Elliott’s party didn’t start until seven o’clock, but Carter showed up at about five- thirty. He couldn’t help it. This was the first time in his life that he had ever been invited to a party.
Carter already knew where Elliott lived. It was house larger than his, but not exactly a large house. Elliott was the mayor, but he wasn’t entirely rich.
But he wasn’t anywhere close to poor.
Carter arrived at Elliott’s house with Kathleen and Dennis. He parked his car and they all walked up to the door and rang the bell.
“It’s open!” Elliott called.
Carter opened the door and walked in. Elliot was in the living room straightening a framed photograph. He turned around and smiled.
“Samuel Carter,” Elliott said, walking up to them. “It sure has been a while.”
“It sure has,” Carter said.
“My, you’re here early. Well, you know what they say; the early bird gets the worm.”
Carter chuckled. “Yeah, I know.”
Elliott shook hands with Carter and Kathleen. Dennis walked off into the living room.
“How are you, Kathleen?” Elliot asked.
“I’m good, Luis,” Kathleen said. “How are you?”
“More perfect than ever,” Elliott said. “As you can see, I’m trying to keep the place perfect for tonight. Been looking forward to it for a while.”
“I bet,” Carter said. He had as well.
“Come have a seat in the living room,” Elliott said.
They all walked to the living room and sat on one of the two couches. Dennis was sitting on a chair and staring at the wall.
“It sure is good that the rain didn’t last past noon,” Elliott said. “I was hoping it wouldn’t still be raining during the party. That would cause people not to show up.”
“Where’s Frances?” asked Kathleen.
Frances was Elliott’s wife. They had been married for about twenty years. They had two teenage sons: Danny and Vincent.
“She’s out with Martha Franklin’s family,” Elliott said. “They’ll be here by the time the party starts. The boys are spending the weekend at a friend’s house, so they won’t be here.”
The living room television was turned on and set on a music station. At that moment, a Bob Dylan song was playing.
“All the refreshments are in the kitchen,” Elliot said. “You’ll find all of the good stuff. Plenty of drinks, too. My wife will find something for all of the younger kids to do.”
Kathleen looked around. “I’ve never seen your house before. It sure is nice.”
“I’ve seen better,” Elliott said. “But I have to admit, it’s not bad.”
“You’re front yard is pretty nice.”
“You should see my backyard. The rain left a giant mud puddle in it. Man, that thing is huge. You could swim in it.”
“No thanks,” Carter said. “I don’t need to see it.”
Elliott chuckled. “Well, who wants to swim in mud, anyway?”
Carter and Kathleen laughed.
“Is that your boy?” Elliott asked. “My God, he’s gotten big!”
Dennis stood up and walked out of the room.
“Is he having a bad day?”
Carter shook his head. “He’s just not a people-person.”
Dennis hated being around people. He was a very unhappy person because he felt his life was hard because of how less fortunate his family was then others. Those days, Carter was sure that people at school did not taunt others for being poor. Or, at least he hoped not.
“How old is he?” Elliott asked.
“Fifteen,” Kathleen answered.
“Wow,” Elliott said. “He was about four the last time I saw him.”
Carter nodded
“Well, a people-person or not, he’ll enjoy this party. He just can’t drink any of the alcohol.”
Carter shrugged. “He’s only here because we made him come. He’d be at home sitting in his room if we hadn’t. We thought we should bring him along and at least try to see if he’ll want to socialize with anybody. With the way things look, that’s most likely not going to happen.”
“He would probably get along with Danny. They’re close in age.”
Carter wanted to change the subject. “Who all did you invite?”
“Kevin Howard, Michael Cruz, Travis Morgan, Diane Bishop, Martha Franklin’s family, Randy Jenkins’ family, George Anderson’s family, Jeffery Snyder’s family, Victor Jenkins’ family, Jason Sullivan’s family, Nathan Harrison’s family, and James Stewart and his fiancé.”
“That’s a lot of people.”
With Elliott being the mayor he knew almost everybody in town. Although, he wasn’t entirely sure how many of those people were actually his friends.
“I’m not sure if Snyder’s wife can make it, though. She seems to have throat complications. That’s kind of strange; she had her tonsils removed last year.”
“Wait,” Kathleen said. “You’re inviting George Anderson?”
“You bet.”
“Oh.” Kathleen sounded very disappointed.
“Well, Anderson and I have known each other for over ten years. It’d be quite impolite to not invite him.”
George Anderson was the richest man in Dallas. Carter and Kathleen already knew him. And they weren’t so happy about it.
Anderson was Carter’s landlord. He owned about thirty homes all across Texas, and about ten more outside of Texas. To Carter’s unluckiness, he lived in one of these homes. A house as small as this one would normally be forgotten, but Anderson was still very strict about Carter paying the rent. Any time Carter was behind on his rent (which was very often) he would make an unexpected and very unpleasant visit to the house. These visits always surprised the Carter family because he would arrive randomly at any time he felt like. He once came at two in the morning and dumped a water bottle on Carter’s head to wake him up.
Anderson had no sympathy for the fact that Carter’s family was poor. If he didn’t receive his payment, they would not live in his house. He shed no tears at the thought of them living on the streets. Kathleen despised him because of this.
Carter thought about all the other people who were invited to Elliott’s party. He’d already heard of James Stewart. Stewart, who was forty-six years old, had made a name for himself in Dallas after becoming engaged to a twenty-two year old woman. Carter wondered what he was like.
Randy Jenkins was also well known in Dallas. He was a hard working mechanic that had been helping people for over forty years. He was well respected and had many friends.
As for all of the other people, Carter had never even heard of them before. This was rather exciting, because he finally had a chance to meet some new people. He could possibly make some new friends.
“I also invited Freeman and his wife,” Elliott said. “I haven’t heard from him, though.”
“Freeman’s coming,” Carter said. “I was talking to him on a payphone earlier.”
Freeman, like Carter, was surprised about being invited to the party. Although, he was unsure at first about showing up. He didn’t know who else was invited and he knew how many people disliked him. Carter managed to talk him in to going.
“I’d better go check on the refreshments and make sure they aren’t contaminated,” Elliott said. “I’ve had rodents here before.”
As he left, Jimi Hendrix’s voice rang out in the room.614Please respect copyright.PENANAZ3Q58s3pmf