“If you match Peggy’s bid, we’re $150 short of goal.”
“How about I take care of that, but you give me drink tickets for tonight.”
Each year they had a bar set up for the party. One of the parents donated the booze. He handed me fifty tickets. They normally were $5 each. I was going to be popular tonight.
As Peggy and I walked out, I figured I needed to take charge.
“I’ll pick you up at six and we’ll go to dinner. If we need a reservation, you take care of it. I’ll be wearing jeans and a t-shirt tonight,” I told her.
“Alright, I’ll see you then,” she said, and then went to her car.
I went home and watched the first half of the LSU vs. Florida game.
I CHANGED INTO MY VINTAGE jeans and a t-shirt that had ‘AC/DC’ on it. I also wore my handmade boots that looked like black army boots with big silver zippers on the outside.
I pulled up to Peggy’s house at six, and she darted out the door. I had barely stopped when she jumped in. I heard her mom.
“Peggy, get back in here!”
“Just go,” Peggy begged me.
I was not getting in the middle of something. I might want to go out with Peggy again. I got out of the Jeep and went to the front door where I met Mrs. Pratt. Peggy hadn’t budged.
“You want me to drag her back into the house?” I asked.
Mrs. Pratt seriously considered it and then turned on me.
“Where are you going tonight?”
“I’m taking her to dinner and then the band party. I plan on getting her all liquored up and then dropping her off at your front door around four in the morning. Do you want me to just ring the doorbell and run, or do you want me to pour her into her bed?”
She didn’t miss a beat.
“Do me a favor and dump her in her bed. We don’t lock the front door. Just be aware that my dear husband has a shotgun. You might want to be quiet when you bring her home.”
“Fair enough. Did you want to talk to your daughter before I commit unspeakable acts with her?”
“Nah, I trust you to keep her out of jail.”
“Don’t be jinxing me,” I scowled as I headed for the Jeep.
I could her laugh as I left.
“What did my mother want?” Peggy asked.
“She wanted to know what we’re doing tonight.”
“I don’t think I want to know what you told her, do I?” she asked.
“No, probably not. So, where are we going to eat?” I asked.
“How about the Chinese place by the park?”
When we got there, we saw they had a line. I went up to the hostess who at first gave me a funny look when she saw what I was wearing. She then looked up and saw it was me. It was Gina Tasman, Alan’s girlfriend. I slipped her a twenty.
“Reservation for Dawson,” I told her.
She gave me a wink and we were seated. Peggy gave me a sheepish look when we were alone.
“I forgot to call for a reservation,” she confessed.
“That’s okay, they know me here.”
“Is that right? I bet you can’t get us mixed drinks?” she challenged me.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I just feel like getting drunk.”
It sounded like I might be taking her home and pouring her into bed. Her mom couldn’t be too mad, because I had warned her. I just hoped she didn’t get arrested. When the waiter came over, I ordered appetizers and our drinks.
“We’ll have egg rolls and potstickers. I’ll have an iced tea with lemon, and she’ll have an iced tea from New England.”
“I’ll need to see her ID,” he said.
I held out my hand and Peggy gave me her ID. I put a twenty on top of it and handed it to the waiter. The twenty disappeared and he handed her back her ID.
“What’s going on?” I asked her.
“I’ll tell you some other time. I just want to have fun tonight.”
“I can appreciate that.”
We fell into a relaxed conversation. Peggy’s spirits seemed to rise after her second drink. I refused to order her any more for fear I’d be carrying her out of the restaurant. I figured I was pushing it with two of them. On the ride to the party, she opened up.
“My parents may be breaking up,” she blurted out.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said, not knowing what else to say.
“Please stop the car,” she told me.
My first thought was she needed to throw up. ‘Stupid boy.’ She just needed to be held. Jeeps are not made for that. I got us out of the Jeep and held her. She put her face into my chest and cried. I think she just needed someone to listen. We sat down in the grass and I rocked her.
Wouldn’t you know it, the police showed up. He had his lights flashing, and put a spotlight on us.
“Hey, David, everything okay?” he said over the speaker.
I just nodded, and he drove away. The upside was that Peggy wanted to go to the party now, instead of crying. When we got there, Peggy left me so she could wash her face. I went in and saw all the cheerleaders there.
“Where were you guys?” I asked.
“JV football game,” Tracy told me. I should have known that. “Who bought you?”
“Peggy did, and she wants to get drunk. Would you guys drink with her?”
Like I needed to ask. Peggy came back and I handed the girls drink tickets. I gave Peggy an extra one and asked for a Mountain Dew. I guarded our tables as they got in the drink line. Then the football players started to show up. I handed Mike 20 tickets to distribute. He made sure Wolf and his date had six of them, and then gave one or two to all the other guys, depending on whether they had a date or not.
The girls all came back with New England Iced Teas. Crud. Peggy was going to be face-down shortly because each drink had four shots of alcohol in it. It looked like the guys were copying the girls. We were going to have some drunk people on our hands before the night was over. Something smart the Band did was valet park everyone. If you were too drunk to drive, you didn’t get your car keys back.
I then heard the band start; they were playing swing music. The girls in dance class had taught me how to do it.
“Who wants to dance?” I asked.
No one in my group was brave enough, so I went to the dance floor and stood in the middle. I was the only one there. I pointed at the crowd and one of the theater girls was brave enough to come out and dance with me. She was good. I was throwing her all over the place, and she just followed my lead. When the music stopped, she was panting. The band went into another swing number. Another girl, who was even better, took the first girl’s place. After two more songs, the band stopped for a quick break.
I was sweating my butt off. I went back to the table and handed out the rest of my tickets. Peggy got me another Mountain Dew and sat in my lap. I didn’t expect her to kiss me in front of everyone. Peggy wasn’t normally that outgoing. I finally had to stop her before Mr. Happy made me do something I knew she wasn’t ready for.
What I hadn’t realized was that everyone had bought another drink while I was gone, and Peggy was on her fifth one. Everyone else was on his or her third. Peggy jumped off my lap and went to the restroom. Kim took Peggy’s place in my lap and kissed me. It wasn’t just a friendly kiss, either. I looked around and all the guys with dates were making out with their girlfriends. The single guys were chatting up other girls or making out. Much more alcohol and this could get interesting.
“Get off my man, bitch,” I heard as Kim was almost knocked out of my lap.
If I hadn’t grabbed her, she would have landed on her backside. I grabbed Peggy to keep her from getting into a fight. Kim wiggled her derrière on my lap and then jumped up with a smirk. I pulled Peggy into my lap before she got any ideas. I kissed her to get her back into a good mood.
The music started up again. They had a new band that played more recent stuff. No one wanted to dance with me, so I just headed to the dance floor again. The girls from my dance class had shown up, plus the theater girls had adopted me. I was having a great time until the cops arrived and the music stopped. One of the band members announced that the police were outside.