Page 82 of Undeniably Perfect

Me: Hey, what are the plans? Do we have plans?

Mothership: I think we are all going to the hotel for now. Do you want to come with us or go to the apartment?

Di: Say with us!

Kyles: Let’s all crash at the apartment!

C-Dog: Can I drink at the apartment?

Dad: Clark!

C-Dog: What? It’s a valid question.

Mother Hen: Let’s go to the apartment first. Maybe the golden boy will come back sooner than we think.

Me: OK – c u over there

“Let’s go to the apartment,” I announce.

We start to make our way through the crowds of people. It’s entertaining to say the least. Some people are completely inebriated and are barely standing up, while others look like they just had twenty espresso shots. I’m cutting through the crowd like a game of Frogger when I hear my name being called. I turn around and see Mrs. Miller from Banneker.

“Mrs. Miller?” I say as though she’s a mirage and I’m not actually seeing her. I saw some locals earlier when we took some photos before the game, but I can’t remember if she was one of them.

“Hey, hon! Isn’t this exciting?” she asks. She’s wearing Mardi Gras-style beads in the team’s colors and a baseball cap. Frankie, the kid from the ice cream shop, is next to her.

“Hi, Frankie.”

“Hey, Miss Tabitha. Isn’t this awesome!” he exclaims as he throws his hands up in the air.

“It sure is.”

Frankie chuckles. “I love that the whole town is here. Kent made sure anyone that wanted tickets got them. It’s even cooler that we had a whole Banneker section. Aunt Edith said she’d bring me because my parents couldn’t. And the paper wants to do an article with that photo we took before the game. This is amazing!”

“Oh, you are related?” I ask, looking for similarities between them.

“I’m his grandmother’s sister,” Mrs. Miller says proudly.

“That’s cool. You guys OK to get out of here?”

“Yep, my friend lives down the street, and we parked there,” Mrs. Miller says.

“Good, you two be safe,” I say as I look around us.

Mrs. Miller laughs. “Sweetheart, I was a military nurse. None of this chaos bothers me in the least.”

I look up and down at this lady who has got to be eighty years old. “OK, well, be safe.”

They nod. “Tell Kent congrats!” Frankie says as they head off toward an exit.

“Sure thing.”

“Seriously, the whole town is here?” I turn to Lyla. I mentally try to remember how many people were here earlier when we took the friends and family photo, but my mind is spinning in too many directions to recall.

“Yeah, that’s just how Banneker is. There’s a reason Amery and Ward bought houses out that way, too. It’s like freakin’ Mayberry.”

I cover my mouth to stifle a laugh. “Oh my god, that’s what I call it. It’s ‘so’ Mayberry! If the people weren’t so funny, I’d swear it was part of a Stepford Wife movie!”

Nate chuckles. “Yeah, they are a crazy group of kids out there, but it’s a great place to hang out. Even my city-lover self enjoys a nice quiet night out in Banneker.”

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