Up & Out - Ariella Papa [77]
“Yeah,” Tommy says quietly. I can sense he’s confused, too. Beth takes off her glasses and sort of smacks Tommy on the back of the head.
“You know, you could have dressed better, too. This isn’t some fucking backyard barbecue.” I can’t believe she is talking to him like that. They haven’t fought like this in a while. Tommy turns around in his seat.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Tommy asks.
Beth says something in Portuguese, a language neither of them speak except with their parents. Then no one says anything and it’s my turn to look out the window.
It takes us another half hour to find the house. We drive in silence, listening to the music and feeling tense.
“I think you need to turn here, man,” Tommy finally says. And he’s right. We turn onto the private road and go up a hill. We pass tennis courts, a cottage and a really big pool before getting to the main house. There are a lot of cars.
“You see, Beth,” Jordan says. “I don’t think they are going to miss us.”
The party is a pretty swanky affair, but it also seems very contrived. It’s a place I would have been impressed by five years ago, but now that I don’t have any money, it seems excessive. It certainly isn’t someone’s backyard barbecue. There are servers in white carrying around appetizers and a buffet-style grill set up that includes a pig. The host comes over to Beth and informs us of all this. He kisses Beth on both cheeks and shakes all of our hands vigorously.
“My house is yours,” he says, waving to the air around him. “Make sure you check out the pool and eat some pig. It’s been roasting since dawn.”
Beth’s mood brightens immediately. I get the distinct impression that Beth doesn’t want me around. Tommy must feel the same way, because he storms down the grounds to the pool. That leaves me to wander aimlessly around the crowd of revelers sipping beers. In spite of feeling out of place and having no one to talk to, I like being here. The grounds are beautiful and there aren’t any horns blaring or sirens or tall hot buildings that keep the heat in. I’m glad to be out of the city, if only for a day.
Eventually I head down to Tommy in the pool, playing water volleyball with a buff older woman against a buff gay couple. In spite of all these toned bodies, I take off my tank top and hike up my drawstring skirt and hang out in my bathing suit (sort of) and resume reading my trashy novel. The sun feels good on my skin and I laugh when Tommy shows off his volleyball skills.
His skills don’t help him, and he and his partner, Jill, get their asses handed to them by Jonathan and Owen. We all head up to the main house to investigate the pig. It’s more crowded now. There are deejays and some people are dancing. I can’t find Jordan or Beth anywhere.
We grab some grub and sit around a big table, drinking and telling stories. The biceps woman, Jill, is the head of sales for the studio. Jonathan is one of the engineers, and his boyfriend, Owen, is a professional musician who is thinking about going to cooking school.
Jonathan and Owen are sleeping over in one of the guest rooms. They wrangle a bottle of tequila and we do a shot. Our conversation flows even better. I smell the distinct odor of marijuana and smile at Tommy, certain he wants to locate the source.
“Have you seen Beth?” he asks. I shake my head. “I haven’t seen Jordan, either.”
“Do you think we are ever getting home tonight?”
“You want to leave so soon?” Owen asks.
“No, just wondering about our ride,” I say.
“Don’t worry,” Tommy says. “I’m pretty sober and I won’t drink any more. I’ll be okay if I need to drive.”
“If worse comes to worst, you can stay in our room. Jill’s going to,” Jonathan says.
“Thanks,” Tommy says, genuinely.
“Just keep it quiet, you two,” Owen says. He assumes we’re together, and neither one of us corrects him.
After a couple of hours and a couple of second helpings, it starts to get dark and people are scattered all over the property, as are torches. Beth and Jordan come over to our table.
“There you are,” Beth shrieks. “I’ve been looking