Chapter Twenty-Six
New Year’s Eve
“What are you doing tonight?” Charlie asked over the phone the morning of New Year’s Eve.
“I’m hanging out with my friends Bianca and Kai.”
“You should bring them over to my dad’s house,” he said. “Katelyn and Jenny are coming, Jack, Luke, and some other guys.”
“Oh, that sounds fun. What are you guys doing?”
“Every New Year’s Eve we play craps for pennies. There will be lots of food, a hot tub, and in the morning, we’ll go to the Rose Parade.”
“Oh, so should I bring my pajamas?”
“Yeah.”
“That sounds so fun. I’ll call Bianca and see if she wants to go.”
“I really hope you can make it.”
Bianca, Kai, and I drove to the city of Diamond Bar in my Jeep. We were amazed at how big Charlie’s dad’s house was. We walked up to the front door feeling a little intimidated.
Charlie opened the door and gave us hugs and invited us to join in the fun. Jack, Katelyn, and Jenny were already playing craps with Charlie’s brother.
We got a quick tour of the first floor of the house. The backyard expanded as far as we could see, and a sparkling pool was just outside the sunroom doors. In the kitchen, the countertop was lined with trays of food and desserts. A friendly hostess greeted us.
“Hi, I’m Sadie,” she said.
“Oh, are you Charlie’s mom?”
“Stepmom. Help yourselves to whatever you’d like.”
The house was busy with people coming and going from room to room, getting food, watching TV, solving a puzzle on the coffee table, walking outside by the pool. It was comfortable and casual.
I met Charlie’s dad and grandma, as well as a few of his dad’s co-workers and their families. What made the biggest impression on me was the fact that Charlie and his brother were hanging out with their dad and stepmom, grandma, and all their friends. It was a multifamily, multiethnic, and multigenerational party.
“I’d like to be a part of this family. I already feel at home,” I thought to myself.
After midnight, when everyone over 21 left, the real party started. We went in the hot tub, roasted marshmallows over the fire pit, and told ghost stories. Half of the group went out with a video camera to find a haunted house where a lady wanders outside looking for her dead husband. Charlie and I stayed back and talked.
The group came back with a video of the woman in a white dress coming out of her house, going into her garage, then running back into her front door. Everyone was screaming as Jack replayed the footage over and over.
Later, Jack asked Charlie to show us a reenactment of how he fell off the banister when he was little.
“What? What happened?” We all wanted to know.
“Well, first let me show you the teeth marks in the wood floor,” Charlie said. Everyone got down on their hands and knees by the staircase. Sure enough, there was an indentation in the floor that was shaped like front teeth.
“When I was in fourth grade, after my parents’ divorce, my brother and I were home with a babysitter, and we were chasing each other with a rubber snake. I had the snake upstairs, and my brother was downstairs. I leaned over the top to throw the snake at him, and I leaned too far, too fast. I fell face-first, landed on my teeth, and broke my wrist. I should have died, pretty much. My teeth saved me. So ever since fourth grade, I’ve had these false front teeth.”
Jack had his camera ready. “We have to do a re-enactment.”
Luke directed the photo sequence:
1. Charlie at the top of the stairs
2. Charlie leaning over the banister
3. Charlie falling (with the help of his buddies hanging him over the banister)
4. A close-up of Charlie’s face on the floor
5. A close-up of the teeth marks in the wood
6. Charlie lying in the dead man’s pose on the floor
We were laughing and crying at the same time, making light of something we knew was very serious. The weight of his near-death experience was upon us, and even though we could not stop laughing, we spoke about it with reverence in our hearts.
“God wanted you alive,” I said, giving Charlie a side hug and leaning my head on his shoulder.
We decided to take a group shot of all of us on the stairs. I sat next to Charlie. Right before the camera flashed, I linked my arm in his.
At about four in the morning we decided to sleep for two hours before getting ready for the Rose Parade. I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. When I came out, the living room was transformed into a huge bed for 15 people and everyone was lying on couches or blankets on the floor.
“Miriam, turn the lights out,” Jack said. “Let’s try to get a few hours of sleep.”
I turned off the lights, and the room was dark, except for a night-light in the corner. “Where should I sleep?” I asked, tiptoeing across my sleeping friends.
“Right here,” Katelyn whispered. I climbed over a few people and landed next to Katelyn on the floor. Charlie was on my right.
For a while, we told dumb jokes and goofed around. Jack steamrolled across everyone who was awake. Then it was Charlie’s turn.
When the group finally settled down, I lifted my arms over my head and my hand landed directly in Charlie’s hand.
“Sorry!” I whispered, removing it as fast as I could.
He didn’t say anything.
I tried to be still for a few more minutes.
“I can’t sleep,” I whispered. “My heart’s beating too fast.”
Very gently, just under his breath, Charlie exhaled the words, “You’re cute.”
Did he really just say that? For a few minutes I toyed with the idea of holding his hand again on purpose. My instinct was in contest with my intellect. No, no. I am not dating anyone, I reminded myself. I don’t even like him that way. I can’t do it.
The next morning I was so glad that I made the right choice, because there was nothing weird between us at the Rose Parade.