?" Lafayette is pleading. He's clearly been dragged along like Eliza and I.

"Ok, Marquis. You can stop whining now." Alex  gives in.
I watch with beady eyes as Alex has an animated discussion with the maître de but eventually he shakes his head, returns to the pier where Lafayette is slumped against the restaurant, shakes his head and points to his pocket watch and joins him in leaning against the wall.
I nudge Angelica and cock my head in their direction and her smile instantly becomes tight lipped. Eliza, luckily, is busy looking over people's shoulder to see the ice cream flavours and hasn't spotted her fiancé.

"Eliza, dear," Angie starts. "I've just realised that we've forgotten to pay and we've left our shoes at the restaurant. You and Peggy stay in the line and I'll go fix up our finances."

Eliza just nods halfheartedly as she stands on her top toes to get a glimpse of the cookies and cream. Angelica winks before heading over to the restaurant.
We reach the front of the line and the rosy cheeked man asks what we would like.
"Um, is it possible to try a few flavours first?" Eliza asks.
When the ice cream man nods, Eliza requests about five flavours.
She stands above Alexander, a sickly sweet smile in her face and extends a hand to help him up. Alex looks weary of her and startled when he sees her but takes her hand all the same. She leads him onto the jetty where they are out of Eliza's earshot before she drops his hand and the fake smile and slaps him across the other hand.
"Where's Angie? She's gonna miss her ice cream."
Eliza starts scanning the pier but I quickly direct her back to the ice cream displays.
"She'll be here soon. Let's just get ours for now. This raspberry looks nice don't you reckon?"

"Try every flavour, why don't you?" A man calls behind us.
Even from a distance I can tell Angelica is yelling. She stomps and points and jumps around and Alex shrinks into himself like a turtle. Once she's done, she slaps him one more time for good measure then she dashes into the restaurant.
"I think I'll have chocolate. You pick your flavour. And quickly. People are waiting."

"Fine, I'll have a double chocolate and vanilla."

Finally, Angelica emerges outside on the jetty, picks up our shoes and leaves a bank note on the table and finally rushing back just in time to order her ice cream.
"I'll just have lemon."
A sigh of relief escapes my lips.

While Eliza gets some coins out of her purse to pay for the ice cream, Angelica and I discreetly high five.

Crisis averted.