Narrow Paths

Chapter Eighteen

I woke up at seven in the morning. It was too early for me to be up, but it was impossible for me to fall back asleep once I woke up.

I took a shower and shaved, vaguely remembering that today was the day Darcy's dad was getting married. I groaned when I realized that meant I had to sit in a hot room while I watched some man I didn't know get married to a woman I couldn't stand.

It seemed to take almost no time at all for Darcy to show up at eight o'clock. Instead of knocking on the door like a normal person, she honked her horn a few times. Embarrassed, I grabbed my tuxedo and met her outside. Soon, we were heading up the dirt road toward her house.

"The wedding is at eleven."

"Why'd you get me so early?"

"Because, I'm not staying in that house a second longer. We're hiding in my room until five minutes before the ceremony. I hate all the noise and all my relatives."

Her house was a center of activity, but it wasn't as if it was unexpected. Weddings always caused a flurry of activity. The wedding was going to take place in the backyard. You could already see rows of folding chairs set up in front of an altar that looked a little worn.

"My aunt brought the altar all the way from the other side of the state in her truck. Sometimes my dad's penny-pinching ways are annoying."

"It makes more sense to borrow one than to buy a whole new one."

"You're right," she admitted bitterly, "but he's usually a lot less sensible than that."

"I know what you mean. He seems like the kind of guy who clips coupons and tries to use as many as he can."

"He is."

I followed her up the stairs and into her room. Her dress was sitting on the edge of her bed. I sat down in a chair while she sat on the soft carpet of the floor.

"Is it childish that I don't want to call her my mom?"

"Not at all. She's not."

"I don't even want to refer to her as my step-mom, though."

"I imagine it'll take some time for you to become comfortable with that. Why do you sound so guilty?"

She sighed. "My dad talked to me last night. He practically begged me to be nicer to Victoria. Not for her sake, but his. He wants this marriage to go as smoothly as possible. He's going to spend a lot of time away from home, up in Union City."

"So, you're going to try and make peace with her to make his life easier. That's something I wouldn't expect you to do."

"Do you think I'm heartless?!"

"No, no. I mean... I wouldn't peg you as the type to suppress your opinion to make someone happy."

"Well, I figure that she already knows what I think of her. She'll know that it's an act and she'll go along with it."

"For your father's sake."

"For her own sake. She's terrified of the possibility that he'll divorce her as soon as she spits out the kid. He won't, of course, but I like to imply that he will. To keep her in her place."

"That sounds like the Darcy I know."

"It really does," she admitted with a laugh.

"Why do you think your dad wants to make things easier?"

"Because, when he does come home, he doesn't want to hear her bitch about me. He'd rather hear me bitch about her, so that's his logic."

"Why can't he just man up and deal with his own wife?"