A party was a good idea. A lot had happened lately and everyone needed a little cheerful relaxation. Good food, good beer and decent music would help most everyone. There would always be the naysayer in any crowd to try and bring rain on everyone else’s enjoyment; my task was to simply not be that person. The women always wanted a celebration of some sort, even if it were simply a pot-luck dinner after church service we all had to get together and someone had to speak.

In Rulo, that someone was always me. I’m not sure why my words would matter more than anyone else’s; the only thing I’d really ever done of note was to buy a random winning lottery ticket after cheating on a woman who I loved. All things considered, I didn’t consider myself to be a preacher of enlightenment or truth.

Still, that was in my path today – I would make a short but motivational speech. I would also dress up for the part and try to act all stately. What made it worse was that, given the upcoming trips I had to make, I would be doing this a lot. I already had an appointment with our tailor to get the appropriate suits made, including formal tails for evening wear. Too many casual trail conversations with the Rabbi had led to my downfall there. Once he knew I intended to head to Washington and New York, he decided I needed to be decked out appropriately during those visits.

He was right in the overall scheme but that didn’t mean it made me happy. I did have to learn to play that game if I wanted to take care of these people, but I didn’t have to like it. So it was determined that I would practice here, there, and everywhere in between. I would be the perfect, well-heeled gentleman, in all the best attire, with all of the correct accoutrements. So much for my love of blue jeans and other rough 'n ready attire. To do what I wanted to do, I needed to present a persona, and it had to start now.

Still, today wasn’t full formal yet, so I wiggled around it a bit and decided to have one last good time. I’d wear my best ‘non-formal’ attire but still try to act stately and mature. I’d rather just get drunk, dance and then get laid; the order of those operations was negotiable and repeatable.

**** ****

Mouse was gone.

That woman who was glued to me since I got back had simply disappeared, without a peep. This was bizarre, she had been firmly attached to me and then she was gone. It’s not like I still didn’t have other people constantly orbiting around me, but I had been hoping for some delight a little later in the evening. I decided that she was simply getting dressed herself and that I would see her later.

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I took my seat at the head table as required and had a coffee and a small snack – yes it was sweet corn – but it was still just a snack. There was our makeshift band starting up and they actually had a small stage now. We had gained musicians from both the new immigrants and the new boatmen, which meant the sound was a little discordant again. Ok, our band wouldn’t be winning any Grammys or whatever in the future, but I did like both the pipe and fiddle sound; everything else was a mixture including spoons which were wooden and new to me, but nice. We had every type of string except the actual guitar, we even had a string bass of an odd sort. It was disjointed, but I knew that they’d figure it out as time passed, it was music and it was welcome.

The place was starting to crowd up and I had to step into my new role. I was still trying to figure out where Mouse had gone, when Sonya whispered in my ear. “Aunt Flo came to visit,” was all that she said.

Well hell, there went my night. Apparently, Mouse intended to hole up in her abode until her 'event' ended and with as young as she was there was no bet on how long that would last. I’d been through this with girls when I was that age. They could be out of service for almost a week sometimes. Fuck me running.

So I focused on practicing my political game and enjoying the environment. I’d get drunk later, but in the meantime, I paced my eating and drinking and chatted with everyone I ran into. I got up and mingled – seriously mingled.

Mingling and networking had never been and will never be something I enjoy. It was something that I had to get good at. Mary, of all people, joined me for half of my rounds; it was nice to have a well-dressed and well-mannered woman with me. It made all the conversations much easier, but it was also interesting to see that her eyes kept wandering towards one young man. Perhaps I’d escape her focus and be free of that onus that had been hanging over my head. Could this Mary problem actually be solved by someone other than me?

I couldn’t hope for a better result, and I was amused by her target. The poor Rabbi would never know what hit him. I felt it would be a good match, however. She needed religion and a stable man in her life, and he needed a dedicated woman. I just got lucky in that she had an eye for him. My job was simply to stay out of the way. I did interfere a little by sending her to ask him about helping to set up our school.

It was a bit devious, but it worked. They were talking for the rest of the evening.

I heaved a sigh of relief.