‘We could’ve done them together.’
Danny had worried that he would seem like a nag if he had asked for help.
‘I thought it might be better if they were written by the same person. The handwriting will be the same.’
Luis didn’t see the logic.
‘The guests aren’t going to compare the cards. No one will ever know.’
Danny couldn’t deny the point.
Luis continued, ‘Can I at least write one?’
Danny reached forward, selecting one of the sealed envelopes at random, opening it and ripping the completed card in half. He placed a fresh card on the table with a new envelope and a pen. Luis seemed taken aback.
‘You didn’t need to rip one up.’
Realizing the act had seemed hostile, Danny said, ‘If you want to write one, I need to throw one away. I have plenty of spares. It’s fine.’
Luis sat down and picked up the pen. Using the torn card as a template, he copied the names of the guests onto the new card. For some reason he messed up, writing at a lopsided angle. Danny handed him a new card and this time Luis fetched his own pen. As Luis made a second attempt, Danny admitted, ‘There was a reason why I wanted to write all the cards. Writing them out made me realize who was missing.’
Luis looked up.
‘Who?’
Danny said, ‘My parents.’
Luis put down his pen. He said nothing for a time before asking, ‘You want to invite them to the wedding?’
Danny nodded.
‘I want to try. I’m thinking about going to visit them. To give them a card in person. You think it’s a bad idea?’
Luis picked up his pen again and doodled on the ripped card.
‘I’ve never met them. I wasn’t there when it fell apart. Of course, you should visit them if that’s what you want.’
Danny accidentally knocked over the stack of cards with some tumbling to the floor. Simultaneously they both knelt to collect the fallen cards, checking each to see if they were dented or marked in any way. Flustered, Danny continued, ‘Isn’t this wedding an opportunity? To fix the broken relationships in our lives.’
Luis sounded uncertain.
‘Is that what a wedding is?’
Danny glanced at Luis.
‘You don’t think I should see them?’
Collecting the invitations Luis sounded stern.
‘I already said you should see them. I just don’t think you needed a wedding to do it.’
Danny thought on this.
‘Except I did.’
Chapter Twenty-TwoA Red Sticker
Danny spoke to his parents only on their birthdays and at Christmas when they phoned each other, catching up with courteous formality as though they were former neighbours who had bumped into each other in a supermarket aisle. An unscheduled call prompted his mother to ask if something was the matter. Danny suggested that it would be better if they spoke face to face, remaining vague about his reasons for wanting to meet. His mum seemed incapable of imagining that he was returning with good news. Perhaps she supposed that he was going to tell them that he was living with HIV – a prospect his parents believed was inevitable from the day he had come out and when the joke around schools, pubs and offices was that GAY stood for Got AIDS Yet. Growing up Danny had listened to his parents instructthe staff of their guest house to carefully disinfect any bedrooms occupied by men they suspected were gay, to double wash the towels and bedlinens and double bleach the shower and sink. There was a cleaning ledger and when a room needed extra attention, either because the occupant owned a dog or might be gay, a red sticker was added to the room number.
