Imperfect Match by Jordan Castillo Price

Author:Jordan Castillo Price
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JCP Books LLC
Published: 2018-08-21T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

FROM THE STAGE, the banquet hall looked nothing at all like it had the morning before. Then again, Lee could say the same for pretty much everything. Those weird little stickers were a secret code. The District residents despised him for merely existing. And the people he was supposed to fit in with were insufferable.

Filled with dread that was increasing by the second, Lee approached the microphone. He’d practiced nothing. Written nothing. He’d spend years studying language, and here he was, at the most important occasion in Emma’s life, at a loss for words.

People want to get a look at the spouse so they can gossip later, and they wanna get plowed. Get your new brother-in-law’s name right and you can say just about anything.

Right.

“Happiness and hope,” Lee began, and before he could welcome the guests and thank them for coming—and prove that he damn well knew Howard’s name—it occurred to him that maybe how are you would have been more appropriate for the occasion. Because happiness was phenomenally subjective. The status quo was popular for a reason: most people wanted a traditional wedding with a white gown, an inoffensive band, banquet chicken and an open bar. And maybe some people did want squid ink in their champagne. Lee might have thought it was all simply a ploy for attention, but it would be hypocritical to think that he knew what was better for someone else. After all, for some people, for him, happiness meant not marrying at all.

“Of course, I wish you all happiness and hope. What kind of monster would I be if I didn’t?” Nervous laughter rippled through the crowd. “But have you ever thought about why we say it? People used to simply greet each other with hello—and out in the rural districts, some still do. And the etymology is actually somewhat disturbing. Hello is an alteration of the word holla, which means stop, cease. Blunt, maybe, but sweet and to the point, and not problematic in itself. Except that holla was mainly used to hail a ferryman.” And after the antibiotic-immune strain of yersinia pestis swept the world, well, hailing the ferryman was something people tended to avoid.

Lee glanced up. Most of the facial expressions he could identify looked befuddled. He assured himself it meant his family and friends were interested in what he had to say.

“Happiness and hope was actually the Purity Party’s final campaign slogan, before the party system was disbanded altogether so the government could focus its resources on providing health care and rebuilding the population. Maybe people don’t think much about politics anymore, but the legacy remains. Happiness and hope.”

Lee had been taught that it was best to pick out one person at a time when lecturing and focus on them. He saw his neighbor from across the street, a young mother who’d always been friendly. Her mouth was slightly open, her brows twisted together. He shifted his focus to his uncle, who frowned.

“What is happiness, really? When we wish

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