Past acquaintances
"Have you met Liam's family?" My mother asks, looking impressed.
"Helena". I hear them shout my name.
Lilian waves to me from afar, making us laugh. We finally get to him and I start to greet Liam's sisters.
"How nice that you came, it will be great to meet your parents". Marta says as she hugs me. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"
I nod and we talk some more, but soon I begin to introduce my family to everyone.
"So what are we going to play? Baseball, soccer or volleyball?" Liam's father asks with a smile.
"Baseball". Kelly answers excitedly.
"Isn't getting hit in the head enough for today?" My father asks in a wry tone, making everyone laugh.
"Baseball then, do you want to be the first to hit?" Liam asks, tossing the ball to Kelly, who smiles excitedly, already nodding.
"Then let's get started". It's Liam's father's turn to speak.
We move a little away, as Marta has set up a table full of snacks. The only ones left sitting are my mother and Marta, the others are going to play. Only Lilian, Karen and Giulia are present, along with their receptive husbands. We form teams and start to play.
[***]
Everything was going well, we were having fun. I hit a home run and it made all my clothes dirty, and so did Kelly's and Liam's dad's. I had to hit a home run and it was a big hit.
"Come on Lilian, it's the last play. All you have to do is bat and we win". Liam's father speaks up.
Lilian was about to hit the ball and the pitcher was Liam, who looked at her with an evil grin.
"Focus!" Liam's father shouts again, making us laugh.
"How am I supposed to concentrate if you're yelling at me?" He asks, stressed, since all the pressure was on her.
The Parkers really didn't like to lose, even if the game was just a nice family moment.
"Focus!" He shouts again and Lilian rolls her eyes.
Liam prepares to throw the ball, while Lilian tries to concentrate. Liam throws and she can't rebound.
"Come on Lilian!" It's Erick's turn to speak.
Her group said things to motivate her, while we looked at her wishing she would miss.
"Strike 1". Matthew shouts with a smile.
Again she gets ready and Liam throws the ball, and again she fails to hit it.
"Damn it". She grumbles and hits her head. "I'm going to kill you, Liam!"
"It's not my fault I'm better than you". He says with a smile on his face, teasing his sister.
"Don't mind him daughter, focus on the ball". Liam says clapping his hands to encourage Lilian.
Liam prepares to throw the ball again and throws. But he doesn't throw the ball as he did the other times, his throw is weak and Lilian hits the ball right in the face.
"That's it!" Lilian celebrates and wastes no time, crossing the field.
I don't move, I look at Liam confused. He was wide-eyed and looking at the horizon as if he saw a ghost. Soon I hear the screams of celebration and see that Lilian had hit a home run with the greatest ease in the world, since Liam and I were standing still.
I walk over to him to see what had happened, but follow his curious gaze. I see a couple coming towards us, the woman was a redhead and very beautiful. The man was tall and looked familiar to me. They approached Marta, who had not seen them. And her reaction is the same as Liam's. Who were they?
"Are you all right?" I ask, touching Liam's arm, and he seems to awaken from a sleep.
"Yes, I just..." He looks around, a little confused. "We lost?" He asks, grimacing.
"We won, hand it over". Lilian speaks with a smile of victory, holding out her hand waiting for something.
Liam takes out of his pocket what looked like a boss and snorts angrily.
"It was like taking candy from a child". She speaks with irony, while looking at the check excitedly.
Lilian looks in her mother's direction and also widens her eyes, but unlike the others, her gaze changes to one of anger.
"What are those imbeciles doing here?" She asks with hatred.
"Look at the cussing, Lili". -Karen complains, but she hadn't seen the couple yet, as soon as she sees them her reaction is the same as her sister's. "Those bastards!" She speaks with hatred.
"Don't worry, I'll get them out of here by their hair". Lilian says to Liam, who holds her.
"Relax, let's just ignore them". Liam says, still holding Lilian, who was trying to get free at all costs, and the others look at Liam in surprise.
"Ignore? You can't just ignore. Just look at their cynical faces, as if nothing happened". Lilian says grimacing while watching the couple.
They had sat down at the table, were laughing and looked very comfortable.
"I have to agree with my garden midget". Erick says, not missing an opportunity to joke with his wife. "They don't seem to realize how ridiculous that is". He points at them, referring to how comfortable they looked.
"They don't matter to me anymore, so let's just act like everything is fine". Liam says, holding my hand and looking calm.
"He's right, the best thing to do is ignore it". Liam's father speaks with a smile. "Let's go".
We all start walking towards the table.
"Who are they?" I ask in a low voice, so that only Liam could hear.
"The man is our cousin, his name is Jack. The woman is his wife, her name is Eda". He answers, sounding indifferent.
"But she's better known for being a big son of a bitch". Lilian answers a little loudly, as if she wants the woman to hear.
Liam scolds his sister with his gaze and we finally arrive. Silence prevails, since no one says anything. All the Parkers just stared at the couple with serious looks on their faces, none being willing to feign kindness, and from what it seemed, the Parkers were spiteful and that couple did something very wrong.
"It's good to see you again, it's been several months". The man, Jack, speaks with a big smile, standing up as does the woman.
Again silence reigns, as the Parkers remain silent.
"They were passing through the park and wanted to stay for a snack, so let's sit down". Marta speaks with a forced smile, which was actually kind of funny, since it looked more like a smile of disgust.
We sit down in silence and begin to serve ourselves. I set my plate and Liam's, while he sets our juice. It was like this every morning, we divided up the chores even during meals.
"I see that there is a new face". Eda says looking at me with a smile. "Are you friends with any of the sisters?"
"She is Liam's fiancée". Lilian answers for me, with an evil grin.
The woman opens her mouth in surprise, then stares at Liam, as if expecting some confirmation from him. But Liam wasn't looking at her, he was concentrating on his food. My mother and Kelly look at me in confusion, making me smile. Thank heavens my father had left earlier to look for a bathroom.
"Finally, man, I thought I would be single forever". Jack says laughing to himself, since no one laughs with him.
Everyone was serious, some pretending they didn't exist and others looking at them with hatred.
"Me and Jack have to go, but thank you for the welcome". Eda speaks with a forced smile.
"Actually, I wanted to catch up on things". Jack says looking at his confused wife.
"Another time dear, we are busy today". She answers and he nods. "See you later".
"It was good to see you guys". Jack says with a smile, grabbing a sandwich.
"Unfortunately we can't say the same". Lilian says with an angry look, receiving scolding looks.
"Always funny". Jack smiles and soon the two leave.
"These sons of bitches don't have an ounce of shame on their faces". Lilian says rolling her eyes.
"I can't believe they had the nerve to sit with us and pretend nothing happened". Karen says angrily.
"What happened?" Kelly asks curiously and my mother scolds her.
"They betrayed our trust, both family and professional". Marta explains.
Everyone tries to go back to how we were before, but the atmosphere was heavy. Liam was too serious next to me, eating his food in silence. They tried to pull something out of him by teasing him about our defeat, but he just laughed.
We stayed there a little longer and soon started packing up to leave. Everyone went ahead and we stayed behind.
"What happened Liam? Who were those people?" I asked, curious, wanting to know why he had stayed like that.