Chapter 7 - Champagne and Stains
Dad didn't want to leave me there. I could tell by the way his hands stayed on my shoulders a second too long after he set me down by the cake table.
The cake was taller than me. Three layers of white with roses that didn't look real, and I could smell sugar and lemons coming off it. Grandmother stood right beside it with her champagne glass pinched between her fingers. Her pearls caught the light every time she breathed.
"You stay right here with Grandmother," Dad said low. He looked at her, not at me. "I'll be right back."
I nodded and held my bag tighter. The plastic crinkled loud. People turned and looked.
As soon as Dad walked away toward the hallway doors, Grandmother's hand landed on my shoulder. Not soft. Her nails were cold through my pink shirt.
"Give me that," she whispered, smiling with her teeth showing. She reached for the bag.
I stepped back and bumped the tablecloth. "No."
Her smile didn't move. "Sweetheart, you can't stand here holding garbage. Look at your shirt. People are taking pictures."
I looked down. There was a brown smear near the bottom of my pink t-shirt and crumbs stuck to it. My blue pants had dust from the hallway floor on the knees. Next to her purple dress, all shiny and smooth, I felt dirty. Her dress went down in a V in the front and her pearls sat right on her skin. Mine was just sticky.
"It's not garbage," I said. My voice came out small. "It's our rolls. Mom said wait and eat quiet till Dad came."
Grandmother glanced around fast. A man with a camera was moving near the columns. She bent down a little so her face was close to mine. Her perfume smelled strong, like flowers and alcohol.
"Your mother should not have had you back there," she said. "You were hungry? Is that it? You couldn't wait for dinner like a young lady?"
My cheeks got hot. I pressed the bitten roll inside my fist so no one would see the teeth marks. "We waited a long time. My stomach hurt. Mom said one was okay."
She held out her hand again, palm up. Her rings sparkled. "Then you've had one. That's enough. Let me throw the rest away and we'll get you cleaned up."
I shook my head and pulled the bag behind my back. The plastic stuck to my sweaty hand. "No. Mom will need them. She didn't eat."
For a second Grandmother just stared at me. The music was still playing and people were laughing with their drinks, but right around us it felt quiet. Her champagne glass sweated in her hand.
Then a lady in a black dress came up with a big smile. "Oh, Helen! Is this your granddaughter? She is precious."
Grandmother straightened up so fast. Her hand left my shoulder and went around me instead, pulling me against the side of her purple dress. I could feel the satin cold on my arm.
"Yes," she said, her voice all warm and high now. "My Andy's little girl. She's helping me watch the cake."
The lady leaned in. "And what's in the bag, honey?"
I froze. I didn't want to say bread because everyone would look at my stained shirt. Grandmother's fingers squeezed my shoulder.
I held up the bag just a little. "Rolls," I whispered.
"Oh, how cute," the lady said. "Saving a snack for later?"
Grandmother laughed, light and pretty. "She loves bread rolls. Don't you, darling?" She bent and kissed the top of my ponytail. Her lips barely touched my hair. It felt fake, but the lady smiled bigger and the camera flashed somewhere to our left.
When the lady walked away, Grandmother let go of me. She wiped her hand on a napkin from the cake table like she'd touched something sticky.
"Stand up straight," she told me without looking down. "Hold that bag down by your legs where no one sees it. And don't cry. You look a mess when you cry."
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I did what she said. I held the bag low so the white tablecloth hid it. I kept my bitten roll in my other hand, tucked against my pants. I didn't cry, but my eyes burned and my throat felt thick.
I stayed by the big white cake and watched the doors where Dad had gone. I wanted to run after him, but Grandmother stood so close her dress brushed my arm every time she moved, keeping me right there where she could see me.
