Chapter 16 – A Feast of Friends

As soon as it got to be October, my boss let me decorate the window display of the store (which he wasn’t crazy about). Halloween fell on a Friday that year and the only way I could get the weekend off was to work four ten-hour days. After getting so much enjoyment from doing up the store, I was really into the Halloween spirit. Jenny had been working on her vampiress costume since September. She dyed some clothes bought at the thrift store and added other fabric that Sissy stitched together for her.

Driving into Laurel Canyon that Halloween night felt sort of creepy. It’s like there was an unearthly haze around one of the turns. My car drove right into it and I only kept on my side of the road because I knew its twists and turns. Strange, because it wasn’t cool enough for fog so it seemed out of place. Unlike back home, hardly anyone was out on foot or by car. Maybe one or two houses had lit jack-o-lanterns outside, but the holiday went fairly unnoticed by a lot of people. And for a moment, when I saw the long line of cars parked on the street, it sort of felt like a funeral procession. My macabre mindset was broken up by Jenny cranking up “Monster Mash” on the radio and singing along.

“I wait for this song every Halloween!”

Jenny turned everyone’s head at Jerry’s Halloween party. Like a sexy version of Lily Munster, Jenny’s hair was dyed black with white streaks, her face painted white, black circles around her eyes, and red lipstick. Her body was tightly hugged by a converted nightie top, scarves draped from her hands to her waist, and boots showing below her long dress. My accent piece, and my only costume, was two fake bite-holes I put on my neck.

The party lasted until dawn that Saturday. People brought their albums over to be played, so there was an endless supply of music all night. As always, they weren't playing quite the music I was into but I had heard the same jams at work. On top of Sissy’s four different appetizers, we had hot dogs and burgers. Everyone was drinking or smoking pot. I guess after all the booze I had, none of it bothered me. As I kicked back some shots of tequila, Jenny sat in a circle of some girls passing a joint. We had been through that conversation before and I wasn’t going to intervene. Listening in, they were giggling and telling stories of their worst customers from their varying jobs. Looking around, there were some drinking games, groups of conversation, and people making out. I had presumed right about Marion, as I saw him lip-locked with a dude and some Asian chick. Then for at least one lucky couple, the bedroom next to the back bathroom was seeing the most action. I politely closed the door to respect their privacy.

Somewhere around 4 AM I passed out. When I woke up, the sun was out and Jenny was lying next to me. My shirt sleeve and the couch cushion was white from where her face had been resting on it. For those without wretched hangovers, Sissy made breakfast. Some guy who thought he had the stomach for it, made a b-line for the toilet, and threw up after seeing sausage sear in the skillet. Everyone else, waking from a dead sleep, arose from staggered poses, and made zombie-like advances throughout the house. Beyond the lovely smell of food, hung an odorous reminder of the entire night’s events.

Jenny and I stuck around for a bit, but wanted to get back to our own bed. After a much needed shower, we lay side by side talking about the conversations we had the night before. Rather than seeing Lily, I was much happier seeing my love without a caked-up facade. Most of the white streaks had washed from her hair and all the makeup was gone.

She started to lightly nibble my neck, “You had little fang marks here. Could I put a few more back on ya?” As I started to laugh, because it was sort of tickling me, she whispered in my ear, “Remember that hickey you put on my neck and Mr. Strauss, my English teach, actually confronted me about it?”

“No way!”

“I didn’t tell you about that?”

“No!”

“He had no idea what a hickey was so he sent me to see the school nurse, thinking I had a disease or something.”

“Not uh!”

“Yeah. Then when I saw the nurse, I was completely embarrassed because she knew what it was and started to lecture me about boys.”

“Wasn’t she a little manly looking?”

“God, was she! She certainly wasn’t cute like me,” at which point she started nibbling my neck again.

With one holiday down, we were riding high into the end of the year. The previous Thanksgiving we spent with Jerry and company, but this time, Diane’s mom, Agnes, was coming over and cooking for the three of us. We eagerly looked ahead for another special occasion we got to share. The night before turkey day, Agnes began preparing food. Early in the AM, the bird was put in the oven to slow cook, all the vegetables had been cut and sorted, and a mental inventory of where all of her ingredients were stored in her daughter’s cabinets.

After a few glasses of wine, both Diane and her mom went to bed. We agreed to let Agnes sleep in our room and Jenny and I stayed in the living room. It gave me a few chances to wander over to the oven and stare at the cooking turkey. I dared not open the oven door because I’d be enticed by its savory aroma.

Taking another sip of wine, Jenny slurred, “I’m lovin’ all of this.”

“The holidays?”

“Yeah,” finishing the last sip. “Would you want me to bake you a turkey one day?”

“Cool. That would be great!” She had been making good efforts at cooking, but a turkey was a big deal.

“Did you ever have over a lot of people for Thanksgiving?”

“Probably the most we had was at Grandma and Grandpa’s. I think total there almost 20 people there.”

“That’s a lot.”

“Yeah. It was when I was little. There were two tables: one for adults and one for kids. Guess where I got stuck?”

“The kiddy table, ha ha. With the babies.” She looked up into my eyes, still holding her glass, “Well, what are you thankful for? Huh, mister?”

“You.”

She lowered her eyes, “Why me?”

“Because you are my world. I love every bit of who you are…”

Chewing on the back of her lip, “Including my ups and downs”

“They make you dynamic. I mean, two years ago we made a decision that we’ve yet to regret. And when I look in your eyes, I still love you now as much as I did before it all began.”

Either the words or the wine caused the forming of tears in her eyes. Jenny put down her glass and sobered up, “Of all the chicks I talked to at the Halloween party, they all had something negative to say about their boyfriends. And I realized that I have nothing bad to say about you. You’re perfect and you’re everything I need. There’s times I think back to when I was alone here [in California]. I wanted you so bad. Things seemed so detached. I hate to say it but I thought you’d forget about me and find some other girl. Every phone call I thought you’d break up with me because of how much trouble I am.”

Though we both selfishly considered it a few times, “That didn’t happen, did it?”

“No, thank God.” Jenny twisted her ring back in place so the emeralds faced the right direction. “I have something for you, hang on.” She went down the hall and took as many steps as I knew it took to get to our bedroom. Whatever she was up to, I was afraid she’d wake Agnes. Uneventfully, she came back about a minute later holding something in her hand. “I don’t have a ring for you but I have this.” I opened my hand as she poured a thin gold necklace and crucifix into it.

“What’s this?”

“It’s to protect you.”

“What do you mean?”

“My dad’s mom, she was Catholic, and gave this to me when I was a little girl. She said it would protect me and that I should always wear it. I wore it all the time until I was in junior high. Too many people asked if I was Catholic so I stopped wearing it.”

“But why give it to me?”

“Because you have a better chance of getting into Heaven.”

“What?”

“My grandmother always hoped I’d be indoctrinated into the Catholic Church. She planned for me to go through all the steps of a Christening, Communion, and so on but my dad didn’t want me to follow in the same footsteps he did. He thought it was a waste of time and as a kid, so did I.”

“So what are you saying, then?”

“Like I told you before, I don’t know if there will be mercy for me.”

“When you die?”

“Yes.”

“Why not? You act like you’re such a bad person. Are you worried about the drugs you’ve done?”

“Actually, no.”

Confused, I asked, “Well, what then?”

“Mom.”

Our bedroom door opened and Agnes came out. She tied the belt to her robe and said for us to not mind her, she was checking on the turkey. After basting it, she shuffled back to bed.

In the stillness of the room, there in almost darkness, Jenny murmured, “Eric…”

“Yeah.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. Let’s get some sleep.”

Thanksgiving turned out really nice. By the afternoon, everyone needed a nap. All the smells of food flew out the open windows and there was little traffic to be heard from the road. It was a sleepy and peaceful kind of day. The next morning, Agnes drove back to Santa Barbara. That night, Jenny wrote a long series of poems in her notebook.

“Of course I still lay back and dream

Maybe ten years ago they were of more mundane spells

Now each moment I breathe my thoughts focus on us

Once I never knew of you and had to try and imagine

Life before all this, not knowing the reality so instead

Attempting to make it all up as I went,

Hoping my visions would spring alive one night

Praying somehow for moments like this

---

A pure desire not tainted by excess

The white dream you’d love to reach

Years I held onto it never letting the masses take it away

Despite the others’, still my naive thoughts remained true

So is why my heart did as well

---

A time comes to give a little more

Asked to go beyond the boundaries

How many more steps extra will one take?

With a little patience and a lot more love,

For what you get, it’s well worth the additional effort

Always!

---

In the confines of an oak tree’s shade we would rest

Dancing atop the water, upon the rocks we would skip

Playing for hours by the creek

Out into the golden grain field we would give each other chase

Sway goes the barley tops,

Carried by the wind our hair seemed to fly

Laughing forever in the moment

No one could say that I didn’t love you then,

No one could say that I don’t love you even more now.”