It was that time of year - sweet sixteen season. Sweet sixteens meant parties. Parties meant formal wear and gifts. Formal wear and gifts meant money. And I didn't have any. So, I accepted invitations for just a few of the parties, and regretfully turned down the rest.
I had been looking forward to Marie's party all year. It was the last of the sweet sixteens. She was practically inviting our entire sophomore class. Her mother worked at the local university, and had rented out one of the banquet halls for the party. Marie came from a traditional Irish Catholic family - lots of babies, not a whole lot of money. I knew I would feel comfortable at this party where there would be no pretense of riches. Just a nice hall with meals cooked by aunts and friends. (Marie also had four really cute older brothers.)
My friend Kay and I were going to the party together. Neither of us had any money, and this bonded us. We had two dresses each, which we had put into rotation for different parties and events. For this party, however, we had each bought a new outfit. Kay wore a long flowing skirt and a beaded peasant top, looking very Edie Brickell. I, on the other hand, went the rock route and wore a Robert Palmer "Simply Irresistible" little black dress. My breasts heaved out of the top and I had to keep tugging the bottom down to keep from exposing myself.
I finally looked like a slut!
My mother confirmed this fact:
"You look like a slut!"
"I know!"
"What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Thanks!"
"You better not let your father see you in that."
She was right. My father would build a basement and lock me in it if he saw me. Luckily, I would be long gone before he got home from work.
Kay and I got ready at my house. We were both giddy with expectation. Our friend Julie was driving us to the party. When we piled into her car, we groaned hello to her new friends, Babs, Yvette and Sandy. We didn't like these girls. They were rich snobs who acted like nothing could touch them. Under their influence, Julie had turned away from us and into someone new. - someone with secrets and snide remarks. Kay and I sat in squished silence as the other girls whispered private jokes and passed around a clove cigarette.
When we arrived at the party, Babs rushed off to a boy on the corner. They argued for a few minutes, and then he gave her a small envelope. Babs rushed past Kay and I, jiggling the envelope at the others and laughing. All four girls huddled into a knot and strode into the party. Kay shrugged at me and we walked in alone.
The party was already in full swing. Girls were dancing while boys watched and made comments. A buffet was set up against one wall, and tables and chairs dotted the room.
"What do we do?" Kay asked.
"I don't know. Dance, eat, sit. I don't know."
Kay and I stood like dopes in the doorway until some girls we didn't know shoved us aside and into motion. We said bashful hellos to some girls from school and headed for the buffet. We piled out plates high and sat alone at a table, thankful to have an activity to occupy some time.
It was an hour and a half into the party. Kay and I had already finished eating seconds, and we were unsure of what to do next. As we debated another attack of the buffet, Babs sauntered up to our table, glassy-eyed.
"You better go check your girl," she slurred.
"What are you talking about?" I scowled. Babs cackled and swayed on her feet.
"Julie. She's a mess!"
"Where is she? What did you do to her?" Kay demanded. Babs found this hysterical. I became furious as she laughed at us. Kay and I stood from the table and looked around for Julie. Babs pointed towards the bathroom. As Kay and I rushed off, Babs called after us, "Your girl can't hold her shit!"
We found Julie in the bathroom, sweaty and leaning against the wall. She was crying and moaning. Kay and I stared at her, unsure of what to do.
"I gotta get this thing offa me. Get it off! Get it off!" Julie tore at her dress, trying to pull it over her head. Kay and I held her arms at her sides.
"What'd you take Julie?" I asked.
"I don't know. A red one, a white one and a blue one. Can you feel my heart? Is it supposed to do that?" Julie pulled my hand up onto her chest and I felt it pounding. I looked at Kay, alarmed.
Kay shrugged. "Let's make her throw up."
"I can't throw up! My insides are burning. It'll tear up my throat, I know it."
"Maybe we should tell someone. Marie's mom?"
Kay's eyes widened. Julie stood up and shoved me against the stall, staring hard into my eyes.
"I'll kill you. I swear I will." Julie said this calmly, and I believed her. She was bigger and stronger than I was. I wracked my brain for useful information from after school specials about drug overdoses, and I had a terrible vision of Julie hurling herself out a fourth floor window. I was grateful to be on the ground floor.
Kay puffed herself up and stood up to Julie. "Look. Either you throw up a bunch of times or we tell someone. Choose."
Julie's ashen, sweaty face glowered at Kay, but Kay stayed firm. I was glad she was my friend.
Soundlessly, Julie turned away from us and vomited into the toilet. She cried then, cursing the toilet and kicking the wall. We held her hair back, trying not to gag.
Kay and I took turns holding Julie up and bringing her drinks of ice water and coffee. Marie's mother stopped me outside the bathroom as I was rushing back with a tall glass of water.
"What are you girls up to? You've been in the bathroom all night."
"Sorry. Julie's having a really bad period, and we're just trying to help her through it."
"Oh, poor girl. Can I help?"
"No!" I practically burst. "She wouldn't want to ruin the party. We have it under control."
"All right. Let me know if she needs anything." I nodded and went back to my post beside Kay.
We spent the rest of the night in the toilet with Julie. She was shivering and paranoid, angry and pathetic. Her puke was on one of my patent leather pumps.
As the party was ending, we were all slumped in the stall, exhausted. We needed to find a way home.
"I'll drive. I can drive," Julie murmured. We ignored her and decided to look for a ride home.
"We'll be right back Julie. Don't you move!" Kay warned. A snore escaped from Julie's sunken head, and we went back out to the party, in search of a ride.
All of the lights in the hall were on. I felt exposed and unglamorous. Three hours ago I had felt sexy and mature. Now I felt tired and old.
Most of the people we knew had already left the party. We asked the few remaining guests for a ride, but no one had room for us. In desperation, we called Kay's older sister Nell, who went to a nearby college. When Nell picked up the phone, Kay looked at me, rolled her eyes and hung up.
"Drunk," she explained.
As we were brainstorming by the phone, a rush of giggles shot past us. Babs, Yvette and Sandy were ushering Julie out of the party. Julie allowed herself to be swept away by their arms. We chased them out onto the street.
"Hey! What are you doing?" I shouted after them.
"What does it look like?" Babs shot back.
"Julie! Come on. We got a ride," Kay pleaded. Julie held up her car keys and jingled them at us.
"I got a ride!" She opened the car door and they all piled in, with Julie in the driver's seat. I started after them but Kay grabbed my arm.
"Let them go. There's nothing we can do." We stared off as the car peeled away.
"How much have you got?" Kay asked.
"About 75 cents. You?"
"Not a thing."
"What do we do?" I asked, feeling a panic rise in my throat.
"Who can we call?"
"Your mom?"
"You know she's passed out drunk by now," Kay answered curtly. This was true. Both of Kay's parents were alcoholics. They weren't mean or violent, but they were dedicated drunks.
"Your dad?" Kay offered hesitantly.
I bit my lip as I considered this. My dad worked two full-time jobs. He worked for the Department of Health during the day, and drove a cab in New York nights and weekends. He got very little sleep, and was often cranky with exhaustion. It was 11 o'clock on a Friday night. My dad had probably come home at 9 and gone right to sleep, only to wake up again at 2 am to drive the cab. I really did not want to wake him. More importantly, I did not want him to see me in my slutty dress.
As we watched the last of the guests leave, I reluctantly called my dad. His voice was gruff and thick with sleep. I explained the situation, and asked if he could come for us. There was silence, followed by a long exhale.
"Where are ya?"
I gave him directions, intermittently thanking him and apologizing.
"See you in 15," he said, and hung up on another apology.
Kay looked relieved, but I felt heavy with guilt and fear. What if my father fell asleep behind the wheel? What if Julie crashed into him and killed him because I had let her drive stoned? What if my father refused to let me in the car with my slutty dress? My fears were endless.
Kay and I stood on the corner, waiting for my father. Although he was a New York City cab driver, he could never find his way around Jersey. I watched eagle-eyed for his long shark of a Buick to come barreling down the street, afraid he might pass us by.
Kay pressed close against me, digging her Lee press-on nails into my arm.
"Ouch!" I shouted. She lowered her head close to mine.
"Look," she murmured, gesturing to my right.
There were two slimy men looking us up and down, slowly approaching us. One was short and greasy, the other tall and missing a front tooth. The short one nodded beyond us and I turned around. A third man was approaching us from the left. He was large and muscular, much more menacing. The three men closed in on us, and I began to cry.
"I can't believe this is happening. Julie's off killing people with her car, my dad is probably lost and I look like a total slut. Now we're going to get raped. Great!"
The three men surrounded us. Kay put her quivering arm around my shoulder protectively. I cried softly, crossing my arms in front of my chest.
"Hey, got a light?" the thin one asked, biting down on a cigarette.
"We don't smoke," Kay barked. I cried harder. The big guy patted my arm and I cringed.
"Don't cry sugar. We're gonna party." I recoiled, snot running down my nose.
"Leave us alone. We're just kids!" I shouted.
The tall one cackled and tugged on Kay's skirt.
"You don't look like kids." As the three men laughed, I heard Kay whimpering beside me.
I turned to the street and saw the long white hood of my father's car. I jumped off the curb, waving my arms. My father slammed on the brakes and the would-be rapists backed off. Kay and I scrambled into the back seat, shaking and sobbing with relief.
My father made a U-turn and stopped at a red light. Kay and I held each other.
"What was all that about?" Kay and I choked out our story, about Julie and Babs, Kay's sister, the thugs on the corner. My father's face was angry and tense, but softened as we spoke.
The light turned green. As my father was about to drive, there was a squeal of tires all around us. Three large cars surrounded us. Several meaty men got out of the cars and approached us, two on the passenger side and two on the driver's side. This sent us into a fresh round of hysterics.
My father rolled down his window. The men peeked into the car, looking us up and down.
"Sir, why did you just pick up these women?" one of the men asked. Kay and I stopped crying, confused.
"What?" my father demanded. The man ignored my father, leaning further into the car, staring at us as the other men looked on.
"Ladies, Jersey City PD. Did this man offer you money for...favors?"
"Oh. My. God!" Kay shouted.
"What? What?" I was completely confused.
"They think we're hookers!" Kay shouted, shoving my arm.
"I can't believe your mother let you out wearing that!" my father's face turned scarlet. "Officer, this is my daughter and her friend. I'm picking them up from a party."
The officer nodded his head, embarrassed.
"Sorry sir. We're working a sting in this area, and we saw the girls on the corner talking to those men. Then you showed up. You can see how...."
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever."
"Wait a minute," I shouted, leaning up towards the cop. "You saw us? You saw those men harassing us? Why didn't you help us?" I was livid.
"Don't press your luck!" my dad shot back angrily. "Is that all officer?"
"Yeah. Sorry about that. And I'm also giving you a warning. U-turns are illegal. Understood?"
"Yeah yeah. Got it. Thanks a lot."
"Now get these girls home." The cop tapped the roof of the car, and they all sauntered back to their cars. My father mumbled curses while waiting for them to pull away. He turned and glared at us, shaking his head. We drove home in silence.
When we got home, my father went back to sleep for an hour before getting back up for work. I changed into pajamas and scrubbed off my make-up. I was still awake when my dad got back up for work. I heard him sighing and yawning as he got dressed. I wanted to go to him and somehow make it better, but I didn't know how. He would have to be out working all night again, and he would be extra tired because of me.
As he unlocked the front door I listened for him to leave, but he didn't. He walked to my bedroom and stood in the doorway, listening. I waited, unsure if I should speak.
"You can always call. I'll always come for you."
"Okay," I whispered into the dark.
"Get some sleep."
I heard him walk out and lock the door behind him.
At school on Monday, Julie acted like nothing had happened. We assumed she hadn't killed anyone on the way home. Kay and I didn't see her much after that.
I threw away the little black dress and the puke pumps. Sweet Sixteen season had finally come to an end. I felt lucky to have survived it.
No comments:
Post a Comment