A smug look crossed Sol’s face. “Well, this ass has a perfect idea for Chansey’s birthday, so do you want to know what it is or not?”
I threw my hands up. “Hey, I didn’t accuse you of anything. You’ve always been an ass in my book and that hasn’t changed since Chansey came along,” I joked.
He nodded in recognition and said, “You damn skippy.”
I was anxious to hear his suggestion. “So, what’s your idea, Skippy?”
“If I’m right, Chansey is so going to dig this and you’ll score some major fiancé/husband/Agápe points with her. Do you remember when you went back to Pascagoula about twelve years ago and went by your house?”
I was puzzled by where this was going. “Yeah , I remember.”
“If I recall correctly, you had just become very interested in photography and you took a lot of pictures of the house. You made me look through like five thousand pictures I cared nothing about, but I remember the owners were in some of them and they were having a birthday party for a kid out in the yard. Is it possible for that to have been Chansey and her family? If it was her, then you saw her for the first time when she was a kid and you captured it on film.
He was right. I went crazy taking pictures that day and used every roll of film I had with me. “You are absolutely brilliant, Sol. Girls, you can’t call him a buffoon anymore.”
Gia splashed water at Sol and said, “You don’t know if that was Chansey and her family, so we reserve the right to call him a buffoon until we have proof otherwise.”
Sol dunked Gia and when she came up, he said, “You are both going to eat your words on this one, girls. There’s no doubt in my mind that those negatives are full of Chansey Leclaire and her family because he was like a madman with all of the pictures he took of that girl and her family. At the time, I wondered if he was some kind of weird vampire pedophile, but it all makes sense now. It didn’t matter that she was a child. Even then, he was drawn to her because she was his Agápe.”
“I think you’re right and what makes this even more awesome is that Chansey told me today that she has no pictures of her family together because she lost all of them in Hurricane Katrina.” I started walking toward the house. “I’ve got to find those negatives before Chansey wakes up. Thank you, Sol. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m pretty awesome,” he boasted.
I went to my old darkroom where I kept my negatives filed away and began my search. Ugh! I should have filed these by date or something because I had years and years of negatives to search through. My heart pounded as I searched and I prayed Sol was right. Please let it be Chansey and her family.
After twenty minutes of searching, I found the negatives from that day. I held them up to the light and saw the outline of a family but even my vampire vision couldn’t make out if it was Chansey and her family or not.
I stopped using film when digital photography became popular, so it had been years since I printed photographs from negatives, but I didn’t need any of those supplies because I could scan the negative and upload it to my computer. Got to love technology.
I silently went to my bedroom and moved all of my necessary equipment to another bedroom so I wouldn’t wake Chansey and ruin the surprise. I scanned the negatives and waited to see the images on my computer screen. And there she was...a young Chansey with her family. I was ecstatic because I was going to be able to give her the one thing no one else could...an intact photograph of her family together.
I printed the best one on canvas and chose a few others for an album before I went back out to the pool to tell the others my good news.
I held up one of the photos and said, “Well, ladies, here’s the proof. I’m afraid you better come up with another name for Sol besides buffoon because he was right. It was Chansey and her family.”
“Dammit!” Gia swore as she slapped the water. “I’m sorry, Curry. I didn’t mean that. I’m happy for you.”
Sol got out of the pool and reached for one of the two towels on the table. “I think Mr. Fabulous has a nice ring to it.”
Lairah was fuming. “Well, I think jerk off sounds more like it. You didn’t bring a towel with you, so that means you just stole one of ours.”
“Sorry ladies, it’s one of the perks of being Mr. Fabulous,” he said as he used one of their towels to dry off.
“You make me want to throw up,” Gia gritted through her teeth.
Sol enjoyed the aggravation he was causing and said, “Darling, you haven’t thrown up since you were human.”
“Whatever, jerk off.”
Lairah attempted to cool Gia saying, “Calm down, girl. You’re giving him way too much satisfaction by getting all riled up.” She turned to me and continued, “I was thinking while you were inside. I know of a cool band playing tomorrow night at a club on Bourbon. My friend, Jett, plays bass. Chansey is musically inclined, so I know she will love to hear them. Why don’t we all meet at the club after you take her to dinner and we’ll celebrate her birthday together with a night out on the town? We’ll show her how to party vampire style.”
“I think she would love that and your suggestion gave me an idea. Do you think I could get your cool band to do a special song request?”
“Jett will do anything for me,” Lairah promised.
“And is your friend, Jett, a human or a vampire?” I questioned.
“He’s human, but he’s so cool. I wish he was vampire because I could so dig him if he was. What do I need to tell him to play?”
“Van Morrison’s ‘Steal My Heart Away.’ It was playing during our first dance.”
“Nice one,” Lairah complimented.
“It was such a bittersweet first dance because I thought it was our first and last. I loved her so much and I thought I was about to leave her forever.”
“It was your choice to leave, you ignoramus. Nobody forced you. Maybe you’re the buffoon instead of Solomon,” Lairah laughed.
“That’s what I’m talking about...someone else being the buffoon,” Solomon interjected.
“I realized my mistake and it won’t happen again. That I can promise you.”
5 Back Against The Wall
I left the compound before Chansey woke so I could have her photographs matted and framed. While I waited for the job to be completed, I strolled the streets of the French Market and decided to stop for beignets and coffee.
For years, I watched people sitting under the pavilion enjoying their pastries and I envied them for something so simple. This morning I wouldn’t envy them...I would join them.
My order arrived and I examined the white powdery pastries before picking it up for my first bite. It would be impossible to not make a mess. While I thought through my strategic plan for how I would eat the beignet, I watched pigeons walk around in search of crumbs and scraps and I realized I was happy, but something was missing. Chansey was missing and I wanted to do this with her. So, instead of enjoying my first order of beignets without her, I fed the pigeons and postponed my first experience until another time when I could share the experience with the love of my life.
I sat under the pavilion and ‘people-watched’ until I decided the frame shop had been given ample time to complete the project I left for them. I left a generous tip for my server and then walked toward the frame shop to pick up the gift I knew Chansey would love.
It was perfect, without a doubt, and I looked at the happy expression on Chansey’s innocent young face. She was truly happy and I knew I would see that same expression on her face again when she saw this photograph.
“It’s perfect. Would it be possible for you to gift wrap this for me?” I asked the aging lady behind the counter.
“Of course, sir. What’s the occasion?” the saleslady asked.
I smiled and said, “It’s a birthday gift for my fiancé.” I loved how the words felt rolling off of my tongue. They sounded so normal...So human.
“Oh, that’s wonderful. Congratulations, sir
. When is your wedding?” she asked while she wrapped the frame in black and white polka dotted paper.
I proudly answered, “October 16th.”
“Oh, then you don’t have long. October will be here before you know it.”
“I sure hope so. I can hardly wait,” I admitted.
“That’s a beautiful time of year to get married. She’s a lucky young lady.”
She was wrong and I felt the need to correct her. “No, I’m the lucky one.”
She smiled and said, “You’re going to be a wise husband. I can see that already, young man.”
˜ ˜ ˜
I parked in the drive and hid Chansey’s gift behind the driver’s seat, careful to not smash the lime green, turquoise and pink bow. I knew my decision to leave her gift in the truck was wise when she met me at the door as I entered the house. She smiled as she said, “You snuck off without me. Where have you been?”
“I had some things to do in town.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.
“Like what?” she questioned.
I gave her a quick peck on the nose. “Some things I’m not telling you about.”
She smiled at my response and gave me her best pouty face. “Well, I’ve been lonesome. Everyone was asleep when I got up.”
“Yeah, that’s sort of the risk you run staying in a house of vampires,” I laughed.