The Difference

Chapter 10

             Dakota Walliams – Monte Carlo – Family House

Today is the tenth anniversary of mum’s death. We decided to have a little get together in her memory. We’ve invited a few family and friends. We were preparing the place for the gathering.

“Shirley, Corbin’s at the gate. Please let him in”. I said when saw his figure behind the door. I was removing the cookies from the oven. Since Corbin and Shirley had become best friends, his face has become a constant one for the family to see in the house.

“Good afternoon, miss”, Corbin greeted once he was inside.

“Afternoon dear. How are you?”

“Getting ready for our next rehearsal which is terrifying me but apart from that everything’s okay.”.

“Don’t worry you’d be fine. I’m going to see you through”

“Hey bud”. We turned to see Mike, James and Chris enter. They were followed seconds later by Andy.

“Hey” Corbin said and gave all of them a high five. When it got to Andy they did a chest bump. Andy and Corbin had become brothers after they found out that they had quite a lot in common.

“Hey man. How are you doing?” Corbin asked Andy.

“Good. I just hope Shirley won’t destroy the day by asking Dakota to serve plain chicken and request that jazz music be played”.

“Hey. Jazz is awesome and besides I don’t remember the last time I asked for plain chicken.” Shirley argued.

“Oh yeah? Yesterday swear you didn’t eat plain chicken”

“I did eat but it was little.”

“You still ate. I don’t even understand how anyone can eat plain chicken. Even the name sounds weird on my tongue" he said with a disgusted look.

“Andy, when would the two of you never fight about anything?” Chris asked.

“Maybe when they realize they’re siblings and I don’t think that’s now” I pitched in.

“I have something for both of you to work on together” James said. They both made grunting noises but James pretended he didn’t hear them. “When the guests arrive you are going to receive them.

“That’s not going to work. You know that, right?” Andy asked.

“I can’t answer that because your first set of guests have arrived “. We turned to see some of mum’s relatives enter.

“Can’t it only be Shirley?” Andy kept grumbling on.

“Both of you are to go and besides one person cannot be left to do that”. When Andy was about to protest again, James interrupted him by pointing to the door. Andy gave a defeated sigh and followed Shirley out of the kitchen into the hall.

“Now that they’re gone, let’s talk”. James said. When it was clear to Corbin that we were about to discuss a family matter, he excused himself and left to join the guests.

“What are we doing about dad?” Mike asked once we were alone.

“He doesn’t want to take his drugs. No check up, no hospital, nothing” Chris said with a sad tone.

Dad had turned very ill and tried as much as we did, he didn’t want any treatment.

“I don’t want to lose him” I added.

“We will make sure we won’t”. Mike said.

“How are we going to break the news to Andy and Shirley?” James asked. We still hadn’t told them.

“We’ll figure something out after the ceremony. Right now, we have to focus on the guests. I can see that things are not going well between them “ Chris pointed out. We turned to see Andy and Shirley arguing about where they should make a group of guests sit.

“Oh my God! When will these two ever stop?”

We walked into the hall to join the guests. The brothers sat down at the place reserved for the family but before Chris sat he walked over to where Andy and Shirley were to solve whatever problem was going on there. I walked over to the drink table and took a glass of champagne and a fork to hit the glass to get everyone’s attention. Once I’d gotten it, I proceeded to talk.

“Thank you all so much for coming. Our mother will be very happy to see guys here. We hope you enjoy yourself and make the best out of your time here. Thank you “. I ended with them applauding. I went to sit by the rest of us. Dad chose that time to walk in. He’d gone to meet with a friend to discuss some issues pertaining work.

“Hey dad” James walked up to him and shook his hand.

“Hey”. Dad’s voice sounded tired. “How are things going around here?” 

“Pretty well”. I said.

“I’d love to join you guys but I need to rest. I’m tired. Say hi on my behalf to the guests.” He walked up to his room. He had to say a few hellos before climbing up.

“Is everything alright with dad?” Shirley asked. She had joined us.

“He’s fine. I’m sure he’s just tired. He’s going to rest”.  I assured her. 

We continued to enjoy the rest of the ceremony till all the guests left. Corbin stayed back to help us with the cleaning of the house. We finished around eight thirty. Since it was getting dark, Corbin decided to take his leave. We all said our goodbyes and called it a night.