Post by Cannonball on Sept 20, 2006 17:20:03 GMT -5
(Another Ravery 'n' Sarah Productions JP)
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Momma and Mrs Williams were never going to get on.
That much became abundantly clear about thirty minutes after the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom arrived at the hotel where the reception was being held. Mrs Williams was a petite blonde, much like her daughter, who clearly had the time and money for facials in downtown Atlanta on a regular basis. She had a slim, shapely body and poor Momma Guthrie muttered to Paige: "I feel like a beached whale, honey."
When the bride and groom arrived, to much applause, it didn't escape Paige's attention that Brenda almost immediately moved away from Sam to mingle with her friends and bridesmaids leaving him looking somewhat lost and out of place. He'd removed his tie and at least looked a little less stiff and formal, but he was also looking strangely forlorn.
She hated the whole lot. From Brenda's rotten mother and stiff looking father to Brenda her fool self. Paige wanted none of it. Worst of all, her brother looked miserable.
So she marched on over to him with mama's hand in hers, and slipped her arm around his waist, a sunshine brilliant smile on her face. "Howdy Sammy Z Guthrie! Golly but you do look handsome in your penguin suit," she giggled, and kissed him on the cheek. "How about a beer, baby doll?"
Momma chuckled, and brushed lint of Sam's shoulder.
"I'll have a Coke," replied Sam, who had given up alcohol some six months previously after he'd given himself the worst case of alcohol poisoning known to mankind. "Don't feel right handsome," he said, sheepishly. "Feel more sorta...underdressed. But Momma, I gotta say ya are the finest lookin' woman in this room."
The big-hearted Guthrie caught his beloved mother up in a tight embrace. "Ya done got me off ya hands now, huh? I got Brenda to worry 'bout me now."
"Ya think I gonna forget worryin' 'bout you, Sammy?" His mother tweaked his cheek in an affectionate way that made him blush as he used to do when he was a little boy. "I'm so proud of you this day, I really am." She leaned in conspiratorially. "Ya get some meat on that girl though, she looks like she might snap...Molly! Yoo hoo!"
And Momma was gone, away into the crowd leaving Paige alone with her eldest brother who gave her an embarrassed grin.
"I screwed up bad back there in the church, didn't I?" he said.
Personally, Paige had loved it. It had taken a momentous effort not to grin like a Chesire cat as Brenda blushed pink before kicking Sam in the knee. Yah, he'd deserved it. But so had she.
"Sammy, ya made a mistake. That's all sweetheart." She walked him over near the buffet table, putting a cup in his hand. "You gonna waste your one night ta celebrate on something so little? Don't think about it."
One of the Williams kids- a distant cousin of about six or seven- came tearing across the dance floor with the youngest Guthrie girl hot on his heels. They were shrieking with the sort of giddy happiness that seems to overtake children at large gatherings, and hardly paid attention where the were going- until they ran smack into the cake table and over it went. That pretty three-tiered Italian custard cake Brenda had convinced her daddy to order in from Louisville came crashing down atop both the kids, who looked at each other in stunned silence, wanting to laugh but sure they were about to get thrashed.
There was a deathly silence throughout the room.
Sam stared at the cake.
Then, almost terrified, he stared at Brenda.
It was at that moment that the woman actually earned some points in Paige's book, because she started to laugh. REAL laughter, not the forced screechy kind, but real warm, happy laughter.
Which lasted right up until Joshua threw a handful of cake at one of the other Williams kids.
Paige smirked, loving that for a moment, she didn't have to hate her new sister in law.
She nudged Sam in the elbow. "Here's your chance ta make up for it. Go grab a clean chunk of that cake, take it to Brenda, and offer her a bite. Go!"
Momma, meanwhile, came thundering like a freight train at Josh and grasped him by the collar, shaking him a bit. Oh boy was he gonna get it later- if he wasn't already going to spend the rest of the night in Uncle Jack's truck.
A few of the other kids thought it would be fun start throwing food, but the adults intervened as fast as they could. Paige got her baby sister out of the custard and cake, handing her off to Joelle to cart off to the bathroom. How they were going to get that girl cleaned up was anyone's guess.
Sam had done as Paige had suggested and the young couple shared a really very sweet moment of intimacy as Sam popped the cake in her mouth.
Over their shoulder, Momma and Mrs Williams were screaming at one another whilst poor, beleaguered Mr Williams was looking forlornly at the squashed cake that some of the hotel staff were trying desperately to clear up.
"I was looking forward to that," he confided in Paige.
"I bet it cost a pretty penny too, Sir. Tell you what. Can I make it up to ya with a dance?" She teased him gently, just as she might her own father, were he still alive.
It was a good thing she'd learned to dance from her Uncle Jack, she wasn't too far behind Mr. Williams and even managed a laugh as he told bad joke after bad joke. Aunt Ellie and Auntie Pearl busied themselves dragging Sam and Brenda's Mommas away from one another, so they didn't see Mr. William staring so obviously at Paige's young chest. Sure Paige noticed but it didn't bother her too much; it wasn't like she was hot for the old guy.
But cousin Jeremy did, and had been sneaking shots of whiskey out back with his dad and Uncle Jack for the last hour or so. As he marched up to them both and grabbed the father of the bride by the arm, both sides of the room seemed to gasp in tandem.
"Jeremy, ya put him down right now, or so help me I'll rip ya spine out through ya mouth!"
All eyes turned to Uncle Jack who was standing in a rather wobbly manner in the doorway. "This is Samuel's weddin' and I ain't gonna be the cause of no shame, so don't ya go fightin' that ol' letch, or y'all gonna get the thrashin' of ya life later back home!"
Sam and Brenda, luckily, had missed all of this. Somewhere along the way, Sam had suggested that they go take a nice walk outside in the hotel gardens and Brenda, seeing the opportunity not to have to look at the awful family she had just married into, had agreed.
"My husband isn't a letch!" shrieked Mrs Williams, marching to her husband and pulling at his other arms. "Can he help it if this girl THROWS herself at him?"
It was Jeremy that had to hold Paige back this time, as she took a step towards Brenda's momma with a look on her face that meant business.
"Come on girl. Ain't worth it."
Paige shoved Jeremy off of her. "And just a minute ago you were ready ta fight, huh? What's wrong with you?"
"You're a girl Paige! And she's old enough ta be your momma!"
Mrs. Williams didn't like the comparison to the rotund Guthrie widow one bit, and hauled her husband towards the door. Paige followed quickly after. She'd had it. "Oh no you don't go escapin now, ya overtanned piece'a Georgia 'coon shit! You come in here throwin money around with your nose in the air- you think Sammy or his family gives two licks about all your high class brass, huh? If you think that makes your daughter anything more than a gussied up pig, you got a big surprise ahead'a you! I aughta-"
Paige was cut short as Sammy's best friend grabbed her arm and yanked her into the supply closet, to the horror of some and the great delight of others.
"I told Brenda she should have married a good Atlanta boy and not that...that...HICK from these hills and hollers," shrieked Mrs Williams. "But no. She comes back all prideful and talking about this sweet boy she's going to marry and it turns out to be a MINER. Arthur, a MINER! She only likes him because of the size of his..."
"...family," interjected the hapless Mr Williams swiftly, shushing his infuriated wife. "Sweetheart, you've had one too many glasses of champagne, I think you should go upstairs and take a little nap..." He tried steering her out of the room, but Momma Guthrie, who had finally snapped at the insult to her baby boy and by inference her dead husband bore down on the pair of them like an avenging angel.
In lavender.
"You don't talk 'bout my Sam that way, woman. He's a good boy, the best. An' he ain't never done nothin' to hurt nobody. He works hard an' he looks after us all. An' he promised in front of God, in front of y'all that he'd care for ya girl as well. And my Sammy don't lie none, either."
An angry shriek was followed by laughter- all from Paige- from the confines of the supply closet, and it sounded if it wasn't tickling that was going on in there it was something else entirely too celebratory to be discussed in front of children.
Auntie Pearl hovered nearby Momma, ready to get between the two women if it came to that. Joelle was in tears, just trying to keep her brothers from discussing their plan to huck rocks at the Williamses nice shiny black Cadillac outside in the parking lot. Half the Williams family had left in disgust, while the Guthries were just thankful Sammy's daddy wasn't alive to escalate this situation any. He was a gentle man, like his son, but he was viciously protective of his family.
"Momma," Josh said, touching his mother's arm gently, using his respectful voice. "Momma it's okay. Let's get this quieted down 'afore Sam and Brenda come back huh?"
It was like challenging Fate.
No sooner had the words left Josh's mouth than the couple did, indeed, come back, entering the room laughing and smiling, hand in hand. The laughter died on Brenda's lips when she saw her mother's expression.
"No good will come of this, Brenda," hissed her mother and stormed past her daughter. Mr Williams shrugged helplessly and scurried after her. Brenda looked up at Sam who whispered something to her, and the bride rushed after her parents.
Sam stood there, on his own at the door, staring at the remnants of his wedding reception. He was the undisputed head of the Guthrie family now, had been since poor Thomas' death, but right now, he felt like an eight year old again.
They had turned his wedding reception into a farce. They had sabotaged his car, they had upset his in-laws and, generally caused things to go horribly, horribly wrong.
"I'm gonna miss y'all," he said, fondly. "Now is this a party or not?"
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Momma and Mrs Williams were never going to get on.
That much became abundantly clear about thirty minutes after the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom arrived at the hotel where the reception was being held. Mrs Williams was a petite blonde, much like her daughter, who clearly had the time and money for facials in downtown Atlanta on a regular basis. She had a slim, shapely body and poor Momma Guthrie muttered to Paige: "I feel like a beached whale, honey."
When the bride and groom arrived, to much applause, it didn't escape Paige's attention that Brenda almost immediately moved away from Sam to mingle with her friends and bridesmaids leaving him looking somewhat lost and out of place. He'd removed his tie and at least looked a little less stiff and formal, but he was also looking strangely forlorn.
She hated the whole lot. From Brenda's rotten mother and stiff looking father to Brenda her fool self. Paige wanted none of it. Worst of all, her brother looked miserable.
So she marched on over to him with mama's hand in hers, and slipped her arm around his waist, a sunshine brilliant smile on her face. "Howdy Sammy Z Guthrie! Golly but you do look handsome in your penguin suit," she giggled, and kissed him on the cheek. "How about a beer, baby doll?"
Momma chuckled, and brushed lint of Sam's shoulder.
"I'll have a Coke," replied Sam, who had given up alcohol some six months previously after he'd given himself the worst case of alcohol poisoning known to mankind. "Don't feel right handsome," he said, sheepishly. "Feel more sorta...underdressed. But Momma, I gotta say ya are the finest lookin' woman in this room."
The big-hearted Guthrie caught his beloved mother up in a tight embrace. "Ya done got me off ya hands now, huh? I got Brenda to worry 'bout me now."
"Ya think I gonna forget worryin' 'bout you, Sammy?" His mother tweaked his cheek in an affectionate way that made him blush as he used to do when he was a little boy. "I'm so proud of you this day, I really am." She leaned in conspiratorially. "Ya get some meat on that girl though, she looks like she might snap...Molly! Yoo hoo!"
And Momma was gone, away into the crowd leaving Paige alone with her eldest brother who gave her an embarrassed grin.
"I screwed up bad back there in the church, didn't I?" he said.
Personally, Paige had loved it. It had taken a momentous effort not to grin like a Chesire cat as Brenda blushed pink before kicking Sam in the knee. Yah, he'd deserved it. But so had she.
"Sammy, ya made a mistake. That's all sweetheart." She walked him over near the buffet table, putting a cup in his hand. "You gonna waste your one night ta celebrate on something so little? Don't think about it."
One of the Williams kids- a distant cousin of about six or seven- came tearing across the dance floor with the youngest Guthrie girl hot on his heels. They were shrieking with the sort of giddy happiness that seems to overtake children at large gatherings, and hardly paid attention where the were going- until they ran smack into the cake table and over it went. That pretty three-tiered Italian custard cake Brenda had convinced her daddy to order in from Louisville came crashing down atop both the kids, who looked at each other in stunned silence, wanting to laugh but sure they were about to get thrashed.
There was a deathly silence throughout the room.
Sam stared at the cake.
Then, almost terrified, he stared at Brenda.
It was at that moment that the woman actually earned some points in Paige's book, because she started to laugh. REAL laughter, not the forced screechy kind, but real warm, happy laughter.
Which lasted right up until Joshua threw a handful of cake at one of the other Williams kids.
Paige smirked, loving that for a moment, she didn't have to hate her new sister in law.
She nudged Sam in the elbow. "Here's your chance ta make up for it. Go grab a clean chunk of that cake, take it to Brenda, and offer her a bite. Go!"
Momma, meanwhile, came thundering like a freight train at Josh and grasped him by the collar, shaking him a bit. Oh boy was he gonna get it later- if he wasn't already going to spend the rest of the night in Uncle Jack's truck.
A few of the other kids thought it would be fun start throwing food, but the adults intervened as fast as they could. Paige got her baby sister out of the custard and cake, handing her off to Joelle to cart off to the bathroom. How they were going to get that girl cleaned up was anyone's guess.
Sam had done as Paige had suggested and the young couple shared a really very sweet moment of intimacy as Sam popped the cake in her mouth.
Over their shoulder, Momma and Mrs Williams were screaming at one another whilst poor, beleaguered Mr Williams was looking forlornly at the squashed cake that some of the hotel staff were trying desperately to clear up.
"I was looking forward to that," he confided in Paige.
"I bet it cost a pretty penny too, Sir. Tell you what. Can I make it up to ya with a dance?" She teased him gently, just as she might her own father, were he still alive.
It was a good thing she'd learned to dance from her Uncle Jack, she wasn't too far behind Mr. Williams and even managed a laugh as he told bad joke after bad joke. Aunt Ellie and Auntie Pearl busied themselves dragging Sam and Brenda's Mommas away from one another, so they didn't see Mr. William staring so obviously at Paige's young chest. Sure Paige noticed but it didn't bother her too much; it wasn't like she was hot for the old guy.
But cousin Jeremy did, and had been sneaking shots of whiskey out back with his dad and Uncle Jack for the last hour or so. As he marched up to them both and grabbed the father of the bride by the arm, both sides of the room seemed to gasp in tandem.
"Jeremy, ya put him down right now, or so help me I'll rip ya spine out through ya mouth!"
All eyes turned to Uncle Jack who was standing in a rather wobbly manner in the doorway. "This is Samuel's weddin' and I ain't gonna be the cause of no shame, so don't ya go fightin' that ol' letch, or y'all gonna get the thrashin' of ya life later back home!"
Sam and Brenda, luckily, had missed all of this. Somewhere along the way, Sam had suggested that they go take a nice walk outside in the hotel gardens and Brenda, seeing the opportunity not to have to look at the awful family she had just married into, had agreed.
"My husband isn't a letch!" shrieked Mrs Williams, marching to her husband and pulling at his other arms. "Can he help it if this girl THROWS herself at him?"
It was Jeremy that had to hold Paige back this time, as she took a step towards Brenda's momma with a look on her face that meant business.
"Come on girl. Ain't worth it."
Paige shoved Jeremy off of her. "And just a minute ago you were ready ta fight, huh? What's wrong with you?"
"You're a girl Paige! And she's old enough ta be your momma!"
Mrs. Williams didn't like the comparison to the rotund Guthrie widow one bit, and hauled her husband towards the door. Paige followed quickly after. She'd had it. "Oh no you don't go escapin now, ya overtanned piece'a Georgia 'coon shit! You come in here throwin money around with your nose in the air- you think Sammy or his family gives two licks about all your high class brass, huh? If you think that makes your daughter anything more than a gussied up pig, you got a big surprise ahead'a you! I aughta-"
Paige was cut short as Sammy's best friend grabbed her arm and yanked her into the supply closet, to the horror of some and the great delight of others.
"I told Brenda she should have married a good Atlanta boy and not that...that...HICK from these hills and hollers," shrieked Mrs Williams. "But no. She comes back all prideful and talking about this sweet boy she's going to marry and it turns out to be a MINER. Arthur, a MINER! She only likes him because of the size of his..."
"...family," interjected the hapless Mr Williams swiftly, shushing his infuriated wife. "Sweetheart, you've had one too many glasses of champagne, I think you should go upstairs and take a little nap..." He tried steering her out of the room, but Momma Guthrie, who had finally snapped at the insult to her baby boy and by inference her dead husband bore down on the pair of them like an avenging angel.
In lavender.
"You don't talk 'bout my Sam that way, woman. He's a good boy, the best. An' he ain't never done nothin' to hurt nobody. He works hard an' he looks after us all. An' he promised in front of God, in front of y'all that he'd care for ya girl as well. And my Sammy don't lie none, either."
An angry shriek was followed by laughter- all from Paige- from the confines of the supply closet, and it sounded if it wasn't tickling that was going on in there it was something else entirely too celebratory to be discussed in front of children.
Auntie Pearl hovered nearby Momma, ready to get between the two women if it came to that. Joelle was in tears, just trying to keep her brothers from discussing their plan to huck rocks at the Williamses nice shiny black Cadillac outside in the parking lot. Half the Williams family had left in disgust, while the Guthries were just thankful Sammy's daddy wasn't alive to escalate this situation any. He was a gentle man, like his son, but he was viciously protective of his family.
"Momma," Josh said, touching his mother's arm gently, using his respectful voice. "Momma it's okay. Let's get this quieted down 'afore Sam and Brenda come back huh?"
It was like challenging Fate.
No sooner had the words left Josh's mouth than the couple did, indeed, come back, entering the room laughing and smiling, hand in hand. The laughter died on Brenda's lips when she saw her mother's expression.
"No good will come of this, Brenda," hissed her mother and stormed past her daughter. Mr Williams shrugged helplessly and scurried after her. Brenda looked up at Sam who whispered something to her, and the bride rushed after her parents.
Sam stood there, on his own at the door, staring at the remnants of his wedding reception. He was the undisputed head of the Guthrie family now, had been since poor Thomas' death, but right now, he felt like an eight year old again.
They had turned his wedding reception into a farce. They had sabotaged his car, they had upset his in-laws and, generally caused things to go horribly, horribly wrong.
"I'm gonna miss y'all," he said, fondly. "Now is this a party or not?"
