Winter Dinner Party: Fictional Character Guest List
Who would you invite to a party if you could only pick non-real characters?
A fellow Medium’er Courtney Stars posted a similar challenge. She didn’t challenge me, but I thought the idea was great. I get to choose five guests to have for dinner. Some of these may be deep cuts are obscure, but it’s worth checking out their fictional source.
James Neubauer
His father is absent, and his stepmother is unmoored, trying to balance being a wife and a mother-figure. James lost his mother in a car accident two years before I saw him. He’s still haunted by the accident and suffers from PTSD. He freezes up every time he passes the bridge where the accident happened. He’s been unable to express his feelings about losing his mother and often acts out, much to his father’s dismay.
Maddy Bennett, a cantankerous older lady in their small Maine coastal town, befriended James and helped him through his trauma. Maddy had suffered her own loss when her son, Bobby, died in the Vietnam war. She found unorthodox ways of dealing with her grief, believing that Bobby still talks to her. James’s parents find the diary of Bobby’s post-mortem words, written by Maddy, disturbing. They don’t understand her grief process. Yet James is drawn to Maddy. She gets him. James realizes she’s someone who relates to the loss in a way his father is unable to do (for now). She makes James face his fears and talk about his mother.
I can’t ignore the weight of Maddy’s death months later. The second significant woman in James’s life left him. But through Maddy’s passing, James learned to be closer to his father and stepmother. He had to grow up quick, dealing with compounded adult feelings and issues at twelve-years-old. But he found his place in the family. They learned their relationships are compromises and negotiated. James comes to believe that Maddy is now signaling him after her death.
The rub is that for a twelve-year-boy, James proved to be quite aware of himself. He knows he’s wrought with grief, anguishing over his mother’s death. But he doesn’t have the words for it or the tools to get it out. Couple that with his father and stepmother not knowing how to connect with him, and it’s no wonder James found solace in Maddy’s direct approach to friendships and life lessons. She was an anchor and a compass that pointed him north back to his parents. James and his parents had to learn new methods to engage with each other. But even in death, Maddy is a lighthouse, teaching the power of love, purposeful grief, and the joy of life.
Whether his mother or Maddy visited him after they passed is a question I want to ask James. Is a rumor of angels true? Do two of the most influential women in his life still talk to him? I am curious if his mother’s death still haunts James, and how has he matured without his mom or Maddy? What role did his stepmother take through all this? Losing my mother in 2012, I can relate to James. It would be nice to compare notes on coping and forging forward through grief.
Millicent “Penny” Gordon Woods
Willona is down to earth and not afraid to kick up her heels to embrace the good times of life. She’s the bawdy and loving neighbor of Florida and James Evans, all of whom live in the Chicago projects. But when Willona and the Evans family became aware of their neighbor Penny Gordon and the abuse she suffered by her mother, Willona took charge. Penny’s mother, the venal Linella Gordon, lied about the abuse. She made excuses for her daughter’s burns and bruises, even teaching Penny to lie for her. Taking Penny under her wing, Willona became a stand-in mother for Penny.
When Linella found out Willona and the neighbors were keen on her abusive habits, she packed up and left the building, taking Penny with her. Willona was worried sick, assuming Penny could be in more significant danger. But then Penny shows up expected at Willona’s apartment, scared and confused. She ran away from her mother and the abuse. She begged to stay with anyone who would let her. Willona’s love for Penny pulled her back.
Not to be outdone, Linella chased her daughter down. Willona and the Evans’ confronted Linella about the abuse. Through harsh words and a united front, Linella let Penny live with Willona. After another swipe, years later, to regain custody of her daughter through a botched set up with Child Protective Services and the cops, Willona was granted a full adoption of Penny. The setup was an attempt to try and prove Willona was unfit to be Penny’s mother, which only showed Linella’s inability to handle a child.
Despite her abusive childhood, I hope that Penny grew up to have healthy relationships and friendships. Did she ever resolve the conflict with her insolent mother? Did she ever see her again? I want to know where she’s at now and what career path she’s chosen. Parental issues aren’t new to any of us, but Penny’s situation was an extreme case.
Milton Waddams
In my high school yearbook, a friend signed, “you are the most neurotic person I’ve ever met. But then again, neurosis can be fun.” I can’t help but think with fewer worries and a bit of a break, Milton’s neurosis would disappear. Maybe mine would have, too. Milton wasn’t impressed with a TPS report cover sheet. He wanted his red stapler. I can’t blame him for that since I don’t like people touching my stuff, either. But there was one thing Milton wanted more than his staplers: respect.
After consistent dismissing by his superiors at Initech, Milton low-key vowed to burn the place down if they continued to undercut him. His boss saw the potential for more office space and, subsequently, reassigned Milton to the basement. The move left Milton incensed. It was that moment was when he resolved to burn down Initech’s headquarters.
While everyone was worried about their jobs post-inferno, Milton was missing. I’m not sure if anyone bothered to look for him, nor did they remember the last time they saw Milton. Unbeknownst to anyone, Milton had taken off with all the money Peter, Michael, and Samir sought to lift from Initech through a well-crafted computer virus. The virus was written to skim fractions of pennies from the company ledger, figuring it would go unnoticed. It would storehouse money over time, allowing Peter and friends to live off the company’s capital. It was a stab at a company they despised. Milton was no dummy and knew about the virus, including the bank account it was dumping money into. He absconded with the dough, leaving his fate a mystery to his former coworkers, and leaving Peter and friends broke once again.
Later, he’s sitting on a beach in Mexico and having a drink. Did he spend all the money? He is smart enough to live well, manage his money, and get the ultimate one-over on everyone. He ended up being the underdog hero, and I always root for people like Milton. He’s a better friend than an enemy.
I trust he’ll bring a nice wine to dinner.
Allison Reynolds
Allison Reynolds is the smartest of all of the unstable and insecure teenagers spending a Saturday in detention. She possesses excellent insight on how children become their parents and that the progression from child to an adult copy of their parents is unavoidable.
For Allison, her parents continue to commit one of the worst things possible to a child — they ignore her. She created an image of a weird-gothy-basket case to survive in a world of cheerleaders, jocks, rebels, and nerds — none of whom she could identify with as a teenager. It’s probable that she empathizes more with a nerd or a rebel than a jock or a princess. Children live in states of the extreme, and Allison is no different. For her, the extreme is safe from being hurt or betrayed. Yet her attendance at detention was voluntary because she simply had nothing else to do that day.
After the encounter with her Saturday breakfast club cohorts, most would graduate that year or the next. Adulthood was the next stop. I am interested in the paths Allison chose in life. Did she continue to talk and hang out with Andrew Clark, or was their connection in detention limited to Saturdays only? Was his clout as a jock enough to keep her from being made fun of by her peers? Did she carry her love of Prince into her adult years, fawning over every new album he released as I did?
Jack Tripper
How can I have a party and not invite my first crush? Jack and his two roommates Janet and Chrissy (then her cousin Cindy, then the foxy nurse Teri), lived in a cheap apartment complex near Santa Monica. The revolving door of roommates made them all realize three’s company, but five is crazy!
Jack is playful and platonic-sexual with his roommates, who have always thwarted any of his advances. They have their share of relationships, fights, and make-ups. But Jack was the constant source of the bumbling fool and adorable man about the house.
Jack originates from San Diego, a trained chef, and a former Navy man. I was in the Navy in San Diego, and cooking is one of my favorite things. We’d have a lot of notes to compare with our life experiences. Jack started his own restaurant, which was a huge dream. I want to know if he’s continued in the culinary arts or move onto new passions.
I’m not above staging my gathering as a pool party to see him in a pair of square-cut trunks and that goofy smile.
My guest list is an odd mix of a northeastern child from a broken home, a Chicago project resident suffering abuse, an edgy introvert, a midwestern Generation X girl, and a lovable oaf. I can’t help but think it would give the whole evening countless opportunities for engaging and stimulating conversation.
Ernest Sewell was born & raised in Oklahoma. After living across the U.S. in places like Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis, he’s settled in upstate New York for the past twenty years. He’s authored and published two books and is working on a smattering of new material, including a new horror novel. He shares his home with a friend, three cats, and his vinyl collection, all of whom have the same level of love from him. When he’s not causing an uproar on Prince forums or social media, he enjoys reads (a lot), trying new recipes, and prank calling people.
“Don’t take yourself too seriously. No one else does.”
