02
"What was Cary Summers thinking, booking his engagement banquet under my name? Does he even understand that's against the law?"
"Out of respect for the fact that he's my brother, I'll let it go. All he has to do is pay for the banquet himself. If he doesn't, I'll call the police and have him arrested."
Right then I was like an angry stray cat, past caring about my parents saving face.
The guests heard the commotion and started turning their heads. Cary was the groom today, throwing this engagement banquet at the Grand Regency, and it made him feel important.
He caught the noise on our side too, and came swaying over toward us.
"Darlene, what's your problem? Your little brother's getting married and you can't stand it? You're just sore that I'm getting married before you. So what if you're my older sister? Whose fault is it that you're this old and nobody wants you?"
Cary had always spoken to me with that kind of venom. In our house, honestly, everyone got to talk to me that way.
The way my brother treated me was really just an echo of my parents. That was how they'd always been with me too.
Emboldened by the drink in him, Cary got bolder with his mouth, and then he actually reached out to grab my purse.
I didn't let it slide either. I shook his hand right off, and my grip was harder than I meant it to be, hard enough that Cary nearly lost his footing.
The second Sheila saw me do that to Cary, her heart broke for him. She rushed over and yanked at me, and then she even slapped me across the face.
"Darlene, letting you pay for your brother's banquet is us giving you a chance to prove yourself. Stop making a scene. Do you want to drag this whole family's name through the mud?"
The same few lines, over and over out of their mouths. It was all about their face, all about giving me a chance to prove myself. I'd had enough.
We'd made enough of a racket that some of the relatives had gathered around, and they were already chiming in from every direction.
"Darlene, honey, chipping in a little for your brother's banquet, that's nothing for an older sister to do. You're on your own, you don't have that many expenses, and besides, this takes some of the load off your parents."
That was my Aunt Wallis Summers. The words rolled right out of her mouth. Easy to say, when you're not the one who has to do it.
Then others stepped up to add their two cents. The gist of it all was the same: I was supposed to foot the bill for Cary's banquet.
Watching the crowd swell, I knew slipping away wouldn't be simple. I couldn't take them head-on. I had to be smart about it.
So I came up with a plan. I pretended to give in. "Fine. I'll pay. But I don't have that much cash on me. I'll have to go home and get it."
Before Cary's wedding, my mother had told me a hundred times to give a generous gift. I'd come with two thousand dollars, and I'd planned to give a thousand as my gift. My mother snatched it all out of my hands and shoved it straight at Cary's fiancée, Sylvia McClain.
My mother went along with what I said, because she knew I had no money left on me. Sheila waved a hand. "Go on, go on. Hurry back. There's still cleaning up to help with."
I'd caved, and the whole thing finally came to a pause.
I let out a long breath as I walked out of the Grand Regency. I glanced back over my shoulder and gave a cold little laugh. Now that I was out, there was no chance I was ever coming back.
I didn't go for any money. I went straight to the police station to file a report.
I laid out the whole story from start to finish, and the officer took it all down carefully. What Cary had done amounted to fraudulent use of someone else's identity, and it was grounds for detention.
After I left the station, I went straight back to work and left every last one of them sitting in that restaurant.
