On My Wedding Day, They Made Me Bow to a Dog

1.

The wedding car had barely stopped at the gate before Anita Sears's mother was smiling and holding out a red cushion to me.

Felix James, the way we do things around here, when a new son-in-law marries in, he has to kneel to the family's big yellow dog.

It's a blessing. Means you'll hold this whole family up in the years to come, and never walk away.

"Come on. Kneel to old Roy there."

Tyler Sears was smiling too. "It's the old rule. Any man who marries into his wife's family has to do it."

I looked at Anita, asking her with my eyes to step in.

"Anita, say something."

She glanced away and dropped her voice.

"Oh, come on. It's a happy day. A grown man like you, and you're going to make a fuss over this?"

"They're my parents. My elders. Just put up with it."

She looked completely unbothered, and something in me went sour.

"Anita, I really don't want to kneel to a dog."

Tyler's face went hard as he scolded me.

"What kind of man is this. A son-in-law marrying in, and he's got the nerve to be difficult and put on airs."

The warmth in me cooled, and I said it flatly.

"What a coincidence. Where I'm from, we've got an old custom too."

Tyler frowned. "What old custom?"

"The first step a son-in-law takes into the house, the father-in-law has to bow and pour him a drink. Means the son-in-law runs the household from then on."

""

The moment I finished, Tyler's face went red with fury.

Anita's mother was even sharper and meaner about it. "Good Lord, are you marrying in as a son-in-law, or coming in as the emperor?"

"If you ask me, that's no custom from your side. That's you being a troublemaker."

"Today, if you don't kneel and bow to Roy, don't even think about coming inside."

When she finished, Tyler turned to the relatives behind him.

"Everybody come have a look. Let's see whether this son-in-law of mine can kneel or not."

"You young ones, don't just stand there. Circle Felix up. I want to see what he thinks he's going to do."

The ones close to Anita's own generation swarmed in around me, all guys in their twenties.

I looked at Anita again.

She was in her wedding dress, her makeup done fine and pretty, but there wasn't a trace of the softness she used to show me.

She glared. "Felix, what are you doing? It's our wedding day, and you have to blow it up into something big?"

"Hurry up. Apologize to my parents."

My breath went tight. I asked her, "Did you already know about this the whole time?"

Her face turned awkward, and she didn't dare meet my eyes.

Right then, I understood all of it.

Anita was afraid my stubborn streak would kick in, so she went half-threatening, half-coaxing.

"What is the matter with you? Do you know how many men are still single out there? Do you even want to get married anymore?"

"Roy's lived with me seven, eight years. He's practically my little brother. What's the harm in kneeling once?"

I clenched my fist, the ring on my finger digging into me.

There were two brothers in my family, but we were comfortable.

We had two apartments in the city.

If Anita weren't an only daughter, and if I didn't love her so much, I never would have agreed to marry in.

And this whole grand wedding, the luxury fleet of cars, my family had paid for all of it.

The only thing her family had put up was probably that cushion in front of me.

Because Anita had said we'd hold the wedding twice, few of my relatives came to the banquet on her family's side.

I'd planned to throw a big reception for my own relatives back home.

But my parents and brothers, who were close to me, had been stuck in the cars behind, since we weren't riding together.

A wedding is already loud and chaotic, so they probably never imagined I'd be cornered like this.

I gave the crowd a small smile.

The Sears relatives thought I was about to give in, and they just settled in to watch the show.

I took the chance to get back into the car, leaned over, and hit the lock.

Only then did I tell the driver, "Back it up. Get us out of here."

The driver was part of the wedding photo crew. He'd seen what I was going through and felt for me, so he shifted straight into reverse.

Tyler realized something was wrong and threw himself in front of the car.

"Felix, what a sorry excuse for a man. Running out on your own wedding?"

The driver hit the brakes, still rattled, and looked at me, at a loss.

The Sears relatives went straight at the tires with scissors and fruit knives.

Someone else was trying to jab a sickle through the window glass.

Anita glared at me, her whole face furious.

"Felix, you keep saying you love me, and then you try to run at my family's door?"

"You want me to put you online? Want your whole family dragged through a smear campaign?"

2.

The crowd stood there sneering. Not one of them thought anything was wrong.

A man who marries into his wife's family is supposed to be put through the wringer, after all.

They looked at me like I was some object, something anyone could step on.

My father-in-law stood in front of the car, and around it pressed the Sears relatives and neighbors, all of them looking for an excuse to make trouble.

I sat inside, worn out to the bone.

I felt for the phone in my pants pocket, and just as I was about to call the police, the driver unlocked the doors, though I never saw when.

Anita yanked the door open and grabbed my arm.

The driver, wanting no part of it, hopped out without a fuss.

"Ha, city man, big deal. Still scared of us, aren't you."

"Marrying in and still acting tough. Doesn't know to be scared until we teach him a lesson."

My buddy Paddy Finch couldn't take it and shoved his way in, cursing.

"Bunch of morons. Wedding hazing's out of style now. You can go to jail for it!"

"Keep messing with Felix and I'm calling the cops!"

He held up his phone, his face red with fury.

That thick-jowled cousin of Anita's walked over and clamped a hand around Paddy's wrist.

"What's a pretty boy like you acting tough for? Your leg's thinner than my arm and you're going to call the cops?"

His eyes swept over Paddy with contempt.

"Scrawny little chicken, you shouldn't have come out. Just an embarrassment."

Paddy lost it and slapped him across the face.

George Sears froze for two seconds, and when it registered, his face went ugly with rage.

He cut his eyes toward the men behind him.

Two more of them stepped out and went straight for Paddy's clothes.

Paddy fought them with everything he had and still got his shirt torn off.

"He really is a pretty boy, look how pale, legs like a woman's. We'll send him down the street with his ass bare, shame him to death."

My eyes went hot, and I moved to get out and save Paddy.

Anita blocked me. "Now you know to panic?"

Her face was full of scorn.

"A twig like Paddy, and he thinks he can act tough in front of my family. That's a death wish."

Something cold ran through me.

Paddy is my buddy. He took time off just to be my best man.

That suit was custom-made on his own dime, all so I'd have someone standing beside me.

It fit him well.

I looked at Anita, hoping there was still some of the old warmth and sense in her.

All I saw was disdain and mockery.

Anger flared up in my chest.

I'd never hit a woman, so I shoved Anita's hand off me, hard.

She stumbled back a long way, her face full of disbelief. "You'd raise your hand to me? You actually beat your wife!"

Just then my father-in-law came up with a bucket of dog urine out of nowhere and dumped it all over me.

The reek spread, and I could barely breathe.

He jabbed a finger at me and roared, "If I don't set you straight today, you'll never learn how to be a proper son-in-law who married in!"

But I was looking anxiously at Paddy.

They'd pulled his pants off, and he was clutching at his underwear, his face raw with grief and humiliation.

I bolted for him, and because I was soaked in dog piss, no one grabbed me.

I got Paddy into the car while I had the chance.

I hit the lock button, then climbed over the center console into the driver's seat.

Anita kicked the tire, furious, and pressed her face to the window.

"Felix, you'd better get out right now and kneel and bow to little brother Roy, or I'll make you regret it!"

3.

Her cousin George Sears handed her an axe.

Paddy grabbed my arm, worry all over his face.

Anita let out a cold laugh, her eyes fixed straight on me.

"Get out of the car nice and quiet, and I'll still leave you a little dignity."

"Let me tell you, running out on this wedding isn't happening. If you won't give me face, I'll make today hell for you."

Her father stood beside her, gesturing wildly.

"Don't waste words on him. A man who won't obey needs to be taught a lesson."

"Just break the window. When those two get out, strip them naked and make them kneel and kowtow to Roy."

More and more villagers crowded in to watch.

They caught the words and jeered along.

"That's right, that's right, a man marrying into her family, what's he acting so high and mighty for?"

"Yeah, he's just some city guy, isn't he? What's he so cocky about?"

Pushed into it, Anita gave the glass a whack.

She hit the wrong spot, and only a spiderweb of cracks appeared.

"Felix James! Are you getting out or not?"

I stared her down and said coldly.

"You want to smash it? Go ahead, smash it."

Then Anita suddenly remembered this luxury car was a rental.

I'd thought a regular Mercedes would do just fine, but she'd insisted on renting a luxury car.

I was in love with her, so I did what she wanted and rented it.

And the car had a dashcam. The moment she smashed it, every bit of the damage would be on her.

Any single part on a car like this cost at least a few thousand to repair.

Her sense came flooding back, and she stopped her hand.

"Knew she wouldn't dare smash it. Can't afford it," Paddy muttered.

Calmly, I said to her.

"This marriage isn't happening today. Let me leave and we can part on decent terms. But if you insist on grinding down me and my buddy, then this isn't over between us."

"This is a society with laws. I don't believe your people making trouble here can get away once the police show up."

Anita threw down the axe and glared at me, her eyes gone red.

"Call the police? Didn't you already know we're deep in the mountains when you came out here? By the time the police get here, I'm afraid you'll already be good and disgraced."

Anita burst out laughing.

"How did I never notice how naive you are? You can't even lower your head for me one single time?"

Hearing that, I finally grasped how far out we were.

The mountain road wound back and forth over one ridge after another. By the time the police could get here, it would probably be the next day.

Anita saw the look on my face darken.

Suddenly her voice turned gentle.

"Felix, it's not like there's nothing between us. So what if you lower your head for me, if you kneel to my little brother Roy?"

"It's not like I'm asking you to worship Roy. Just kneel this once at the door today, and after that everything goes on the same. You're still the man holding up our family."

The coaxing tone, the softness in her eyes, sent a chill through me and made me sick at the same time.

My stomach turned over. I actually felt like throwing up.

Anita saw the disgust on my face and got a little angry.

"Felix, can you quit putting on airs? What exactly do you want?"

She steeled herself, thinking she'd smash the window to pieces.

"You're really going to force me to smash this window before you'll bow to me?"

My face was wooden.

"This isn't about bowing or not bowing. This is about you not treating me like a person, not respecting me, not treating me like your husband," I said.

Anita laughed in fury. "I don't respect you, don't treat you like a husband? Then why would I marry you?"

Paddy cut in with disgust. "Because you took Felix for a sucker and only ever wanted to squeeze him for what you could get."

Anita screamed. "You shut up. If it weren't for you, his so-called good buddy, would he and I have ever come to this?"

With that, Anita threw all caution aside and smashed the window with the axe.

4.

The window shattered.

Hands clamped down on my arm.

Pain shot through it.

Anita's carefully made-up face twisted out of shape.

"Felix James, get out here. You bow down and kowtow to my Roy today, or you're in for it."

I'm a grown man, and they were actually trying to haul me out through the window by force.

Paddy had a death grip on the small of my back.

Anita saw it and spat, "Paddy, are you shameless or what? This is between me and my husband. You just have to stick your nose in. You can't stand to see Felix happy, is that it?"

The words were barely out before her manicured fingers jabbed straight into Paddy's face.

Blood welled up in the scratches at once.

Paddy bit down on the pain and didn't let go.

"Felix, think of something. We are not taking this beating for nothing!"

Half my body was already dragged out the window.

The villagers around the car whooped it up, every last one of them.

"Now this is a fun wedding scuffle. They're playing tug-of-war now."

My body was stretched between the two forces, my gut jammed hard against the window frame, and it hurt so much I could have cried.

I gave Paddy a look with my eyes.

He let go, watching for his chance to climb toward the driver's seat.

Anita, though, thought I was about to give in.

"See, wasn't that easy? Saves you all that suffering."

Right then Paddy took his chance, climbed into the driver's seat, and started the car.

The car lurched forward the second it started, and the pull dragged Anita a few steps with it.

The color drained from her face in fright.

Paddy eased off the speed a little.

"Felix, what are you doing? Are you trying to kill me?"

Soon enough the gawkers crowded back in.

But in all the chaos my hand found the walkie-talkie.

Lucky she'd warned us ahead of time that her home was up in the hills with bad phone signal, so we'd brought walkie-talkies.

I pressed down on it.

"Dad, Mom, big brother, I'm calling off this wedding. Come save me, quick."

I steadied myself and made my voice louder.

"Anita's family is forcing me to kneel to a dog. No kneeling, no coming inside. I don't want this marriage."

Static crackled.

The walkie-talkie hissed, and then came the voice that settled me.

"What?! Little brother, don't be scared, we're coming in right now to get you!" It was my big brother, Elwin James.

"Elwin, don't come charging in alone. The people in this village are troublemakers."

"Got it," Elwin said.

Not long after.

A whole crowd from the construction site came out of nowhere.

They came pouring in this way with my brother at the front.

They were the crew the government had sent down to build roads out here.

A lot of them were doing the public-works stint to log some experience and pad their rsums, so every one of them was strong and fit.

The ones who'd been jeering that us city folk were soft turned timid, one after another.

My big brother walked up to the window, saw how pale I was, the blood streaked all over Paddy's face, the smashed-in window, and his face went dark as a storm.

He fixed his stare on Anita, hair a mess, face twisted.

Then he raised his hand and pointed at her.

Anita shrank back in fear, her lips trembling.

I opened the door and stepped out.

Just as my brother was about to swing, I spoke.

"Elwin, wait. Don't do it yet"