RPG's

I wrinkled my nose as I took a long sip of the red wine my mom had served.  I'm not much of a wine drinker, but when I do, I definitely prefer white and not dry.  Superficial pleasantries had been exchanged and we were all lounging around the table snacking on the food in front of us, and sipping wine.  Well, everyone except for Miriam and Tom.  Only one of them because they're not legally allowed to.  I snickered, causing my mom to give me an odd look.

I refocused on the conversation taking place.  My father was asking Miriam what kind of work she does, obviously realizing they didn't meet in high school.

"I don't," she said, matter-of-factly.  As if we should have already known that.

I rolled my eyes.  She didn't elaborate so my mom gave her a quizzical look and asked, "Oh, are you in school then?"

"No," Miriam replied, taking a sip of her water.  Her blunt rudeness made me want to chuck the cracker in my hand at her face.  I withheld, only because I didn't want to receive the eye from my mother.  I swear it sends death waves by sonar.  Not only did my parents deserve to be respected, my brother deserved someone who was nice.  Or at least someone who had a personality that was more diverse than a snail's.

"I see," my father replied, though he just looked tired and worn.  Why did Tom have to bring her along to this?

Miriam seemed more interested in her water and staring at imaginary happenings right above everyone's heads than to converse.  We're Tom's family for Pete's sake!  Whoever Pete is.  I could feel my anger bubbling right beneath the surface of my tongue.  I have several different levels of anger.  This bout was right there at my top level.

I guess that they had no intention of bringing up their impending nuptials, either.  That was definitely not a topic I wanted to spring on my parents, so I was still going to wait to confront Tom about that at a different time.

"What exactly do you do, then?" I asked with flat affect, appearing complete disinterested in whatever she was about to say.  I could see my mom attempting to give me the eye in my peripheral vision, but I pretended I had blinders on.

Miriam sighed heavily.  It appeared she thought we were wasting her time.  "I research," she breathed, shrugging her shoulders.

Ben and Gloria had appeared amused or uncomfortable, at varying stages of the conversation.  At this point, Gloria spoke up.  "Oh, that sounds interesting!  What kind of research do you do, and whom for?"

Miriam glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, look again at one of the nonexistent spots above my mom's head and said, "I research things that interest me."

A spring of giggles erupted from me, quickly enough that I couldn't stop them, and long enough that I received glares from Tom and my mother.  My dad actually looked as if he was holding back a smile himself.  Ben and Gloria were both looking at Miriam with raised eyebrows, as if she were some mythical creature that shouldn't exist.

Ben, Gloria, and my parents started conversing with just themselves about some event that was happening at church the upcoming weekend, leaving Tom, Miriam, and myself to our own devices.  Miriam was picking at her unnaturally long fingernails, Tom was playing some game on his phone, and I was trying to decide if I should risk speaking to either of them, since I felt like I wasn't going to be able to have a mature, adult conversation.  More or less because I was annoyed and really just wanted to mastermind a plan to make Miriam disappear from Tom's life.

I decided to be the bigger person, though.  "So, Miriam," I began, as she looked at me condescendingly, "how did you two meet?"

They exchanged a glance before Tom finally opened his mouth and answered for her.  "We met at a church thing."

"Really?  I don't remember seeing you there..." I trailed off, hoping for some sort of elaboration.  When I didn't get one, I continued.  "So, since you two are apparently serious, what kinds of things do you do for fun?  You seem to have a lot in common!" Like not talking.

Miriam almost seemed to light up at this.  Almost.  "We like RPG's."

"Excuse me?"  I didn't know what the hell she was talking about.

She sighed, and started talking louder and slower than she previously was, like I couldn't hear or understand her.  "You know, role-playing games?"

I internally gagged.  "Oh, um, wow."  I uncomfortably looked at my parents, still consumed with their own conversation, thankfully.  "I really don't want, or need," I emphasized, "to know about that part of your lives."

My brother actually guffawed at this.  Miriam's eyes widened.  She hissed at me, "Are you stupid?"

I looked at her in disbelief.  Before I could stand up and dump my wine on her, my brother said, "Aleah.  Video games."

I blushed, embarrassed.  I felt like that was something I should know, seeing as how my brother was a video game pro, and I used to play a lot of games (like Mario Kart, best game ever) when I was younger.  But I just don't know all the terminology, I guess.

I quickly recovered, though.  Looking at Miriam I asked, "Aren't you a little too... girlie to be playing video games a lot?"  I think she and my brother both knew what I really wanted to say.

But, if she knew what I really wanted to say, she didn't let it show on her face.  "Oh no, not at all.  I love playing games.  Plus, your brother and I have so much fun.  Our favorite to play..." She droned on for awhile.  I had finally discovered the button that makes that woman talk.  It was the most animated she had been the whole time she had been there.  And I was completely uninterested in what she had to say.  I managed to force myself to listen to the last sentence.  "And our characters are in love."

I kept my face neutral.  I really couldn't believe this was a conversation that I was having with her.  I nodded enthusiastically, and subsequently excused myself to the bathroom.

I sat on the toilet (lid) for about 20 minutes, only playing games on my phone.  I sighed and stood up and went back out to the veranda.  Miriam and Tom were gone.  I sat back down, and asked my mom where they had gone.  She said they left.  Then she added that she would discuss "that situation" with me later.  I internally fist pumped that maybe my mom saw what I did.

Towards the end of the get together, before Gloria and Ben left, my father told us all about what the doctor's had been telling him.  Apparently they saw some shrinking of the tumor, and my dad was responding well to treatment.  They were giving him several weeks break, before starting some treatment again.  Another cycle would be starting in a month, to give his body a rest.  But since he was handling it well, they wanted to keep going.  Apparently surgery was going to be a last resort option.  My father gave us a smile that was genuinely full of hope, and we gave a toast in honor of my father.

As the glasses clinked, I smiled, feeling hope for the first time since I first heard his prognosis.