[Jenna's] Gang of Deadheads_a World of Deadheads novel

by Paul Atreides

  “Well, I wonder where this came from,” Jenna said with an accusatory tone, fingering the necklace.

  “Oh, put a lid on it. Think of it as your something borrowed,” came Diane’s retort.

  Tiny blue and white sapphires sparkled on the matching lace veil Nancy held.

  Colleen wore a proud smile as she slipped the garter from her own wedding up to Jenna’s thigh. “Oh, wait ‘til Patrick sees you. His heart will melt. We’re so happy and proud of you. You truly are the daughter we never had.”

  Jenna hugged her friend. “That’s just too sweet of you.”

  Colleen smiled and gave a wave of her hand. “Oh, go on with you.”

  Versace placed his hands on Jenna’s shoulders and turned her around to face the full-length mirror leaning against the back of the tent. “You see, bella, you are the most stunning creature I have ever dressed.”

  Jenna quietly examined her reflection, twisting her body to the left and then to the right, and reacted with a brief smile.

  -37-

  After inspecting every place setting on every table, checking on the progress of the food and drink, and ensuring everyone was ready, Davy nodded to himself in satisfaction. He placed tuxedoed greeters at various points to guide everyone to the south end and announced guests could begin disembarking. He stood on the leeward beach they’d used for staging everything to personally greet those arriving on that side of the island.

  The last skiff to come ashore under his watch dropped from the America and made him gasp in delight when he recognized its two passengers. Oh, my God! Oh, my God! I could die!

  The captain, watching the small empty boat lower on its chains to the water on its own accord, figured he was either drunk and overheated with sunstroke hallucinations or he wasn’t quite drunk enough. Deciding on the latter, he swigged heavily straight from a bottle of scotch.

  Davy grabbed the bow of the skiff, thankful for being able to move without looking like an idiot, and pulled it as far up onto the sand as his strength allowed, then offered a hand to help the woman step down to the beach. Her short sandy blonde hair boasted a sparking diamond tiara to match her necklace and earrings, the sky blue gown flowed down to her silver sandals, her smile radiating through blue eyes. Davy knelt on one knee, his excitement barely contained. “Your Highness.”

  Diana’s lilting laugh carried across the beach. “Get up, silly! There’s no such thing as royalty here. That nonsense is strictly for the living. You must be Davy.” She noticed his eyes flit to the glint of jewels on her head and laughed again. “The tiara is just ... well, because I like it.”

  Davy stood, nodding like a simpleton, and tried to make actual words come out of this mouth, but failed.

  Diana withdrew her hand and gestured to her companion, who had piloted the small craft to shore and stepped down to stand to her right. “I believe you know my friend, Dodi.”

  Davy’s grin spread from ear to ear. “Pleased to meet you, sir. And, may I say what an honor it is to, that is, that you’ve come.”

  “We’ve heard so much about you, and about this event, that we couldn’t possibly have missed it.” Dodi extended a hand in greeting.

  “Please, Your High — please, allow me to show you to the canopy area.” Davy gestured in the correct direction. He followed, bouncing and waving his hands in the air, and squealing on the inside like a school girl who’d just been crowned Homecoming Queen. “Let me get some chairs for you.”

  “Absolutely not,” Diana insisted. “We’ll stand like everyone else.”

  Within an hour the entire south end of the island was swarming with chattering deadheads greeting one another, many who had never met. A Who’s Who of the dead, stretching back more than a thousand years, had gathered from every corner of the world to stand witness to the world’s first wedding of its kind. And Jenna stood at the bottom of the aisle, the tiny south beach, where she had removed the overlay, train and veil, and dumped them all into Nancy’s arms.

  Jenna sighed and looked around at the people who’d made the trip. How so many dead folks had managed to “borrow” so much, from sailboats and clothes to enough jewels to fund a small nation, she couldn’t quite fathom. Some she recognized from numerous films and television, and photos in celebrity magazines, others she couldn’t place at all and shook her head in amazement.

  “What is it, dear?” the woman next to her questioned.

  “So many people …” Jenna replied, looking out at those who stood waist high in the water. Even more crowded along the rails of the boats moored as close as they dared without running aground, because they spotted no room on dry land.

  “When I married Henry the streets surrounding the abbey were filled to capacity with cheering crowds on our wedding day. But, aren’t you excited, so many people came to see you get married?”

  Jenna’s brows knit, and she looked across the beach to where Marvin stood sulking. Her reply came out in a confused and desultory tone. “I don’t know…”

  Eleanor turned a surprised gaze on Jenna. “You don’t love him?”

  “I do. But, I’m not so sure he loves me.”

  “Now, why would you say that?”

  “Well, for starters, he tried to kill me.”

  Eleanor laughed. “Did he? Kill you, I mean?”

  “No…”

  Eleanor turned her gaze to a man standing closer to the pathway. “Henry wanted me beheaded.”

  “No! Really?”

  “Oh, most certainly.” She turned back to Jenna. “You see, we were fighting over which of our sons would inherit my land and his crown. He wanted me to die so he could marry someone younger to have more sons. Can you imagine? More sons to fight over. But, I knew he loved me when he locked me up in a convent instead. I got the last laugh and outlived him. When I finally drew my last breath, there he stood — waiting and smiling. Was Marvin waiting for you?”

  “He was.”

  Eleanor lifted Jenna’s chin and smiled at her. “Well, then…” she said with a questioning tone and tip of her head in Marvin’s direction.

  As Mike approached him, Marvin ceased muttering to himself. “I don’t know why you all insisted on doing this. Look at her.” He pointed to Jenna who stood at the opposite end of the beachhead. “She’s not dressed. I told you she’d never go through with it. What a waste of money.”

  “What money, Brody? This hasn’t cost any of us a single dime. Just relax, it won’t go to waste, I promise. If nothing else, it’ll be one hell of a party.”

  The lights twinkled on across the expanse, awed murmurs drowned out the hum of the generators as the sun dropped below the horizon, leaving behind a cerulean blue sky streaked with white and light grey clouds stained in shades of pink and red floating above the azure glass of the Caribbean.

  Tommy came down from the wedding canopy, pushed his way between Mike and Marvin, and slung an arm over each of their shoulders. “It’s gorgeous, don’t you think? And the weather is perfect, warm with just the slightest breeze. A perfect day for a wedding, wouldn’t you say?”

  Marv growled. “Yeah, just perfect, if there was going to be one. I swear —”

  Mike nudged Marvin, then turned to look at Tommy and smiled. “You look great. Doesn’t he look great, Brody?”

  “Yeah, yeah, great. All dressed up and nowhere to go.”

  “Aw, come on, Marv, lighten up. We’re going to make history tonight, you’ll see.”

  Still not convinced, Marvin stepped away and turned to look him over. “Well, hippie, I’ll admit you clean up nice. Davy sure worked wonders with you. The tux fits like a glove. But if someone doesn’t convince Jenna to do this, I’m afraid we’ve made this trip and Davy went through all this planning and work for nothing.”

  The speakers blared from the trunks of the palm trees to drown out Marvin’s last few words. Mike wrapped his arm through Tommy’s. “Are you ready to do this?” Tommy nodded. “Then let’s get this thing started.”

  Arm in arm Mike and Tommy beg
an up the path toward the wedding canopy. Marvin stood and glared at the unmoving Jenna. Tommy stopped and turned back to look at him. “Marvin! What are you doing? Come on, dude.” Tommy motioned and held out a hand.

  Marvin shrugged and went to them. With their arms linked and Marvin in the middle, the three made their way up the path. Teresa materialized and stood at the head, a shimmering glow surrounding her, her face lit with a smile. Though witnesses weren’t exactly needed, considering there would be no marriage license or certificate, and come to think of it there was no judge or chaplain performing the ceremony since legalities here were a bit different, they pretty much set their own rules — well, the Council did, anyway — Mike and Tommy joined Davy and Patrick to the right. Diane, Connie, Carla, and Colleen waited on the left. At the bottom, Jason appeared at Jenna’s side. Nancy stood behind them with the overlay, train, and veil to the gown bundled carefully in her arms, waiting.

  “This is nuts.” Jenna turned to Nancy. “I’ve got too many responsibilities, now. Besides, eternity is an awful long time to spend with one person.”

  A young woman to Jenna’s left laughed. “It may seem that, but turn it around. How long would it be without him?”

  Jenna thought about the months she’d spent after Marvin’s death, how long it had seemed, and how much she wished away the nagging that sent him scurrying out the door that morning right into the path of the bus.

  “Nancy and I have enough faith in you to make up for your lack of it. You’ll continue to carry out your duties, just as you’ve done for the past months. Now, come on,” Jason said, holding his arm out for her.

  Jenna took a deep breath. She turned and gestured to Nancy who wrapped and arranged the folds of the overlay, attached the train at Jenna’s shoulders, and then draped the veil over her head and face. Jenna kicked off her sandals, dug her toes into the warm sand, and hooked her arm to Jason’s.

  Walking up the aisle, heads turned, gasps and murmurs of appreciation among the guests grew louder as they moved past the crowd in hesitant steps. Jenna swore she noticed a few people actually bow and curtsy. She dared a peek upward. Tommy and Mike stood at Marvin’s side, all smiles, waving her forward. Marvin’s face beamed like any other bridegroom, and for a moment Jenna thought how silly it looked, how ridiculous all the pomp and circumstance was for a bunch of dead people.

  At the top, Jason gave deep bow to Teresa and joined the crowd.

  Jenna turned to face Marvin. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “More than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life.”

  “God, this is stupid. I mean, we’re dead, who cares if we’re married?”

  Marvin took a sideway glance at Jenna’s nervous smile. “I care. And I know you do, too.”

  Unsure, Jenna looked at him through the lace of her veil and saw the love reflected in the sparkle of his eyes. Her doubt melted away. The tentative smile turned to one of confidence, her green eyes lit with fun, and she poked a finger into his chest. “You know, Marv, eternity is a long time to spend putting up with your crap.”

  His eyes darted to see the most brilliant smile he’d ever witnessed on her. “You had this planned didn’t you?”

  “What?”

  “This. You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

  “What are you talking about, Marvin?”

  “This whole time, making me believe you wouldn’t go through with it, making me sweat. You enjoyed every minute of my misery, didn’t you?”

  “You know, Marv, you can be such an arrogant prick.”

  “And you can be a petulant bitch. Why don’t you go fall down a flight of stairs.”

  “Oh … why don’t you just go walk in front of bus.”

  Taking both her hands in his, Marvin winked. “For you? Anything.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Paul Atreides is a theatre critic and columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a major newspaper with a daily circulation of more than 160,000.

  His debut novel, (Marvin’s) World of Deadheads, advanced to the semi-finals of the Amazon Breakout Novel Award. PW Select, the quarterly magazine of Publisher’s Weekly, listed it in “102 Self-published novels agents, publishers, and Hollywood should take a look at.”

  His first two-act stage play, Phallusies, premiered in Las Vegas, Nevada to good reviews, receiving Las Vegas City Life’s “Pick of the Week,” and most recently played to sold-out houses in Nashville, Tennesee.

  After submitting his ten-minute play, Fusion, to the 9-11 Museum in New York City as a possible live performance piece, he was invited to post it to the Artist’s Registry in written form until filming can qualify it for installation as an exhibit within the museum.

  Paul has over 30 years of theatrical experience having produced and directed, both as an avocation and professionally, winning numerous awards along the way for plays as diverse as Master Class, Something’s Afoot, Biloxi Blues, and Accomplice. His work garnered him a nomination for the Nevada Governor’s Arts Awards for Leadership in the Arts and he was a Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce finalist for Leadership in the Arts, 2004.

  He is currently editing a novel about domestic violence titled Monster in the Shadows, and working on a third novel in the World of Deadheads series.

  Visit his website: www.paul-atreides.com

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/paul atreides

  Twitter: @atreides_paul