Charlie is an extremely talented saxophone player and entertainer who blows magic. He's a soft soul, incredibly charismatic and generates love even in the seediest of bars ... or churches.
Dressed cool and beach like, he wears purple floral shirt, white cargo shorts and sandals.
I wear the black minister's robe I bought for $10 from a Preacher going out of business.
We're conducting a service together at a farm off a dirt road in Bulloch County, Georgia ... far from the beach both of us call home.
It's also our first "Butterfly" service.
The assembly has been given small boxes, each containing a yellow Butterfly which is to be released when I pronounce them husband and wife.
Do you know that Butterflies don't like to be confined to boxes?
Charlie and I didn't.
Neither do the gathering of family and friends.
When Charlie softly blows his sax ... we can't hear a damn thing for the sound of a hundred Butterflies wildly ramming themselves against the tiny cardboard boxes.
He plays louder which seem to infuriate the already pissed off Butterflies so they try harder to escape drowning him out.
With his sweet countenance, Charlie looks at me and shrugs his shoulders.
I scream wedding vows to the top of my lungs.
"WHAT?" the Bride asks.
I scream louder.
Charlie shrugs his shoulders sympathetically and pretends to clean his Sax.
I scream louder and the couple say they "do".
Holding my hands up, I yell with everything in me "I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU HUSBAND AND WIFE!"
Over a hundred people cheer ... open up the little white containers ... and over a hundred Butterflies drop dead on the ground.
There's dead silence.
Two yellow Butterflies survive the horrific ordeal, floating together to get the Hell away from the wedding as quickly as possible.
Everyone looks at me to bring an end to the service.
I look at Charlie ... who shrugs his shoulders.
"You may kiss your Bride," I say ... not knowing what else to say.
Dead yellow Butterflies are everywhere as he kisses her.
Charlie sweetly blows his Sax as I rip off the robe and rush to my car.
He looks at me as he plays with eyes asking ... "Where the Hell are you going?"
I shrug my shoulders, get behind the wheel and leave a cloud of dust on that country dirt road.
A few days later Charlie and I are in Doc's Bar where he's the main draw and we burst out laughing when we see each other.
"Think they're gonna make it," I ask?
Charlie shrugs his shoulders and I laugh.
Grabbing me, he says, "Those poor Butterflies."
"Damn poor couple," I say as we hug.
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