A Wonderful Caricature of Intimacy; A Tale of Past Lovers

Chapter 37

“Oh come on. You know it won’t be that bad.” I said as I parked the car.

“I don’t know why I agreed to this.” Brendon mumbled.

“Well you had nothing else to do today, and you’ve been stuck in Chicago with me since tour ended. Come on, I won’t be able to be with you for like two weeks. That’s gonna be so hard.” I said as I turned off the car and looked at him.

“I know, but you told me stories about them. I’m scared on how they will evaluate me. I’m gonna feel…”

“…Fine. I know you will. I’ll be right here next to you. Just don’t say something stupid like you always do.”

“Always do?”
“Well you say crazy nonsense sometimes, and they’ll think I’m dating a nutcase which I am sometimes.”

“So I’m a nutcase?” He said with his eyebrows raised.

“No…Oh God. You’ll be fine. I’ll be right here.”

I unbuckled my seat belt, grabbed my purse and got out of the car, leaving Brendon by himself. I walked over to other side of the car and motioned him to come out of the car. He sighed and got out. He then grabbed my hand and held it tightly as we walked towards my cousin’s house. I had brought my boyfriend to a family party. That’s right, a family party. Now you think, oh it’s going to be ok. That he won’t get ripped apart. That they will love him. Nope not with my family.

First, I have a huge family like no other. It’s hard to remember half of my cousins’ names, which I finally all learned. It took me since I was born, but I got the hang of it. Everyone in my family knows that it's family that comes first. If you listen to Kanye West's song called "Family Business," that describes my family like no other. We have a specific moments where get mad at each other and talk behind our backs, but in the end, we still love each other. Now with my family, it’s a very hard process when someone in our family brings a significant other. They evaluate you like you have done a crime. It takes them a bit for them to get use to the new person and to evaluate their personalities. Once they get to know each other, you are as good as gold. There are some things though that I had to worn Brendon about, like just being good in general and polite. I know he can make it out alive.

In an instant, everyone’s heads turned to look over at me and probably the only white boy in the house. I smiled and said hello as the whole family said hello back and yelled at us to eat. I felt Brendon’s hand start to sweat and squeeze my hand harder. I squeezed back with what I could, seeing that he was squeezing pretty hard. I introduced him to my aunts, uncles, and my older cousins who were like older brother and sisters to me. They were the ones that I was most worried about to introduce Brendon to.

My family kept telling us to go eat, even though they tried to evaluate Brendon. I just pulled him and grabbed a plates for us before they started yelling at us in Tagalog. That’s when it gets serious. Brendon and I got some food and ate outside with my cousins who were just sitting there talking, eating and laughing. They asked Brendon and me a bunch of questions. How did you met? How old are you Brendon? Do you smoke? How was tour? When are you going back on the road again? Are you two having sex? Yea, they would ask that question even though it’s disgusting to ask. My older cousins aren’t ashamed.

“Hey, Lola’s here. Did you see her?” My cousin Estela said, coming out of nowhere.

“What? Oh no… I gotta introduce her to Brendon. Babe, my Lola’s here. I have to introduce her to you.” I said as I got up from my chair.

“Uhh Ok. I’ll be back, Mike. We’ll talk more about the car.” Brendon said as he got up.

“Dude, for sure.” Mike said.

Brendon just got an Audi and my Cousin Pam’s husband, Mike, wants to get a two door Audi. I knew they would like each other seeing that they both have the same love of cars.

“Who’s Lola?” Brendon said as we walked inside the house.

“That’s Grandma in Filipino. I didn’t see her before so I guess she just got here.” I said.

I found her sitting and eating at the dining room table, talking with some of my aunts. I pulled Brendon at my side. My aunts smiled and giggled as we got to the table. My aunts aren’t ashamed either to say how they feel, and right away they said they thought he was handsome. Of course, Brendon used his charm and said something to make all my aunts blush and laugh. I stood next to Lola and kissed her on the cheek.

“Hi Lola!” I said as I blessed her.

In Filipino tradition, whoever is older than you, you have to be blessed by them. This means you have to grab their hand and bring the back of their hand to your forehead as a sign of respect and honor. I don’t do it with my aunts and uncles and cousins seeing that we just kiss each other on the cheek, but when it comes to my grandparents,

“Aye, Erin, you’re back home?” She said in her thick Filipino accent.

Even though she was born in the Philippines and raised here in America, she had somewhat an accent still left in her. She would go back to the Philippines once and a while seeing that she’s retired now.

“Yea. I got home a week ago. I’m leaving for Europe next week to tour.”

“Ahhh, and how is it?”

“It’s fun…”

“Erin, introduce him!” my godmother, Linda said.

“I will!! Don’t worry.”

“Introduce who?” Lola asked as she looked next to me to see Brendon.

“This is my boyfriend, Brendon Urie. Brendon, this is my grandmother, Kayla Bristow .” I said.

“Hello.” He said as he shook his hand.

“Hello.” She said with a smile, but I could tell something was on her mind.

I always looked up to her ever since I was little. I always remember little details in her facial expressions, and one of them was coming out. She looked over at me and I gave her a look. She smiled and grabbed my hand.

“You two kids go ahead and go outside. I’m gonna finish eating and talking to your aunties. Come find me later, Erin. We must talk alone.” She said.

“Ok…” I said with a smile.

“Bye.” Brendon said.

We both turned around and headed back to the back yard. My cousins were about to play some softball which of course Brendon and I wanted to play as well. As we teamed up, I wondered why Lola wanted me to talk to her alone.