The Heyday of !he Insensitive Bas!lll'ds
of what was completely wrong with us and couldn't be fixed. It made me hate the sight of her and also seek her out. "You want to get married?" I asked right then. I still had the ring I'd found with the metal detector. It was in my pocket. Her head swiveled around. A glare from the girl in the panties. She went back to the blood. "I guess," she said. A ssignment 8: Emotional Support obscured the fact that the dogs had gone out one night and not come back. Clete's faith in their intelligence kept him from worrying initially. Then we were busy setting up a ceremony. Lila, I discovered, got checks general delivery from her parents. She paid for the license and the justice of the peace, who did the official business, but I asked Clete to say some words. "We are gathered here to unite in marriage Lila and Keen," Clete began. "Others may be seated." Stu and the justice of the peace sat down. "Anytime people gather to witness the joining of man and woman in wedlock," Clete said, "certain questions come to mind. A: What do we know about these people? B: Why have they decided to make this commitment of a lifetime? C: How in this age of divorce have they found the courage to make the leap of faith it takes to marry?" He paused, as if to field answers. No one raised a hand. "A: About the bride and groom, we know nothing. We may know details of their lives, but none of us knows what lies in their hearts. This marriage is a pledge of each to the other, that he or she will plumb the depths of her or his heart. We do not marry because we know the other. We marry because we desire to know the other. "B: Also a mystery. The commitment is the function of marriage, not a prerequisite. Let's zero-in twenty, thirty, or, health-permitting, fifty years from now. These two will have discovered their answer. For the moment, theirs is not to wonder why but to answer the wild demands of their hearts and loins. "C: More mystery. Consider that the bride didn't know the groom until two months ago. Consider that the groom's behavior over the summer has been less than ideal. Consider, too, that both the bride and groom are dropouts and unemployed. You might think it's an absolutely stupid time for them to marry." He paused. "But the problem with 'why' is that love knows no why. Love knows only 'yes.' Only 'I must.' Only 'this is and must continue to be.' O nly 'now.' If Romeo and Juliet had been willing to put things off a bit, they could have run off successfully. They were stupid not to. Yet their love wouldn't have been the great thing it was. Is it better to die for a great love than to live in a T HE WEDDING
Summer 2005
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