Numbers of dancers brushed by as I stood staring at the existential monstrosity bearing down on me.
Don’t get me wrong. My life had been filled with a lot of … well … me. It came with the territory of being a St. James. But this felt different somehow. And not a good different.
I eyed the gold plate anchored to the front bumper of the float that read Princess in seventies style script. That had been a signature necklace of mine back in the day when I decided to try out jewellery designing. And by designing, I mean I pointed and said, That one, to the display case presented to me one morning while I lounged in bed. Sold millions of them. The wigs the girls were wearing were also cut in a signature style of mine. Those bangs were all the rage two summers ago. The white dresses and strappy sandals too. I tightened my windbreaker around my chest. One of the street dancers suddenly bumped my shoulder. ‘Better move it. You don’t want to get run over by the Bremys.’ I snapped my eyes over to his.
‘Just what the world needed, huh? More Bremy St. James.’
I began to shout something back, but he had moved on. I snapped my mouth shut.
My eyes trailed back up the tiers, Bremy to Bremy, to the very top as the float advanced on me. Finally my eyes landed again on Big Shot. This time he was wearing a dark purple dinner jacket with black lapels. It was a lot for my sensibilities to take. My eyes flitted up to his face. I startled a little when I realised he was already looking at me … smiling.
Again, I felt the sensation of familiarity rush over me. There was just something about him.
Suddenly he reached a hand out to me—an invitation to jump up on the float. I grabbed the flap of my jacket and swirled it to the side to stomp off to the sidewalk. Who did this guy think he was? For that matter, who did I think he was? What the hell was going on here?
Screw this, I thought, pushing my way past the onlookers gathered on the sidewalk. I didn’t have time for this nonsense. But on a deeper level, I knew I just wanted to get away from there. I was feeling very uneasy. Something about this had my father written all over it. It was probably the money. Crystal floats don’t come cheap.
Just then, I heard the screech of a microphone on a loudspeaker. Are we all having a good time?
A resounding, YES! roared back from the crowd, drowning out my sulking, ‘No.’
You know Big Shot likes to have a good time, and today, I want to give a shout out to the biggest party girl of them all, Bremy St. James!
Cheers followed. I stopped. Maybe I could hang out a few minutes longer.
Here’s to you, Bremy, he shouted, raising a champagne flute. Come home, girl. We miss you.
New music started up. This one’s for my girl. I watched as Big Shot began snapping his fingers, and then, of all things, he started singing … ‘Danke Shoen’. ‘Danke Shoen’?
No.
It couldn’t be.
‘Hey! Hey lady!’ someone started to shout beside me. ‘You alright?’
‘Fine,’ I replied.
She tilted her head to give my face a good study. ‘You just slapped yourself.’
I nodded. ‘Had to be sure this wasn’t a dr …’ I trailed off as I watched the float pass me. Big Shot gave me a finger-gun point.
I knew it then. The float, the song, the movie that I had watched all those summers before with … with …
No. It just couldn’t be.
Ricky?
Someone turned off the hot faucet on my blood, and all that was left running through my veins was cold. No. No way. It had been years since I thought about Ricky. The sudden rush of memories made my heart clench.
I stood rooted to the spot for a few more minutes while everybody else followed me—I mean, the me-s—down the street.
I planted my hands on my hips. What was I supposed to do now? I looked from one end of the street to the other. Did I follow? Did I go to The Pink Beaver pretending like that hadn’t just happen?
I gently kicked a rock lying on the street with my toe. This was a message. For once I was truly justified in the belief that this one corner of the universe was revolving around me. But what were the Bremys trying to tell me? I looked up again in the direction of the float and something caught my eye. Hey now, what were those two shady characters about?
Two men had jumped onto the back of the float. I could instantly tell they didn’t belong there. I mean, for one thing, they weren’t dressed like me.
I trotted after the tribute leviathan to get a closer look. I saw one man give the other a sharp nod, before they huddled over what looked to be the float’s engine, arms working. That couldn’t be good.
‘Hey!’ I shouted. ‘What are you guys doing?’
Despite the near deafening music coming from the float, both men snapped their heads around to look at me. A second later they jumped off of the float and ran for a side street.
I almost took off after them, but I thought it better to see what they had been up to. The float was slowly edging its way to the crest of one of the only hills in the city. Gears turned in my head. Giant crystal float. Hill. Shady guys fiddling with the engine. Suddenly I had a bad, bad feeling about this.
I pumped my arms and legs, running hard to catch up to the float.
I was almost there. Just a few more feet.
Bang!