Marlo And Joe: Wedding Crashers

Marlo and Joe

  Wedding Crashers

  By Skyler Temporal

  Copyright Skyler Temporal 2012-2014

  Marlo and Joe

  Wedding Crashers

  By Skyler Temporal

  Cover Illustration by Amado Temporal

  Tempfield Press

  ©2012 by Tempfield press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, without the prior written permission of Tempfield Press.

  Tempfield Press

  P.O. Box 2511, Castro Valley CA 94578

  [email protected]

  I dedicate this book to my mom for all of her editing, my dad for the cover illustration and my grandfather for giving me the story idea from his many stories. I appreciate all of your help. And thank you to everyone who supported me. I hope you all enjoy this book.

 

  Chapter 1

  “This weekend is going to be so boring,” Marlo grumbled while he and his cousin Joe were walking home from school. They were talking about Joe’s, sister’s wedding this weekend. They weren’t exactly enthusiastic about sitting through it, but it was Joe’s sister and they had to go.

  “Let’s look on the bright side, after the ceremony we can go to a big building for the reception and-”

  “What’s so great about a big, dumb building?” Marlo asked grumpily, cutting off Joe’s words.

  “If you let me finish,” Joe drawled, frowning at Marlo. “There will be an all you can eat buffet. That’s what my mom told me. And it’s all free!”

  “Free?” Marlo repeated, now very enthusiastic. Joe knew that would get Marlo’s attention. It had certainly gotten his. For a skinny kid, Marlo loved to eat. “You mean, we can eat as much as we want?”

  “Yep,” Joe smiled.

  “Maybe this won’t be so bad after all,” Marlo smiled back.

  “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t you spend the night at my house tonight?” Joe asked.

  “That’s a good idea,” Marlo agreed. “Maybe, we can find out what kinds of foods will be served and, put together a plan of attack to get as much of our favorites as we want.”

  “Sounds like a plan!” Joe smiled. Joe and Marlo gave each other a fist bump as agreement. They continued on home trying to guess what different dishes were likely to be served.

  When the boys got to the block before Marlo’s house they parted ways. They only lived a couple of blocks away from each other. They agreed to try and persuade their mothers to let Marlo spend the night at Joe’s house.

  Chapter 2

  When Marlo got home he asked his mother, Mary, if he could spend the night at Joe’s house.

  “Sure. I don’t mind as long as your Aunt Catherine doesn’t mind,” she said. “Go put your things away while I call her.”

  Marlo was surprised she had agreed so easily. He had been all prepared to beg and plead. He sure hoped Aunt Catherine was this agreeable.

  Marlo tried to wait patiently while his mother called her sister. She was on the phone for a good ten minutes. Every minute seemed like an hour. But, since his mother had agreed so easily, he knew it would be wise to just be patient. So, he cleaned his room and vacuumed the floor while he waited. He’d just gone down to the kitchen to munch on some trail mix when she finally hung up. He heard his mother coming to the kitchen and tried to act casual, as if, he wasn’t about to fall out from waiting.

  “Marlo, I talked to Catherine and she agreed to let you spend the night. I’ll bring your suit and everything you need for the wedding. Pack yourself some pajamas and your tooth brush,” his mother said.

  “Yes!” Marlo said with a burst of joy, and clapped his hands together. Mission accomplished, he thought as he jumped up from the table and headed to his room. Once his bag was packed, they were out the door before you could say pie.

  Of course, Marlo and his mother walked to Joe’s, house. Marlo’s mom was big on exercise. But, since Joe only lived a few blocks away, Marlo didn’t mind, and they got there pretty fast. Besides, he was just happy his mom and his aunt had agreed to let him spend the night at Joe’s.

  When they arrived, Joe met them at the door, equally excited that Marlo was spending the night. They were going to have a load of fun. Their mothers went to the kitchen to talk about the wedding while Marlo and Joe headed to Joe’s room to watch television and play with toys. It seemed the women never got enough of talking about the stupid wedding.

  “That’s a great idea. That will keep the boys busy and out of trouble,” they heard the two sisters saying as Mary was preparing to leave. She called the boys down to say goodnight.

  “Now you behave, and help your Aunt Catherine, ok?” She said to Marlo. He agreed. She gave both boys a hug and a kiss, then left.

  “I don’t want you guys up too late, you hear?” Aunt Catherine said.

  “Ok, mom. We hear,” Joe replied.

  “Ok, Aunt Catherine,” Marlo said.

  They headed back up to Joe’s room and spent two hours watching the cartoon channel. They loved cartoons, even though, they were getting too old to watch them. But, they figured it was still ok as long as none of their friends found out.

  They were watching their favorite cartoon about transforming robots when they just had to get up and act out the scenes. Soon, the boys were up bounding around the room, in a pretend battle acting as their favorite characters.

  “One shall rise, one shall fall,” Joe boomed in a deep menacing voice holding up a clothes hanger like a saber.

  “Then I will rise Prime robot, because you still fight for the weak!” Marlo returned, also in a deep threatening voice and leaped off the bed towards Joe. The boys were rolling around, wrestling on the floor when Aunt Catherine came in.

  “That sounds like bed time to me,” she said, shaking her head and laughing at them. “The battle is over. We’ll call it a draw. You two turn the television off, brush your teeth and get ready for bed.”

  “Yes, mom,” Joe ducked his head sheepishly.

  “Yes, Aunt Catherine,” Marlo said doing the same. They weren’t nearly done with their battle, but they knew that her word was final. And arguing would land them in trouble.

  When they were ready for bed Amanda, Joe’s sister, came in Joe’s room. Amanda was the one getting married tomorrow.

  “Hi Amanda,” Marlo and Joe greeted her.

  “Hi, yourselves. Now, you two listen to me,” She said firmly but kindly. “I don’t want you ruining my wedding day tomorrow, so please, stay out of trouble.”

  “Amanda, why would we try to ruin your wedding?” Joe asked offended.

  Amanda sighed, softening a little. “I know you wouldn’t try to ruin my wedding. I just want you to try not to ruin it. You guys are always ruining something. You two put together are like lightning and thunder, always causing a commotion. Just stay out of trouble, please?”

  “Ok Amanda, we’ll try,” Joe replied.

  “Thanks. Night Joe. Night Marlo,” she said softly. They said good night and she walked out of the room. They climbed into the twin beds in Joe’s room. Even though they were cousins, they were as close as brothers. They each had their own bed at the others house. It had been that way as long as they could remember. And, they’d always spent most of their time together.

  After climbing into bed, they talked for about an hour, planning the best way to approach the buffet. They decided they were going to start with dessert first. Eventually, they fell asleep and were snoring as loud as boulders during an avalanche.

  Chapter 3

  The next morning, Aunt Catherine woke them up early. They both groaned but they got up. The weddi
ng was going to start at twelve thirty. Joe and Marlo ate breakfast, got dressed, brushed their teeth, combed their hair, and were ready at ten thirty. So, to pass the time they sat and watched in fascination as Amanda ran around like a crazy person, complaining and worrying about everything. The boys thought she was actually more entertaining than cartoons at the moment.

  First, something was not correct with her dress. Next, she couldn’t find the make-up she wanted. Then, she kept having her mom change her hairstyle. It was one thing after another. Amanda even fussed at her parents, as if they weren’t trying to do everything they could to please her and still get themselves ready. The boys couldn’t understand why she was acting so crazy. It was just a wedding. Aunt Catherine just kept saying, “Amanda, honey, you need to calm down. It is not the end of the world. Everything will be fine.”

  When they were all finally ready to go, they got in the car and left. The church was only a few miles away, so they arrived in no time. For once, Marlo and Joe were happy to be at church and out of the car. Amanda’s constant blabbering was driving them nuts. Amanda had moved on to worrying about the time, then the bridesmaids and who knew what else. Half of what Amanda was saying Marlo and Joe did not even understand. They were just tired of hearing her voice. She definitely wasn’t entertaining anymore. Amanda and her mom had been talking about this day for a long time. Now that it was finally here, Amanda had gone crazy.

  “Alright, Amanda lets go get ready,” Joe’s mom ordered.

  “But mom, what about Joe and Marlo?” Amanda whined. The boys knew she was worried about who was going to be watching them.

  “Don’t you worry about the boys. Thing One and Thing Two will be occupied. They are going to be ushers,” Catherine replied.

  Joe and Marlo looked at each other. They didn’t know whether to be irritated about being called ‘Thing One and thing Two,’ or about being volunteered to work as ushers. Whenever someone referred to Marlo and Joe as ‘Thing One and Thing Two,’ they were talking about keeping them out of trouble, or discussing some trouble they’d already gotten into. But, they had already been warned to be on their best behavior. Besides, it was a boring wedding. What trouble could they possibly get into?

  “Hey mom, why do we have to be ushers?” Joe complained to his mother. He was preparing to try and talk his way out of the job but his mother wasn’t listening.

  “Hold on Joe, let me get your sister settled,” she replied. Then, she took Amanda into the back of the church and handed her off to Aunt Catherine for last minute preparations. When she came back out a few moments later, she explained what they were expected to do.

  “Now, all you boys need to do is stand by the door, smile, and greet the guests. Then, help them to a seat.” The boys agreed grudgingly that was easy enough. Maybe being an usher wouldn’t be so bad. Then, the guests started to arrive.

  Chapter 4

  Marlo and Joe found themselves quite busy rushing around greeting everyone and directing people in all directions. They smiled and greeted the guests, then walked them to a seat. Then, they rushed back to the doors to greet the next guests. Up and down the aisle they went, over and over again. When everyone was finally seated, both of the boys fell into their seats next to their parents exhausted.

  Now came the boring part. They had to sit through the ceremony. At first, they were just happy to be off of their feet. There were a lot of people they’d had to greet and seat. But soon, the ceremony seemed to drag on forever, and the boys were getting restless. People had to talk and talk, and others sang on and on. Then, they had to watch Amanda and her new husband say their vows. They agreed Amanda actually looked really pretty, but that didn’t mean they needed to sit and stare at her so long. Whenever they started fidgeting or whispering to each other, one or both of their mothers would give them “the look.” Finally, it seemed like things were wrapping up and the end was near.

  “Ewe,” both Marlo and Joe said, scrunching up their noses when Amanda’s new husband kissed her on the lips.

  “Right now, let’s agree not to ever like girls or ever get married,” Marlo said, still frowning in disgust.

  “Agreed,” Joe replied still frowning and looking grossed out.

  Chapter 5

  After the ceremony and the family pictures were taken, Marlo’s mother whisked the two boys away to the reception building so they could help their older cousins, Emilio and Carmelo, finish setting up before the guests arrived. The reception hall was a huge building.

  “Mom, what do we need to do?” Joe asked.

  “You need to do whatever Emilio and Carmelo need you to do, so listen to them. And no goofing off you two!” she commanded sternly. With that parting command, they got out and went inside the building. It was huge.

  “Wow, it’s larger than my backyard,” Marlo said as he walked in looking around. They were looking around exploring the big room. They’d just started to play tag when they suddenly heard a voice.

  “Ah, little cousins, how are you?” Emilio asked.

  “I’m doing well,” Joe replied trying to sound as grown up as Emilio.

  “Hi Emilio,” Marlo said.

  “So, you two will be helping me and my brother set up the reception, Ok?” Both boys nodded in response.

  “I will be checking on you boys from time to time. If you need help with something you can ask Carmelo or myself. But for now, wash your hands. Then, you can start putting the bread rolls into this basket and the sourdough loaves in this one.” He was holding up two baskets. “Now, don’t mix them up, please.”

  He placed the two baskets on the long table right outside the kitchen doors. Then, he walked back into the kitchen. The boys looked at the now empty table where the food would be laid out. There were empty trays on the table but no other food. But, the boys had no problem imagining all the good food that would fill the tables. The room was already filled with wonderful smells and they were getting hungry.

  “Mm, I can taste the food already,” Marlo said sniffing the air enjoying the yummy food smells drifting from the kitchen.

  “Me too,” Joe smiled back and they rubbed their hands together in anticipation.

  They washed their hands and then started their first task. At first, all was going well but, it didn’t take long before things went wrong. They started tasting the breads. They were hungry and there was tons of bread. Surely, a few of the loaves and rolls wouldn’t be missed. They were really good too, like fresh from the oven good. Then, they found that they could sort of have a sword fight with the bread loaves as long as they didn’t hit the breads together too hard. Before long they were prancing around outside the kitchen whooping and swinging around the bread loaves like swords.

  “Dios mio!” Emilio exclaimed in alarm when he came out to investigate all the noise.

  “Uh, oh,” Marlo and Joe said at the same time.

  “I said no goofing off!” Emilio growled through gritted teeth. Then he smacked his hand to his forehead in frustration.

  “What is Dios mio?” Joe whispered to Marlo.

  “Well, our mothers say mon Dieu. I think it means the same thing,” Marlo explained. “Basically, it means we are in deep trouble.”

  Emilio ordered them to clean up the bread mess they’d made. Then, he gave them a new task.

  “Let’s try rinsing off the lettuce, shall we?” He said trying to use a calm voice. Then, he demonstrated for them how he wanted them to rinse the lettuce. “Do you think you can do this?”

  Both boys nodded.

  “Now, I mean it you two, no playing around!” Emilio said sternly. Then he headed back into the kitchen.

  They really tried to stay focused on the job. And, this time they were making good progress. But, after a few minutes Marlo began to play with the salad heads. He pretended they were bodiless heads. Joe found it so funny he’d joined in before he knew it. They ran around pretending the heads of lettuce were frantically trying to find their bodies. Pieces of lettuce were flying everyw
here.

  “Ay caramba!” Carmelo shouted. “Emilio, you’d better get in here.”

  “Uh, oh,” Marlo and Joe said, again. “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “What is it now?” Emilio drawled entering the banquet hall. Emilio’s eyes widened then narrowed as he took in the scene. Lettuce leaves were all over the floor and hanging from the heads of lettuce. Carmelo shook his head and disappeared back into the kitchen.

  “We’re sorry,” Marlo said in a strange voice holding up a head of lettuce as if the lettuce head were talking to Emilio. “We were just looking for our bodies.”

  Joe was trying to contain himself and not burst into laughter. He didn’t think laughing would be a good idea right now. Then, he thought he saw the corner of Emilio’s mouth twitch, but he could have been wrong. Emilio cleared his throat then snatched the head of lettuce from Marlo.

  “I will do the salad.” He said in a low voice as if he were trying not to yell. “Clearly, you boys can’t handle a food job. You guys go out there and put out all of the chairs. And NO GOOFING OFF!”

  He glared at the boys for a moment while they bobbed their heads up and down in rapid agreement. Then, Emilio turned and went back into the kitchen.

  “I think we should have stayed at the church and taken more pictures,” Joe muttered.

  “Yeah me too,” Marlo agreed. But they went obediently out into the reception hall and started putting the chairs around the tables.

  Chapter 6

  Marlo and Joe attacked this job, determined to stay focused and do a good job. And, for I while, they were doing a great job of putting the proper number of chairs around each table. The chairs were stacked on rolling carts in a closet. There were so many chairs to put out and so many tables. But, they worked without complaint. They had gotten halfway through the hall when Marlo looked up and saw something he hadn’t seen when he had come in. Joe noticed him staring and looked up to see what he was looking at.

  A huge cake sat on a table in the far corner of the room. The table was covered with a crisp white cloth. For a moment, both boys just stood there staring at it in awe. They’d never seen anything like it. It was four layers tall and had lots of pretty designs on it. Suddenly, they both had humongous grins on their faces.