by Raven Crow
“No they don’t announce those until tomorrow and that is always private only the King’s court and Lords will be at that meeting. You know that Pen; besides I think that you are too old to be matched.” Sax said.
“I know that I am too old to be matched I was only wondering when they were announcing the matches and meets I was hoping to start making some money as soon as possible.”
“Ok you all are confusing the shit out of me right now. I have no idea what the hell any of you are talking about. This is the strangest wedding that I have ever been to.” Jo gasped. Her eyes were the size of teacup saucers which nearly made me laugh out loud. I could swear that Jo was having a great time at any rate. “What are you talking about with ‘matches and meets’, what’s that?”
And before I could even begin to explain I felt a soft hand on my shoulder from behind me.
“What are all of you doing out here? Gio you were supposed to be at the ceremony your father was expecting you two earlier.” She jumped into the middle of our group. “Hello you must be Josephine; I am Mrs. Camille Gardier the King’s third wife.” My mom said to Jo as she quickly shook hands with her. “Well are you coming or do you want me to have to explain this whole situation to your father?” She snapped.
I wasn’t about to argue with my mom so without haste we followed her through the crowd into the tent and right up to my father’s table inside. He didn’t waste a second giving me that disapproving scowl of his while he approached me but by the time he reached me his mouth was all grins. He handed me a beer and slapped my back with the other hand.
“What the hell took you so long? Don’t you realize that you need to be at things like this in order to learn your duties, Gio?” He started in on me with a quiet tone. Camille took Jo and Pen off over to where the ladies had gathered in the tent and I lost sight of her amidst the group of them. “Not only was it your duty to be here but the other kingdom is here tonight as well. I don’t want the Moreau’s to think that my son doesn’t care about his duties. Plus, I want to introduce my beautiful goddaughter to everyone finally.”
“I had forgotten about that father I apologize for our tardiness it will not happen again. I do have to say that I would be very surprised if the Moreau’s even noticed that I wasn’t here at the ceremony.” I tried to add in some history with the Moreau’s as my defense.
“Normally I would agree with your Gio however, this time Buster Moreau isn’t the one that has come to represent the Moreau Kingdom.” My father said like it was a mystery waiting to be revealed.
“With this much free booze here and Buster Moreau isn’t here, well who is here?” Sax asked. I was a little startled by him at first because I had forgotten that he was there. I guess his curiosity had gotten the best of him causing him to speak directly to my father which was very rare.
“Blaine Moreau is here.” My father answered.
“What, Blaine Moreau that old man is here I thought that he was dead or sick or in hiding or something like that.” I pushed my way into the comment that didn’t’ make sense.
“No not the old man Blaine Moreau, Blaine Moreau the second, the old man’s second son from his second wife the really young one. Look he’s right over there at the end of the table.” My father pointed over to a young man who looked around my age maybe a few years older at most.
Chapter 27
Pen
I figured that I would have had an opportunity to give my recording to Mr. Moreau at some point during the wedding but so far I had not even gotten close to him. And now I had both Jo and mean-ass Camille Gardier right up on me. I was going to need to ditch them both and get over to Blaine Moreau somehow.
“I am so happy to finally have you all to myself Josephine. I was looking forward to getting to know you much better. I’m sorry I don’t think that I know you?” Camille said as her eyes glued themselves to me for further examining. “Are you with the grooms or brides side?”
“I’m Penelope Smith, I am not with either of the groom or bridal parties actually I came here with Saxon Danes.” I answered. She must have not of liked my response by the look on her face.
“Smith, you said—like as in Walker Smith?”
“Yes—Walker was my grandfather.” I knew what was coming next.
“I can’t believe that you would actually show your face around here after what your grandfather did to the gypsy name. Hmm!” She snapped with a cold stare.
“Hey mom lay off of Pen she’s with me and my friends. Why are you being like this anyhow?” I heard Gio’s familiar voice as he surprisingly came to my rescue.
“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have even said anything. Look I see that your father is busy flirting with all of the women over there. I should go over there to keep an eye on him before he gets himself into more trouble.” Camille slipped away from our group without so much as an apology. I was used to being treated crappy but I never would get over it quickly. All the rage was now just sitting under the surface leaving me to feel like a ticking time bomb.
“I’m sorry about that Pen.” Gio tried to make me feel better and it kind of worked.
“Not everybody thinks like her, Pen none of us feel like you did anything wrong. Camille is just drunk and bored already and you know how people get when they are in that kind of state.” Sax tried to make me feel better.
I noticed that poor Jo had become so confused that she looked like her head might just spin off from watching us go back and forth.
And then it started, a man walked by us and yelled, “Get out of here Smith!” before he disappeared into the crowd. Sax turned immediately to look for the man. It had to be one of the Gardier tribe members I thought because my tribe had stopped taunting me and my family years ago. I turned to look for myself and I spotted Mr. Moreau. He had moved from the corner and was now on his way to the other side of the tent. I instantly thought I could make my way over towards him right then and hand off the recording.
“It is just fine. I am so used to this kind of shit. People have been treating my family like this for years. I am going to freshen up though.” I said to them in an attempt to get over to where Mr. Moreau was standing.
“Come on please don’t go, Pen.” Jo grabbed at my arm gently, nudging me towards her side as if to show a sign of protection. I involuntarily gasped from shock. “I mean at least don’t go alone, I’ll come with you. I think I saw a bathroom area over there somewhere.”
Oh great how was I going to be able to privately drop off my recordings to Mr. Moreau with Jo right alongside me. I smiled at her while I nodded at her. She was being so kind as she always had been I couldn’t ditch her now.
“Ok by me, lead the way to the bathroom I will follow you.” I pushed out agreeable words through sweet cheeks.
Jo held onto my hand as she moved quickly across the room. She had on this adorable black slip dress which when set against her skin made her look like a fragile porcelain doll. She seemed much more confident then she had been the first time that we had met. The sudden change in her had me wondering if that change had anything to do with Gio. I could have been wrong seems how I didn’t actually know her before now, maybe she had always been confident. I begin to notice that she was now the one who was getting all of the attention in the room instead of me. It was nice having the heat from all of the nosey glares diverted elsewhere.
“I don’t think that I have ever seen such a vastly different looking group of people like this all gathered together before. I mean over there (she pointed to her left side) you have young beach-bum types, and over there (she pointed to her right side) you have older fancy folks that look like they are drinking themselves to death. Do these kinds of parties happen often around here?”
“No this is the first time both tribes have joined together for a gathering in over two decades, I believe. Jo you are witnessing something that hasn’t happened for a long time. I’m surprised that there hasn’t been a fight break out yet to be honest with you.”
Her beautif
ul soft eyes widen with such brightness it nearly lit up the room. She seemed to react in the sweetest ways like a naive child. It was obvious that Jo had never been through the nasty, dirty darkness that was my life or that sweetness of hers would have bitter by now.
I grabbed and covered my ears as a pain causing noise rang out filling the packed tent. My eyes darted spotting the source. A tall skinny guy had grabbed a hold of the microphone on the stage alerting us that the music was about to start. Bodies brushed pass us racing to the stage. You’d think that a popular K-pop group was about to play by the reaction of the crowd.
Chapter 28
Sax
I’d lost sight of her over twenty minutes ago causing my anxiety to spike. I shouldn’t have brought her out to this stupid wedding. I don’t know the couple; she doesn’t know anyone except for us. This was a terrible idea.
Gio’s arched brow had me on high alert. “What the hell is Paul Richards doing here? Does he realize where he is what now?” His eyes narrowed as he took side glances at me. He nudged the air with his chin. “Oh look there’s his father, Mayor Jack Richards. Now this is turning out to be a regular snob-fest…I vote we find the ladies and leave this circus.”
What was this my friend, ‘the fighting gypsy’, wanted to leave the party before any of the drama could start? If I were a doctor I would have insisted that I examine him for brain trauma.
I pivoted to my right before pivoting to my left finding no sign of the ladies in either direction. “I shouldn’t have brought her here. This town is too cruel to those it doesn’t like and no secret is kept private for long. No one forgives. And no one forgets. This is no place for someone as sweet, kind, and fragile as Pen.”
“If you are so worried about her why’d you bring her into the crew? She doesn’t have a clue how to run a job, Sax. I mean…she’s a dancer for Christ’s sake.”
“Why didn’t you say something before if it bothered you?”
“It doesn’t bother me. I don’t really care one way or the other; I’ll get mine no matter what. But bro you sound whipped and I’m not feeling it. Business and romance never mix well. Be careful.”
“I don’t care about any of that shit, Gio the money thing has always been your focus not mine. I do this for the game. I studied for years so I know what I’m doing and how to do it well. I don’t plan to do this shady shit forever I’m going legit soon. I need to get out of this side of things. I have to change this for myself or I won’t be happy.”
He moved blocking my view bringing us face to face. “Jeeze Sax what’s with the super deep-shit tonight? You’re over here talking future plans and shit. What’s really going on?”
“Nothing is going on. I have always made goals for myself and now I’m just sharing that with you.”
“Bullshit.”
I dropped my glance to the floor. “I can’t talk to you when you’re like this. Shut up bro.” He knew me better than I had thought as he picked apart at my bullshit.
“I call bullshit now tell me the truth.”
“What do you want me to say that I love her; that I can’t stop thinking about her? I thought about her almost every single day ever since high school.” I paused a moment waiting for his mocking to begin. “Go ahead and laugh at me.”
He cocked his head to one side. “What? Now why would I laugh at you for still being in love with your high school crush? What am I going to hate on you for being you—the loyal friend to the end that you are? Nah, I completely support you bro.” His firm hand hit my back twice.
“Oh here you are Giovanni, over here with Saxon probably plotting your plan of attack on all of these beautiful ladies, huh boys?” Gerald Gardier had approached from behind catching us both by surprise. He had the mayor and Blaine Moreau the second with him. “I want you to meet, Mayor Paul Richards,” he shook our hands, “and King Blaine Moreau the second.” He shook our hands as well.
The mayor was dressed in a tux, with three thousand dollar Italian shoes on and a ten thousand dollar Rolex shining off of his wrist. He was about the same age as Gerald, about forty something but he looked older and he was six feet or so tall. His hair was blond which blended well with the gray. His face was covered in bronzer and plastered with a perfect white grin. He reminded me of an eighties style TV star. He even smelled like Old Spice which completed the package.
Blaine Moreau the second, just the name alone was pretentious but the guy vibrated pure arrogance. He hadn’t worn a tux to the wedding like the mayor. Instead he was dressed in Armani from head to toe. He had on a platinum Rolex watch incrusted with diamonds worth over a hundred grand on his right wrist and admittedly I was a bit envious. Until this night I’d never even seen this guy. I had seen his brother Buster around town often but honestly I hadn’t even heard much about Blaine Moreau, Buster’s much younger brother. I would swear that he looked around our age, in his mid-twenties. It was obvious that he had the women interested in him, probably because of his apparent good looks and toned physical appearance. He had light, brown hair which was trimmed down making his chin line sharp and more pronounced. He had a perfect complexion and naturally bronzed skin to match. I couldn’t tell what color his eyes were in the lighting in the tent. He flashed his pearly whites at a small group of women a few times and I watched them swoon as one almost collapsed. Ridicules.
“So this is your son Gerald, I believe that my son, Paul went to school with him. Isn’t that correct son?” Mayor Richards’ words slapped us back into the past moment. This was the father of the douche bag we hated in high school? I looked over at Gio and the look on his face was unreadable. “It’s a pity that Paul couldn’t have stayed longer and joined us; he would have liked seeing you all again I bet.”
I took the lead as it appeared that Gio wasn’t quite on his game tonight. “It was a nice to put a name with a face, mayor. Please send our regards to Paul.”
“Well of course I will.”
Blaine remained silent as he watched us all fake our way through the awkward conversation.
“Well boys I have some other people I have to introduce these gentlemen to.” Gerald leaned into our ears. “Try to stay out of trouble.” And with that the three men floated off to the next group of more important people.
“What was that about?” I voiced into Gio’s ear.
“I don’t know. I don’t like it though. Two kings in one kingdom, all of that power in one place at once, there’s bound to be a war.”
Chapter 29
Jo
Flashes from the wedding were still filling my head here and there as I had finished yet another week of school. At the wedding I thought I was going to have that first time with Gio but no…nothing happened as usual. I was starting to wonder if it was ever going actually happen for us. I sat gripping my phone while waiting on Daphne in the cafeteria. He hadn’t texted, called or come by all week and this was the second time that he had blown me off for a whole week straight.
“Hey girl.” Daphne’s sweet voice rang from behind me. She placed her backpack down on the chair before sitting down next to me.
“Hey girl. I ordered you a salad already I hope you are hungry.” I pushed the salad over in front of her. “I didn’t know what you liked. If you don’t like it you can share my fish tacos with me.”
“No I love salad, thank you Jo.” She started eating. “I’m starved. Hey there’s a party tomorrow night at the Golf Club in town I was invited, do you want to come along with me?” she continued to eat.
Another party might be just the thing I needed to help get my brain cleared. I needed to get Gio out of my head and maybe if I had more friends I’d relax more easily.
“Sure—that sounds fun.”
“Daphne is that you girl?” A familiar voice asked.
I turned and to my surprise it was Pen Smith. She looked gorgeous as always. She was standing there in a pair of black sweats with a black leotard underneath it. All of her hair was pulled up into a bun on top of her head. She looked shoc
ked as she saw me.
Daphne jumped out of her chair. “Hi Pen, holy crap I haven’t seen you for a hot minute. What the hell have you been doing lately?” The two of them hugged briefly.
“I have been super busy taking care of my grandmother. Hey there Jo, I didn’t know you knew Daphne what a small world.” Pen pointed her comments to me.
“Hi Pen. Yeah we met each other on my first day of class. She’s been my hero by showing me around this place. What are you doing here I didn’t know that you went here too?”
“Ahh I don’t go here. I was waiting for Sax. He told me to put on my dance clothes and meet him here. I don’t know what he’s up to.”
“Wow…mysterious I like that.” Daphne marked.
“Yeah that’s cute.” I secretly wished that Gio had been as interested in me as Sax was so obviously interested in Pen. “Is Sax with Gio right now or something?” I immediately regretted asking about Gio, it made me look too eager and needy.
“I don’t know if he’s with Gio, sorry.” She smiled before they both sat. “I am a bit early actually can I join you two for a minute?”
“Of course you can Pen. I heard that everyone was at the wedding last Saturday, did you go? I was as sick as a dog so I missed out but Jo told me that there wasn’t much drama to be missed.”
I couldn’t help but stare at Pen at times; she was one of the most striking women that I had ever seen. She was so pretty that it was hard to not find myself feeling envious of her but that was easily remedied by her kindness. She was impossible to hate. I did, however, want to know more about her family’s history given how she was treated by the others at the wedding.
“Ah yeah I was there.”
“We hung out for a minute at the wedding actually. It is crazy that we all know each other and we didn’t know it until now.” I pointed out.