The Sisters

“Should I be talking to you or should I be talking to Mike?” Eden wondered, as she curled up on her bed in preparation for a long phone call with her sister.  Funny how close they’ve become.  In their childhood they had nothing in common and barely spoke to one another.  It had always been Riley and Frank, since they were close in age, while Eden was the baby and cottoned to more than either of them had been.  At least by their father.  But now it seemed, as sisters, they had so many experiences to share.  Like Riley’s and Mike’s visit to Scarsdale and hers to Steve’s parents, which she had remarkably survived.

“It’s Mike’s bowling league night.  We still go to trivia night together, still on different teams, but I’m not watching guys throw a ball down an alley.”

“Too much togetherness already?”

Riley laughed.  “Well, he didn’t renew the lease on his duplex, much to the consternation of his aunt, who really sort of depended on Mike to fix things.  That place was a hot mess of inattention.  But he’s put most of his stuff in storage.  I wanted him to just call the junk man, but he said some of his things have sentimental value. I suppose when we get a house—“

“You’re buying a house?”

“‘When,’ way down the road, some of his furniture might come in handy.  We need to save again after this wedding, restricting meals out—except who wants to cook after working all day and some nights.  I’m sure we’ll come up with a plan.  And you?”

“No biological ticking clock yet and love the location of this condo.  Plus, the marriage is so young.  I think we need to settle in a bit before we even think of babies and houses.”

“You’re trying to say I’m old.”

“Older.  Now how did it go with Mom.  Was she as awful to Mike as she was to Steve?  And me!”

“No, Eden, because I’m letting her plan the wedding.  And Mike’s the strong, silent type, so Mom didn’t get much out of him.  Also, he drove all the way, and there was so much truck traffic on 80, then the weekend crowd on the Thruway, I think he just wanted a drink, or maybe two.  Also, Frank showed up with Lily.  So Mom spent a lot of time gritting her teeth.  I felt sorry for Lily.  It’s so obvious Mom felt uncomfortable having her there.  Weird, since she was always in and out of our house when you guys were bosom buddies.”

“Well, her father—the criminal.  Her mother—the ditz.”

“At least with everyone there, and that included Professor Thad Dunkirk, the new love of Mom’s life, Mike could just stage a social retreat.”

“What’s that guy like?” Eden asked, repositioning the pillow behind her back.

“Mike?”

“No.  The professor.  I’m sure Mike’s perfect.”

“Well, Mike’s not perfect.  There’s that family of his.  At least he can tell them how bad the traffic was; so maybe not that many will show up for the wedding, if they even bother to RSVP.  I’m sure I’ll be chasing after them about that.  But I really liked Thad.  I thought he would be weird or something; but he kept the conversation flowing, making sure we were all part of it.  He started some political discussion, comparing 30’s Germany to America now, but Mom shut him down; and we went back to discussing his travels and ours.  Believe me, he’s been to more places.  All those conferences.  So it was a pleasant evening.  Over all.”

“Did Mom serve mac and cheese—and attitude?”

Laughing, Riley said, “Shrimp cocktail, Mom’s contribution, followed by Weiner schnitzel and German potato salad.  It seems Thad knows how to cook.  It was quite good.  Then afterwards Mike and I retreated to our motel room and relished the rest of the night. However, the next morning—“

“Aha!”

“Yes.  Thad, that moderating influence on our mother, was gone and Mom was in her glory, as she picked us up and took us to the Mayapple Estate.  She went into precise detail of exactly what our wedding was going to look like, even down to the configuration of the chairs so that everyone could see the, may I quote, ‘happy couple.’  Then I did something that’ll win me points in heaven. Worriedly, Mom pondered who would walk me down the aisle.  I said to her, ‘Why, you, of course.’  The tears flowed.”

“You bitch!  You’re such a suck-up.  Now she really will never speak to me.”

Riley snickered.  “Not to worry.  Fighting back the tears, Mom said something like, ‘I’ll never forget this wonderful moment.  But, darling, don’t you realize that I can’t be away from my duties that long, getting you to the estate and all that.  Besides, I have to have my moment, and that’ll be when Frank walks me down the aisle to take my place in the front row.’”

“O-M-G!  When did this happen?  When did everything start becoming all about her?”

“Well, maybe it’s her time to shine.  I mean, let’s face it, first she had us.  Then what should have been her glory days after we all left was cut short when Dad dumped her.  Now she has a job she likes, she has friends, she has Thad.  And she has my wedding.  I’m just glad she has a life.  It could be so much worse for her—and for us.

“Anyway, after the tour of the estate and going over the details of our upcoming wedding again, we needed to hit the road.  The journey back to Pittsburgh was almost as bad, and it took us days to recover, physically.  Now how did it go with dear Sandy and Marty.”

“You remembered their names?”

“You deal with arts and crafts, I deal with people.”

“I think I’ve made a friend or at least an ally.  Beth.  She’s married to Barry, Steve’s younger brother.  They have the sweetest little girl, Sophia.”  Eden laughed. “Beth said, if I ever have children and it’s a girl, I should definitely make an extreme effort to get along with Sandy.  Girl’s clothes, she assured me, were very expensive, and there’s nothing like a grandmother to fill that closet.  Although I have a feeling Sandy will never be filling the closet of any child of mine.  It was little digs the entire time, which I chose to ignore.  Steve said afterwards that he was very proud of me.”

“Did he give you a gold star?”

“Silly woman, he came home with a diamond pendant.  That was before he flew off to Germany.”

“You need to visit his parents more often.”

Eden laughed.  “At least Beth and Barry are normal.  Steve’s other brother, he’s some sort of professor of mystical something.  I didn’t understand half of what he was saying.  I think he talks that way so no one can discover what a phony he is.  Not that I said that to Steve.  At lunch all he did was sit at the table and read, while his kids were running around like banshees.  I didn’t really get much of a chance to speak to Yael, his wife, as she was too busy keeping kosher—and ignoring her children.

“Then that night they got a babysitter in, and we all went to a kosher restaurant.  No sneering, the food was fine.  It was sort of kosher/Indian, run by an Israeli, who had traveled to India after his army service.  At least we could all be adults there, and I was ready to bond with the rest of the family, except Sandy, of course.  But I never got the chance, as the entire conversation centered around David, who, between bites, basically gave us a lecture on the Zohar.   Even after his elucidation I had to look it up when we got home because I honestly didn’t understand a word he said.  Somehow he’s writing a commentary on a commentary on a commentary about the Zohar.

“I was a little bit miffed on Steve’s behalf because no one asked him what he’s been doing or even where he’s been.  I mean, Barry sells houses so what’s to say except how’s the market, but Steve does interesting stuff.”

“Like what?” Riley wondered.

“Well, how the hell do I know, as he can’t talk about it.  But I’m sure it’s interesting.  Anyway, Sunday, after a lovely night at the Inn away from the family, we went back to Steve’s house and had brunch.  Then after air kisses with Steve’s parents and Beth and Barry and a bright smile for David, Yael and kids, we got into the car and drove fondly away.”

“So mission accomplished.

“Except now Sandy insists we all get together for the High Holidays.  Something which involves a day of not eating and praying for forgiveness.  I don’t know why she looked at me when she said that.  I’ve forgiven her already.  After all, she gave me Steve.”

“I do hope your vagabond of a husband will be around for my wedding.”

“Date set in concrete.  I’ve already picked out several matron of honor dresses.  Photos to follow.  All modest and unassuming.  You will definitely be the star.  Unless Mom wears white.”