The Winter Ring

I walked out of the reception hall and reached into my coat pocket to pull out my lighter and a joint. I couldn’t stand the people at the wedding reception any longer. The air was so cold outside that my hands seemed to immediately freeze. I dropped my lighter on the ground and noticed something glittering in the snow bank. It looked like it could be a piece of expensive jewelry and I wanted to find the bride and groom to give it to them to return to the rightful owner.

I reached over and grabbed the ring from the snow bank and I was right. It was an expensive wedding ring with a large diamond that cost about 7,500 dollars. I know that ring — I helped pick out that ring with her then boyfriend (now husband). Sloane’s mom came along and was her usual pushy self. She demanded that the ring cost no less than 6,000 dollars. Mary always had to have her way, or else she’d yell and scream the entire time. That’s one of the many reasons why Sloane wanted to move far away after high school. 

Sloane wanted to go to college for music and then move full time to LA to pursue a music career. She really wanted to be a college student, but she couldn’t take her mother anymore by the last few months of our senior year. She wanted to run away then. In the middle of one of the worst snowstorms in our area, Sloane knocked on my door and didn’t say a word. It was on a Thursday in the beginning of January and the last semester at high school. Sloane just shut her eyes and drew in some breaths so she wouldn’t scream. Mary was probably at it again while her husband (Sloane’s dad) was getting drunk at a bar so he wouldn’t have to come home to her. 

I let Sloane in and she picked up her backpack by the shoulder strap. She walked over to the couch and sat down. Sloane put her hands on her forehead and leaned her elbows on her thighs.

“My mom is annoying me again,” Sloane said. “My dad just came back from some bar and is out of his mind.”

“What is your mom doing? Do you need a place to sleep again?” I asked. 

Sloane slept over my place to escape her mother before. My parents knew what was going on and had no problem with Sloane sleeping over. They didn’t care as long as we made it to school on time, did our homework, and didn’t stay up all night to gossip about boys or whatever. Sometimes, it was as if Sloane was part of our family. 

“Mom was mad that the house was messy and our homework wasn’t complete. It was hard for me and my two brothers to completely clean the house and get our homework done,” Sloane said. “Dad came home earlier from the bar drunk and started yelling at my siblings and I too.”

“What did she say?” I asked.

“Mom was mad that the house was messy—at least in her eyes—and was mad that the two boys had to clean the house. She said that cleaning the house is women’s work,” Sloane said. “She doesn’t mind most times the boys clean, but tonight was one of those nights she only wanted me to clean the house. It’s hard to say what mom wants most times.”

School was cancelled Friday and Monday due to the snowstorm. Sloane stayed until Tuesday to get away from her mother. By the time Sloane got home on Tuesday after school, her mother forgot why she was mad at Sloane and was yelling at her brothers for not going to school on Friday and Monday. 

Helping Sloane plan for this wedding was a nightmare. Or, I should say, planning the wedding with Sloane’s mom was a nightmare because Sloane did very little of the planning. Sloane’s mother took over the entire planning. In fact, she planned so much of the wedding, that she even chose who Sloane’s fiancé would be.

Sloane’s family and my family were invited to Jason and Kayla’s annual summer picnic. Their family was friends with both of our family. Jason and Kayla were one of the wealthiest families in town and bragged about it any chance they got to. One of the ways they did it was by throwing an annual summer picnic for friends and family the week after school let out. It was always on a Saturday.

Mary was thrilled to go. Sloane just turned 18 two weeks before the party. That meant Sloane could date their oldest and wealthiest son Nolan. Mary’s dream was to be part of a rich family so she could retire while they bought her nice things. 

Nolan was almost a decade older than us. He was 27 and about to be 28 that August. Rumor had it that he was ready to settle down and start a family with a nice young girl.In a town with a couple thousand people, rumors flew fast and were usually false. 

As it turns out, that rumor was true. That night, Mary started talking to Nolan and he was thrilled to see her and hear that Sloane was single. Mary set up a date with Nolan for Sloane the Saturday after the party. It was to an expensive restaurant in the city. Mary talked Sloane into going by telling her it was just one date. After that, Sloane didn’t have to go on another date with him ever again. Sloane agreed just to shut her mother up. 

Eventually, Mary wore Sloane down to go on more dates with Nolan. Before she knew it, Mary convinced Sloane to not leave for LA and get married to Nolan about a year after graduation. She helped Nolan and his family set up a proposal for Sloane that October. Sloane said yes to the proposal just to shut her mother up again. Things were easier for Sloane if everything went Mary’s way. 

The wedding was held on February 14th because Mary thought that was romantic. The gown had to have so long of a train that Mary looked short (even though she was six feet tall). The veil had to cover her eyes completely so it wouldn’t spoil her “husband’s surprise” (Mary’s words, not mine). She had to wear a blue flower in her hair to symbolize her grandmother who passed on (that was her grandmother’s favorite flower). I can’t recall every demand because she made so many ridiculous ones. 

All I know now is that the wedding reception is almost over and I can’t find one half of the newly married couple. It was then that I spotted a note taped on the outside of my back windshield. It said, “Kaycee, don’t worry about me. I’m staying at a motel now with money I saved up and will filing an annulment as soon as I can. After that, I think I have enough money to travel to LA and live there until college starts. So sorry I had to put you through this mess. I’ll make it up to you one day. Thank you so much for everything. I’ll call you in the morning. — Sloane” 

I smiled down at the note, finished my joint, and went inside to announce the bride’s mother was such a piece of work that the bride left for good.