Played to Death Read Free Page A

teeth while he was playing. Then the grooms entered, both in white tuxes with pink cummerbunds, each on the arm of his pink-clad mother (according to the program). They walked down the aisles at the same time to meet in the front. One of the grooms - Graham, I supposed, since he was on the opposite side - was carrying a fluffy white dog. Good God.
    Pete whispered, “Is that a dog? ”
    “Think so.”
    Pete made a “pah” sound. The woman in front of us turned around and glared at him, but the glare was replaced by covetousness as she looked Pete over.
    I snickered.
    Both grooms and the minister were miked, so we could hear every word. And there were a shitload of words. The minister spoke first, sort of a celebration of marriage equality speech. Then each groom read a poem to his mother. Then the mothers were seated while the quartet played a selection. Then each groom recited a poem to the other, then the quartet played again. Then the minister talked more, then the grooms read prose selections to each other, then there was another piece from the quartet. And this cycle was repeated about three more times. By the time they got to the actual vows, I’d read the entire program twice and was making notes to myself on its blank back page about ideas for an article I was writing. Pete was studying the menu for the reception. I glanced at Scott a couple of times during the blather; his face was a carefully composed blank. I laughed to myself. Scott had an extremely low tolerance for this kind of thing. He must be going out of his mind.
    Finally, the minister pronounced the grooms married, and everyone cheered. The quartet played the recessional and the grooms walked back to the house. The minister invited everyone to have a seat under the tents for dinner and people got to their feet and started milling around. There weren’t place cards, thank God, so Pete and I snagged two seats at the outer edge of the nearest tent. We didn’t sit down immediately - we’d been sitting so long - and I realized the quartet had stopped playing. That was odd; I’d have thought that they’d be playing while people were moving. Maybe they were getting a break. I glanced in that direction, and saw that one of the violin players was missing. Scott was checking his watch, and there was a man talking to him and waving his arms.
    And then someone screamed.

 
    Scott
    The ceremony was a fucking hour and a half long. When it was finally over, the quartet played one more piece while the grooms walked back up the aisle. The wedding planner had told them they could have a ten-minute break after that before people began to sit for dinner. As soon as they finished the Allegro in D from Water Music - which made Scott grit his teeth again - the kids laid down their instruments and scattered. Scott stood up and stretched, looking around. There must be 400 people here.
    Stacy came right back and got settled, ready to play. Scott decided he liked her. They chatted about the Philharmonic for a few minutes. At ten minutes exactly, Brian reappeared, looking flushed.
    Stacy asked, “Where’s Elena?” Ah, so that was her name.
    Brian grunted. “Don’t know, don’t care.”
    At fourteen minutes, Elena still hadn’t appeared. Scott was about to send Stacy to look for her when the wedding planner scurried up. “Why aren’t you playing?”
    Scott indicated the empty chair. “We’re missing one.”
    The wedding planner was agitated. “Unacceptable! Can’t you play with three?”
    Scott looked at Stacy and Brian, who both shrugged. “Sure.”
    And then someone screamed.

 
    Jamie
    The scream had come from our right, behind the tents, in the direction of the house. Pete said, “Stay put. I’ll be right back.” He slipped out the back of our tent and disappeared. Pete had been out of LAPD for eight years, but he still couldn’t help responding to emergencies. I decided to sit down. It was getting warm, so I hung my suit jacket over Pete’s seat.
    The