The Human Canvas, Part 3: The Party

Tommy notices that Martin is grinning and fidgeting like a man possessed when he picks Martin up on the way to Mary’s party.

“Tommy, do you have any idea who she is?” Martin asks, knowing quite well already that he’ll get to explain what he means.

“No? You mean Mary?”

“Yes Mary! I tried typing in her name, ‘Marilena’, just kind of guessing at the spelling, and there was only one name that popped up: Marilena Trombitas. Fuckin’ Mary Trumpets!” Martin says. Tommy keeps his eyes on the road, but he furrows his brow.

“I don’t know who the fuck you’re talking about.”

“Okay, her name isn’t ‘Mary Trumpets’, but that’s what ‘Trombitas’ means. So like, have you ever heard of The Watcher & the Leviathan?”

That manages to ring a bell. “That’s a movie that’s coming out soon, right? The one with the dragons and zombies or something. I’ve only seen the commercials for it.”

“Well, I...I mean sure, yes. It’s based on the book with the same name, written by one Marilena Trombitas. That must have been what the tattoo on her back was for.” Martin thinks back to the large black and gray picture of dragons with what must have been the original Romanian of the title. He’s also thinking about her body and how it’s only nineteen years old.

“Oh, no shit. I was wondering how she had a friggin’ house in the hills. I thought maybe she lived with rich parents.”

Martin’s excited. “This could be a hell of a party, y’know. Oh shit.” He just now remembers that it’s a birthday party. “Shit, should we have gotten her a present?”

“What?” Tommy takes a moment to look at Martin, filling his need to make sure that the comedian’s being serious. “We just met her. I think she’ll forgive us if we don’t bring her a gift. I really don’t think everyone is going to get her something. I mean, do you think Landon and Tess have a present for her?”

Now that Martin thinks about it, it doesn’t seem likely. To Tess, Mary can’t be much more than sort of, kind of an employee. “I don’t know. I just realized, though, why does she do modeling if she has all this book and movie money at this point? You would think she’d spend her time writing the next bestselling novel.”

“I hadn’t even thought about that. I don’t think it takes all of your time to write a book, though. Maybe she models because it’s fun. She’s certainly got the body for it.” For a moment Martin wants to stretch over and bite Tommy’s arm, growling and tearing at him for thinking that he can edge in on Martin’s mentally claimed nubile territory.

“I agree,” he says instead.

The house Tommy eventually pulls up to is gated, two stories, and a beautiful example of the modern usage of glass to really open up the first floor. Plenty of cars are in the driveway, so Martin’s question of whether or not this would be an intimate affair is answered quickly. Several large flagstone platforms make up the steps to the front door.

At first, both of the men are wondering why the house is so dimly lit. The walkway is dark, and the house barely glows at the end. When they get to front door, it becomes clear that the real party is out back by the pool. A horde of strange teenagers in all manner of dress are crowded around Mary’s pool, and the doors are open at the front and back of the house to channel new guests toward the old ones.

As Martin and Tommy pass through the house, a familiar voice calls to them from off to the left. Off in the western wing of the house, Landon and Tess are chatting with Herb and an unfamiliar man with a very round head. Upon getting closer, Martin realizes that this new man plus Herb, Landon, and Tommy are all of a similar height, that is to say several inches taller. He’s never felt so short. Assholes.

“Tommy, Martin,” Landon begins, “you guys know Herb and Tess.”

“Hi,” Martin says.

“Hey,” says Tommy.

“And this is my friend Jebediah,” Herb introduces the unfamiliar man. “He’s visiting for a bit just to see the big city.” Jebediah is carrying a small memo pad and a pen in his left hand, and Martin notices it while shaking the other.

“What’s that for?” he asks. “Are you a reporter or something?” Jeb laughs and looks to Herb.

“Ah, no. Jebediah is mute, actually,” he clarifies. “He carries the pad around for communication.”

Martin is genuinely surprised. “Huh.” He turns to Tess. “Where’s the birthday girl?”

“Out by the pool, I believe.”

“Ah, then excuse me while I go give her my regards.” Martin leaves Tommy with the rest of the familiar faces and ventures off in search of Mary. On the way he spies a table with punch and snacks, and realizing he’s famished, he grabs a cup of the sugary drink and a few finger sandwiches.

“Enjoying the spread?” Martin turns around with a sandwich pressed halfway into his mouth to see Mary in a shimmering silvery white dress with her hands on her hips. He decides against pulling the sandwich back out of his mouth and takes a large bite. Then he nods. “I’m happy you came,” she says, and Mary proceeds to give him a hug made awkward by the food and drink in his hands. “I wasn’t sure if you and Tom would come on such short notice.”

Martin just manages to finish chewing and swallow. “Hell, it’s not like we’ve got anything better to do. If it weren’t for this we’d probably be stabbing people at night clubs.”

Mary laughs. “Tess told me you were a comedian. I guess that makes sense.”

“Yeah, well the Internet told me that you’re friggin’ Marilena Trombitas. I had no idea until I got home earlier.” Mary shrugs. “I never realized you were so young.”

“Does it matter?” she asks coyly. Her accent creeps back in at the end of the question, but Martin’s comforted to know that it is most assuredly Romanian.

“Matter? Depends on the context. It’s really just impressive. Pretty accomplished for not even being twenty.” Martin can only wish he’d followed a career path with more opportunity to get lucky and become famous. As it is, he’s only really known around the city, and even that might be a bit generous.

“Well, storytelling is my passion. You don’t have to go to college or be a genius to create a good story,” she says.

“So,” Martin says, “you’re dumb?”

“No!” she insists, “I am not dumb. I am just uneducated. There is a difference, Mr. Avery.”

“Ha.” Martin smiles. “Thank you for enlightening me, then. You’ve made me a better person.”

“Mmm, and if you ever feel like returning the favor, perhaps you can teach me a thing or two.” A young blonde Romanian girl writes a bestselling novel that gets turned into a highly anticipated movie, makes millions of dollars, inks up her body, and then she giggles after delivering innuendo to a shaggy-haired, unshaven comedian who Martin suspects just might be him if he thought about it a bit more. Yup. This is happening.

Martin takes a deep breath and focuses on not showing the surprise on his face. “Sure, you just let me know what I can help you with.”

“I will, I will. Come, let’s go see what Tess and her friends are up to.” As Mary walks past Martin, back toward the house, he sees that the back of her dress is non-existent from the waist up. He grabs another sandwich and follows closely behind her.

Back inside the house, the group Martin left has largely dispersed. He spies Tommy sitting on a couch with a dark-haired girl who looks to be not much older than Mary. She seems fascinated by something Tommy’s saying, and he’s looking very confident. Interesting. Landon is off entertaining Herb and some other party guests with one of his stories, so Tess is left to slowly communicate with Jebediah. From the look on Tess’s face, Jebediah has just written down something especially funny.

“You found her! Very good,” Tess condescends. Martin scowls at her.

“He is an astute navigator, that Martin,” Mary says. There seems to be some subtext in the exchange that Martin can’t quite tune into. “Is everything alright in here? Are you sure you guys don’t want any snacks?”

“No, that’s fine. Landon and I ate dinner before we came.” At the mention of food, Martin takes a bite of one of his sandwiches.

“Oh, good! I’m going to go say hello to Tom. Excuse me,” Mary says, and she begins walking to the couch.

“Who’s he talking to?” Martin asks.

“I’m not sure. Half the people around here seem like babies to me, and we’re hardly older than they are. Tom may want to get a look at her identification before he tries anything unsavory,” Tess suggests.

“Yikes.” Martin looks around at the sea of jailbait. He hadn’t considered how many of them might be underaged. Thank goodness for nineteen-year-olds. Martin looks at Mary playing the chipper hostess with Tom and his new lady friend.

“And don’t try anything with Mary.” Martin’s heart sinks.

“What are you talking about?” He realizes now that he’s still staring at her, so he looks back to Tess. Smooth.

“I know she’s beautiful, Martin, but she’s young, she’s new to the country, and she’s vulnerable. I have doubts about your ability to handle that with the proper delicacy.”

“What? How do you know she needs someone delicate? I get the feeling that she can handle herself pretty well.” Martin remembers that Jebediah is standing there as well. “What do you think?”

Jebediah quickly scribbles something out on his pad and holds it up facing Martin. “Dude, go for it.” Martin laughs maniacally.

“See? Jeb knows what I’m talking about.” He raises his hand for a high five. When Jebediah hesitates by only slightly raising his hand, Martin winds up and connects with it, causing a pronounced slap to fill the area. Jebediah winces.

Tess shakes her head at him, but Jebediah only shrugs.

As the night wears on, much of the younger crowd filters out. Tommy remains firmly planted on his couch cushion. At some point he and the dark-haired girl started making out in front of everyone, much to Martin’s disgust. Granted, they were not in the center of the room under a spotlight, but somehow even Martin found it disrespectful. All he’s managed to do is get a few of the kids interested in seeing him do a show, even though he’s not a big fan of networking. The flirting with Mary has continued, sure, but it has yet to be fruitful. Tess and company apparently decided to go to bed, which Martin didn’t even realize was an option. He’s confused as to why they didn’t just drive home.

As Mary sees people out the door, Martin leans against a wall far away from Tommy, but with line of sight maintained so he can stare at him with hatred in his eyes. When the last few guests have left, Mary joins him in his lean, though not until after she’s looked with confusion at the spectacle taking place on her couch.

“Did the others go to bed?” she asks him.

“Yeah, I guess.” Martin looks to the bedroom doors down the hallway. “I’m not sure why they didn’t just go home.”

“Probably didn’t want to drink and drive.” When Mary sees that he’s confused, she says, “I saw them sneaking pours from a flask into their punch.”

Martin’s face suddenly loses all expression. “Are you shitting me? Son of a bitch. I figured I could live through a dry party if the hostess is underaged, and those assholes are sneaking in booze.” He growls.

“Aw, so you didn’t have a good time tonight?” The disappointment is so playful that Martin almost doesn’t want to play along.

“Sure, I had a good time. It just seems like Tommy got to have a slightly better time. Makes me look at myself, y’know?” Mary looks on sympathetically. “Have I made some wrong decisions in my life? Maybe I should have staked out the couch as my personal bone zone.”

“You know, there are other couches,” she says, reaching her hand in front of Martin and placing it on his crotch. Martin jumps away from the wall reflexively, his brain flooded with doubt. Mary pushes away from the wall. “What?”

“I...” He thinks back to what Tess said, and it keeps ringing in his ears, especially the word “vulnerable”. As much as he was hoping to ignore Tess’s warning, “vulnerable” is on a deeply engrained list of words in Martin’s head that indicate a partial retreat is in order. “I just don’t know if this is right. Honestly, I’m not sure what you see in me right now. We just met.”

“That’s okay. There’s plenty of time for us to get to know each other.” Oh god. Martin’s defenses are weakening.

“I’m sorry, Mary, really. You’re gorgeous, okay, but we should go about this with all the caution we can afford, right? No need to rush things. I think I ought to get going.” Martin turns on his heel to leave, and he’s met with the sight of an empty couch. Tommy was his ride. Hmm.

“Martin, you can just spend the night here. It’s fine! You don’t need to worry so much.” Rather than desperate, Mary is sounding resolute, determined. Logical.

“And where am I gonna sleep, your bed?” Martin says, laughing it off.

“Sure, you can sleep in my bed,” Mary says. “After we’re done fucking.”

She presents her hand for Martin to take, but his heart is beating too loudly for him to see properly. Mary finally gives up on waiting for him, takes his hand in hers, and leads him off to her bedroom.