The Mighty Red

At the party, Crystal and Kismet are both on edge. Crystal asks her to come back home, to leave Gary. Kismet smiles and leads her mother into the party. Gary’s friend Eric gives a fraught and inappropriate speech in which he castigates Gary for his inherited wealth. An attempt is made to diffuse the tension, and Gary gives Kismet a dramatic kiss.

Charlie, Eric, Knievel, and Harlan gather outside. They have been playing football with Gary since they were young. They are easy with one another, but since the accident at the party, there is a new tension. They have a heated, veiled conversation about the night of the party and Eric’s bizarre wedding speech.

The second wedding cake, far less elaborate than the first, looks odd to Kismet. It is not the cake she and her mother picked out. She finds out that there was a mix-up, and this is a cake meant for a funeral. She thinks that this is a terrible omen, and her marriage will end in death. She feels ill at ease despite the party’s lively atmosphere. She finds Eric, and they talk about Gary’s disastrous proposal at the steakhouse. He mentions something cryptic about taking “a fall” for Gary and tells her that perhaps he can tell her the story another time.