86th and Park

"Take us to 72nd and Park as fast as you can."

* * *

It was nearly noon when Gerald stuck his head into Jess' bedroom. It was the fourth time that morning he had done that. He had put her to bed the night before with her clothes on, and she remained that way now. She had been asleep for more than twelve hours. This time he sensed she was stirring, so he spoke. "Jess?" There was no response, then suddenly she turned her head and looked at him. "Dad, how did I get here?"

"Honey, can I come in?" She nodded. He went and sat on the edge of the bed. Her lower lip was quivering. "Jess, tell me about last night." He spoke as gently as possible.

"Dad, I don't remember." Tears trickled from the corners of her eyes.

"Here's what I know, honey. I went to Orifice last night. I was leaving when I ran into Hitome. She said you were outside with Stone and his father and they had drugged you. I got you away from them with Hitome's help and brought you home. I'm not angry with you, darling, but who are these men?"

She burst into tears. He took one of her hands in both of his and let her cry herself out. When she subsided she said, "Oh, Daddy, I've been so bad. You should punish me."

"Darling --"

"No, Daddy, you should really punish me. I've become such a bad person." She took a deep breath. "Hitome and I got into porno movies through Stone. His dad is Jon Lynch, who makes porno films. That's why I haven't been home on weekends. I've been in New York on weekends but acting in those movies. At first it was fun and I was making a lot of money, but now it's just weird. Jon got me into coke and he's been pressuring me to become his mistress. Now I hate him. And I hate myself too. Please punish me." She turned her head away from him and started crying again.

"Darling, there will be a time for that. But not now." He didn't want her to know how shocking he found this news. Jess involved with pornography? How had he failed her? He decided to plunge ahead and say the things he had meant to tell her when he came into the room. "I want to tell you something, Jess. Hear me out before you say anything. Okay?" She kept her head turned away but nodded. His throat tightened. He cleared it and a torrent of words poured out.

"Darling, I've been thinking about this for a long time. Months. I know I'm crazy. I know other people will think I'm crazy. You will probably think I'm crazy. But I don't care. Because I know what's in my heart is true. I love you. I am completely and overwhelmingly in love with you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't want to be with anyone else. I don't care that you're my daughter.

"This is what I want to do. I want you to think about it. I want to marry you. Now I know we can't get legally married. But I want to have some kind of ceremony where we acknowledge our love, and I want there to be some witnesses to that. There are only a handful of people we can invite. Jane. She's become a great friend and she knows about us. I want her there to perform the ceremony. She considers herself married to Holly, you know, so she's sympathetic to our situation.

"Then we would have to move away. I want to live openly with you as man and wife and we can't do that here. But we could go to Los Angeles. No one knows us there. I've given this a lot of thought. We could live in Malibu or one of those other towns right on the beach. It would like be living in the summer house but year-round. I could get a job out there. Or start my own practice. Hell, I don't know if I even have to work. We could sell this place for at least thirty million. It'll kill your Grandma and Grandpa if we left, but that can't be helped. Honey, think about it. You could transfer to UCLA. It's a great school. The world would be your oyster in L. A. Another thing. You could ask Hitome to move out there with us. I'm crazy about her too. I mean, she could live with us. She could go to UCLA too.

"Darling." He got off the bed now and knelt beside it. He took her hand again. "Darling, make me the happiest man in the world. Please, please tell me that you'll marry me." He looked at the floor, not able to look at her. He felt her tug his hand, so he got into bed and lay next to her. She took his face in her hands. Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she was smiling. He felt tears in his own eyes.

"Yes, Daddy. Yes, I will marry you."

He kissed her, then got up to take his clothes off. She did the same. They lay back down together, and for the first time he made love to his daughter without a condom.

T W E L V E

Gerald and Jessica did not waver in their commitment and decided to get married right away. They set July 4th as their wedding day. The liked the symbolism of getting married on Independence Day, although, of course, the marriage itself was symbolic. They invited a few guests. Gerald definitely wanted Jane to make a few remarks blessing their union. After he explained to Jane what had happened that night at Orifice and the following day at home, she readily agreed. She also said she would prevail on Holly, Helen and Sandy to attend. Jess broke the news to Hitome, who was initially flabbergasted but then agreed to come. She had always intuited Jess' closeness to her father. She even said she would consider moving to Los Angeles with them. Gerald, in conjunction with Jess, also asked Helen and Sandy to invite Allie and Renee, and they said yes.

Gerald and Jess settled on the family summer house, on the beach in East Hampton, as the site for the ceremony. They arrived there on the 2nd. The house had belonged to the McNeil family for four generations. It was a rambling, two-story, five-bedroom Cape Cod-style structure that sat only a few hundred yards from the high-water mark. The property afforded plenty of privacy. They owned the beachfront, and the houses on either side were at least a quarter-mile away. They spent the next day shopping in town for the wedding feast, swimming and making love in the sand.

July 4th dawned inauspiciously, completely foggy and clammy. When they arose Jess said, "Oh no, it looks awful out." Gerald said, "Don't worry, this'll burn off by noon." He was right. By eleven o'clock the fog had dissipated, revealing a bright-blue sky dotted with serene cottonball clouds and a sparkling ocean. The day was perfect.

Within an hour Jane, Holly, Helen and Sandy pulled into the driveway. They unloaded a case of champagne and bag after bag of groceries. Helen headed straight to the kitchen. She was in charge of brunch, mid-afternoon hors d'oeuvres and a late celebratory dinner. Gerald and Jess wanted to be married on the beach as the sun was setting, at eight-thirty, which meant the brief ceremony should start at eight-fifteen.

Allie and Renee arrived a little after Jane and company. Everyone spent the afternoon swimming, collecting driftwood, having brunch and sipping Bloody Marys. Only Hitome was absent. After five Jessica became concerned and thought to call her when suddenly she was there in the living room, in a black-leather miniskirt and a black top scooped so low it barely covered her nipples. She extended a dozen red roses to Jessica and announced to the gathering, "I'm giving the bride away." Gerald said, "I'm glad somebody volunteered because I'm the groom and I can't do it," and they all had a good laugh.

Helen and Gerald went out at seven to dig a fire pit in the sand. They built a bonfire out of a couple of railroad ties and all the driftwood that had been collected. Jess and he had decided to hold the ceremony in a circle around the fire. By seven-thirty the fire was crackling. It was time to get dressed.

Jessica had chosen a simple, knee-length lavender dress to wear and added a lovely touch with a wreath of baby's breath in her hair. She also had a bridal bouquet. Gerald selected one of his dark business suits, a conservative choice. The others, except for Hitome, who remained in her bad-girl black outfit, also dressed conservatively. The one informal touch was that everyone was barefoot, a concession to the sand.

At eight-fifteen they trooped down to the fire and formed a circle around it. Jane spoke, from her heart and simply. "In my view successful marriages are between best friends, partners who give each other the necessary support, respect, freedom and love to realize that person's fullest potential. Rather than two people gazing raptly into each other's eyes, lost to everything around them, I would suggest that those two people directing their gaze together down life's long road are a better model for an enduring relationship. Well, that's enough preaching. I'm ready for a glass of champagne. I imagine we all are. By no power vested in me whatsoever, let me introduce to this gathering Gerald and Jessica McNeil, man and wife."

Everyone clapped and cried and laughed all at once. Gerald took Jessica's hands and looked at her face. She was magnificent. He kissed her tenderly. When they finished their kiss Jessica threw her bridal bouquet to Hitome, who caught it and rushed over to giver her a long, long open-mouth kiss. Everyone laughed at that, even Gerald. The sun, a brilliant orange disk, chose that moment to slip completely below the horizon. Gerald said, "Why don't you all head back to the house and get the party started. Jess and I will be along in a minute." As the ladies made their way to the house the first fireworks' explosion of the night filled a portion of the sky in front of them, to the north. They oohed and aahed. Soon, when darkness was complete, the entire sky would come alive with light and smoke and sound, the prelude to the newlyweds' own more-intimate fireworks set to go off deep in the night.

For now Gerald and Jessica walked down to the edge of the water. They stood shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, in conscious imitation of Jane's ideal couple. They did not speak. They did not need to. They simply looked. From beneath the horizon the sun continued to paint the evening sky. They watched dark-gray clouds scuttle across the dazzling orange and crimson backdrop. They looked out to the open sea, out to the far horizon, out to the seeming infinite.

Inspired by and dedicated to R. P.