Work Text:
The drive to the courthouse seemed longer than it was, arthritis in Ennis’ hip acting up and the truck wheezing like it might not make it the whole way.
There were a few spots left in the side parking lot. The courthouse was the same gray building as ever, today with a line that stretched around the block, people waiting two by two.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” the judge asked Ennis. “It’s my duty to uphold the law. But some folks might not take kindly to you choosing to help with it.”
Fingers stiff with age, Ennis pulled the sleeve of the denim shirt taut, proper-like, and told the honorable judge the partial truth: “I could use the money. The ad said witnesses get paid $12 a wedding.”
And that’s how Ennis Del Mar was the official courthouse witness for the first gay marriage in Wyoming—and the more than seventy more that took place that first day, couples kissing and celebrating, Ennis’ hand on the sleeve of the shirt Jack had worn, the shirt Jack had wrapped around Ennis’ shirt, and the shirt that would otherwise stay in Ennis’ closet until the day Ennis died.