than a cat in a room full
of rocking chairs,
i sat down
and asked her father,
Luigi Desimone,
if i could marry
his daughter, Sherry.
he lit a cigar and sat
back in his leather chair
to stroke
his mustache.
he set his Penthouse
Magazine down
then
took a sip of brandy.
hmmm, he said.
so you want to marry
my youngest daughter,
do you?
i rubbed my sweaty
hands together,
my knees knocking against
each other.
yes. i said. yes sir.
i think i love her.
he blew a smoke ring
towards the ceiling,
rubbing a skull and crossbones
tattoo on his arm.
you think? he said.
i mean i do love her, i said,
correcting myself.
can you take care of her,
will you be good
to her, never lie or cheat
or hit her?
(i remember seeing a bruise
under the left eye
of his wife when i came into
the house,
and a purple split lip)
i gulped. i promise, i said,
dramatically crossing myself,
then pushing
the long hair
out of my eyes.
and what exactly do you do for
work son?
umm. well, i'm working on that.
i'm not sure yet what type
of business i'll be going into.
i'm only twenty-one,
but i am taking classes at
the community college.
geology and creative writing.
i like writing poems
and short stories.
i'm a big fan of Sylvia Plath,
i told him.
who, he said? who the hell is that?
forget it.
go on.
i cleared my throat.
i am working though, i'm a short
order cook
at Denny's on the weekend.
eggs, bacon, pancakes, that sort
of thing.
i'm working my way up to waffles.
at that point,
fortunately, his wife, Bernadette,
called us in for dinner.
come on boys, she said, dinner
is on the table.
the lasagna is waiting.
it's not going to eat itself.
to be continued, her father said,
grabbing my arm
with a meaty fist.
and you need a haircut too, buddy.
no hippy is going to marry
my little sweetheart, Sherry.
yes sir, i said.
absolutely.
six months after the wedding
i looked out the window
of our one-bedroom apartment
and saw his daughter
walking back home
with her pink suitcase and a new
blender from Sears and Roebucks.
the last piece of wedding
cake was still in the fridge,
frozen,
which i immediately
ate before she came back.
No comments:
Post a Comment