Baby Come Back(24)

After we finished up in the kitchen, I went upstairs to my old bedroom. Everything was as if I had never moved away. I looked at the pictures still taped to my dresser mirror. There was still a picture of me and Nick when he took me to my senior prom. He had already graduated and moved to Atlantic City. He had made a trip home in order to take me to prom. He didn’t want any other guy taking me. It wasn’t as if I had them lined up waiting to ask.

I pulled the picture down of me in my high school graduation robe. Nick was standing beside me with his arm wrapped possessively around me. His dark, brooding good looks had always mesmerized me. Now they gave me chills. I remembered how I had left Hoboken two days after graduation to join Nick in Atlantic City. He dealt blackjack in one of the major casinos. He was going to get me a job as a dealer there, too. He had spent hours training me on the proper way to deal the deck. It was going to be perfect.

My parents had wanted me to go to college. It was no use. I was strong-willed and I wanted to be with Nick. I had always had a thing for Nick. As a kid, I had hounded Pete and Nick to the point of exasperation (on Pete’s part). Nick had always tolerated me as if I were his little sister.

Once I had gotten to high school, Nick started noticing me as something other than Pete’s tag-along sister. We had started dating at the end of my sophomore year. He and Pete were seniors. I remember how my status had gone from ‘geek’ to ‘sheik’ when my classmates saw Nick and I walking together in the hall; eating lunch together in the cafeteria, and squealing tires out of the parking lot after school.

Seeing Nick had always generated butterflies with me. All of the girls had told me how lucky I was to be going with Nick Camerucci. I had believed them. I had felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

My first time had been with Nick. I remembered it like it was yesterday. It was the summer going into my senior year. Nick had been going to the community college and had finished up his first year. He wasn’t going back, he had said. He had hated his classes. He was convinced he could make more money in Atlantic City. I had been devastated about him leaving Hoboken.

We had gone to the only drive-in movie theatre left in that part of the state. It was the only place we could go for privacy without one of our mothers hovering over us. We had been making out, with some heavy petting tossed in as usual. Nick had wanted to go further as usual.

“Nick, no!”

“God damn it, Gina. We’ve done everything else. What the hell?”

“It’s too tacky doing it in the car. It needs to be special.”

“It ain’t like I can afford a hotel right now,” he had grumbled.

“That back seat is plenty big. I even brought a blanket.”

“I can see that,” I had said, “How romantic.”

I had finally given in because quite frankly, there was no good reason not to. We had hoisted ourselves over into the backseat of his old Pontiac Bonneville and covered ourselves with the blanket. Nick had deflowered me with one swift thrust, and then continued to pound in and out of me while I thrashed around trying to stifle my tears. It had not been a sweet and tender moment.

Afterwards Nick had said that I needed to get on birth control because he had no intention of minimizing the sensation by using condoms. So I had.

Nick had left for Atlantic City when school started back up. It was more than a month before I had heard from him again. I had gone nuts wondering what might have happened to him. I had been sure he had met someone else; a girl more worthy of his swarthy good looks and muscular body; his thick, black, curly hair and dark, brooding brown eyes.

When he had finally called, he was manic. He talked a mile a minute about his new job at the casino; the apartment he had rented. He wanted me there on weekends. I knew that my parents would have something to say about that. The rest of my senior year had been spent missing Nick; sneaking to Atlantic City to stay with him on the weekends when I could, and waiting for his calls when we were apart.

I had lived for graduation day. It had meant my freedom from school, parents, rules and curfews. I hadn’t wasted a minute packing for my move to Atlantic City afterwards. Nick and I would be living together as a couple. I couldn’t wait.

As promised, Nick was able to get a job for me at the casino where he worked. It was one that allowed employees to be age eighteen minimum. The money was great; the pressure was something else. Everything was video recorded. You had a pit boss to answer to if the house was suffering more losses than wins at your table.

Nick and I had enjoyed ourselves after hours. We had met friends our age at the casino and we hung out a lot. A couple of months after I had arrived, I noticed that Nick was partying quite a bit with his buddy, Victor. He would party all night and then sleep most of the following day. He had called off twice in one week.

I had driven his car back to our apartment after my shift on one particular day. I had cashed my paycheck and had collected over $250 in tips at the table. When I got into the door, Nick was flopped on the couch drinking coffee.

“Did you pick up my pay envelope, Gina?”

“I tried to Nick. Manny said you would have to get it yourself since we aren’t married.”

“What a bunch of shit,” he had yelled. “Gimme your pay envelope. I need some cash in about ten minutes. I’ll pay you back when I get mine.”

“No, Nick. I need my money for bills I have to pay this week. You don’t go back on the clock until Monday. I checked the schedule before I left.”