The Reunion, Part II, High School
Members of the Class of 19XX step out of the elevator into the lobby of the ballroom on the top floor of the Holiday Inn on Lake Hamilton. Heading straight for the cash bar, they cross the room glancing side to side for a familiar face. Relieved, they quickly realize it’s the same crowd they see every Saturday night at The Sawmill. There are no unrecognizable faces. Few people leave this town and if they do, they don’t return.
Women, already drunk with the excitement of two nights in a row away from their toddlers, add to their inebriation with ice cold beer. They grasp their Koozies, talk about potty training and tell themselves they are not getting up at five a.m. with the baby. It’s Daddy’s turn. This is their night out. They all share the common delusion that their husbands will stumble out of bed the next morning, and whisper to them to go back to sleep.
Their husbands stand together in circles of four or five, slapping each other on the back as they reminisce about the State Championship game and getting puking drunk on the bus ride back to town. Good old Coach Carter, they don’t make them like that any more. Bobby suggests getting together to play touch football on Saturdays, but they all know it won’t happen. Their wives control the weekend, doling out short bursts of freedom after yards are mowed, cars washed, and trips are made to Wal Mart.
Ed appears to be listening but he’s really caught up in a daydream about porking the baby sitter; pulling over in Groveland Park while taking her home. Making it with her in the back seat. Then he realizes the older brother of the fourteen year old girl is standing right beside him, she’s Bobby’s little sister. It takes him a moment to convince himself it would be wrong.
The women’s conversation lags until Denise begins to describe her recent yeast infection. Peals of laughter erupt from the group she does her “round brush” routine. Two men at the bar shift their line of vision to see who’s causing the laughter. One says to the other, Ed’s never been able to shut her up but she’s got fantastic tits. A nod of agreement. Yeah and she gave great blow jobs behind the bleachers during study hall. Both men sigh.
Julie finishes her third beer and looks around at the women as they laugh at Denise’s joke. Gary told her how nice everyone would be and she just can’t believe he was right. She’s never really had any women-friends. He told her she would fit right in. They turn to her, so you married just up and married our little Gary, eh? Well, tell us all about it. Basking in the glow of attention from her audience, she reveals their plans to build a new lake house. She tells them she just has to get Gary out of that big old ugly house, the one that was his grandmother’s, down on Quapaw Avenue.
Rhonda’s cousin, Lisa, works at the Pulaski County courthouse and files the marriage licenses. She called Rhonda as soon as Gary and Julie left the courthouse. Now the whole town knows.
That’s not all they know. Thanks to Lisa, who does her research, everyone in the room is aware that Julie grew up in Piggot and graduated ten years later than they did. Rumor has it she flunked ninth grade because she missed the last three months of school. The rest of the story, if it is to be believed, is that she went to her aunt’s in Little Rock to have a baby. But she’s not from here, and none of them know any one in Piggot, so they can’t be sure.
Not knowing they’d been outted, the couple thinks they “announced” the marriage the night before at the Reunion Dinner. Gary swore them to all to secrecy. Said he would make it public once his parents got to know Julie, accepted her into the family as his “girlfriend.” Then he’d work on “wife.” On the drive home after the dinner, wives remarked to their husbands that it would be a cold day in hell before Gary’s mother could stand to hear that kind of news. Most husbands responded with a comment about nothing being a secret in this town for long anyway, so what did it matter. Ed made the mistake of commenting that he thought Julie was nice.
Interrupting Julie’s discussion of the cost of lakefront property, Rhonda taps Denise’s arm, says, let’s go to the bathroom. Denise knows this signal. She and Rhonda have been inseparable since third grade. Their fathers were law partners, their mothers best friends, and they grew up in the same neighborhood. Once in the bathroom, they check under the stalls to make sure they’re alone.
God knows she is trash. I can’t believe he married her. And she’s stupid. That’s the really sad part. Not a brain cell anywhere.
I know, I know. Listen… remember me telling you how Mama saw her in the Pig last winter? She recognized her from that Miss August photo on Wayne O’s Snap-On calendar down at the shop. Mama said Julie was in the grocery store, wearing a mink coat and flip flops…and some kind of lime green stretch pants. Talking to the bag boy, you know, Artie’s little brother… they were whispering about something. Mama said their faces were less than three inches apart. Julie looked real mad. When Artie’s brother grabbed Julie’s shoulder, she smacked his hand. Then she hissed something like, Don’t call me anymore. Stay away from me you creep. It’s over. Remember Artie saying his brother went to live in Phoenix with his granddad? Maybe that’s why. I never thought much about it, I never thought she’d marry Gary.
I remember. Watch the door… Bobby gave me a joint. I got some matches from the bar. I’m going to want a cigarette too. Do you have any change? There’s a machine in the lobby downstairs. Ahhhh… Here, have some.
Thanks. Someone’s coming in, take it in a stall…
The door opens.
Hey. Hi. It’s okay Rhonda. It’s just Ellen. Bobby gave Rhonda a joint. Want some?
