Some wooden walls had been set up here and there, made of light wood, patterned nicely to let the light through but decorated with plants and made to look as though they’d been there for years, when really it had just been for the last week or so that an army of gardeners began their work here to make the setting for the reception perfect.
And it worked. It was absolutely gorgeous. One could not have asked for a more perfect setting for a wedding.
We ate, we drank and we were all fairly merry. Even Amy had a smile on her face. The whole wedding was going swimmingly, and we finally got to the speeches.
First up was Karen, one of the Bridesmaids, who spoke about knowing my mom since they were in their 20s, and how she had never seen my mom as happy as when she was with John.
Then it was Henry’s turn, and he spoke about how John had been alone for a long time now, and how he loved seeing his brother happy, and that he knew my mom would be a great mom to Jack as well.
My mom had asked me if I wanted to make a speech, but I had declined. Public speaking was not my forte, and in front of this many people, I couldn’t guarantee that I wasn’t just going to puke all over everyone with nerves, and nobody wanted to see that at the wedding.
Next up was John himself, who wanted to make a speech with his new wife.
They stood up, and everybody cheered. I looked up at my mom, radiant next to her new husband as he finally motioned for the crowd to be quiet and sit down. Taking the microphone from his brother, he began:
“First of all, I want to thank every single person in this room for coming, for sharing this joyous occasion with Mary and myself. It is absolutely a cause for celebration, and I hope you’re all getting plenty of food and drink into you.”
There was some light clapping from some of the tables before John continued.
“This is a celebration for me, and a sombre occasion at the same time. As you all know, eight years ago I lost my wife, Laura. She was special to me, but I know that without her death I never would have found Mary, I never would have been able to fall in love all over again.”
“LIAR!” The exclamation came from the back of the large garden area, and everyone turned to see who had just interrupted the groom’s speech.
I had already been facing that way, and was watching Jack when he yelled out the words. For an instant I thought I saw anger flicker on John’s face, but in an instant it was gone.
“Ladies and gentlemen I apologize for my son. As you can tell, he still hasn’t recovered from the loss of his mother at a young age, and he -”
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Jack bellowed. He didn’t need a microphone to make himself heard, his voice carried past the two dozen tables sitting between himself and his father. “My mother didn’t die. It’s about time you told the truth. You held a funeral for her, you pretended to grieve, but she’s not dead. She left. She left you, and you couldn’t handle the rejection, so you pretended she was dead because that was easier, and because people would be more sympathetic to you that way.”
“As you can see the loss hasn’t been easy for anyone in this family,” John continued, trying to maintain the decorum of the garden reception.
“No, it hasn’t been easy for me. Because you beat my mother until she finally got the guts to leave you.”
With that revelation the over three hundred guests at the wedding gasped audibly, including me. This was what Jack couldn’t tell me. This was what he was hiding.
John Alcott’s face immediately turned a shade of red so dark he could have been mistaken for a beet. For the first time he looked like he was about to lose his composure. His hands were shaking, and every eye in the garden was on him, waiting to see what he would do next.
“Get out,” he uttered. His voice was dark, darker than I’d ever heard. He was obviously angry.
“Fine. I’m leaving. But don’t pretend this is a happy occasion, this monster has just found himself another victim,” Jack continued before turning around and walking back towards the house.
There was total and complete silence in the room for at least a few seconds. I think everyone was shell-shocked, including me.
Then, a few murmurs started up from the tables down below. I looked at my mom, she was completely pale, but I could see her trying to calm John down.
“It’s alright dear, tell them everything’s alright,” she told him.
Before anyone could say anything, I got up from my chair, and as subtlety as I possibly could, went back to the house to find Jack.
I could feel my mom’s eyes on me as I left, but I knew I had to go and see him. I wandered through the empty halls until I found him, sitting on the floor, leaning his back against the couch in one of the living rooms, bouncing a tennis ball rhythmically against the wall.
Sitting down next to him, I watched as he continued to bounce the ball.
Ba-dum-dum, ba-dum-dum, ba-dum-dum.
I don’t know how long we sat there for. Ten, maybe fifteen minutes, with neither one of us talking until finally he broke the silence.
“So now you know,” he told me.