April 2019
Minneapolis
My mom was in her element.
She loved nothing more than having people over and feeding them.
Every month, my parents and their friends took turns hosting a dinner party.
This month it was our turn. Lily and Julia’s families were over.
My mom woke up early today to start the sauce on the stove. The homemade meatballs, Italian sausages and pork chops had been simmering in the sauce for hours by the time everyone arrived, laughing, and carrying bottles of wine and desserts.
As soon as they walked in, Julia, Lily and I headed to the basement. My room was small for the three of us so we headed downstairs to the family room where we either listened to music, watched a movie, or just gossiped.
We’d just settled into the worn leather couch when Julia, dressed in a long, flowered skirt and a tank top, reached into her canvas bag and brought out three airplane-size containers of rum.
I reached over to the small mini fridge and brought out three cans of cola.
Within a few minutes, we were buzzed and giggling, sharing stories and talking about cute boys.
“Speaking of …” Julia said, sitting upright and jabbing me in the clavicle. “Your boy. Tell us more. Have you done it?”
“Oh, Julia!” Lily seemed really shocked. But I just giggled. Lily glared at me.
After sex ed class in eighth grade, Lily and I had made a pact to remain virgins until we got to college. It was too stressful to think about STDs and getting pregnant and getting serious like that. We’d hold our fingers up in a “V” sign for Virgin to remind ourselves of our pact.
Julia had thought we were absurd from the beginning.
“I’m losing it the first chance I have,” she’d said.
And she pretty much did. She always spent her summers in France with her parents’ extended families and she came back from the summer before ninth grade with tales of an older man who had taken her virginity and very nearly her heart. She cried about him for two months, and then started dating a senior at our school.
After a while, my mom shouted for us to come up for dinner.
When I walked in, I was grateful that my mom was such a good host. I loved the way our table looked with its brightly colored tablecloth and the dimmed lighting and flowers and candles everywhere. And the food smelled amazing.
My mom baked her own bread and the smell of it could make anyone swoon.
We took our places around the large wooden table and I felt warm and happy. It was probably the alcohol, but a feeling of such peace and joy overcame me that I thought for a second I might cry.
I smiled at my mother and father. I seriously had the best parents in the world. I didn’t care what that crazy witch said, my mother was a really good person.
Watching her, I felt a surge of love. Her cheeks were pink like they got when she drank wine and her black eyes flashed in the candle light as she laughed.
Lily’s dad, Dan, made a toast. He stood, his bald head reflecting the light of the dimmed chandelier. He was sweating a little, but that was just Dan. He was all man. Sweat and bald head and all.
“To lifelong friends. May we know them, love them, and never forget them.”
“Hear hear!” Everyone raised their glasses. My mom had poured a few sips of wine into the glasses so Lily and Julia and I could participate.
After I downed mine, I set the glass down. Dan winked and poured a little of his wine in my glass. I looked around surprised but before I could do anything, Julia grabbed my glass and chugged it and then slammed the glass down on the table with a flourish.
We burst into laughter. Lily on the other side, just glared.
She never liked it when we got along too well with her dad. She was such a Daddy’s girl.
But I couldn’t blame her. Her mother was dead and Gretchen was off in la la land most of the time.
Speaking of Gretchen, she sat with her usual scowl. My dad, God bless him, had her engaged in conversation and actually managed to elicit a smile from her.
As we dug into our pasta, I felt a ripple of pride for my parents They were such great hosts. They made sure everyone had a good time. Even old Gretchen was now laughing.
Alex and Cecile were telling a story about how they got lost in Amsterdam after they smoked the local weed. My mom flashed a glance my way as if she were embarrassed that this had come up with us sitting there.
Lily and Julia and I exchanged looks. Did this mean we were considered adults? It was the first time they’d ever spoken like this in front of us.
My Dad arched an eyebrow and nodded his chin our way.
“Mon dieu,” Cecile said, noticing his look. “Is this inappropriate in front of the girls?”
My mom smiled. “I doubt it’s anything they haven’t heard before.”
Dan spoke up. “As the resident psychologist, I don’t think this conversation will do any permanent damage.”
Everyone bust out laughing. Except Gretchen who rolled her eyes.
But I swear there was the slightest smile just under the surface of her serious expression.
After dinner, my parents grabbed their wine glasses and headed for the deck.
“Let’s blow this joint,” Julia said, grabbing her bag from the couch.
Our parents all smiled at us and told us to not stay out late, but we knew that on the nights of their dinner parties nobody paid attention to when we came home.
They usually fell into a deep sleep after a night of heavy food and alcohol.
In the car, Lily pointed at my necklace. She had a matching one at home.
“What should we get for our birthday this year?”
I shrugged. “We have some time.”
In the flickering light from passing street lights, Lily’s face looked odd. “Should we look at bracelets?”
“Yeah,” I said. Every year we bought matching jewelry for our birthdays, which were only ten days apart. It had started when we were in first grade and Lily had given me a necklace that matched one she wore.
“Maybe I want a matching one too!” Julia said in a huff. She tapped her fingernails on the steering wheel as she drove.
I’d always wondered if she’d felt left out because of our birthday tradition.
“Yes!” I said. “It can be a birthday-slash-graduation-going-to-college gift we give each other.”
“Deal!” Julia said, now smiling.
I noticed Lily didn’t say anything
She’d always been a little jealous of Julia. Once she’d even said that she worried me and Julia would become best friends and ditch her. I’d told her she was silly.