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My mother exhaled as if she’d been holding the entire world’s problems on her shoulders.“It’s just awful, Darius. He’s making such a fuss about dinner tonight. I had everything booked at Ollie’s. I know it’s your favorite restaurant and I wanted to celebrate your homecoming with the family, but your father…”she broke off with a huff that made me think he was there listening.“He’s telling me you don’t want dinner out.”
I would have cursed if my mother didn’t have the hearing abilities of a bat. There was no way to avoid a dinner no matter what I said, but Father was also correct that going to a publicplace without proper security was also risky. A compromise needed to be made.
“It’s not that I don’t want to have dinner at Ollie’s, but I was hoping for just a family night at home.”
Mom was silent just long enough that I began to wonder if we’d been disconnected. When she broke the tension, her voice held all the hints of disbelief and annoyance.
“Our apartment isn’t big enough for that many people,” she remarked shortly. “How will I fit everyone?”
Lourdes, sensing this was going to take a while gathered up the files we’d been working on and left me to deal with my mother alone.
“Mom, how many people were you hoping to invite?”
“Everyone!” she cried, exasperation heavy in that single word. “Everyone is so excited to see you. Your grandma. Your aunts and uncles, and cousins. Everyone!”
I rubbed my palm over my face. “Can we not fit everyone at the penthouse?”
“You know your uncle Marty doesn’t like crowds.”
Biting back the retort hot on my tongue, I softened my tone, reminding myself this was my mother and I loved her. “Mom, we’ll fit. We have Christmases at your place every year and about twenty other events year-round. Uncle Morty never seemed to have a problem before.”
Mom let out a low whine that signaled my tiny win even before she spoke. “I just wanted it to be somewhere nice.”
“Being with you guys and seeing everyone is all the nice I need,” I added as an extra bit of topping.
In the end, Mom made the decision that she would call everyone and have the dinner relocated to the penthouse, but not before making it very clear that she wasn’t happy about it. I was feeling pretty good about putting out that forest fire when I called Lourdes back in.
The penthouse was a madhouse of activity when I stepped off the elevator and into a three-ring circus with no ringleader. Bodies moved in waves through the halls and poured into different rooms, a flurry of fabric, too much hairspray and many faces I had never seen before.
The ding of the elevator closing behind me alerted the hoard. They turned as if as one, and I was swarmed.
Arms and hands grabbed and pulled and squeezed. Wet, sometimes fuzzy lips mashed into my cheeks as I bathed in an array of perfumes so strong, my eyes burned. I was dragged through the mob to where my parents stood in the sitting room, surrounded by even more people.
“Darius!” Mom catching sight of me, hurried forward, arms wide, a flute of champagne in one hand. She embraced me, lips going to my ear, and I almost missed her low hiss. “I have no idea who half of these people are.”
I pulled back to peer down into her beaming face, not missing the absolute fury in her eyes. “Where did they come from?”
Teeth flashing between bright, red lips, she hooked her arm through mine and dragged me to where my father stood. “Plus ones, darling, and I am so happy everyone could make it.”
A bold-faced lie, but I wasn’t about to call her on it.
I caught my father’s eye, not missing the tension in his jaw or the way he moved to press himself right at my mother’s side. He was thinking what I was — this was out of control. Having a house full of strangers at a time like this was asking for trouble. Maybe the restaurant idea had been the better idea, but it was too late to think about it now as I was pulled and shoved, and introduced to people I would never see again. It was all overwhelming and I could feel the growing tightening in my chest as faces pressed in around me. Bodies clustered, hot and insistent. No one seemed to recognize the concept of space as they invaded mine.
I stepped on a foot trying to retreat and a skirt hem when I tried to move forward. Someone touched my face, and I swatted the clammy hand away, my breathing rapid and ragged in my ear.
“Get the fuck off me!” I snapped at someone, the lack of air hurting my lungs and throbbing at my temples.
No one heard me, or no one was listening.
The room was too loud.
The music was pounding in my bones.
Laughter and chatter stabbed ice picks into my ears.
I could feel a rapidly climbing madness bubbling up my throat.
“Darius.”
