Copyright ©2020 by Creole Gaudet. All rights reserved.
No part of this chronicle may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system – except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper – without permission in writing from the publisher, Creole Gaudet.
THE W – COOK HALL – 7:40 p.m.
Sway and I had come down for dinner. It was casual. We were both in denims and shirts. We’d ordered burgers and fries.
“That was good. I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”
“You slept all day and didn’t even have breakfast or lunch.”
I slurped at the last of the cola from my glass. “I’m full though.”
“Andre, I have something to talk to you about.” She smiled sheepishly, looking through the windows. She then turned to me. “I have to work some things out. I might even need counseling at some point.”
“Sure.”
“I want to at least get this one thing off my chest, though. I haven’t told anybody about it…”
“You want to tell me?”
“I don’t want to keep putting everything on you, you know?”
“Sway, that’s what I’m here for.”
“I know.”
“I hope you’ll be there for me when I need you.”
“I will.”
“Okay, talk to me.”
“Well… It’s like all my dreams were destroyed… Can I go all the way back to the beginning?”
“You can start from wherever you want.”
“When I was a little girl, I wanted to find the perfect boy and grow up and raise a family. And I’ve found that perfect boy, man, when I found you, Andre, but it wasn’t the way I dreamed it would be.
“I would graduate high school, go off to college, and meet him on campus. He’d be like the most popular guy that all the girls wanted, but he would only want me.
“We’d walk around holding hands. We’d go to all the events…
“Then we would graduate and start our own careers or whatever. And after we’d made it and were secure, we would start a family. I’d want a boy and a girl.”
“What about your singing?”
“That could be my career too, but my man and my family would come first.”
“That’s beautiful, Sway…”
“I can still see him…”
“Your college dude?”
“No. Him.”
“Him, who?”
With her table napkin, she chased a tear speeding down her cheek. “His ugly face, smiling with those rotted teeth and that nasty beard.”
“Who, baby? Who are we talking about now?”
“That trick.”
“What trick?”
“Do you remember me telling you about my first time…?”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“Gerald knew I was a virgin…”
“His name was Gerald?”
“Yes…he’s one of their regulars. He could have left or said no.” Her expression hardened. “He forced me to suck his nasty little dick. I tried telling him that I didn’t have any experience with all that. He forced me anyway, making me lick and suck his hairy balls and asshole.”
I reached across the table, taking her hands in mine. “I’m so sorry, Sway.”
“I wanted to throw up. I wished I had a knife or a gun. I would have killed him right then and there, and I wouldn’t have felt guilty. It wouldn’t have even been on my conscience.
“After it was over, he tossed the eighty dollars at me and walked out.
“I remember going out onto the balcony, watching as he drove off in that truck.”
“What did it look like? You’d know it if you saw it again?”
“I’ll never forget it. It was red… An eighteen-wheeler with Smith’s Trucking on the door in white letters.
“He looked up to me and waved, still smiling with that fucked up mouth… Do you ever wish for someone to die?”
“I have.”
“I know it’s wrong… But…”
“I understand. I’m more than sure his day will come. He’ll get his.”
VICTORY PARK LANE – 8:15 p.m.
“How are we getting there, Andre?”
“We’re taking the Orange line.”
“The DART train?”
“Yeah, it’s just up the block. It stops right at The Angelika at Mockingbird.”
“I haven’t been on one in a long time.”
“We’ll have fun.”
THE ANGELIKA – 8:55 p.m.
“Look, Andre!” We approached the ticket counter. “Why are all these people in costumes?”
I laughed. “I don’t know!” We ordered a large popcorn and sodas. I pulled out my phone and did an image search for The Rocky Horror Picture Show. “Look, Sway… They’re dressed just like the characters in the movie!”
The attendant, a young gay ginger with freckles, handed me my receipt. “This must be your first time.”
“My first time?”
“Rocky Horror.”
“Yeah, what’s going on?”
He grinned, pointed to us, and turned to the crowd. “Virgins!”
The room filled with chants. “Virgins, virgins, virgins…!”
Creole Gaudet
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