If you go around angry all the time, you're the one it hurts. (Alice on her way)

The cloudy day in August gave way to blue skies. Penny’s sister was the begrudging maid of honor. A cousin she seen almost annually and a quiet friend from school rounded out Penny’s side of the wedding party. She would have been content to go to city hall and have it done in a few minutes but Senior wanted a wedding and, despite who the groom was, Penny’s parents wanted a wedding too. The church was at capacity with a healthy combination of the regular congregation who had watched Penny grow up and the curious members of the community who had heard tall tales about what went on at Senior’s estate.

Penny’s friend was honoured to be part of the day. She was polite, courteous, helpful, and she wore a bright smile in all the pictures.

Penny’s cousin was jealous of the flowers, the dress, the gifts, even the groom. She ogled all the trimmings with green eyes and when it was over she gossiped with her mother about the waste, the excess, the price. Her boyfriend was a mason and she would never have the luxuries Penny had. She longed for the grandeur and as a result Penny wasn’t invited to her modest wedding the following spring. The ceremony and reception stretched toward extravagance but reached only extraordinary levels of tackiness.

The worst of Penny’s bridal party had to be her sister. The scowl on her face in every picture was muted compared to the angst and sorrow seeping through her skin the actual day. She had prayed so long for them to break up that she had given up and began to pray instead for forgiveness for the hate in her heart. She once watched a documentary about Jack the Ripper and she cried because she hated Tommy more than she did a mass murderer. She would rather her sister be marrying him; she cried. She didn’t even know why she hated him so much. She knew he was trouble but it went deeper than that. Maybe it was because Penny loved him so much she felt compelled to hate him in equal part because she didn’t think he deserved such love and adoration.

When they ran out of the church, laughing and smiling, her sister followed with tears in her eyes. She had lost her baby sister to the bad guys.