Prom Night in Purgatory(41)

“How old are you, Lizzie?” Maggie had to laugh at the devious mind of her young maternal grandmother. She had a sneaking suspicion she had inherited it. She gave the girl a fierce hug and suddenly felt close to tears.

“Lizzie, I don’t know when or if all of this will end. If I don’t come back tonight, then you’ll know why, okay?”

“But I need to know what happens. I want to know if Johnny falls in love with you!”

“Well, I guess you’ll just have to ask Johnny,” Maggie winked, and Lizzie huffed, folding her arms.

“I will, you know!” Lizzie grinned impishly. Then she turned and ran out of the room. In seconds she was back with the key to Nana’s car. She threw herself at Maggie, hugging her around her waist, and then without a word ran down the stairs again. Maggie took a deep breath and descended the stairs just enough to hear what was going on below. Sure enough, Lizzie commenced whining, and Mary Smith commenced sighing. Then the volume on the television was turned up, and Maggie sneaked the rest of the way down the stairs and out of the house.

She raced to the garage and found Nana’s car parked in its stall. Very little had changed in the unattached building in fifty years. It even smelled the same. Maggie felt a sudden tugging, as if the smell of home had telegraphed a message to some far-off time and place and received an immediate response. Breathing through her mouth, she heaved the garage door upward, wincing as it refused to ascend quietly. She jumped behind the wheel and shoved the key into the ignition. Without turning on the lights, she backed out of the garage and halfway down the drive. Then she laid on the horn, causing her heart to bounce erratically, as if trying to escape its bony confines. She laid a hand across her chest, soothing it as she searched for the headlights. There they were; the beams hit the windows on the front of the house, and twenty seconds later the door swung open and then shut again almost immediately. Maggie counted slowly to ten and then backed out of the drive.

She didn’t see the door open and Mary Smith rush out into the front yard seconds after she had pulled away.





~12~

A Time to Dance





The dance was already in full swing when she arrived. Maggie saw only one couple walking along the sidewalk towards the entrance of the school gymnasium. When she slid into an empty spot and turned off the engine, she could hear music pouring from the building. Fear and adrenaline shot through her in equal measures. What was she thinking going to a prom all by herself? What would she do once she got inside? Maggie considered turning the car around and high tailing it back to the relative familiarity of home, even though it wasn’t currently her home.

And then Johnny’s face appeared in her mind’s eye. Johnny. He was inside, and she couldn’t wait to see him. She checked her lipstick and bared her teeth in the rear view mirror, making sure none of the bold red had found its way onto a tooth. All clear. With a fortifying inhale, she stepped from the car and placed the key just under the gas pedal. She wasn’t too worried. No one stole cars in Honeyville, certainly not in 1958.

The sidewalk leading up to the entrance was lined with lanterns and a thick red carpet, the kind that brought to mind movie premiers and Hollywood starlets. At the entrance to the gymnasium was a huge pirate’s chest, spilling out all manner of treasures; golden goblets and plastic gold coins, beads and baubles littered the ground around the base of the trunk. Maggie peered through the open door and slowly walked into the highly decorated hall. The entrance had been made to look like a sunken ship, and for a moment she could not see the people beyond its gaping hull. Then she was inside, silhouetted in the doorway, staring out at the swirling dresses in a myriad of pastel shades; ruffles and sparkles and white sports coats were everywhere. She looked down at her own dress and back at the dresses of the girls being escorted to and from the dance floor. She stood out like a sore thumb.

She caught a few curious glances and felt the same fear that had gripped her in the car. And then she saw him. He was on the other side of the room, but her position on the gang plank elevated her enough to see him clearly. He had stopped and was staring at her, and then he was moving, not breaking eye contact, coming toward her. She watched him make his way through the milling crowd, until he stopped several feet in front of her. Her fear faded like yesterday’s daylight, and the heat of his gaze sputtered and sparked something deep within her belly. She smiled at him.

Johnny smiled back. It was a slow, curving smile that lifted the corners of his well-shaped lips and marked his lean cheeks with deep grooves on either side of his mouth. For a minute, the world righted itself, and Maggie had the distinct sensation of time stopping, adjusting its track, and beginning again. The moment was so ripe with possibility, the flavor of forever so sweet upon her senses, that it was all Maggie could do to not walk right into Johnny’s arms and lay her smiling lips on his, sealing him to her for eternity.

Instead she said, “Are you going to ask me to dance?” Her voice was amazingly steady, as if she traveled through time to dance with her lover on a regular basis.

Johnny held out his hand, and she closed the distance between them. She took it without hesitation, the contact making her catch her breath in wonder, and she knew he felt it too. He seemed to hesitate when they reached the dance floor, as if the song that had begun was not his preference. Oh, but it was hers. She had been waiting so long to dance with him again. Her skin was on fire, the music sending flames licking their way down her body. He looked down at her, and his eyes held a question. She raised her chin, urging him forward, and that was all it took. She was swinging in and out of his arms, flying in time with the drummer who knew his craft. She knew Johnny’s body, the way he moved, the way he danced, and she reveled in the knowledge, matching him step for step and throwing herself into every move he asked of her.