Page 60 of Time Served in New York
“I’m starving,” Chef grumbled. “How long is this shit going to take?”
“Her brother swears that we’re all gonna enjoy dinner tonight to make up for that shit they tried to pass off as food last night and then whatever food they’re gonna serve after the wedding,” I assured them. “They’ve got some friends from Florida and North Carolina that they’ve invited, but it’s casual, so we don’t have to dress up.”
“Oh yeah, I met some of them. Had a good chat with a man from North Carolina,” Preacher said. “Zeppo and I were talking about Elvis and Tupac and . . .”
“There are so many reasons that those two names aren’t even in the same stratosphere,” Chef argued. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Well, they do have one major thing in common,” Preacher argued.
“What’s that?”
“Neither one of them are dead,” Preacher scoffed.
“Sweet baby Jesus,” Captain whispered as he let his head fall forward and stared at the ground. “I’m afraid to ask. I’m not gonna ask. I don't want to know.”
“I believe Elvis changed his name to John Burrows and became a car salesman in Tacoma.”
“And there he goes,” Captain said with a sigh.
“Now Zeppo had a pretty good theory about it, and considering his profession, I’m inclined to believe he might be right. He said . . .”
“Here they come,” Chef interrupted
I looked toward the doors at the opposite end of the huge room and smiled when I saw the women huddled together. Frankie’s niece and nephew were standing with them and seemed to be waiting on something. The first notes to the song started, and I couldn’t hold in my laughter as the kids started dancing down the aisle to The Bee Gees’ song, “Stayin’ Alive.”
The girls came down the aisle in the same order as the men beside me. Since Stamp was the last in line, Bernadette was first followed by Pandora, Maylee, and Matalie, who all danced their way down the aisle, making us hoot and cheer.
My sister paused in the doorway and struck a dramatic pose before she started dancing down the aisle toward us as Brea, Jenn, and Paula followed her. Hook nudged my arm and said, “Please tell me those guys are recording this.”
“Yep.”
“Fantastic,” Hook said through his laughter as Paula stopped at the bottom of the steps and turned around to shake her ass at her man, causing all of the women to laugh right along with us.
I looked back to the doorway to find Frankie standing with her arm hooked through her brother Federico’s.
“Fuck, that’s funny,” I heard Kitty shout over the lyrics.
I cheered and then whistled as Frankie and Rico strutted down the aisle to the beat. They got to the bottom of the steps and he twirled her around and then caught her in his arms before he dipped her, laughing right along with her before he pulled her back up and gave her a hug.
Someone cut the music, and Frankie laughed as she walked up the steps toward me. “If I didn’t think Bernadette and half the people invited to the wedding would have a stroke, I’d say we do it just like that tomorrow.”
“I’m game,” I told her.
“We should probably practice with the actual music,” the wedding coordinator suggested.
Frankie rolled her eyes and let out a dramatic sigh before she nodded. “Let’s go again, girls.”
“We’ll practice the walk out first then rehearse the entire thing from beginning to end at least once,” the woman said as she cued up the music Frankie had chosen.
“And then we’ll eat!” Frankie’s brother promised. “Most of you seem to be very motivated by food, so that might help.”
“What are we eating tonight?” Chef asked.
“I promise, you’re gonna love it,” was all Rico would say.
“The quicker we get through this, the quicker we can join everyone else for dinner,” Bernadette promised.
“It’s not too late to fly to Vegas,” I whispered as I started escorting Frankie down the steps. “I can book a flight before we even get to those doors back there.”
