"Put the chairs back."
The staff member stopped.
Brad said,
"Leave them."
"The groom's parents don't have time for the tea ceremony."
I walked up to the front of the stage.
"Whose wedding is this?"
"I'm marrying your sister, and my parents don't have time?"
Tamara stood there holding the teacup.
"We're already half an hour behind schedule."
"Do my parents first. When your uncle and aunt are done working, we'll fit theirs in after."
"And when exactly are they going to be done working?"
"Nat, stop asking me the same thing over and over!"
"There are this many people here today, and you have to embarrass me in front of all of them?"
I set the teacup back on the tray.
"Until my parents are here, nobody gets tea."
Deborah rose to her feet.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"My daughter marries you, and she can't even get a cup of tea?"
"Who do your parents think they are, that we should sit here waiting on them?"
Down below, someone joined in.
"You can't miss the auspicious hour!"
"If the groom's parents are busy, just serve the bride's side first."
"Country folk don't know how things are done, but the groom doesn't either?"
I didn't move.
The coordinator picked up the mic and tried to smooth it over.
"The two families can work out any issues later."
"For now, let's complete the tea ceremony for the bride's side—"
"No tea."
I turned and went to find my parents.
The back kitchen was already in chaos.
My cousin was sitting on the floor, her right arm scalded red.
A pot of hot soup lay overturned beside her.
Tamara's aunt was pointing at her, shouting.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
"This dress cost me over a thousand dollars. How am I supposed to get grease out of it?"
My cousin was in too much pain to speak.
My mother was running cold water over her arm.
"We have to get you to a hospital, now."
Brad blocked the doorway.
"She can't leave right now."
"We're already short on servers. She walks out, who's going to cover?"
I shoved him aside.
"Move."
Tamara's aunt lunged forward and slapped my cousin across the face.
"You pay for my dress before you go anywhere!"
My cousin cupped her cheek.
My mother stepped in front of her.
"The girl's already been burned."
"Your own kid came running out of nowhere. That's why she fell."
The aunt raised her hand again.
"You've got the nerve to talk back?"
I caught her by the wrist.
"Try it. One more time."
She started screaming at once.
"The groom's family is hitting people!"
"The waitress is hitting a guest!"
Tamara hurried over.
She looked at my cousin's arm and only frowned.
"Go to the break room and put some ointment on it."
"After this round of dishes is out, you can go to the hospital."
I stared at her.
"She's not a waitress. She's my cousin."
"But we're short-handed right now."
"Then have your brother carry the trays."
Brad panicked.
"I'm running the whole program. How am I supposed to carry dishes?"
"My father's supposed to go park cars?"
"My mother's supposed to wash dishes?"
"She's supposed to serve food with a scalded arm?"
Tamara grabbed my arm.
"Everyone's watching."
"Don't wreck the whole wedding over one little burn."
My cousin's tears spilled over.
She pulled off her staff badge and set it on the floor.
"Nat, I'm done."
Brad immediately raised his phone and started filming.
"Get it clearly on camera."
"She's leaving her post without notice. Don't try to deny the losses later."
I told Christian Whitney, my best man, to take my cousin to the hospital.
The groom's relatives started gathering around.
My uncle's suit was worn through where he'd been hauling liquor crates.
My aunt's heel had snapped off.
My grandmother was still filling boxes of wedding favor candy.
She'd been at it since morning, and hadn't had a single sip of water.
My father came back last.
His face was sun-bleached pale, and his steps had started to wobble.
I caught hold of him.
"Are you feeling all right?"
"I'm fine."
He took out his heart pills and slipped one under his tongue.
"There are still a few cars in the lot."
"Let me rest a couple of minutes, then I'll go back down."
Brad's voice pushed through the walkie-talkie.
"Number 01, do you copy?"
"No slacking off!"
My father picked up the walkie-talkie.
"On my way."
I threw it to the floor.
"No one's going anywhere."
Tamara's face went hard.
"Nat, we're about to exchange rings."
"Just finish the program first."
"My father isn't well."
"The hotel has a break room."
"Let him go lie down. Don't have him standing by the red carpet."
"Once the ceremony's over, we'll take him to the hospital."
She finished and signaled the coordinator to continue.
The scheduling board on the big screen refreshed again.
After my father's name, a new line of red text had appeared.
【Parking Attendant No. 01: Left Post Without Permission】
Brad walked over and tossed a reflective vest into my father's arms.
"Put it on."
"Two more hours to go."
I caught the reflective vest and dropped it in the trash.
Brad's face changed.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Everyone stops working."
I turned to the thirty-eight relatives.
"Take the badges off."
Nobody moved first.
Nat's uncle asked,
"Is the wedding still on or not?"
My father grabbed my arm too.
"Nat, don't do anything rash."
"Give me a rest and I can still work."
I looked at his white lips.
"You came to your son's wedding."
"Not to park cars for her family."
My mother was still wearing the apron.
She said quietly,
"We've already done the work."
"Just bear with it two more hours. Don't let Tamara be laughed at."
Deborah heard her.
"Now that sounds like a human being talking."
"It's her family's event. Who are you to act like honored guests?"
She pointed at Nat's uncle and the others.
"A whole crowd of you, eating our food, drinking our drinks, and doing a little work makes you feel hard done by?"
"Back home in your little town, aren't you just hauling stuff and washing dishes anyway?"
"Put on a suit and you think you're somebody?"
Nat's uncle took off his badge.
"Not one bite of food."
"Half a day of work."
"And we're the ones taking advantage?"
Deborah put her hands on her hips.
"The reception's eight hundred eighty a table. You think you're worth eating that?"
"Letting you eat the staff meal is already doing you a favor!"
The color drained from every one of Nat's relatives' faces.
Nat's aunt set down the box of wedding favors.
"Whoever wants to hand these out can do it."
Nat's grandmother stopped filling candy boxes too.
She'd been counting all morning, her fingertips already rubbed red.
"I won't eat."
"And I won't work anymore either."
Brad blocked the doorway.
"Once a badge scans the code, you can't just leave your post."
"Whoever walks out pays for the wedding's losses!"
I picked up the badge the cousin had dropped.
On the back was a line of small print:
【Scanning the code shall be deemed acceptance of the wedding work assignments.】
I looked at Tamara.
"You had this ready ahead of time?"
She looked away from me.
"It's just for easier management."
"No pay, no seats, no hospital when someone gets hurt."
"That's what you call management?"
Her eyes went red.
"Nat, why does everything sound so ugly coming out of your mouth?"
"I just wanted a decent wedding."
"The budget wasn't enough. I had to find a way."
"Then where's the sixty-eight thousand in labor costs I paid?"
Brad cut in.
"Spent!"
"The stage, the flowers, the lighting all got upgraded."
"The money went into your wedding. What are you nitpicking about?"
I didn't keep asking.
The reason was clear enough.
They took the labor money I'd paid and used it to dress up the wedding, then dragged my family in to fill the gaps.
Her relatives sat and watched.
My relatives stood and worked.
And Tamara actually thought this was doing me a favor.
I walked to the big-screen control console.
Brad came after me.
"Don't touch the equipment!"
I shut off the shift schedule.
Thirty-eight relatives' names vanished.
Tamara grabbed my arm.
"We're about to exchange rings."
"If you send them off now, the favors, the drinks, the parking, no one's covering any of it."
"What happens to the wedding?"
I took off the groom's boutonniere and put it in her hand.
"Let your brother cover it."
She froze.
"The wedding's canceled."
"Nat!"
Her voice changed all at once.
"Over a few relatives doing a little work, you're calling off the engagement?"
"They're not a few relatives."
"They're my family."
I took the badges off my parents' chests.
My mother still reached for the apron.
I stopped her hand.
"Mom, we're going home."
Deborah rushed over.
"Nobody is going anywhere!"
"The hotel, the wedding company, the guests are all here, and you say it's off just like that?"
"Every cent of today's losses gets paid!"
"Your thirty-eight people walk out on strike, you still pay for it!"
Brad raised his phone and started a live stream.
"Everyone see this clearly."
"The groom's relatives took the badges, worked halfway, then walked off their posts all at once!"
"The groom is leading the charge to wreck the wedding!"
I picked up the stack of remaining badges.
Parking guidance.
Kitchen cleaning.
Drink hauling.
Serving dishes and clearing tables.
Bagging the wedding favors.
Thirty-eight badges, every one of them into the trash.
The relatives started heading out.
No one carried the drinks.
No one handed out the gift boxes.
No one met the cars in the lot.
No one brought the wedding props up to the stage.
The work system on the big screen kept sounding alarms.
【Staff on post: 29/38】
【Staff on post: 17/38】
【Staff on post: 6/38】
The last person took off a badge.
【Staff on post: 0/38】
Tamara chased to the door dragging her gown.
"Nat, get back here!"
"The staff are all gone. What happens to my wedding?"
I didn't stop.
She'd handed out badges to all thirty-eight people in my family.
And in the end, even the groom clocked out.
