Rush Klondike

As I figured, I needed to know which fork was which. There were seven of them, which was a bitch because I had no clue on lucky number seven, but Denny managed to get himself the seat across from me, so we did the old monkey see monkey do until I got it all figured. I was not surprised in the least to find out that cousin Marlene was the ring leader in the plot to save Nannette(\'s money) from me, though you wouldn\'t know it from looking at her. The place was packed and I wasn\'t really sure how many people were part of the family, but it sure seemed that everyone who introduced themselves to me knew Nannette.

After the luncheon, which was served by harlequins (not clowns I was informed by Marlene), we went out onto the polo grounds where they had tumblers and lions and a midway. I got Little Red some cotton candy and watched her get as sticky as humanly possible, ruining her new frock, but the look on her face was way more important than the ducats for the dress. Then I played the few beatable midway games and looked the big man winning the ones I knew the tricks to. I won Nannette a teddy that was twice her size, \'cause every kid should have one of those. After that, Nannette ran off chasing one of her cousins and both of them were followed by an ancient-looking nanny. As I started walking after them too, Denny plucked at my elbow.

\"Let her go a while. Nanny Briton will watch her. Nannette knows her. She was Peggy\'s and my nanny years ago,\" he told me.

\"I thought your parents were the family rebels? You still had a nanny?\"

\"They weren\'t that rebellious,\" he explained as he offered me some of his funnel cake. \"You might want to think about getting Nannette one.\"

\"Why, I\'m home with her? I\'m a full-time mother,\" I asked around a mouthful of fried carbs and powdered sugar.

\"Yes, about that, listen, I think it\'s wonderful, but the rest of the family lives in a world that doesn\'t respect that type of decision. It would be helpful for your image to have a profession.\"

\"A profession and a nanny? Denny, I already missed the first three years with her, four if you count never feeling her kick when she was still inside Peg. I don\'t want to go to some job all day and only see her an hour a day.\"

\"It wouldn\'t have to be full-time. Perhaps you could find a way to work out of your home. Then you could be with her and still have an occupation.\"

\"I\'ll think about it, I guess. Not sure what I could do out of my apartment except make book and that\'s not me anymore, you know?\"

\"Oh, I should hope not.\"

\"Right. So, you ride the elephant yet?\"

\"Good God no! They scare the be-jeezus out of me.\" He shuddered at the idea. \"Ooo, there\'s Lanie Brisbane.\" He pointed across the grounds at a pretty bottle blonde with long legs and a short skirt. \"She\'s only just returned from studying in London for six years.\"

\"Hubba hubba, Denny, she\'s worth a look.\"

\"I\'ve been smitten with her ever since she let me touch her panties at camp the summer I turned eleven.\"

\"Precocious little devil weren\'t you?\"

\"Well, it\'s not as if she was wearing it at the time.\"

\"Still, pretty good for eleven. The sparks still there?\"

\"I shall endeavor to see,\" he said and started in her direction.

\"Hold up there, cowboy.\" I stopped him long enough to wipe the powdered sugar off his face with my sleeve.

\"Dare I ask where that sleeve has been?\"

\"Better not. Go get her, Tiger.\" I swatted him on the ass to get him moving again.

Left alone, I took minute to check out the party. I was not casing the joint, but I did see a few big holes in the security. If it turned out the Pink Princess and I were going to be here on any type of regular basis, I\'d bring them up with somebody. The crowd was pretty much what you\'d expect at a country club shindig benefiting a museum, white, rich, add your own waspish stereotype here. Yeah, the only dark skin tones not in a waiter\'s uniform seemed to be on people who were just back from a month at the Mediterranean villa. No wonder I was itchy. The places I frequented were much more colorful in a bunch of the senses of the word. I was down with people being all types, that\'s how we\'re supposed to be, right? This is America, isn\'t it? I did spot one tuxed black guy over by one of the refreshments tables and, hoping to commiserate or something, I made my way over there.

\"You know it\'s rude to touch the food and then not take it?\" I teased him, hoping he\'d take it the right way, since he was doing just that.

\"Don\'t worry, my hands are clean. We have strict hygiene requirements for all our employees,\" he assured me in a slight French accent, not getting it was a joke, but not acting insulted either.

\"Oh, you work here? You\'re out of uniform.\" That sounded funnier before I said it.

\"The manager\'s uniform is whatever dress is appropriate for the event,\" he defended. Maybe it was French-Canadian?

\"You manage the country club?\"

\"I own and manage Kaminski Catering.\" He slipped me his card. \"We have an exclusive contract to cater all Thrugood James Foundation functions.\"

Kaminski Fine Catering
Clive Kaminski, Owner

So I didn\'t make a good first impression, I might never see the guy again, but I still felt like a heel. I came across like I thought he didn\'t know his job when I was just trying to be friendly.

\"Oh, I didn\'t mean anything with the touching the food crack. I thought you were another guest,\" I apologized.

\"Well, that is the reason I wear a suit instead of the uniform, to blend in,\" he informed me. \"You\'re new, so I\'ll forgive you.\" He smiled and I almost believed it, but I could tell he still thought I was an ass.

\"These little tarts are good,\" I offered, kinda giving up on fixing the first impression. What the hell did it matter? With the exception of Denny, nobody here, not even the frickin\' caterer was gonna ever think of me as worth the space I take up on the planet.

\"Tell your friends,\" he flipped at me before walking away towards the catering tent, past where Denny was making time with Lanie Brisbane. Guess the sparks were still there. Good for you, Den.

I followed the sound of delighted shrieks to where the kids were and spent some time watching Nannette and a bunch of overdressed, snot-covered moppets watching a fairly good magician. I could spot his sleight of hand \'cause I knew the tricks, but the kids couldn\'t, which was the point, letting them believe in magic for a few years.