Page 66 of Dial A for Aunties

The groomsman next to Tom turns to stare at him, mouth agape. It takes a few moments before his brain apparently catches up and he says, “Whur?”

“Unfuckingbelievable,” Tom mutters. “You guys are in so much trouble.”

I swallow. Tom’s only separated from Ah Guan’s body by seven groomsmen. He’s so close to him. When he leans forward to look down the scraggly line of groomsmen, my heart squeezes like a fist and I very nearly pass out. But all Tom does is sneer and shake his head at them before straightening back up.

The music winds down to a pause and the MC says, “And now, ladies and gentlemen, let’s welcome the bridal party!” Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major starts playing, and the first bridesmaid comes out.

With all eyes on her, I’m the only one who spots the first groomsman’s head bobbing down slowly before jerking back up. Oh no. He looks like he’s about to fall asleep.

I inch closer to Tom. When I’m within whispering distance, I say, “Tom, I think we need to dismiss your groomsmen.”

He glances at me like I’m an irritating fly, and scoffs. “Right, and be groomsmen-less on my ceremony like some fucking loser? Not happening.”

“Look at them. They can barely stay on their feet.” I nod toward the groomsmen, at least three of whom are swaying more dramatically. Shit, one of them’s holding Ah Guan up. If he falls... “If they fall over, it’ll make such a huge scene,” I hiss, my voice rising with panic. “It’ll ruin everything!” Like my life, for example.

A flicker of uncertainty crosses Tom’s face, but then he lifts his chin, his jaw working into a stubborn clench, and says, “If they fall over, I’m gonna sue the shit out of them.”

“Sue them?” How does his twisted little mind even work? Sue his own friends? I mean, sure, from his point of view, his friends have let him down majorly, but still, that’s not a good reason to let this go on and ruin his own wedding. Talk about cutting off your own nose to spite your face. Also, with a twist of guilt in my guts, it hits me that it’s not even really the groomsmen’s fault.Fourth Aunt was the one who got them drunk out of their minds. I need to fix this, but how? I take out my phone and dial the WP’s number.

“A round of applause for our gorgeous bridesmaids,” the MC announces, his voice dripping with obvious relief that none of the bridesmaids, so far, seem drunk.

“Hello? Meddelin?” the wedding planner says. “What is it? Aren’t you on duty—”

“We need to get these groomsmen off the stage.”

She sighs. “Yeah, they seem really drunk, the shitheads. I don’t know how we can do that without stopping everything, though.”

The fourth bridesmaid’s already walking down the aisle. I’m running out of time.

“Ask the MC to announce it, make it seem like it was the plan all along to have just the bride and groom on stage. Have him be like, ‘And now the bridal party will leave so the groom and the bride can have the stage to themselves.’”

“Huh. That could work. Yeah. Good idea. I’ll let him know. God, those fuckers, they look like they’re about to fall over.” She hangs up and I release my breath. Please, please let it work. Let the groomsmen hold it together long enough to get off the stage. Of course, once they’re off the stage, I have no idea what’s going to happen with Ah Guan, but one step at a time.

When the last bridesmaid has taken her position at the altar, there’s an expectant hush. In Chinese-Indonesian weddings, by the time the ceremony starts, the groom and close family members would have seen the bride, but the rest of the wedding guests have not. The MC shouts, “And now! The moment you’ve all been waiting for! Here comes our beautiful bride, Jacqueline Wijaya!”

Everyone oohs and aahs as Jacqueline, flanked by her parents,rounds the corner and walks gracefully down the aisle. She looks like a fairy queen. Her dress billows gently in the wind, making her look ethereal, and behind the sheer lace veil, her face is radiant. But as I zoom in and take pictures of her, I see that her smile is forced, her chin trembling slightly. Tante Yohana says something to her, and she gives a small nod.

In the distance, I can see the wedding planner running to the MC and whispering something to him. He frowns and shakes his head. My heart sinks. He’s refusing to make the announcement for the bridal party to leave the stage. The wedding planner says something else, gesturing wildly, and the MC looks over at the stage, wincing when his gaze lands on the groomsmen. Jacqueline arrives at the stage, embraces both her parents, and then turns to face Tom, who smirks at her.

“And here we are, the bride and groom, oh what a lovely couple,” the MC says. “Before the ceremony begins, will all the bridesmaids and groomsmen please leave the altar so that the bride and groom can have some privacy?”

A murmur ripples through the crowd, and Jacqueline and Tom turn around in confusion.

“What the hell’s going on?” Tom says.

I walk over to them as discreetly as I can and say, “I think it’s for the best. The groomsmen look ill. You don’t want them to cause a scene during the ceremony.”

Jacqueline’s eyes widen as she notices the groomsmen in their disheveled state for the first time. “Oh my god. Yeah, you’re right. Yeah, tell them to go.”

“No!” Tom snaps. “They’re MY groomsmen, I get to decide what to do with them, and I say they stay.”

“They’re notthings,Tom,” Jacqueline hisses. “Look at them, they’re a mess. They need to go lie down.” She leans over andraises her voice. “Yes, thank you all so much for being here. Um, the ceremony’s going to run pretty long, so you guys can take a seat.” She gestures at her bridesmaids to leave as well.

The bridesmaids start walking back toward the aisle, but the groomsmen continue swaying in their spots until Jacqueline nods to one of the bridesmaids. She walks across the stage and takes the first groomsman by the hand, apparently intending to lead him down the aisle.

“No! Don’t any of you dare move,” Tom barks, loud enough for the guests in the front to hear. They shift and look at one another, and the murmur gets louder.

“You’re not being reasonable,” Jacqueline says. “Go on,” she says to the bridesmaid, “take them out of here.”

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