“I've learned,” Tania began as she accepted Emily's hand, “that for Americans to pronounce any name from my country they'd have to cut out their tongue so it's just Tania.”
“Right. Tania,” Emily began getting nervous.
“Can I get you something?” Tania offered.
“No thanks. Drinks make me burp and food makes me fart,” Emily said then quickly covered her eyes. “Oh, God, I'm sorry, I'm not normally like this but this type of swanky lifestyle really flamingoes me up.”
“I understand. It used to be overwhelming for me too but you get used to having money,” Tania said. “Please sit down.”
Emily uneasily sat down in an overstuffed chair as Tania sat on the couch. “So how long have you and Nathan been together?” she asked.
“Almost two years. We met in Nepal while he was doing some business there,” Tania smiled.
“So he buys and sells drugs?” Emily motioned around the house. “That explains everything.”
“No. He works for a multi-national corporation and one of their branches is in Katmandu,” Tania explained. “I lost my scholarship to UCLA but after going out with Nathan a couple times, he paid my way over here and, amazed over his generosity, agreed to go out with him a couple more times and soon fell in love with him. I can't see my life without him.”
“Apparently I latched onto the wrong relative,” Emily muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing. Thinking of my brother,” Emily smiled.
“So why do you want to see Nathan?” Tania asked.
“It's a family thing. You see, Daniel, my brother, received a call from our Grandma threatening to commit suicide unless the family can get together again,” Emily explained.
“That's terrible!” Tania was shocked.
“I know. She just automatically assumes that Daniel doesn't have a life or a job. She is so selfish!”
“Your grandma is wanting to commit suicide and you call her selfish? I just don't understand why Americans don't value their elders like other parts of the world do,” Tania sighed.
“You never met our grandmother, have you?” The two young women sat awkwardly and uneasily for a while. “Maybe I well take something to drink,” Emily said.
“Are you sure? You might burp,” Tania stood up.
“Yeah, just some water should be fine. Thanks,” Emily said and turned to look out the window while Tania went into the kitchen.
Tania returned and handed Emily a bottle of water. “Here you go, I got you just plain water, none of the bubbly kind.”
“Thanks,” Emily took the bottle, twisted open the top and took a swig. She took the bottle from her mouth and swallowed the water. She immediately hiccupped and burped. “Damn!”
“It's okay, I do it too.”
“Yeah but when you do it it's probably cute.”
Finally, Nathan came home and called for Tania. “I'm home, sweetie. Do we have company?” he asked.
Tania bounded toward Nathan and gave him a hug and a kiss. “Your cousin Emily is here.”
“Doesn't coming out here violate her parole conditions?” Nathan joked.
“You're confusing me with your brother Benjamin,” Emily said, walking toward them. “I see you've been doing very well.”
“I get by…” Nathan said. “What are you doing here Emily?”
“Well, Daniel received a call from Grandma saying that she was going to kill herself unless he got the family back together again,” Emily again explained.
“And?” questioned Nathan.
“Nathan! Your grandmother wants to kill herself. How can your family be so uncaring?” Tania asked.
Nathan was about to graduate from college as the valedictorian. The whole family, minus Daniel, was gearing up for Nathan being the second family member to graduate from college.
“What do you mean you can't come to my graduation?” asked Nathan.
“It's the same day as Benjamin's first court hearing. It's very important for his family to encourage him during this,” Linus said.
“I'm going to graduate from college, Benjamin's going to jail. You should be celebrating my success not celebrating Benjamin becoming currency!” Nathan argued.
“We've already seen you graduate,” Marlene said.
“That was high school! College is just a little bit harder,” Nathan said.
