Percy and Squeak looked at each other and snorted laughter at the thought of Perla meditating on Vanessa’s sex life for a week.
“I think you’re right about Javier, too, Perla. We’re definitely headed that direction. It’s just that he does not believe in birth control, at least not barrier methods…at least not with me,” Vanessa reddened. “We haven’t actually gone there yet. But I’m excited about our prospects.”
“Watch out, ladies. You know how she is when she gets excited,” Gabi teased. “No man can resist her charms.”
“Then I will start crocheting your layette, Vanessa,” Squeak teased, setting a huge orange flower on top of a pile of other crochet. “Call me when you’re about ten weeks along, and I’ll get you up to speed with the Birth Center.”
“Slow down a bit, y’all. We haven’t exactly planned the big moment, and even when we do, I might not be with child for months,” Vanessa did not sound convincing, even to her own ears. The other women ignored her protest.
“So you might be a mama soon, mija. Oh, Perla, we’re going to be grandmas! I want to be Mama Carla.”
“Oh, yes. The baby can call me Bubbe Perla or just Bubbe.”
“Gracias, hermana. Now maybe Ma will stop pressuring me to settle down and make beautiful brown babies.”
“I wasn’t pressuring you.”
“I told you I was dating Ruben officially, and you asked if we were going to have the wedding reception at the bar.”
“It’s a fair question. The bar holds more people than our house. I have to start thinking of the guest list. Our relatives in Mexico and Charlotte have to plan ahead.” Carla made the remote country and the two hours away city sound equally distant.
“Mom told her to let us be, but she’s already dropping hints about how Ruben’s Filipino bone structure will complement my eyes.”
“I haven’t even thought about Javier’s bone structure,” Vanessa smiled moonily.
“Just his bone, right, hermana?”
Vanessa pushed Gabi.
“Well, you two aren’t the only ones settling down,” Percy announced. “At least, not if the woman of my dreams will have me.”
“What?” Squeak stopped crocheting and gaped at Percy.
Percy got down on one knee in front of Squeak and took her hands, crochet hook and all. “Brigit, will you marry me?”
A pregnant pause filled the room for several moments. It was broken by the soft sound of tears cascading from Percy to Carla to Perla to Vanessa, and finally to Squeak. Gabi, the only tear-free woman in the room, grew impatient.
“Well, tell her already!”
“Yes!” Squeak squeaked.
Percy slipped a ring on Squeak’s finger and kissed her. The other women applauded.
“It’s about time you made her an honest woman!” Gabi joked, hugging the couple.
“Dios mío, look at that ring! You can see it from space,” Carla gasped.
“We can’t get married till next year at the earliest,” Percy addressed Squeak, “because I want to be able to give you more attention than I can while I’m trying to get tenure.” She choked up, “But you have already made me so, so happy, Brigit. And I want to make you happy.”
“Kiss her already!” Vanessa, Gabi, and Perla demanded at the same time.
The couple obliged, causing the others to break into giggles and “ahhs”.
“Where will you be married?” Carla asked. “Marian can do the wedding if your church has issues.”
“The church where I serve as deacon will marry us, or unite us, actually. I already talked to our priest, and she literally danced for joy when I told her I was going to ask Brigit to marry me.”
“Oh! Wedding dances. Those are the best. You two will have to dance to Ella and Louis singing ‘Cheek to Cheek’!” Vanessa enthused.
“You’ll all be in the wedding,” Squeak beamed. “Well, if you don’t mind standing up with my goofy cousins.” Squeak smiled at Percy. “Oh, my God, we’re getting married!”
“Yes,” Percy said, and kissed her again.
“This group is lucky,” Perla sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. “We’re going to have to recruit more members so we can spread around all this matchmaking.”
“No, Perla. It’s St. Raphael, not luck. He works fast,” Carla corrected.
“And he’s contagious,” Gabi added.
“Speaking of which, and I ask this in a professional capacity as well as a friend,” Squeak said to Vanessa, “are you sure you are okay with going all the way without a barrier? I mean, Javier seems great, but you have only known him for a few weeks.”
“He’s never had sex.”
The women looked boggled.
“Dios mío. Never?!” Carla demanded.
“And you trust him?” Percy asked.
“I do,” Vanessa nodded.
“Wait. So Doctor Mani is going to give you his cherry?” Gabi asked around a mouthful of cherry Danish, waving the pastry for emphasis.
“I think so. He loves me.”
“Awww,” the other women chorused.
“And I love him.”
Everyone hugged one another for a few moments.
“So, are you going to have the wedding reception at the bar?” Carla asked Vanessa.
“And the dress! Where are you going to get a dress with your lifestyle?” Perla asked immediately on Carla’s heels.
“If I’m your maid of honor, I’m not wearing something from the trash,” Gabi added.
“You will use midwives, right?” Squeak finished.
“Okay, ladies. Let’s give her some room to breathe,” Percy spoke up.
“Thanks, Perc.” Vanessa took a deep breath and smiled. Pedantically she said, “First of all, just because everyone else is getting married,” she nudged Percy, “does not mean that I am next.” Everyone booed her, so she began again sincerely. “Okay. Let me see if I can answer. Probably, Carla. It’s my least expensive option since I can do a work trade. I’ll start looking for a dress now and hope to find one on Freecycle or at one of the estates Percy researches. I’ll sew you a dress, Gabi. Squeak, of course I’ll use midwives. And I’m counting on you to at least be my doula.”
“When do you see him again? I would like to pray for you on the big night,” Perla spoke up.
“Me, too, mija. I’ll light a novena for you so the prayer will last a few days.”
“We’ll pray, too.” Percy held Squeak’s hand, and Squeak nodded assent.
“Yeah. You know I’ve got your back, too, hermana.”
“Thanks, y’all,” Vanessa smiled at the support her friends showed. “I’ll see him Friday at the Beans and Spice launch party. He’s bringing his parents by to meet me on my break. Then I guess I will see him on Saturday. I’m not sure that will be the big night, but the way things were headed yesterday, I wouldn’t doubt it. If he’s ready.”
“Are you ready?” Percy asked. She looked at Vanessa meaningfully, but gave no hint of breaking their confidence.
“I think I am, but I reserve the right to change my mind and my plans,” she winked.
“I notice that you aren’t arguing with us about praying for you,” Squeak piped up.
“It’s true. I’m not. On that subject, my mind has changed.”
“So, is your feud with Papa Dios over, mija?”
Vanessa tilted her head. Her eyes narrowed in thought. “I think for a long time, God seemed like this tyrant who took Granny from me and made me suffer a bunch of perverts. God meant rosaries sitting in full ashtrays and vomit and embalming fluid and my stoned out mother giving away Granny’s stuff after the funeral to get a little money from my dad’s rich aunts. But then a good friend,” she looked at Percy, “helped me forgive myself for all the shame I was carrying around.” Vanessa sighed as images of the bright blue bowl on her kitchen counter, the red vase, the tiny clothes tucked into her hope chest, rushed to mind. “Now it’s as though my vision’s cleared, or someone switched the film r
eel from Southern Gothic noir to one of those foreign art films where you leave so washed in color that life makes you cry,” Vanessa’s eyes glistened. “God is putting flowers on the table in the best vase and sewing aprons and making an afghan for my bed,” she raised the huge bag of yarn Squeak had given her, “and fresh fruit in the bright blue bowl, and letting a neighbor watch out for you. And you all,” Vanessa sniffled and smiled. Percy reached across and squeezed her hand, and Squeak gestured solidarity.
“This is wisdom,” Perla nodded. “You ask any religious woman from my generation how she knew God and practiced her faith, and to a one,” she raised her forefinger expressively, “she will tell you it was in her home. Church and synagogue and temple,” Perla gestured as though these lofty places were eggplants in her hands that she laid on her lap one by one, “they matter, sure. But God goes home at night in the bodies of faithful women. He kisses their children with them, makes love to their partners with them, cooks their food and washes their hair.”
“Ay, sí, mija. That’s what I try to tell Gabi and Marian when they hide my Jesus. He’s why I put up with them,” she squeezed Gabi’s face, “and why I love them.”
“He’s in the cosmos in the backyard,” Vanessa said.
“Oh, gracias!” Carla beamed.
“Aw, come on, hermana! Why did you tell her?!”
“One, because she’s right. And two, if she’s going to be my baby’s grandmother, I want to get in good with her.”
“You don’t have to live with him, though!” Gabi complained. “You don’t know what it’s like, having Jesus staring at you in the hall whenever you come home. What will I tell Ruben if he comes over?”
“Isn’t he a Catholic?” Squeak asked. “Why would he care?”
“He’s not a Mexican Catholic,” Gabi said.
“So maybe Jesus will persuade him to make you an honest woman, mija.”
“Oh, no, you don’t. St. Raphael or not, y’all are not going to make me honest so soon. We only just started dating officially.”
“You mean you only just started screwing,” Vanessa teased. “You two have been talking and flirting for a year now.”
“Well, I’m not ready to get hitched yet.”
“You could get married in the gardens,” Perla suggested.
“Oh, no. Not you, too,” Gabi shook her coffee at Perla. “You don’t start planning my wedding. Ma is bad enough already.”
Perla shrugged her shoulders and smiled cryptically. “You never know. I’m just saying you may want to have a plan.”
“I’ve got all the plan I need,” Gabi shook the condom boxes. “Thank you.”
“Not to change the subject from all this very interesting talk of sex and marriage, but Bradley and Ally were in my apartment yesterday when I got back from picking up frozen stuff from the Food Lion.”
“What were they doing there, mija?”
“Each other, it looked like. Ally was going down on Bradley when I walked in on them.”
“That trespasser!” Squeak shouted, causing Percy to jump. “How dare he disrespect your space like that?”
“Their adventures in fellatio aren’t what concern me. Later on I found my scrapbooks disturbed—the scrapbooks with Javier.”
“Do you think Bradley will try to embarrass you with them?” Percy asked, concerned.
“No. Bradley’s horny, but he’s basically decent. I’m worried that he showed them to Ally, though.”
“Who is about as discreet as porn,” Gabi shook her head.
“And she’s a bitch,” Perla added.
“Indeed,” Vanessa said. “Which is why I bring it to you all. What should I do? I want to tell Javier about the scrapbooks, now that we have connected so well, but I won’t have a chance to talk with him till after the launch party. That’s the kind of conversation I think one should have face to face.”
“Excuse me, dear,” Percy intoned in her posh British persona, “I’ve been meaning to mention it but haven’t had a moment.” Squeak giggled, egging Percy on. Percy harrumphed and continued, “There’s a small matter, you see, of my having read about you in a book before we met. A bit of a head start on the romance as it were.”
“So you want me to mess Ally up a bit?” Gabi asked, ignoring Percy.
“No, but if you could keep an eye out for her at the party, that would be great. Ruben’s sponsoring an open bar to promote Beans and Spice, and free booze is a big draw for someone like Ally.”
“No problem. If I see her slinking in, you consider me your personal bouncer.”
“We’ll help, too,” Squeak said. “Percy got us tickets.”
“Thanks,” Vanessa sighed relief. “With you three there, I can relax and focus on working and meeting Javier’s parents.”
The week passed in a blur of work and crochet. Vanessa made a granny square whenever she thought of meeting Javier’s parents. She made a granny square whenever she thought of seeing Javier again. When she went to bed and thought of Javier kissing her, she calmed her heart rate by making a few granny squares. Percy caught her in the act on Tuesday.
“What’s all this?” Percy quirked an eyebrow at the piles of crochet covering Vanessa’s couch, coffee table, and the half of the dining table not overtaken by sewing.
Vanessa looked around her, surprised at the quantity of squares and sewing projects covering her living area. “Well, these are for the blanket I’m making.” She wobbled a handful of granny squares in the air and tossed them back on top of a pile. “And those,” she pointed to the stack of bright fabrics by her sewing machine, “are skirts made from the remainder of my old fabric stash, pre-Bradley.”
“You got tired of aprons?”
“Not tired, exactly, but I could not justify them any longer. I made the ones for the launch, a few more for myself and possibly,” she mocked a discreet look, “for friends. Then I looked in my closet and noticed the all T-shirts and jeans wardrobe.”
“These are for you?” Percy asked, holding one up. It was A-line and embroidered on one brown pocket that set off the bold floral. “They’re pretty! They’ll look great on you.”
“I hope so.” Vanessa ran her hand over the hem of the skirt Percy had picked up. “This one is for the launch party. I want to feel beautiful and confident when I meet Javier’s parents.”
“So you sewed yourself some armor,” Percy smiled approval.
“Of a sort,” Vanessa beamed. “So, are we picking up the estate remnants first, or heading to Whole Foods for cheese?” Since the launch party was taking up so much of their day on Friday, they had decided to forego foraging for the weekend.
“Estates first,” Percy bit her lip, clearly excited about something.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
When they arrived at the red brick ranch house where the estate sale had ended, Percy seemed impatient to have the car loaded. She shoved a last box of what looked like old rags and kitchen utensils into the hatchback of the Prius. She closed the hatch with more than usual force.
“Get in. Quick,” Percy said, waving Vanessa into the car.
“Okay, what is going on? You’ve been trying not to tell me something since we were at my apartment.” Vanessa buckled in and watched Percy’s face melt into a smile as they drove away.
“Yes!” Percy beamed. “Okay, I’m not certain that it’s here. We’ll have to check at the Whole Foods.”
“Not certain what’s here?” Vanessa looked puzzled, but she smiled at Percy’s apparent eagerness to share.
“Your wedding dress.”
“My wedding dress?!”
“One of my students runs estate sales on the side. He was telling me how it was too bad that they had low turnout at this sale, because they were unable to move most of the vintage clothes.”
“Including a wedding dress?”
“Including a 1930’s aubergine silk cocktail dress that would make you look divine.”
“Ooooh. Pull over and let’s check.”
“Wait
till Whole Foods.” Percy checked her rearview mirror. “I want to put some distance between us in case they come to their senses and chase us down to get the dress back.”
“They won’t come after the dress, Percy. One thing I’ve learned as a freegan is why that adage is true about one man’s trash being another’s treasure. Once we throw stuff away, that’s it. Most people feel relieved to not have to deal with a discard anymore, even if it is the world’s most perfect dress for someone else.”
“Maybe not. But I don’t want to risk it.” Percy turned into the Whole Foods parking lot and pulled into a space farthest from the door, where they could set boxes on the grass median.
Vanessa pulled out several eggplant and maroon fabrics from a box, but they were only tea towels. “Looks as though this lady had a favored color scheme.” She shifted to the next box, where she found a pale blue vintage Mason jar with a tin lid and dozens of wooden spoons, but no fabric.
“Which is to your advantage,” Percy smiled. She held up a boxy burgundy tweed suit from the 1960’s. “You could wear this for your going-away dress.”
“Thanks,” Vanessa took the suit and smiled. “Now let’s find the dress.” She set the tweed on her seat in the car and turned to the next box. She heard Percy gasp and looked up.
“Vanessa!” Percy held up a floaty confection of jewel-toned silk.
“It’s perfect!” Vanessa smiled and held the dress to her chest. Her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, my God. I’m crying. Percy, this is so beautiful.” She hugged her friend, the dress extended to the side for safety. “It’s my wedding dress. You found it.”
“Well, you found the right partner,” Percy smiled.
“Who still has to ask me to marry him,” Vanessa giggled. “But we’ve done the hardest part by finding the dress!” She did a little dance of joy, swaying the dress over her thighs.
“I’m so glad it was there! Say cheese!” Percy clicked a photo with her smartphone when Vanessa complied.
“Okay. We had better go get the cheese, speaking of which. I have dibs on any English cheddar.”
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