The Mighty Red

On the night before her wedding, Kismet gathers with her girlfriends on the train bridge to drink vodka. It is June, and the river is swollen with springtime runoff. The girls, drunk, fall into the water. Everyone but Kismet gets out quickly. Kismet allows herself to be carried downstream. She knows that she cannot marry Gary, but she has no idea what she wants and doesn’t know if what she feels is love. She has been accepted to college, but the thought of it fills her with panic. Winnie’s wedding plans also scare her. As the water sucks her under, she realizes that she must do something. She cannot follow a path chosen for her by other people.

Paramedics pull Kismet from the river, and she returns home. There, she finds Father Flirty, the parish priest, as well as several FBI agents. It seems that her father, who invested the church’s savings, has disappeared with the money. Kismet feels trapped. She thinks that now she must marry Gary to draw attention away from the shame that her father has brought upon the family.