by Pepper Pace
Patty’s eyes scanned the thrashing people for one black girl; it wasn’t like there were all that many black girls at an Omicron party…
“Hey?!” She yelled to the person that was dancing next to her. “Have you seen a black girl? Short hair wearing all black?”
“No. I ain’t seen nobody.” The half drunk person slurred.
Patty scowled and moved to another person repeating the question.
“Yeah.” The guy responded. “I saw her. She’s outside. She was fighting with someone.”
Oh shit! Patty took a step towards the entrance and then stopped. She hurried back to where Jason was. He gave her an expectant look.
“Stand up!” She commanded. He used the hand rest of his chair to push up and Patty grabbed him by his waist and hoisted him to his feet.
“Where-?” He began.
“Outside!” She bent and swept him over her shoulder in a fireman’s hold. Patty was almost as tall as Jason but much stockier. She did this with little effort and shoved her way through the crowd. Amberly caught a glimpse of them and hurried to catch up, tripping and half falling over the feet of the rude partiers who didn’t have enough sense to move out of the way of someone with an obvious walking issue!
“Hey wait up!” She yelled. But they didn’t hear her. Why was Patty carrying Top over her shoulder??
When Patty got to the entrance she stopped two girls. “Have you seen a black girl, short hair, wearing all black?”
They both nodded. “Yeah she went off with three guys.”
Jason was hanging upside down and the blood was rushing to his head but it sounded like they had said that Robin had went off with three guys. He felt his very toes begin to curl. Patty hurried out of the house. Chauncy was standing at the door. He was one of the brothers of the fraternity and he was collecting money.
“Chauncy! Where is the black girl that was with us?”
Chauncy gave Patty and Jason curious looks. “Uh…what black girl? And why are you carrying Top around?”
“Chauncy! Black girl! Stay focused!”
“With short hair? The drunk one? I made her and her friends leave.”
“What the fuck?!” Jason yelled. He slapped Patty’s ass to be put down. She lowered him carefully to the ground, still holding him around the waist so that he didn’t topple over. “Where’d she go?”
Chauncy shrugged. “I don’t know. She left with those guys.”
“And she was drunk?” Patty asked.
“Yeah, falling on her face drunk. Look, she didn’t have a student i.d. so I didn’t let her in. Plus she was with those guys and they didn’t have student i.d.s AND they were under 21 so I told them to leave or I’d call the cops on them-”
Jason felt lightheaded and sick. Robin had gone off with three strange guys… “Oh Jesus…” He said.
Amberly had finally caught up with them and rubbed his back. “She’ll be okay. Maybe she called you-”
Yes! He quickly reached into his pocket for his cell. Yes! There was one text from Robin! It was left about half an hour ago. He tried to read it but it didn’t make sense. It said:
JAON % 8&?3 3ell3hem I wi3hyou
“Jason…something…tell them I’m with you…” He repeated.
“Call her.” Patty said.
He nodded and hit redial.
Chauncy was moving nervously back and forth from one foot to the other. “Look, I didn’t know she was with you guys or I would have let her in. But she was drunk and since that problem a few years back you know we’re banned from having house parties unless it’s students only-”
Amberly held up her hand to shush him.
Jason looked at them, holding the phone to his ear. “She’s not answering…” He got her voice mail. “Robin! Where are you?! Call me…did you leave with someone? Call me as soon as you get this. I’m going to try to ring you again.”
Amberly hurried to two guys that were heading up the stairs to the house. They’d already been inside because they wore red stamps on the back of their hands.
“Hey, have you guys seen a black girl with three other guys? She’s probably drunk?”
They both pointed down the street. “Yeah. They’re trying to get her drunk-ass home but she won’t go.”
The second guy chuckled. “Not sure why drunk people won’t get in the car with their sober friends-” Amberly’s face paled. She hurried back up the steps, tripped, landed on her palms. Jason and Patty were looking at her in concern.
“Sh-sh-she’s.” She pointed down the street. “Th-th-THEY…ARE TR-TR-trying to guh guh GET her in a C-C-CAR!!!”
Patty grabbed Jason around his waist and dragged him down the stairs like he was a ragdoll. He hung on, the whites of his eyes were red and the green of them had darkened until they looked brown. He was furious, his mouth was a pale slash in his other-wise red face.
Amberly limped behind her trying to keep up. But her body was so tense that she could not manage more than a halting shamble. She hadn’t wanted Jason with anybody else…but she didn’t want anything bad to happen to that girl, either. This is how college girls got raped every day in America! Why would she just go off with three strange guys???
Patty finally spotted Robin sitting on the curb with three guys standing around her. They were surrounding her and her head was down. What the fuck?!
“Get away from her!” Jason began screaming. The guys looked up at them in surprise. The three young men thought that Patty looked like a bull as she charged towards them while holding the crippled dude against her body. That sight was more than enough to cause them to take a step back.
“What are you doing with this girl?” Patty bellowed.
“Nothing.” One guy spoke, holding up his hands in submission.
“Robin?” Jason said. She was leaned over with her arms crossed around her middle. “Patty take me over to her!” Patty glared at the three punks as she dragged Jason over to the curb.
“What did you do to her?” They fell over themselves trying to deny any culpability.
“Nothing! She was drunk!”
Jason slipped from her grip, sinking hard to the ground where he placed a hand on the back of her neck. She was rocking back and forth.
“She said her stomach hurt. We were just going to get her home. But hey, dude, if you’re her friends then we’ll leave her with you. This is too much fucking drama.” They guy talking turned and headed for his car. His friends followed.
“All this just to hear some fucking music…” The other spoke. Jason ignored them. He was rubbing the back of Robin’s neck.
“You!” Patty said to the first guy. “Look, we’re sorry…and thank you.” He waved without looking back and they crowded into their car and drove off.
“Is she okay?” Amberly asked. Her words were very slurred she didn’t know how Jason managed to understand her but he did. He was the only one that could when her speech got very bad.
“I don’t know.” She wouldn’t look at him.
Amberly rubbed her arms anxiously. Why would Jason want to be with a trouble maker like her? Why would she get so drunk that she couldn’t even lift her head up…and end up just sitting on the curb of the street like a bum? Amberly’s face took on a dark cast. Jason would see that this girl was not for him; a drunk and a drama queen. He deserved so much better.
Jason continued to rub Robin’s neck. “Robin, baby, does your stomach hurt?” She nodded slowly. “Do you need to throw up?” After a minute she nodded again. Amberly rolled her eyes and looked up and down the street for whoever might be watching.
Patty crouched down beside her. “Robin, do you think anyone might have put something in your drink?” Robin didn’t answer. Jason and Patty’s eyes met. She looked at the black girl again. “Robin, can you stand up?” No answer.
Patty had a scared look on her face; the first that Jason had ever seen. “I can’t carry you both…” The three friends looked at each other helplessly. Then Robin slowly pulled herself up, however
she didn’t straighten. Once she was on her feet, she placed her hands on her knees, still in a crouch. Spit started streaming from her mouth and then finally she puked.
“Ewww!” Amberly exclaimed while turning away. “It smells like Hennesey...and pizza.” Patty clutched Robin’s arm to prevent her from falling into her own mess, when she went weaving on her feet. She glanced at the vomit and then her eyes locked on to it. She looked at Robin slowly.
“Can you stand up?” Robin nodded. She felt a little better now. Her stomach still burned and her head still hurt but she managed to straighten.
“I’ll help her.” Amberly said. “Just get Top.” She placed her arm around the stooped girl. Amberly just hoped that Top would break up with her after this disgusting display.
Patty reached down and pulled Jason up to his feet with ease. She tossed him over her shoulder and led the way back to the house. Chauncy looked at Robin and Amberly and tried to stop them from following.
“Hey, she can’t come in. She’s drunk and she not a student-”
“Go to hell Chauncy!” Amberly said angrily. “She could have been raped! You let a drunk girl go off with three guys! You’re a creep!” Amberly pushed her way into the house after Patty, ignoring Chauncy’s weak protests. She walked the drunk girl to one of the lower level bathrooms, which was fortunately unoccupied. Then she turned on the water at the sink. Robin immediately began splashing her face and rinsing her mouth. She lurched over to the toilet and vomited again.
Amberly was shuddering and trying not to gag at the sounds and smells in the little bathroom. “Oh my god…that’s so gross. Hey, are you going to be okay?” Robin sat on the floor, panting, her back against the wall. Her stomach hurt, it burned so bad.
“I want to go home,” she whimpered. She covered her face and started crying. She felt so bad; so sick and so stupid.
“Don’t cry.” Amberly said miserably. She twisted her fingers. “You shouldn’t drink so much if you can’t hold your liquor.” Robin wiped her eyes and nodded in agreement. “I’ll get Patty.” She hurried out of the bathroom grateful that Patty was better at these things than she was. Patty always got drunk.
Patty had deposited Jason back into his chair. She looked up at Link who was watching them in confusion. “Top, you go on up there and finish out. I’ll watch Robin. I won’t leave her.” Jason looked at Link up there holding it down for the both of them and felt instantly guilty. He nodded though he wanted to be with Robin—yet he still felt frustrated and afraid and didn’t know where to direct it. So yeah, he wheeled himself back up to the equipment and followed Link’s lead. For the first time in his life he had no joy in mixing music.
Patty met Amberly in the next room. “Where is she?” Amberly pointed to the bathroom. Patty headed in that direction and Amberly called after her. “She needs an intervention. She just ruined this party for us!” Patty ignored her and knocked on the closed restroom door.
“Robin.” She didn’t hear a reply so just entered. Robin had her head resting on her bent knees and was sitting on the floor. Patty turned off the water and then reached over to flush the toilet. She hesitated staring into the bowl. She flushed it and sat down next to Robin on the floor.
“Hey? You’re vomiting blood.” Robin looked up weakly and gave her a confused look. She shook her head in denial.
“Yes. There’s blood in your vomit. Not a lot, but enough. So…why?”
“I don’t know. I don’t normally vomit-” and with that said, she quickly scrambled to the toilet and vomited again. This time she stared into the bowl. It was unmistakably blood.
“Your stomach hurts?” Patty asked.
“I have irritable bowel.” She tried to find a reason for the blood.
Patty reached over and flushed the toilet then she got a towel and wet it and dabbed Robin’s sweating face. “Robin, you need to go to a doctor.”
Robin took the towel from her and dabbed her own face and neck. “I’m okay. I just had too much to drink. I’m no drinker, and I guess I over did it.” She gave Patty a direct look. “Is Jason mad? He’s probably so angry at me.”
“Don’t worry about Jason. He’s back up playing with Link.”
She looked relieved. “You’re not going to tell him about…the blood? Please don’t, okay? That is not something that normally happens.”
“I’m no busy body, Robin. If he don’t ask, then I won’t tell.”
Someone knocked on the door. “Hey, there’s a line out here. Can you hurry up?!”
“Use a different one!” Patty bellowed. She stared back at Robin. She was a pretty girl; dark skinned, short hair and eyes that were like Asian eyes except not slanted and with jewel coloring. She was shapely; no thin stick girl. She could see why Jason was crushing on her.
“You like Jason, maybe even love him?” Robin met her eyes and nodded. “If this is a game for you, please find someone else to play. Jason acts tough but he’s not; it’s just his hard outer shell that protects his cushy innards.”
“I don’t want to hurt him. I’m…just happy he lets me love him. In the beginning he pushed me away a lot and I didn’t know what he really felt, I thought he hated me actually. But I guess, I passed whatever test and he let me in.” Robin didn’t know why she was talking so openly to this girl that she had barely exchanged ten words with since they had first met. Maybe she was still drunk. The world still had that hazy not-quite-real feel to it.
Patty nodded. “Once he lets you in, he won’t let you go so easy.” She looked away. “I just wish Link was more like that.”
“You and Link are…?”
“We’re fucking. But whether we are ever going to be…well that depends on him.”
“Oh. You don’t think he feels the same way about you that you feel for him?”
Patty took a deep breath. “I don’t really know what I feel about him.” She gave Robin an earnest look. “I always see him with these cute girls with tight bodies and big boobs. Even after his accident he attracts those girls that laugh all of the time and bounce on their toes. Fuck…I’m just…me.” She ran her hands through her short hair and gave Robin a sharp look. Robin didn’t look away. She waited patiently for Patty to finish. After a moment Patty’s expression softened.
“My real name is Belinda, not Patty. And I’m not gay, or bi. And I know I look hard like a guy. But if you look hard like a guy, people won’t fucking pick on you. If you’re willing to back it up, you don’t have to go through life defending yourself—people just know to leave you the fuck alone.” She cussed a lot, Robin noted. She ran her hands through her hair again and stood. “Look I need to go outside and have a smoke.”
“I’ll go with you. I think I’m done puking.” Patty nodded and Robin took a moment to splash her face and rinse her mouth again. The two young women went outside and sat on the porch stairs. Chauncy looked at them as if Patty would beat him down but she ignored him and so did Robin. After a moment he retreated into the house to act as security from there.
Patty lit a cigarette and rested her arms across her knees. “I want Link to see me the person and not just some glammed out CHICK. I’m no CHICK!” Robin was sitting next to her. Her stomach still hurt, but she was used to this type of pain. She wasn’t going to barf again and her body wouldn’t allow her to have a bowel movement in that foul toilet, so for now she was in a physical state of limbo. She watched Patty/Belinda and nodded. Their two fellows were still playing music and the crowd was still going crazy.
“Are you going to tell Link how you feel?”
