Discovery

by Douglas E Roff

  “Maybe, but in my eyes, you are a good girl who occasionally does bad things. You too will be forgiven if you ask.”

  “What makes you think I want forgiveness? Or that the Church has any power or right to grant it? Maybe I just accept that who I am is who I am. Punto.”

  “That’s your father talking.”

  “Doesn’t make it any less true.”

  ***

  A High Mass for the wedding was conducted on Saturday morning, with every member of the extended Eight Families in attendance. The wedding was scheduled to begin promptly at two o’clock in the afternoon and attendees began arriving early. Misti was still not completely in the spirit and thought the tias should sell tickets to the show. She only went along with this charade to keep Edward, Adam and the entire rest of her family happy. She was alone with her Papa, Carlos, in preferring physical torture to all things ‘Church wedding’. At least with torture there was a firm conclusion to the event. This wedding would drag on for months if not years. The wedding pictures, the video and the mementos of the event, from napkins to the uncountable wedding gifts, would occupy their lives reaching far into the foreseeable future.

  She loved her family, but she hated all this nonsense. But her misery with the pomp and ceremony didn’t diminish, however, the appreciation she felt for the work of her Aunties. Misti’s quarrel, as was the case of her very own father, was with the Church, not her family.

  Misti was expected to be gracious and charming, a façade she was rapidly unable or unwilling to maintain. “Leave everything to me”, Adam said. “No need for you to be unhappy on our wedding day.”

  Misti thought, “Fuck off, Adam”, but instead said “Thanks, sweetie. You know how much this stresses me out.”

  Adam really did love and understand his wife; subtext and intuition were among his skills and, although he was often wholly incapable of emotionally comprehending these skills, he was nonetheless alert to the existence of them. Adam had taught himself how to interpret this kind of data, almost as if it bore him actual meaning. It very often did not. But since it clearly did to others, he accepted it as meaningful to someone in the herd out there.

  The guest list was extensive as was the preparation for the Receptions to follow downtown Seattle at several separate locations. There were gradations of who would be placed in each of the locations, and older, senior family members chosen to represent the couple in each. Misti and Adam would visit each venue, mingle with the crowd and give a brief speech of welcome and deep appreciation.

  Misti didn’t quite “feel it” and marvelled at Adam’s seeming limitless patience and memory for all relations in the Eight Families, no matter how tenuous and obscure. He knew names, ages and pertinent facts, all supplied by Maria over the years and scrupulously catalogued and recorded in his magnificent mind. Adam often gave his own sage advice to the younger crowd he knew would never remember or care about what he thought. Adam was the son of the patron, so most listened dutifully. Others did not.

  There were those who could really care less about this big shot gabacho. Their connection to the old family and old country was tenuous at best; they still spoke Spanish in the home and at Church, but these were new Americans, educated in private schools with new dreams of their own. Made in America.

  Well over one thousand five hundred guests had been invited; only a handful of invitees had graciously declined. Others, from his work or travels, wouldn’t be in attendance and had sent ‘telegrams’ in the English tradition. These would be parceled out among the Reception venues and read tediously to the crowds that were likely no longer listening and probably quite drunk. This event was important and socially significant in the family and simply being in attendance brought some measure of status. For some however, photographic evidence would be essential; recalling the event later might present itself as somewhat of a challenge.

  Chapter 59

  Mass began early on Saturday morning, and was limited to the surviving members of the original Eight Families that had come to America and settled in Seattle all those years ago. Even Carlos Alarcon, who had not set foot in the nave of Sacred Heart Catholic Church for over twenty-five years was there, dressed in his finest suit and nervously working the beads on his deceased wife’s rosary. He owed her that much, although unlike him, Soledad would not have approved of this match. Or solemnizing it in front of God, the congregation of Sacred Heart and the archdiocese of Seattle.

  Soledad Alarcon loved her daughter deeply and Adam St. James almost as much. And to the extent that a lapsed Catholic girl was about to marry a devout Catholic boy, she should’ve been happy. But to Soledad, they could never be permitted to marry in the Church and profane everything she and Holy Mother Church held most dearly. Evil was in her daughter’s nature and Adam, though devout, was similarly cursed.

  In her eyes neither was worthy of the sanctity of the Blessing the Church could bestow upon their marriage. Therefore, their sacred vows, spoken before God, could never be more than a mockery of all that the Church had represented to the world for over two millennia.

  They could marry if they chose but not in her Church. Not while she lived, anyway.

  God had taken Soledad Alarcon into his spiritual fold at a still youthful age, one more pious soul among the many devout and faithful Catholic flock that had long preceded her. The cancer which ravaged her body was but a physical manifestation of a spiritual test that God had in his wisdom had asked of her. She had suffered greatly in her truncated life but believed, in the end, that God in His glory was merciful; she would be taken before the unthinkable could come to pass: the union of two souls that were never meant to be together in this world.

  Had Soledad Alarcon lived, this day might never have come to pass. She, herself, would’ve seen to that. Only Carlos and Edward knew of her feelings; while neither ever wished any harm to Soledad, they too believed that God, if He existed, had been merciful. Soledad could never have been allowed to realise this aspect of her religious fervor.

  The great sadness both men felt at her peaceful and serene passing was tempered by the relief each felt for a conflict that need never have been.

  Carlos Alarcon arrived early at Sacred Heart Catholic Church that Saturday morning, along with his lifelong friend and confidant, Edward St. James. They prayed together, just the two of them, in the early morning hours, then Carlos alone was given to confess his sins before God, which were many and great.

  Had Edward been Catholic, he too would’ve felt compelled to discharge his spiritual toxicity on the morning of the event he had conspired to create so many years ago. But while he didn’t do so in the Catholic way, he nonetheless beseeched his conception of God to forgive him for his own sins and to wipe clean the slate in honor of these impending nuptials. If the Lord his God so directed him, he would atone for his life of sin as God would later inspire him.

  Edward couldn’t conceive of the nature of his God but knew only that He existed and had placed him on this earth for a purpose. He thought he divined that purpose in the union of the two young lives he had loved and guided for so long.

  If evil was to soon be set in motion, it would commence after the children these two men loved were married in the eyes of Holy Mother Church. Though they believed in almost nothing else regarding the rites and rituals of the Catholic faith, they both fervently believed in the sanctity of marriage. This one in particular.

  Neither could articulate why, only that the total of the spiritual blessings each could conjure up today would be spent on this one single event. That their souls had long since been lost was beyond certainty to them; but each truly believed there was still hope for their kids.

  ***

  The wedding march began promptly at 2:00 pm, and all eyes craned around to catch a first glimpse of the bride

  Adam waited with his best man, his brother Rod, and three groomsmen on the steps at the front of the altar.

  As the wedding procession began to play, a vei
led Misti, wearing the mantilla her mother wore at her own wedding, arrayed in a stunning formal pure white wedding dress, started toward her then and future husband. Her father, Carlos, guided her, his pride beaming and radiating to every corner of the chapel. Her long formal train was attended by four little girls, two from Barrows Bay and two from Seattle.

  Aunt Aurelia and Uncle Enrique, along with Bethy McQueen Outlander sat in the front pew with Edward, who looked on prouder than he had imagined was even possible. As Carlos stepped away from his daughter, lifting her veil and kissing her on the cheek, he joined Edward and Bethy in the front pew, contrary to long held wedding tradition. There would be no sides of the Church for friends of the bride and friends of the groom. That was a tradition contrary to the wishes of both Misti and Carlos.

  There would be no distinctions made among guests; all were welcome to participate in the outpouring of love this ceremony represented to those comprising of the Eight Families and guests, no matter their origin, religion or connection to the bride and groom.

  All the Eight Families were in attendance in person and all looked on with approval as the two representing the pride and joy of their large extended family were set to join in Holy Matrimony. The old guard of the Eight Families saw this wedding and this union as a Blessing from God and tangible evidence of favor bestowed on the devout in their adopted country. They had come far, worked hard and hewed to the path set out before them by God alone.

  The ceremony, conducted by no less than three priests, represented to Adam nothing less than the Holy Trinity.

  All the participants from the youngest child to the oldest priest performed their roles without blemish. This Adam took as a sign that God Himself was present that day and had anointed and blessed this union.

  When the formalities were over, and the final wedding pictures taken, the couple retreated to a small family gathering of their closest friends and family, then headed to the three receptions in their honor for more formalities and greetings.

  Sometime in the wee hours of the night, the two broke away and headed for the small private and upscale hotel for what little remained of their wedding night. They were exhausted and happy. Adam was the very essence of the sophisticated and mature groom. Misti was the perfect bride.

  They slept until noon, gathered their luggage for the short ride to SeaTac and boarded a commercial flight for Hawaii via LAX.

  ***

  Eight days later, Adam and Misti arrived at Heathrow Airport in London, England via a brief stop in San Diego, California. They were met at the airport by Bethy McQueen, Rod and Cindy Suarez, and Marcus Thierry and his daughter Tawny. With them on the luxuriously appointed corporate jet, loaned to them by an immensely wealthy old friend and family acquaintance, was Edward St. James.

  Edward was not alone with Misti and Adam. With them were two new faces no one had ever met before, an older gentleman with a closely cropped beard accented by a shock of neatly trimmed snow-white hair. His attire was professorial and refined but evidence of an era long past. His eyes were piercing and icy blue, his bearing erect and dignified. He commanded attention and with it, due regard.

  Last to emerge from the plane and come into view was a younger woman, maybe 5’5”, smartly attired with flaming red hair with a patch of freckles she made no effort to conceal. Her audience couldn’t help but stare; she was magnificent in the simplicity of her manner and the beauty of her smile. Her long suede coat concealed the woman hidden beneath; and the hood of her coat, drawn up against the cold, framed her face, focusing minds on her deep and captivating emerald green eyes. She was simply radiant.

  Her entrance was striking, as was she.

  ***

  They had all arrived now, separately, at different times and on different flights. Mindful of why they had assembled, they had earlier agreed to take the ride into London, the Loft and their hotels as one. They knew with certitude that the wedding of Adam and Misti would be the last truly joyful event they would all experience together for a very long while.

  And, it was now time for them to move on to a less joyful and significantly more uncertain future. But it was a future that they each desired, though for vastly different reasons.

  Their fates were now decided; they would journey together into the unknown.