Fiancee Made My Parents Sleep in Pigsty, So I Called Off the Wedding

1.

With the wedding almost here, my girlfriend asked to hold it back in her hometown.

My parents, wanting to make things easier on her since she'd be marrying so far from home, flew out ahead of time and settled in at her place in the Appalachian foothills.

When I'd booked everything and finally got there, all I found was her and the parents of her childhood friend.

"Where are my parents?"

I asked, frowning.

She was fussing with the childhood friend's mother's clothes, and answered without looking up.

"There wasn't much room left in the house, so I had them sleep in the pigsty for now."

My dad had just had a stomach scope done not long ago. One whiff of anything foul and he'd start vomiting. My mom had a cleaning compulsion too. At home she'd scrub the smallest bit of dirt over and over. And now she wanted them to stay there for days on end.

I held my anger down and pointed at her childhood friend's parents.

"Then why do they have a place to sleep?"

She frowned, annoyed.

"They're honored guests of my family. Of course we can't shortchange them."

"Besides, your parents agreed when I told them to sleep in the pigsty. I didn't force them."

I went and found my parents.

My dad's face was pale and sick, but he still said,

"Lionel Dickerson, it's your big day. Don't start a fight over something small."

My mom kept wiping the mud off herself while she tried to talk me down.

"My clothes just got a little dirty, that's all. It's not like a pig knocked me over. The wedding comes first."

Off to the side, my girlfriend just let her own parents and her childhood friend's parents stand there picking my parents apart.

And in that moment, all at once, this wedding stopped meaning anything to me.

1.

"Michelle Pruitt, my parents came all this way to your home for the wedding to make things easier on you, and you make them sleep in a pigsty. You think that's right?"

I looked at her, furious.

But there wasn't a trace of guilt on her face. If anything, she looked impatient.

"Lionel, my house only has three rooms. One for my parents, one for Joel Henson's parents, and one for me. There's nothing left over for your parents."

"The pigsty has a bed. It's not like it can't be slept in. And your parents did it willingly. I didn't force them!"

"That still doesn't mean you can"

Before I could finish, Michelle's childhood friend Joel suddenly stepped in front of her, his face cold.

"Can't what? Sure, my family moved away, but our families go back generations."

"If my parents don't sleep in the house, what, yours should?"

Then he let out a low, cold laugh.

"Tsk. It's just a marriage. Who knows when you'll be divorced."

"And you want to compare yourself to my family? Who do you think you are."

Joel's mother sneered from the side too.

"So they slept a couple of nights in a pigsty. Plenty of country folk sleep in pigsties, don't they?"

"Setting you up like this was just to see how sincere you are. Whether you two are even fit to be Michelle's in-laws."

Joel's father spoke mildly.

"We watched Michelle grow up. She's practically half a daughter to us. If you can't handle even this little test, then you won't treat her any better down the line."

As for Michelle's parents, they happened to get called away just then.

But before they left, there wasn't a shred of apology in their eyes.

My face went livid with anger as I turned to Michelle.

"You think this too?"

The way I saw it, this wasn't a test. It was flat-out humiliation.

She said flatly,

"What Joel said was a little harsh, sure, but it's not like he's wrong."

"Of course I'm marrying you for real. But your attitude today isn't good. Who's to say when you'll push me too far and it's all over between us."

My face darkened.

"Michelle, when we were together, you know better than anyone how I treated you. Saying something like this in front of my parents. What exactly are you trying to do?"

Three years of dating.

Every month I handed over half my paycheck to Michelle.

She said she wanted to feel like a princess, so I racked my brains and turned our place into the princess castle she wanted.

Whatever she wanted to eat, I'd drive hundreds of miles to go buy it for her.

Anything she needed, I'd go back and be with her even when it meant catching hell from my boss.

She made my parents sleep in a pigsty, and she said my attitude was bad?

It was almost funny.

"How I treated you?"

Michelle scoffed.

"You spent a little money on me here and there, cooked some meals. That's all."

"Who doesn't do that when they've got a girlfriend, when they're taking a wife? And you think you've earned some kind of medal for it?"

I felt a fire building inside me and was about to keep going.

But my dad stopped me right then.

"Lionel, your mom and I are fine. Today's your big day. Don't make a scene over us."

As he said it, he couldn't help gagging a couple of times.

Yet he turned the blame on himself.

"It's your dad who's useless. If my stomach weren't so bad, I wouldn't have put you in this spot."

My mom held him up and forced a smile at me.

"With my cleaning thing, I'll have to work a lot harder. These few days are just the chance to break me of it."

Looking at them, I felt an ache I couldn't put into words.

But right at that moment, Joel's parents had to make their snide little remarks from the side.

"So dramatic. It was just two nights in a pigsty, and look at the state of them. Anyone who didn't know better would think you'd eaten pig manure."

2.

The words were barely out before the people around them burst out laughing.

They were all Michelle's relatives and friends.

I glared at them.

"Who ate pig shit? Say it again and I'll shove enough of it down your throats to choke on."

That set Joel off instantly.

He grabbed a fistful of my collar.

"Who the hell are you talking to, you piece of trash!"

"Say it one more time if you've got the nerve. I'll make sure you leave here horizontal."

I wasn't about to just take it, and I grabbed him right back.

Seeing where this was headed, the others rushed in to pull us apart.

Whether they meant it or not, they were clearly shielding Joel.

Michelle's face went dark, and she snapped at me.

"Lionel, are you done causing a scene!"

"Apologize to Joel, or forget about me leaving with you!"

Dad panicked at that.

For the wedding, he'd told the handful of relatives and friends closest to us to travel out a day early, all the way to the hotel a hundred kilometers off where the ceremony was supposed to be held, and get settled in.

It wasn't a large group, but the airfare and lodging alone came to tens of thousands.

The wedding, the dowry, the expensive motorhome Michelle had demanded we buy.

To give me what I wanted, they'd spent it all without a second thought.

Now, seeing Michelle angry, my father stepped forward at once.

"Michelle, don't be upset."

"Lionel's been run ragged these past couple days, his temper's short. Let me apologize for him. Don't take it to heart."

Michelle's face stayed cold.

"Don't apologize to me. The one who deserves the apology is Joel."

Dad looked at her, pleading.

When Michelle didn't budge.

He had no choice but to turn to Joel.

I wanted to stop him, but Mom held me back, her eyes red.

"Lionel, your father knows what Michelle means to you. He's doing this so you won't be caught in the middle."

Watching my father bend at the waist, it was like a bucket of cold water came down over my head.

When Michelle and I first got together, she knew how to care about me too.

Later, when I brought her home, she still played the part of the sweet, well-behaved girl.

Mom and Dad could see how much I liked Michelle, so they held nothing back.

Dad said sorry to Joel on my behalf, and again warned me not to do anything rash.

The whole way, my parents kept trying to calm me down.

They said once the wedding was over, Michelle would come around to my side, and I just needed to bear with it a little longer.

I kept my head down and said nothing, all the way to Michelle's house.

But at the tea ceremony, the moment my parents sat down.

Michelle's mother suddenly looked at my mom with disgust.

"What's that smell on you? Get away from me."

At that, Joel's mother came over, sniffed twice, and pinched her nose, sneering.

"Could you maybe wash off the pig stink before you spray on perfume? That smell, it's really something else!"

The whole crowd turned to my mom, pointing and whispering.

"At her age, still spraying perfume, trying to look pretty."

"Probably a difficult one too. Michelle's going to have a hard time down the road."

Michelle's father eyed her sideways.

"With people like you, it's hard for me to hand my daughter over."

My mom's face filled with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I only wanted to cover up..."

"Cover up what? Move aside. I don't want to sit next to someone who reeks like you!"

Before my mom could finish, Michelle's mother was already shouting at her.

I frowned.

I was about to speak, but my mom shook her head at me.

"Lionel, it's Mom's fault. I didn't clean myself up properly, so I can't blame others for being put off."

Then she gave Michelle's mother a strained smile.

"All right, I won't sit. I'll stand in the back. As long as I'm in the photos, that's fine."

Seeing this, my father got up too and took my mom's hand.

"I'll stand with you."

They'd barely reached the back when Michelle's mother turned with a smile to Joel's parents.

"Come on, come on, these seats are just sitting empty. Come sit here."

3.

Joel's parents broke into smiles at once and sat down, without so much as a nod, in the seats that had been meant for my parents.

At that, my father's face changed.

He had always been a stickler for manners.

But he said nothing.

I knew it was for my sake.

I clenched my teeth, the anger rising and rising in my chest.

My father said, low and even,

"Don't let your temper run away with you. Don't forget what you once said."

I had once said, stubbornly, that Michelle was the one I most wanted to marry.

Her or no one.

My father still remembered those words.

Just then Michelle told me to hurry and serve the tea.

I picked up the cup and walked over to her parents.

Once they had finished drinking, I raised my head, only to find that Michelle hadn't served my parents. She'd served Joel's.

My mother quickly smiled and said to me,

"Lionel, I don't mind. It's all the same. Don't hold it against anyone."

After that I moved through it all in a daze.

Seeing how bad my face looked,

Michelle turned to me.

"Lionel, Joel's parents always wanted me to be their daughter-in-law when we were kids."

"Think of it as making a little dream of theirs come true."

"Once the wedding's over, I'll serve your parents another cup of tea."

My father waved his hand quickly, smiling.

"As long as things go smoothly, that's all that matters."

"We're the ones who weren't careful about hygiene. Our fault, our fault."

My mother wore the same strained smile and said it was fine.

At that, they laughed all the louder.

Then the wedding car arrived.

Only, before we left, I saw Joel lean toward Bertha and say something with a smile.

I didn't think much of it, but just as I was about to help Michelle into the car, Bertha suddenly stepped in and blocked the way.

"Wait a minute!"

"The two hundred thousand dowry gets paid before anyone leaves!"

My parents' faces changed at that.

My father asked carefully,

"Bertha, didn't we agree on eighty-eight thousand for the dowry before? How did it turn into two hundred thousand? This..."

Bertha only sneered.

"That eighty-eight thousand was just to cover the engagement. The other hundred and twelve thousand is the actual dowry!"

"Two hundred thousand all together. A penny short and don't even think about my daughter getting in that car."

My parents looked stricken.

For the wedding, the car, and the house, they had already emptied every bit of their savings, and even gone into serious debt.

I looked at Michelle, my gaze cold.

"You knew about this ahead of time too?"

A flicker of guilt crossed her face.

The hardness from a moment ago was gone, her voice softened.

"Lionel, don't blame my mom. We're not doing an engagement, we're going straight to the wedding. Everyone else pays it in two rounds. Two hundred thousand is a little more, sure, but it's still a normal expense."

"Don't worry, as long as you can come up with it, I promise I'll build a good life with you afterward."

My face went hard as iron.

"Michelle, I'm pretty sure I told you my parents already put in everything they had for this wedding. This two hundred thousand, where exactly do you expect them to find it?"

But at that, Bertha started spouting off, grabbed Michelle's hand, and shoved me aside.

"How is it any business of ours that you can't find it?!"

"You marry a wife by the rules. No money, so what kind of wife did you think you were marrying?!"

Everyone there was on Michelle's side, and they jeered at once.

"That's right, hand over the dowry, or don't think about taking our girl anywhere!"

4.

The anger nearly spilled off my face.

I looked at Michelle.

"I already said it before. Whatever the costs were, we'd lay them all out at once. Now you're adding to the dowry on top of that. This is nothing but making things hard for people."

"I'll ask you one thing, and one thing only. Are you leaving with me or not?"

Hearing how heavy my voice had gone, Michelle hesitated.

But Bertha only sneered.

"You little punk, who do you think you're scaring?"

"Joel already told me all about it. You've been head over heels for my daughter for years, dying to have her, refusing to marry anyone else."

"You like her that much, then twenty thousand extra isn't asking too much!"

At that, Michelle found her nerve again.

"Lionel, if you really like me, if you really want to be with me, then take the money."

For a moment the air felt like drawn swords.

I looked at Michelle.

All those years between us twisted something in my chest.

Dad saw how torn I was.

"Ma'am, don't put it so harshly."

"Twenty thousand altogether, right? I'll go find someone to scrape it together right now."

I grabbed the hand he was reaching out to make the call.

"Dad..."

He gave me a small smile and patted my shoulder.

"Don't worry. Whatever the trouble is, your dad's got your back."

And with that he started calling relative after relative.

Dad had always been good to people, and it wasn't long before he'd borrowed the twenty thousand.

Seeing this, Bertha smiled and held out her hand.

"Hand it over. Pay up and you can get in the car."

But I stopped her, my face cold.

"You get this twenty thousand after the wedding."

"That's my bottom line."

The smile vanished from Bertha's face in an instant.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What if you don't pay once the wedding's over?"

Joel sidled in again, begging to be hit.

"Ma'am, don't worry. We'll draw up a written agreement. Then there's no way he can back out."

I had no idea what he stood to gain from any of this.

But his words gave Bertha her footing.

"Right, a written agreement!"

Then she had someone bring paper and a pen.

I signed.

Michelle got in the car.

We finally reached the hotel just before noon.

On my family's side, the friends and relatives my parents had invited kept asking my dad what was going on.

He sighed and didn't say much.

"As long as Lionel can marry the person he loves without trouble, then I haven't failed as a father."

They glanced over at my side and asked nothing more.

With the ceremony almost upon us, the host came over to run through the details.

But right then, Michelle suddenly spoke up.

"Lionel, Joel wants to know what it feels like to be the groom."

I froze.

Joel stood off to the side, the corner of his mouth curling up.

"Don't read too much into it. I'm not trying to steal your spot as groom."

"She just promised me she'd let me have a little taste of it."

I looked at Michelle.

Her tone left no room for refusal.

"When we were kids, Joel's parents wanted me to be their daughter-in-law. It was just playing house, but I did promise I'd be Joel's wife."

"His parents have already drunk the tea I served them. Letting Joel have his turn now just makes good on a promise from childhood."

Then she turned to the host.

"All right. There's still half an hour before the ceremony."

"Go ahead and change the groom's name to Joel's for now."

The host looked at me.

"Mr. Dickerson, do you mean...?"

I looked at the certainty in Michelle's eyes.

From start to finish, she had taken the Henson family's side.

Humiliated my parents. Ignored how I felt.

I couldn't feel a shred of love in any of it.

And in that moment, this wedding suddenly seemed pointless.

"Let her do whatever she wants."

At that, Michelle smiled.

"Don't worry. Once Joel's had his turn, we'll hold the real ceremony, you and me."

With that she paid me no more attention, took Joel's hand, and walked up onto the stage.

Under everyone's startled eyes, the host recounted the two of them's history and offered them his blessings.

At the end of the ceremony, the groom and bride were supposed to embrace.

But the moment the host finished speaking, Joel kissed Michelle instead.

Michelle kissed him back, lost in it.

They held each other tightly and didn't part for a long time.

The Pruitt relatives and Joel's parents watched the scene and broke into applause.

But my parents' faces, in that instant, went as ugly as they could possibly be.

They went over to confront Michelle's parents.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"They do something like this, and where does that leave my son's face?"

Bertha only smiled, unbothered.

"Young people fooling around a little. Lionel hasn't said a word about it. You two are the elders, and you're overstepping quite a bit, don't you think?"

My parents were too furious to speak.

And by then, the two on stage finally pulled apart, reluctant to stop.

Coming down, Joel licked his lips and looked at me with a sneer.

"I tested it out for you."

"Michelle's lips are very soft."

Michelle's face flushed red.

"All right, I've helped Joel have his turn."

"The ceremony's about to officially begin. Lionel, let's get up on stage."

Expressionless, I walked up onto the stage.

Beside me, the host was recounting my history with Michelle, just as he'd done for her and Joel.

Words that should have been moving, but since they'd already been said once, they now seemed nothing but a joke.

I looked at my parents.

They were watching me with anxious, pleading eyes.

My mom was even crying against my dad's chest, hurting for me.

And in that moment, I thought back over everything from going to Michelle's house to arriving here at the wedding.

All the ways they'd cornered and humiliated my parents.

I bowed my head, my body trembling slightly with the depth of my shame.

Michelle thought it was because I was overcome at finally being with her.

"You did well today. Don't worry, I'll build a good life with you from now on."

Then the host asked me.

"Groom, is there anything you'd like to say to everyone?"

I slowly took the microphone.

Under Michelle's gaze, so sure I was about to declare my love for her, I swept my eyes across the crowd.

"Sorry, everyone. This wedding, I'm not going through with it."