a wedding, a beating, and more

Nathaniel's wedding was great. I don't know if I could count on two hands the number of friends' weddings I have missed, so I'm very happy when I manage to attend one. And this was a pretty crazy wedding. The bridal party consisted of over thirty people and, for the reception, they had all learned a dance choreographed by Carmen (the bride)'s niece. It was impressive. And of course, it's going to get loud and fun, when everyone celebrating the marriage is a Mexican, a Native American, or a New York Jew. Lots of great (I'm sorry, I meant GREAT) food, lots of drinking, lots of dancing.
Carmen was beautiful and happy, and Nate looked sharp as hell (and also happy). Their kids were adorable/gorgeous/handsome. John Bob was the photographer, so there should be some great evidence of this floating around soon.

For whatever reason, there were two sheriff's deputies there to keep us all in check. Uncle Eddie had brought along a nice amount of booze, and any time someone would go out to his van to pour a drink, Eddie would approach the deputies and make small talk. I'm sure they knew what we were doing out there, but at least he prevented them from coming over and giving any of us a hard time.

Good speeches were made, and good times were had, and I slipped in some spilled wine and busted the hell out of my chin. Katie gave me some of her mom's pain relievers, and they ended my night real quick. (Nathaniel, I learned, saved me from Desmond drawing on my passed-out face.)

I woke up the next day and could hardly move. I faded in and out of sleep (which is weird; I usually cannot sleep after I've opened my eyes) and had no strength in my arms or legs. Whatever Sarah had that Katie gave me, it was good. Kate and John and I went to Arizona Mills, leaving Kate's boyfriend, Matt, behind with Nathaniel and his friends. I understand they gave him quite an interrogation in our absence, but that was nothing compared to what he and I got when we came back. After the Jets lost (yes, horrible, I know), most of Nate's friends left, and before long it was just Nate, Kate, Matt, me, and Nate's neighbor Kerry hanging out on the patio.
Nathaniel is a correctional officer, Commander of the SORT team at the nearby prison, and Kerry is a Canadian sheriff, so we got to sit around and listen to them swap stories about controlling inmates.
And then they decided to show us how to control inmates. Matt got to play guinea pig to various holds and strikes. He got pinned, he got shoved, and when they gave him a break (a rest, that is), I got to take the hits. Most of what I took were hits to my neck and my right arm (you know, so I understand how they disarm somebody who's attacking them), but they got Matt back up and showed him even more useful things, like how they kick someone's legs out from beneath them, and how they follow that up with an elbow to the face, and how they shove someone's nose into their brain. And how you can disable someone just by pushing on two pressure points just below the jaw. And how it really hurts when you lift someone by those pressure points.

And then the night got weird.
Nathaniel and I had bought cigars the day before, as we were running last-minute bridal errands. So we brought them out. Kerry seemed to really enjoy watching me smoke that cigar, and whenever I wasn't smoking it (which was often, considering I was hardly comfortable under his unblinking stare), he would say to me, "Smoke." Wha... what? "Smoke." Why...? "Smoke."
In mid-conversation, he stood up and interrupted Nate by kissing him on the cheek. While K, N & I were talking, Kerry walked Matt around the corner, appearing to want to tell him something in confidence... but he just grabbed Matt and kissed him on the cheek. He rubbed my thigh. He moved to put out a cigarette on Matt's ankle, but when Matt declined, Kerry put it out on his own ankle. He made a kiss-face at me. He had talked about his wife throughout the night, but wasn't wearing a ring. He talked about his roommate and him, talking about how they might appear to others as "kinda queer."
I don't know how anyone might get that impression....

But all-in-all, it was a wonderful weekend. The wedding was beautiful, and I can see that Nathaniel and Carmen are going to be very happy, and their kids are going to grow up well, and be really good kids, really good people. And I had a great time with a family I haven't gotten to see for a couple of years.