Celebration on Mackinac, Part 1

“Miiga! I have rumaki coming out of the oven in 2 minutes. I need you back here, please.” A harried but steadfast Marlene yelled up the back stairs to Miiga’s bedroom door.

Miiga shoved her white button down shirt, now drenched with sweat, under the bed and pulled out a crisp white one. Due in large part to the heat, but also the speed with which she was delivering hors d’oeuvres to the waiters outside, and washing glasses, she had soaked through her shirt and was feeling sticky and uncomfortable. Now, newly topped in a clean shirt, she hurried downstairs to help Marlene.

There were a number of people working this evening in addition to Marlene and Miiga. Stedley was there, as was Dolly, her friend from the Grand, and a couple of people that Marlene had brought in from the mainland. They had not worked the party two nights earlier; only Stedley had come to assist with the heavier lifting. Tonight, however, they were in full force.

The first party had been to celebrate the start of the Race to Mac. Mr. Grund had informed Marlene some weeks earlier that there would be a small gathering of about 20 people to celebrate the kick-off and then a larger, more formal party to celebrate the finish. Fortunately for Miiga, Dick had stocked his own bar, bringing in several cases of booze from the mainland, which meant that she didn’t have to traipse all the way down to the mercantile and drag several loads of bottles up, or worse, call a taxi. When the drivers saw the Jamaicans hop on, they were especially hostile.

Two nights ago had been a particularly lively, if much smaller party. Mrs. Grund had moved over to the other house for the weekend, not wanting to experience the excess that Mac revelers would hit, and Mr. Grund had seen that as an opportunity to invite his more raucous friends. Marlene had been instructed simply to send in food and keep it coming, so she had opted for a menu of bar treats: chicken wings, nachos, corned beef and pastrami sandwiches, and seasoned popcorn.

Although there were only twenty men at the party, and they confined themselves for the most part to the family room, there was a considerable amount of rabble-rousing, and it was all Miiga could do to stem the tide of the mess they created. Each time she and Stedley brought in another couple of tray of food, they ended up spending time collecting empty glasses or cleaning up spilled drinks or dropped food. And there was always a special order from one of them, “Hey!” they would call out to her. “You got any beer nuts out there?” Or perhaps, “Hey, honey, how ‘bout some more of those wings, and this time, make it hot.” They’d all giggle like schoolgirls, as if they had said something in code that only they could understand. Then things got a little out of hand.

It wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. She was a big girl and back home, during the tourist season she had seen worse, but it was still annoying. She had just set down a plate of sandwiches and was gathering up a collection of beer bottles to take directly to the recycling bins outside, when she saw Mr. Grund follow behind her. She waved him off when he backed her into the rear house siding and told her how beautiful she was. She was even flattered a little, but she could see he was very drunk. When he put his hands on her hips and tried to slide them up to her breasts, she ducked under his arms and ran up the stairs, just as Marlene was tearing down them.

“What the Hell is going on here?” Marlene nearly ran her over as they met in the middle. Mr. Grund was giggling below them. Marlene practically dragged her into the house. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Marlene. Mr. Grund, he drunk. I t’ink he was trying to kiss me,” she smiled. “But I got away. I bet he don’t even remember it in da morning.”

“Did he hurt you in any way? Did he touch you anywhere, you know, inappropriate?” Her voice was rushed and her eyes were racing over Miiga as if she were looking for scampering fleas.

“No, he just, he drunk, Marlene. I’m fine.”

“Well, you are staying in the kitchen with me from now on. I don’t ever want to see you bring anything to Mr. Grund again, unless I am right there. Do you understand me?”

“It was nothing,” said Miiga, surprised at Marlene’s concern over such a small thing. “It’s a lot worse than dat back home sometime. Dey get so drunk, dey don’t know what dey doing.”

“No, you listen to me. It is a very big deal and that man ought never to touch you. Never. You didn’t answer my question, so I’m going to ask it again” she said, grabbing Miiga’s shoulders and squaring her face even with Marlene’s. “DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? You are not to bring Mr. Grund anything unless I am right there.”

“I don’t think . . .”

“DO. YOU. UNDERSTAND?”

“Yes,” said Miiga, though she did not know what the big deal was about. Mr. Grund was drunk and she and Marlene were the only two women around last night. Truth be told, she was a little flattered to get the attention.

But Marlene had gone crazy. For the rest of the night she had to stay in the kitchen and Marlene brought the food to the boys. When she went out to clear the empties, Marlene was right behind her. The men were less apt to giggle or make sexual references when Marlene was around, though Miiga could still hear them giggling when they came back.

Tonight, she was back in the kitchen with Marlene. Stedley and the other servers were working the front of the house. It was certainly not as lively as passing wine and appetizers amidst the crowd, but she got a chance to watch the party goings-on from the kitchen, which she had never done before.

Tonight’s party was much bigger and louder, and it included women and men, all of whom were there for a rousing good time. Besides the voice of Frank Sinatra streaming through the loudspeakers that Stedley had set up for the back yard, the atmosphere of the guests was clearly celebratory. From what Miiga could gather, Mr. Grund’s boat had done well in the race and people were congratulating him and toasting him with great speeches and lots of laughter. She could see through the kitchen window that Stedley and another gentleman Miiga did not recognize were working the bar with the speed of cheetahs, and they had two runners filling his tubs with ice and restocking the booze.

Because of Stedley’s longstanding position at the Jockey Club, he had a reputation as a top shelf bartender and everyone in town clamored for him to work their parties. It had become a bidding war of sorts and Stedley typically worked for the highest bidder. This was the first year he had worked for the Grunds, which Miiga thought was peculiar, since most years Stedley would later tell Miiga that the Grunds were only willing to pay minimum wage.

Stedley had arrived early to set up the bar and Marlene had asked her to help him. It was nice to work side-by-side, which they had never done before. At one point before the guests arrived, he took her aside for a short walk. She was afraid that Marlene, somewhat of a taskmaster during parties, would get upset, but in fact, Marlene seemed to encourage the brief respite.

“You know I love you, Miiga. You know that right?”

“Yeah, Stedley. Why you ask dat?”

“I just want you to know.”

“I know.”

“You do what Marlene says tonight. It’s going to be a big party and I don’t want you to get lost.”

Miiga laughed. Lost? But she held her tongue. Old people said strange things sometimes. She knew he was just trying to protect her.

“2am you and me go to the dome to sleep. The party still going on here, but you need to sleep cuz you have to clean back here early.”

Miiga wanted nothing more than to get a good night’s sleep. Last year, she had worked until 4am and then at 7:30am Marlene had gotten her up to start cleaning and helping her with breakfast for all the guests who stayed overnight. Even a few extra quiet hours would have been welcome, but she knew Marlene would never go for her staying over at the dome.

“I can’t go, Stedley.”

“Yes, I cleared it with Marlene. You can go. You need to sleep.”

That news and had given her a little boost the entire night. Now that the party was underway, she barely looked at the clock, but she knew in the back of her mind that Stedley would come get her when it was time to go. In some ways, it wasn’t the lack of sleep that was the worst, it was the end-of-party dregs that she bore witness to that made her uneasy. By 2 or 3 am, only the die-hards remained, and despite the fact that they were adults who should have known better in all respects, they continued to drink, which gave rise to all manner of unsavory results.

Last year, Miiga had been forced to wash down vomit from the back stairs and wipe it from the creases of the leather couch in the family room. She had walked in on a couple going at it in the garage. She had even had to clean human feces from the backyard. While she knew those things might still await her after tonight’s revelries, she could face it with a good night’s sleep.

Miiga plated the rumaki that Marlene handed her, and got it ready for the wait staff to take downstairs. Then, shrimp puffs, pigs-in-blankets, skewered chicken with peanut sauce, crab cakes, and meatballs with tomato dipping sauce. In between, she refilled bowls with tortilla chips and guacamole, pretzels, peanuts, popcorn and the like. She stationed herself at the counter closest to the back door so she could hand the staff the trays and refilled containers as they came through the door. It also allowed her to peer out over the party and watch the goings-on. Though she knew he could not see her, it comforted her to know Stedley was below, mixing drinks and keeping order.

From time to time, a guest would come through the house in search of a bathroom and Marlene would direct then accordingly. Mr. Grund stumbled through a number of times, too, typically with a guest in tow. On his last visit, he rummaged through the kitchen cabinets in search of Pepto, complaining of a stomach ache. No wonder, thought Miiga, with all the food and alcohol he had been consuming throughout the night. He was so careless that he knocked over Mrs. Grund’s tea canister and her boudha bleu tea spilled onto the counters and the floor. There would be a fight tomorrow, Miiga knew. At one point, Mr Grund had been completely doubled-over and complaining, so Marlene had taken him upstairs to help him find something for his stomach. She hadn’t seen him back in the kitchen since, so he must have gotten what he wanted. Marlene had come downstairs complaining that he always needed her when she could least expend any time.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was not like the parties Miiga was accustomed to in Jamaica, where there was dancing and little children and lots of food – much more food, in fact, than alcohol -- but most everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. From time to time, she saw people walk past the hanging wisteria and into the far corners of the backyard, which were further obstructed by rosemary bushes and other plants, such that you couldn’t see what was going on. She sometimes snuck bak there herself, spread a blanket on the ground, and read or wrote letters to her father. When she had only an hour or so before she had to be on duty, it was a quiet place to get away from things.

She hoped that no one would vomit in her secret spot, but given the looks of things, they weren’t going in there to be sick. Sometimes she only saw them come out. It made her laugh to herself. For the most part, they were coupled up, likely looking for a private place to neck, but not all of them came and went in deuces, and not all of the deuces were man and woman. She saw Mr. Walker duck behind some bushes with a canvas boat bag in his hands, but she didn’t see him come out. She also saw another man, who seemed to be looking for someone, disappear into the bushes, but he came out rather quickly, still alone, as if he hadn’t found what he was looking for. She noticed him because he was the only person at the party wearing a short sleeved shirt and tie combination and he stuck out a little.

As it got later, the food deliveries came less frequently and although the party did not become more subdued, the wall-to-wall bodies thinned out and the staff was able to manager the crowd. It was close to 1am and still there were about 50 people in the crowd downstairs and a few in the family room. Miiga had gotten a good start on the kitchen dishes and Marlene had gone downstairs to help Stedley set up a self-serve bar, which would allow him to take Miiga home.

After bringing up the last box of hard liquor and storing it in the den, leaving only sodas and wine at the self-service bar, Stedley came to get her. It was her custom to say goodnight to the man and woman of the house, but she couldn’t find Mr. Grund so she asked Marlene to tell him that she was leaving.

“See you tomorrow. Let’s say around 8:30am?” said Marlene.
“Oh, but Mr. Grund, Marlene. Don’t you t’ink he’ll be wantin’ us to get started on da cleaning?” asked Miiga. She was only too happy to get the extra ½ hour, but she wanted to be sure.

“I’ll take care of bringing him his breakfast. He wasn’t feeling well and you saw how much he drank. I don’t think 8:30 is too late, Miiga. Enjoy the sleep.”

Miiga and Stedley left. On the way, Stedley reached into his pocket and handed Miiga a wad of bills.

“Here, this is your cut,” lilly Miiga.

“What cut? I don’t need no cut.”

“No, you get some, too. Marlene, too.”

Miiga looked at the cash in the moonlight. It was 70 or more dollars. She handed it back to Stedley.

“Here, you buy at da outlets for me, Stedley. Let’s save it for dat.” She gave him back the money, knowing it would be safe with him. Besides, it was a windfall she wasn’t expecting.

“Miiga. You get a check-up when you’re here.”

“Stedley, Dwan need no doctor. I’m fine.”

“Miiga, Duppy come last night. He say you get a check-up.”

Miiga had never seen a duppy, but she knew it was the ghost of someone recently dead. Though he didn’t specify, the fact that he asked her to go to the doctor could only mean it was her mother. She wondered if Jujee’s bag being lost was a premonition for her.

“OK, I go if you go wit’ me.”

“Yah.”

They walked on together in silence, Miiga enjoying the company of her uncle, and the fact that she did not have to stay at the Grund’s tonight. When they got to the dome, a few people were up, having also returned from a hard evening’s work. They were mostly restaurant folks. The bars would be open another hour and then there would be clean-up, so others weren’t expected for some time. One of the women had made a bed on the floor of her room for Miiga. After a few minutes of conversation and some ginger beer, Miiga trotted off to bed.

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