Mama laughed and shook her head. “Somebody’s in love.”
“No I’m not!” Barbey said sternly, but then a giggle slipped out and she blushed. “Oh, Mama, you wouldn’t believe what’s happening to me. I met the guy…” The phone rang.
“I have to get that. Hopefully it’s Maggie Peters from the country club.” She rushed over to the phone. “Maggie? Oh, Stewart. Yes, yes, of course we’re comin’ to the banquet…”
Barbey stood there for a few minutes waiting for her to finish her conversation, but as usual she wasn’t really interested in Barbey and she got into a lengthy conversation with some Stewart about flower arrangements and catering for some banquet. Then that Maggie called on the other line and they were discussing having a dog show at the country club next spring.
Barbey didn’t care though, now standing in her pink bathroom with her makeup tray before her, because she was feeling good, stepping out into her mind onto the city sidewalk at night and looking hotter than the lit cigarette on a billboard ad on a dark busy street. Since she had gotten a little streetwalker, bar-talker with her new hairstyle, she wanted to underplay the makeup. As they say in Sassy magazine, “less is more.” She decided to play up her eyes, while leaving the rest of her face more subdued. Instead of drawing the traditional precise line under the lower lashes with black eyeliner like an arrow pointing to a whore house, which is a bit harsh for a girl in love, she smudged it slightly, giving her eyes a smoldering look, like two violet lights blinking through a haze of downtown smog. She added two coats of telephone wire mascara, a thin line of shimmery white shadow, straight and cool above as a jet stream in the sky, a subtle flush of stoplight red on the cheeks, and a nude gloss, slick as a wet apple on the promenade.
As she slipped into her strapless emerald green tube dress, like a mouse sliding into a snake’s mouth, and did some last minute finishing touches, like bleaching her teeth white as noise, powdering her nose as it grew, and spraying a touch of her favorite Poison perfume on her neck, as it hissed into the pink bathroom walls, she talked with Sage on the telephone in naive contrast to the provocative image she had just created.
Also smack-happy smitten with Parker, Sage giggled and sighed often, flipping the pages of her math book like an accordion in tune with Barbey’s animated chatter. Hardly stopping to breathe, Barbey told her how she thought Rave had died last night, but luckily had only been playing a practical joke on her. Sage laughed child-giddy-hysterical for an entire minute, but even though Barbey didn’t particularly find the situation humorous, she joined in the laughter because of her heightened state of bliss. The entire incident of thinking Rave was dead made her fearful, but because they were both on such highs from finding true love, everything seemed clown-circus happy. The laughter seemed to take a life of its own, playing off each high rolling hula-hoop pitch into the next, shooting out of canons and sticking their heads in lions’ mouths, becoming so hysterical that they began laughing at each other laugh, sending the laughter into acrobatic flips and poodle dances of glee for nearly ten minutes.
13
While Barbey drove to Rennette Park, she was nervous and excited at the same time. She kept checking in her rear-view mirror to make sure she still looked like Paulina—which she did, except for her eyes because they were violet as a storm while Paulina’s were blue as Uranus and her nose because it was a little longer. She really thought she looked like her especially when she tilted her head to the side and sucked in her cheeks a little so that her cheekbones were more pronounced. But, the image didn’t seem complete to simply look like a supermodel—this bothered her—she needed to have a dynamic personality as well, so she decided to look like Paulina on the outside and act like the starring character, Sandy Olsson, from the movie, Grease, on the inside. What an awesome idea!
When she stopped at the stoplight at the intersection of Washington and Anza, she was surprised to see John Prince right beside her in the parallel lane, smiling at her from the window of his red Trans Am. She waved exuberantly at the familiar face. He motioned her to roll down her window, but as she leaned over to unroll it, the light turned green. Consequently, she shrugged her shoulders in animation, throwing her hands in the air and waving as she drove off. She was embarrassed at the possibility of him having seen her marveling at herself in the mirror. That would be soooo embarrassing!
She parked her Jeep in front of the recreation center. Her clock said exactly 7:00 P.M., so she got out of the truck and went into the recreation room with the air hockey tables where Rave told her to meet him, but he wasn’t there. She looked in the indoor basketball court, but there were just some kids on the court. Assuming he must be in the restroom or something, she just leaned against the wall in the air hockey room while a couple of black guys who were playing a game tried to pick up on her. She felt so self-conscious and uncomfortable, so she put the Sandy character on hold for the time being and tried to act cool and a little tough like Jody Foster in the film, Taxi Driver.
“Hey Baby, you want to play with me?” The taller of the two asked.
“This guy here’s a dope. I bet you can hit a hardball.”
“Hey man, watch it,” the other guy said. “The pretty lady wants to play with me. Don’cha, hon?”
“Not especially,” she said with her arms folded under her chest as she shifted her weight to her other hip. She wished she wasn’t dressed so sexy. Had she been at a dance club, it would have been no big deal, but she looked so out of place at a recreation center.
The two guys looked at each other and smiled. “Who you waiting for, little lady?” the taller one asked.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she responded derisively.
“Ooh, don’t mess with her. She’ll kick yo’ ass.” They both laughed as they re-engaged with their air hockey game.
“I’m looking for Rave Robinson,” she said in a tough voice. “You know him?”
They looked at each other and shrugged. Then the taller one said, “Nah, I can’t say we’ve had the pleasure of his acquaintance. What you need some Rave fellow for when you got the real thing packaged up right here?”
“Would one of you mind checking in the bathroom to see if he is in there?”
The short one smiled affectionately, “Sure, little lady, I’d be honored to help a damsel in distress.”
“Get over it,” the other one said to his friend.
Right then Rave walked into the recreation room. Barbey’s heart pounded. He was even more handsome than she had remembered. He reminded her of a forest. His overgrown, thick, black hair hung low and straight, like black pine needles over his eyelids, giving him a mysterious edge. As he walked toward her, his eyes gazed at her longingly and still as the black waters of a swamp hidden within the forest. Her heart pounded faster. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. And she could hear the black guys in the room talking and laughing in muffled voices and the sounds echoed, as if they were far away deep in a canyon. She was lost in the forest and she saw that Rave was dressed in black. And then she started seeing only black and nothing else, so she leaned against the wall for support and felt this warm moist breath all around her, incasing her. She opened her eyes and one of the black guys was pressed up against her, holding her up with his leg between her thighs. Confusion swept over her and she didn’t know what was happening. She was afraid.
She could hear Rave talking to her, ‘Barbey, Barbey, Barbey…’
She was on the Matterhorn at Disneyland with Sage. The passenger car was advancing very fast and rough with hard jerking movements, as it maneuvered and dipped, thrusting them up and down violently in their seats with each unexpected turn. Sage was sitting in front of Barbey and as they were coming around the side of the big white mountain, Barbey could see the ground down below and there was this man way down there, handing ice cream cones to his kids when all of a sudden, they whipped around the last turn and she flew out of her seat onto the outside edge of the car. Sage grabbed her just as it happened and
pulled her back in. They were shocked and didn’t say anything. They never talked about it afterwards either. They couldn’t talk about it because it was too weird how they were just doing what everyone else does—having a good time on a scary ride—and Barbey nearly died. If she hadn’t pulled her in just at that second, she would have been dead. We were just doing what everyone else does. We were just doing what everyone else does. My head was spin, spin, spinning and I was sitting where I was placed.
The black guy had set her down on a chair that the other guy had gotten from a room across the courtyard. Rave’s lyrical voice brought her back to consciousness, “Barbey, are you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just got a little dizzy is all.” She felt so embarrassed. One of the black guys handed her a can of soda. “Oh, thank you, but I’m ok. I’m not really thirsty. But thanks,” she handed him back the soda. ‘I’m ready to go,” she said to Rave as she stood up. “I’m totally fine now, but I’d like to go.”
14
Barbey had never been to Dreambee’s Fairy Tale Ice Cream Parlor. Likely, she was the only person in San Diego who had not celebrated at least one family member’s or friend’s birthday at the kiddy fantasy restaurant which was decorated in fairy tale themes. Barbey was thrilled that Rave thought of taking her to such a puerile place because it revealed a droll side to him which was perplexing, further enhancing his mystery and allure.
As they walked up to the parlor, Barbey noticed a red Trans Am circle the parking lot and then drive away. Rave appeared to have noticed Barbey looking at the car because he said, shaking his head, “Lame car.”
“I think Trans Ams are kinda cool. Could you see who was driving?”
“Some loser—I’m sure.”
“It’s just that I know someone who has a car like that and I thought for a second…”
“What?”
“Oh, never mind.”
When they entered the parlor with pastel blue brocade wallpaper and grand crystal chandeliers, Barbey was breathless, feeling as if she had stepped into a princess’s palace. She shivered in awe as she gazed up at the high castle ceiling and then became as giddy as a child when she saw the lavish candy displays in the front waiting room that glistened under the lights. “Oh, look at all this yummy candy! I could just eat it all up!” She was giggling with joy. “I’ve always wanted to come here! It looks so tinselly and colorful with all the shiny wrappers and swirling lollipops, bubble gum tape, and… wow—Chic-O-Sticks! And look at all those little American flags on wooden sticks!”
Rave was smiling at Barbey’s exuberance. From one of the wooden barrels filled with sweets that sat below the multi-leveled confectionary shelves, he pulled out a string of hard candies that were connected to each other in purple plastic wrappers. “Have you ever tried Zots? They fizz in your mouth once… once the candy coating melts.”
“Oh, yeah! Sage had those once at one of her birthday parties when we were kids. I loved them.” Barbey was picking up each type of candy and examining it. “Oh! A candy necklace! I used to buy these from the ice cream man and then wear them around, like, all day!”
“Look at this,” Rave said. “Have you ever eaten Pop Rocks?”
“No, I don’t think I’ve ever tried them.”
“You never heard about the kid who… who ate Pop Rocks while he was drinking cola and how his stomach exploded?”
“Oooh yeah. I heard about that, but I didn’t know what Pop Rocks were. It’s not really a true story though.”
“We have to get some on our way out. They’re… they’re so cool.” Rave motioned Barbey to the end of the foyer where there was a red stop sign that said, “Stop! Welcome to our magic parlor where fantasies come true! Snow White or one of her Seven Dwarfs will seat you as soon as possible.” Against the wall, to the right were old-time games such as a personality tester, a mechanical fortune teller, and a stuffed-animal scooping machine. Disney tunes and familiar nursery rhymes played in the restaurant and every time someone put a quarter in the player piano that was against the front wall, the background music cut out and a short rock-and-roll song such as The Bangles’ “Eternal Flame” or Elton John’s “I Don’t Wanna Go On With You Like That” played. Then the Disney or nursery rhyme music cut back in.
A host dressed like Grumpy from Snow White came to seat them. As they followed him to their booth, he pointed out the old fashioned soda fountain where he said they could order a Wicked Witch Cooler or a Cinderella Sipper. Suspended from the ceiling, above the soda fountain, was a giant ceramic swallow with its wings spread, carrying a ceramic Thumbelina on its back. The wallpaper in the seating section depicted illustrations from familiar fairy tale books on some walls and pink brocade on the others. And every time somebody ordered a Royal Sunday for his or her birthday, which was quite often, a couple of waiters dressed in Sleeping Beauty, Big Bad Wolf, or Prince Charming costumes carried the gigantic sundaes on silver king’s platters over their heads and ran around the restaurant singing familiar fairy tale movie songs, as they rang bells, and blew whistles while other employees banged on enormous drums.
When they got to their booth, Barbey’s nervousness returned as she sat down on the pink plush cushions across from Rave. She reminded herself that tonight she was going to act like Sandy from the film, Grease. Danny loved Sandy because she was his opposite—she was virginal and sweet, while he was cocky and rebellious. Sandy was a perfect choice for the night to cement her relationship with Rave because Barbey was dressed dangerous and enticing like Paulina which was comparable in fashion to Sandy’s style after her transformation in the final scene of the film when she was dressed in hot pants with teased hair, but Sandy still maintained her innocence just as did Barbey. “Did you ever see the movie, Grease?” Barbey asked Rave.
“Uh, yeah, yeah I saw it.” His head was buried in a menu decorated in sketches from Hans Christian Anderson books. After a moment, he looked up with a smirk on his face and said, “It was ‘outstaaaaaaaanding.’” He lowered his voice and drew out the word “outstanding” the way he and Parker did the night before in their playful banter.
“Who was your favorite character in the movie?”
“I liked Crater Face.”
“Oh, gross! How could you like him? He was the bad guy.”
“Yeah, well…” he paused and then smiled slyly as he said, “…yeah.”
“I meant who was your favorite girl character?”
“I…I never really thought about it. Well, uh, I… thought that beauty school dropout girl, French… yeah, Frenchy was ridiculous. I mean why’d they put that corny beauty school dropout scene in the movie, but Sandy…Sandy was hot. Of course, every… every guy liked Sandy. I mean the movie was about her. I liked her. What about you? You didn’t like Crater Face?” Rave chuckled.
“Disgusting! No, I liked Danny. I used to fantasize about him as a little girl. Nothing major or anything. Just, you know, I thought he was cute. I guess.” Barbey blushed. “Never mind about that. I liked him though. He seemed nice.”
“You changed your hair,” Rave said.
“Yeah.”
“It’s different from last night. It’s…it’s beautiful. You’re beautiful,” he paused and looked at her intensely. “I like the color better. It suits you. You don’t need to wear makeup. You’re…you’re beautiful. You don’t need makeup.”
“Thank you. I can’t imagine not wearing makeup. I’d look so washed out.”
“You’d look perfect. I don’t like makeup.”
Barbey’s face reddened in response to his compliments. She felt strange that his compliments made her feel complete as if his words were medicines that were curing her from a disease—the disease being her hidden insecurities, her separation from reality. Although Barbey was not in touch with this, Rave was a drug for her and she needed him to fill her gaps and to coat her vulnerabilities. He was her aspirin from reality. He was her intermediary to her ultimate idol, that being herself. It had not occurred to Barbey that there was a
reality beyond her present perceptions.
Rave was gazing at Barbey, caressing her with his intoxicating dark eyes. She noticed how when he looked at her, he didn’t waver or flinch, as did most people. He stared confidently, with ease and comfort. The black pupils of his eyes seemed huge, like oil spills taking over stagnant ponds. These moments, when Rave stared at Barbey, revealed his true essence, she thought, while the playful banters with Parker and his use of their shared expressions were evasions from pain and attempts to seem normal. It was as if he wanted to be Parker, happy, playful, and popular, yet he was something much different, much more complicated.
Chageet's Electric Dance Page 14
