I could hear the roar-clack-roar of the skates on the wooden floor as I got out of Mama's car at the roller rink. It was the day of the Campbell kids' annual summer skating party. Pammy's mom's family owned Johnson's Rinky Dink and they closed it down for one day every summer just for Pammy and Gilly's friends. Pammy always ended up inviting our whole class because she was afraid that someone would feel left out if she didn't. Even though we weren't always invited to other people's parties. Like Jenny We would spend the morning and afternoon skating and eating and skating and eating, then go home and sleep. Skating and eating is hard work. Since I was Pammy's best friend, I got to go with her to the sound booth and help pick out the music that played. I'd pretend I was Nina Nightingale Byrd, my favorite DJ on my favorite radio station WSPB-AM, All the Hits, 937 on your radio dial, and introduce the songs into the microphone. It was never turned on, so I felt OK about hamming it up. I would have died if anyone ever heard me.
This party was different as it was an all-nighter. We had to bring sleeping bags and pillows and comfy clothes because we were supposed to go to sleep at the rink. But even though we brought all that stuff to make our parents happy (blah), nobody had any plans to sleep that night. Who wanted to sleep when there was skating and pinball and pool and putt-putt to play? The Rinky Dink had just about everything you could want. There was even a "club" in the back called Lite Brite which was just for teenagers. It was one big black light room with posters on the wall that glowed and you could get virgin cocktail drinks like pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris and there were bean bags and lots of places to sit and hang out to listen to music. Plus there were dark corners to make out in. I'd only been in there with Pammy to have a drink and to get away from all the obnoxious younger kids like Porter and his weird little friend Shiner Paulsen. Shiner's real name was Robert, but ever since he got a terrible black eye when he made a scene tripping over his untied shoelace running to get to the ice cream truck back when he was in kindergarten, most everyone, including even his mama, has called him Shiner. I say most everyone because his teachers always insist on calling him Robert and since he’s not used to hearing that, he never answers in class when he’s addressed that way and ends up spending a lot of time in the principal’s office.
No boy had ever asked me to go to Lite Brite with him. I'd daydreamed about Kevin Ritter asking me and maybe having my first kiss. But I didn't think he'd be at Pammy's party since I heard he was away with his family for the summer. I remembered that Ansel Mahler was going to be there and wondered what I'd do if he asked me. He'd probably want to do a lot of couple skating first, since besides football, hanging out at Rinky Dink's was his favorite thing to do. I bet his skates get filled up with sweat just like his shoes. As long as he didn't show me, I guess it would be ok. I had to have a first kiss sometime. And then I'd be more experienced for Kevin. When he asked me. If he asked me.
Pammy's brother Gilly was in a band called Offensive Line with some other guys from the football team and they were going to play during the night. I didn't think they were all that great. They were mostly just loud. Pammy said they'd been practicing for weeks in the garage and then Gilly, who played drums, went out to his cousin Bert's van and would practice there. Bert was over in Vietnam and had left his van in the Campbells' driveway. Gilly's drums belonged to Bert as well. After hearing Gilly play, Mr. Campbell said that was one more reason to hate the war Gilly ended up practicing in the van because Mr. Campbell said he could tolerate a lot, but since Gilly was no Buddy Rich, he needed to take his act outside the house. Gilly yelled that he didn't know who Buddy Rich was and didn't care because he was going to be the next Keith Moon and then Mr. Campbell yelled that he didn't know who that was and didn't care either. There was a lot of yelling and door slamming at the Campbells when it came to Gilly and the drums. Pammy figured he was doing more than practicing in the van because she could smell something funny whenever he was in there. Having spent time around Gilly, I thought that explained a lot.
As I turned to shut the car door, Mama said that she'd see me later, to be a good girl and to make sure I spoke to Mr. and Mrs. Campbell to thank them. Mama was always very concerned about our manners. I told her I would and then stopped -- what did she mean by seeing me later? I was going to get a ride home with Pammy in the morning. Mama had forgotten to tell me until that very moment that Mrs. Campbell had called her and some other parents to ask them to come chaperone during the party. Mama was taking the late night shift. I know she waited until the last moment to tell me because I would have complained about her being there from the minute I heard the news. She tells me I'm too mouthy. I think I'm just standing up for myself. Daddy just leaves the room when we start to argue, muttering about having to put up with this for four more years until I go off to college or get married whichever comes first and where is his Scotch. She brightly said again that she'd see me later and I mumbled "not if I see you first" and shut the door quickly so she couldn't ask me to repeat myself. Her car had crank-down windows, which I usually hate, but was thankful for now, since she couldn't push the button to roll down the window and continue our discussion. I ran into the rink without a glance back, despite Mama honking the horn to get my attention.
I was organizing my things to check them at the desk with Shotzie, the rink manager and surrogate mom to pretty much every kid in town, when I ran smack into someone who had magically appeared in front of me.
"Hi Nixie! I was wondering when you were going to get here. Did you bring your skates or do you need me to go get a pair for you? Gosh, I'm glad you're here. You look great. I notice you've let your hair grow longer. It's very pretty and it suits you. And you are so nice and tan. Have you been going to the beach a lot this summer?"
I interrupted the attack of questions.
"Oh hey, Harry. Nice to see you. Can you hold on a second?"
Harry Johnson. Pammy's cousin and Bert's younger brother. Harry lived in the next city over, so I didn't get to see him that often. Which was OK by me since he had been a big pest for as long as I'd known him. And he had liked me -- like liked me -- for as long as I'd known him, too. He was really smart and a really big nerd. And I couldn't ever imagine liking him that way. Ever. I was hoping he wasn't going to be at the skating party, since he always seemed to be either following me around or in my way. Like he was right now. I wondered why Pammy didn't tell me Harry was coming to the party. Probably for the same reason Mama didn't tell me she was chaperoning. While I knew better than to totally sass Mama, Pammy was going to get an earful.
I gave my sleeping bag, pillow and travel bag to Shotzie, who looked at me with sympathy and a little smile. She knew Harry, too. He was right there, just waiting to monopolize my attention.
"I don't go by Harry anymore, now that I'm in high school. Everyone calls me Hank. It's so much more mature and befitting a high school man, don't you think?" Harry liked to use words like befitting. When Daddy used big words like that, it sounded neat. Harry sounded like the nerd he was.
"Hank is good. I'll call you Hank from now on." I was looking around to see if I could make a getaway. But the party had just started and there weren't too many people there yet.
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