Page 28 of My Stepbrother's Wedding
“Please. I just want a minute with Wini.”
Elizabeth gave him a long stare, then flashed her eyes at me. “Very well. I’ll be upstairs.”
Once her footsteps faded, Dad laid his hands on the table and groaned. I pursed my lips as the sharpness of my headache intensified.
“I love you, Winifred,” he said solemnly. “Do you believe that?”
His words caught me off guard. I nodded, unsure how to respond, as a tear rolled down my cheek.
“And I also love your stepbrother, Will, and I’ll grow to love his new bride and her family.” He paused, as if trying to choose his words carefully. “I know things have been hard on you since your mother died, and you had no choice but to live with Elizabeth and me. I also know you and Will never hit it off. I get it, but you have to try harder to get along.” He shook his head and downed the last of his coffee. “You’ve not had a good attitude about this trip, but today, can you please turn off the snark and try to be decent? You and Karen can run off afterward if that’s what you want.”
I wiped my eyes. “Okay, Daddy.”
“Good. Now get ready. We need to go in just over an hour.” He left the café, an irritated twitch in his jaw. I sat alone,reflecting. Every word he’d said was true. I’d been unfair to the entire family. Even before we’d left Chicago, I’d done nothing but complain. I’d never shown concern for anyone else. In short, I’d acted like a monster since I heard about the wedding, and I knew it.
***
After breakfast, I returned to my room and sulked before getting dressed. Outside my window, a perfect summer day awaited. Beachgoers flocked to the sandy lakeshore, and tourists crowded into the cafés. I should’ve been enjoying the time of my life visiting this exotic destination. Instead, my personal rain cloud hovered overhead. Dread gripped me at the thought of seeing everyone I’d humiliated myself in front of the previous day.
I put on my dress and touched up my makeup. As I was finishing my eyeliner, the phone rang. Will’s voice spoke on the other end.
“Wini, I need your help,” he said.
“What’s the problem?” I asked, half expectinghim to scold me.
“Irena’s family went to the wrong church. Can you meet them and show them how to get here?”
“Weren’t they at yesterday’s rehearsal?”
“Yes, but they got confused and thought the ceremony was at the Orthodox church.”
That seemed strange to me, but everything in Malegonia seemed strange. “All right. I’ll meet them.”
“Thank you. I would’ve asked Mom and Ralph, but they have to get here before the others.”
I said goodbye and hung up. Under normal circumstances I would have groaned about running errands for Will. Not today though. Humiliation had a way of making me kinder than usual. I’d never fix my mistake, but I owed it to everyone to try.
A moment later, my feet shuffled through the backroads of Enkelana toward the Orthodox church. After a brief walk, a crowd of well-dressed in-laws appeared on the road ahead. Most had been at the party the previous day. They were speaking to a black-robed priest with a bushy gray beard. Vexation spread across the priest’s face, and I could tell he was unsure why these people were at his church for a wedding.
“Come with me,” I called out. The Malegonians gave me confused glances. Someone said, “Wini,” and several headsnodded, as if they understood who I was. No one moved, of course, and no one spoke English.
“The wedding isn’t here,” I said. “It’s at a different church.”
Blank stares.
“Irena, Will, the wedding.” I motioned for them to follow.
More blank stares.
I repeated myself to no avail. Then I kicked my feet and flared my arms as if circle dancing. The Malegonians peered at me like I belonged in a mental institution. My shoulders slumped, and I reverted to shouting in English. No one moved.
“Hey lady, where you from?” said a voice behind me with a perfect American accent. I turned to see a chubby boy no older than eleven with black hair and a blue Sonic the Hedgehog T-shirt.
“You speak English?” I said.
The boy smirked. “Of course, bruh, we got YouTube in this country.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Can you tell them to follow me? They’re at the wrong church for the wedding.”
