Moonface by Angela Balcita Page B

say, “I have an announcement!”
    The whole room paused and focused on Charlie.
    â€œYou’re getting married!” Aunt Dayle called out. There were audible gasps of excitement.
    â€œNo,” Charlie said, bowing his head in shame. The crowd looked disappointed. I knew they would be. They had been asking us for years now when we were going to make it official. We’d always dodged the question in the past; I wondered how Charlie was going to dodge it this time. I handed off the baby to Charlie’s mother and stood behind him at the front of the room. I wasn’t going to let me him face the fire by himself.
    â€œMy lovely Moonface here is in need of a kidney.” He grabbed my hand."And I am her lucky donor.”
    The crowd fell silent. This time, they seemed confused. “Wait, what?” Charlie’s uncle asked, seeming shocked by the news of my illness. “She needs a transplant?”
    â€œYes!” Charlie said, pulling me closer to him.
    â€œAnd you said you’d do it?” his Aunt Wendy asked loudly, like he was out of his mind. “Why?”
    â€œI heard there would be drugs,” Charlie said, shrugging. His father cackled in the corner.
    â€œJean, what do you think of all this?” Pop asked. He and the rest of the room turned around to look at her.
    â€œI think it’s lovely. But I was hoping they’d be married by now,” Charlie’s mother responded from the couch, trying to talk over the baby who was now crying in her arms. “Then it would be more romantic, wouldn’t it?”
    Charlie looked confused. “What do the two have to do with each other?” he asked.
    â€œIt’s just more of love story, isn’t it?” Aunt Dawn asked, sticking with Jean.
    â€œWait, I have an idea,” Charlie’s father said, standing up to address the crowd. “This is actually the perfect opportunity for a wedding.” He hunched over liked he was in a football huddle, and he was the one calling the play. His hands waved and directed how the action will go. “We wheel them in to the O.R., and once they’re both unconscious, we bring a justice of the peace. He makes it official, and when they wake up, they’ll be married, and transplanted. And none the wiser.”
    â€œUgh,” someone from the audience groaned, rejecting the bad joke.
    â€œI wish I was being transplanted to India right now,” I told everyone. There were a few giggles.
    â€œNah,” Charlie said. “Family members arrange marriages there, too!” Someone laughed harder, and I could see the faces of shock turning into smiles.
    â€œA priest!” Charlie’s grandmother yelled. “No justice of the peace. A priest!”
    â€œWe could find him some black scrubs with a collar. We’d have to sterilize the Bible!” a cousin insisted.
    â€œBut who’ll take the pictures? The nurses?” someone said.
    â€œWe’ll have it videotaped.”
    â€œThe wedding or the surgery?”
    â€œWhichever is more interesting! Both! We’ll keep both for posterity.”
    Charlie and I watched as the dialogue connected the dots across the room, each member of the family feeding off each other’s twisted idea of a joke. Charlie put his hands on my neck and massaged my shoulders, forcing me now to relax and watch the show.
    â€œSee, Charlie, this would all be easier if you were married first. Then we wouldn’t have to be worried about the surgery and your nuptials.”
    â€œAll right, wait!” Charlie said, as loud as his voice could get. “The truth is, I did actually set a date for our wedding.” His eyebrows looked serious. He put one hand to his side, picked up a beer, and looked into the glass. Everyone was hanging on, even the baby, who seemed to be holding her wailing until Charlie spoke again. I sat and waited to hear, too.
    â€œJune,” he announced, pausing to build