Slow Dance in Purgatory(48)

Dara inched her way back toward the sound system. Derek was going to pay if he had anything to do with this. The radio blared suddenly, the volume so loud that the room shook around her. Dara squealed and stumbled back, tripping over her feet and falling to the floor.

The dial spun, bits and pieces of different songs blurring into one another. Dara held her hands over her ears and crawled toward the door. She wanted out of this room, now. She and Derek were so over! She would just bet he was standing outside the room with a remote control, laughing with his idiot friends.

“Maggie…. Maggie…Maggie….” The name repeated over and over again, like an old-fashioned record stuck in a scratch. Dara froze. The crackle of dead air rose louder, and then the radio tuned in and out, rapidly alternating between several songs and singing out a distorted message.

“Cold hearted snake….jealous….girl…..tellin’ lies….. don’t be cruel…. Maggie….. leave….. Maggie…. alone ….. leave…. Maggie….alone.

Dara whimpered and covered her ears. The music faded and then stopped abruptly.

The door swung open suddenly, and Derek entered, flipping on the light.

Dara was curled up like a snail in the middle of the floor, her butt in the air and her arms over her head.

“Dara? What are you doing, babe? Dancing in the dark, huh? Hot.” Derek smirked appreciatively. ‘Derek like.”

Dara shrieked and flew at Derek like a wet cat. “That wasn’t funny, Derek! You scared me!!” Dara swung wildly as Derek stumbled back, trying to defend himself against his hysterical girlfriend.

“What the hell, Dara? I didn’t do anything! What are you talking about? Stop it! Ouch!”

“You know damn well what I’m talking about. You held the door closed and turned off the lights and made the radio come on and …and why do you care about Maggie O’Bannon? Are you cheating on me?” The outrage in Dara’s voice made her sound like a howling hyena, and she went after Derek again, arms flailing and feet kicking. Derek cringed, grabbing at her arms and eventually wrestling her to the ground. He sat on her bucking torso and forced her hands above her head.

“Dara! Knock it off! I don’t know what you’re talking about! You said to meet you here after school. I just walked up and opened the door. Quit freaking out!! I didn’t do anything!!!” Derek was out of breath and panting and more than a little pissed off.

“You didn’t hold the door so I couldn’t get out? You didn’t flicker the lights and then make the sound system play some freaky message about ….about ….Baggie Maggie?” Dara was breathing just as hard, and she hadn’t cooled down very much at all. She was convinced Derek had to be guilty.

“Baggie Maggie?” Derek’s eye brows rose in disagreement. “From what I’ve seen, she’s anything but baggie.”

Dara arched and screeched in outrage, trying to pull her arms from his.

“Geez, Dara! Chill out! I swear I didn’t. I swear it!”

Dara rolled her eyes and offered a sarcastic, “Whatever.”

Derek sat back on his heels, letting Dara roll out from beneath him. She rose in an angry huff and gathered her stuff where it had scattered when the music blasted her off her feet.

“There’s some really weird shit happening at this school,” Derek muttered, rising to his feet behind her. He clicked off the sound system, and with a nervous glance around the room, flipped off the lights and followed his irate girlfriend from the dance room.





15


“UNCHAINED MELODY”

Les Baxter - 1955





Jody was true to her word, and Maggie’s make-up was perfect. After the game, she hurried to the locker room and readied herself for the dance. She removed the dark lipstick all the dancers wore when performing, and applied a pale pink instead. The smoky eye makeup worked without making her look like she belonged in a nightclub, and Maggie loosened her hair from the mandatory tight bun and brushed it until it swung, straight and shiny, down her back. She removed her dance costume and jazz shoes and carefully pulled Irene’s blue dress over her head and shimmied the zipper closed. The shoes were high, but they had a sturdy strap, and Maggie thought she could walk in them without stumbling and without looking like she was playing dress-up. She might even be able to dance in them. In the corner. All by herself.

Maggie sighed and pushed the self-pity away. She was going to enjoy feeling pretty and wearing Irene’s beautiful dress. All other thoughts were banned for the rest of the night. The sparkly earrings were just the right finishing touch, and after Maggie brushed her teeth and spritzed herself with a hint of perfume, she stepped back to twirl in front of the long mirror. She almost didn’t recognize herself. Would Johnny be there tonight, somewhere in the shadows? She knew she was setting herself up for disappointment, but she desperately hoped so.

Maggie was in her place behind the ticket table as couple after couple filed into the school cafeteria. All the tables and chairs had been cleared or moved to the perimeter, and the large space was adorned in silver balloons and paper mache roses in deep red and black. White snowflakes twinkled at varying lengths from the ceiling, giving the space a ‘Winter Wonderland’ vibe. Maggie had to admit, Dara and the other members of the dance team had done a great job with the decorations. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder how long it would take Gus, Shad, and her to clean it all up Monday morning.