The Family Fang: A Novel by Kevin Wilson Read Free Book Online Page A

her eyes grew wide and she placed her hand over her mouth. She looked like she was going to cry. Mr. Fang gestured toward the front of the plane and the stewardess nodded, leading him toward the intercom system. Annie wondered how on earth they would avoid jail time if their parents tried to hijack the plane. When he passed by their seats, Buster resisted the urge to grab his father’s hand, to say, “Dad?” and ruin the entire event. Annie sketched a drawing of two people, a boy and a girl, jumping out of a plane, parachutes deployed, nothing below them but the emptiness of the blank paper.
    “Ladies and gentlemen,” the stewardess said, “we have a very important message and we need all of you to listen very carefully. This man here, Mr. Ronnie Payne, needs to say something.” There was the hum of silence over the intercom and then the children heard their father’s voice say, “I don’t want to take up much of your time, folks. I’m over there in Row 17, Seat C, and right next to that seat is my special lady, Miss Grace Truman. Wave to everybody, honey.” Everyone on the plane turned to watch their mother’s hand raised above the seats as she gave an uncertain wave to the rest of the passengers. “Well,” their father continued, “this little lady means a lot to me and I was going to do this when we got to Florida but I just can’t wait. Grace Truman, would you marry me?” Mr. Fang handed the microphone to the stewardess and walked back to Row 17. Annie and Buster wanted to run down the aisle to watch the proceedings, but they stayed in their seats, craning their necks to see what would come next. Their father knelt in the aisle beside Mrs. Fang, whom the children could not see, and everything was silent except for the sound of the engines keeping the plane aloft. Annie and Buster both whispered the same word under their breath, “Yes.”
    Suddenly, Mr. Fang stood and shouted, “She says yes!” The entire airplane began to cheer and several men got out of their seats to shake their father’s hand while Mrs. Fang displayed the ring to an older woman in the seat next to her. The sound of corks popping echoed through the cabin and the stewardesses began to walk down the aisle with trays filled with glasses of champagne. The pilot’s deep, smooth voice came over the intercom and he said, “A toast to the happy couple.” Buster managed to swipe two flutes before anyone noticed and handed one of them to Annie. “Why, thank you, little boy,” Annie said. “Don’t mention it,” Buster replied. They clinked glasses and downed the contents in one swallow, happily ignoring the burn as it went down their throats.
    T hey spent the next four days dizzy from overexposure to the sun and still giddy from the success of the marriage proposal. They read pulp novels and comic books and would sleep at odd hours. On the beach, they took turns burying one another up to their necks in the sand and then chased each other with jellyfish hanging on the ends of sticks. They stood in the ocean as waves gently broke across their legs while they ate cotton candy that held the slight tang of salt water. If told this kind of happiness was something that could be attained by everyone, the Fangs would not have believed it.
    O n the plane ride back home, everyone again separated and under assumed names, their father once again nudged the stewardess, showed her the ring he had purchased for his girlfriend, and asked for the use of the intercom. Once again, the stewardess was nearly moved to tears by the romantic nature of the request and led him to the front of the plane. Buster tore open his eighth bag of peanuts and arranged the nuts so as to form the word YES on his folded-down tray.
    “I’m over there in Row 14, Seat A, and my girlfriend, Grace Truman, is in the next seat over. Grace, honey, could you come up here for a second, please?” Mrs. Fang shook her head, embarrassed, but Mr. Fang continued to call for her until she