Shake Down the Stars Read Online Free PDF Page A

“We’ll have cake tomorrow when we’re feeling better,” she announces as though speaking aloud to herself.
    Sophia says, “Yeah, when we’re feeling better.”
    They perfected their relationship as zygotes swimming in Margot’s uterus. I imagine when they’re much older, they’ll continue to function like a well-mechanized impenetrable team. At ninety, after long lives with their husbands and their own kids, they’ll share a house, locked in a comfortable routine of TV watching and gossip. The only person missing, of course, will be Hailey.
    I sigh quietly and reach for the phone. “Soup. Coming right up.”
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    T he sound of people applauding wakes me. I’d meant to sneak out and watch the ceremony from the beginning, but I must have fallen asleep. I check on Sophia and Margot. Seeing that they’re sound asleep, I find my sweater and quietly make my way downstairs and outside.
    I stand close to the main building, far enough away that I won’t be noticed. Almost every single seat is filled, and all eyes are glued to the gazebo, which is lit up with soft pink trellis lights. The sun is setting, right on cue, the wind has died down, and the sky is magically clear of rain clouds. It’s as if even the weather knows to obey my sister or else.
    The football player takes Margot’s hand and gazes into her eyes. Both he and Margot are miked. “I want you to be my woman. I wanted you to be my woman from the second I saw you.”
    I wait to see if he might beat his chest and drag her off by the hair, but instead he bends to his knee. His suit strains against all his muscles. Applause breaks out as he takes Margot’s newly de-ringed hand and he reaches into his pocket. A woman in the back yells, “Aw, right now!” and everyone laughs.
    â€œMargot, I want you to be my woman for life.” He opens the small velvet box, and Margot screams and covers her mouth in a way that signals Curtis has gone off script.
    She goes for the ring, much like Curtis chases down a football, all hands and speed, and before Curtis pops the question (again), she’s already put the ring on her finger and is waving it to the audience. “Can you all believe this? He got me a new ring!” There are a few chuckles in the back as Margot fans herself as though she might faint. She manages to settle down, though, and finally gazes at the football player who is still on his knee with a big dopey grin on his face. “Margot Marie Wright, will you marry me?”
    In the silence that follows, Margot reaches down and takes the football player’s chin between her fingers. “Curtis, I am your woman and you—you are my man. In front of God, in front of our family and friends assembled here today, I humbly accept your proposal of marriage.” Curtis brings her to his knee, and they put their tongues through a kind of roping exercise.
    Mom and the Reverend stand up in the front row and begin to applaud. Everyone joins in, and Margot and the football player finally come up for air. Margot grins and holds up an I’m-not-finished-here-yet finger. She then takes the football player’s hand and stares deeply into his eyes. “I will love you till I’m old and gray. You are mine and I am yours, Curtis Francis Randolph, and I want everyone here to know how much I love you.”
    He looks at her adoringly. “Oh baby,” he says with a sigh, going in for a deep kiss.
    â€œOh God,” I moan. I can’t take another second and sneak off to the side of the main building, past the front parking lot, and down the path that leads to one of the lookout benches surrounding the grounds. I sit near a pathway next to a secluded wooded area. The sky is clear enough that I can see Venus and Hercules to the south of Serpens. If I had my telescope, I’d focus on Jupiter and its three satellites—Callisto,