Twenty
When E got back from San Luis Obispo she called and said we probably wouldn’t be getting together for Halloween. I made plans to go to a club, but then E called the day before Halloween and said she wanted me to take the train down and accompany her to a couple of parties she was invited to. She told me to meet her at work and this time I agreed. I didn’t feel like waiting on top of a locker again for forty-five minutes. I hadn’t really planned a costume for Halloween, so I decided to be Superman, or actually Clark Kent. I just wore my glasses and a suit and whenever anyone asked who I was supposed to be I told them and smiled. The train ride down was the same as before except when I got off my stop, I had to walk a good while in dressy shoes to get to E’s work. It looked closer on the train map and If I had known how far it actually was, I would have worn sneakers and carried my shoes. Oh well, since I was Superman, I should have flown anyway. I walked along the main street passing many strip-center businesses, you know, the prefab cookie-cuttered places that you see everywhere. The clone stores. It started to drizzle, and I stood under the awning of an antiques store and waited for it to stop. The drizzle stopped and I continued my fantastic journey along the main street until I finally got to E’s work. I was about a half hour early and decided to go into the coffee shop of the motel next door. I got a cup of coffee and a slice of pecan pie. The people working at the coffee shop were dressed for Halloween and they seemed so sweet. The waitress was dressed as a clown, and she smiled the biggest smile I had seen for awhile as she took my menu from me. She brought me my pie and I ate as slowly as I could, staring out the window at the greyness all around, listening to the hits from yesteryear that sneaked out of the restaurant’s speaker’s overhead. I don’t know if it was that I had been walking for so long and that the mere act of sitting caused everything to seem like it was going in slow motion or what, but everything did feel like it was going in slow motion. Not even the two cups of coffee I downed helped speed things up. It was kind of like trying to run in water. Eventually my watch hands creaked along to show that it was time to go. I paid the bill, left a tip and went next door to see E. When I walked into her place, I saw that everyone was in costume. E asked who I was supposed to be and when I told her she disapproved. A co-worker of hers didn’t seem to mind. It was obvious that she liked me. She was dressed as the character from that old television program you’ve probably seen about hillbillies living in Beverly Hills and there was an obvious spark between us. When we made eye contact it was like there was an electric wire attached to our brains and I could feel it vibrate and hear it hum. E must have sensed this because we didn’t stick around very long. She was dressed like a leopard and she had me wear her full-length leopard skin coat so we matched. I didn’t mind because the coat looked good, and even with that spark I had felt with her co-worker, she was the one I wanted. We got in her car, and she said let’s eat and then go home and change before going to the parties. I said wherever she wanted to go was fine. We went to this very upscale place where we were the only ones dressed up for Halloween. E knew the waitress and chatted to her about the restaurant she used to work at before this place. E used to date the waitresses’ old boss and apparently, he was a real jerk because they both made it clear he was not someone they wanted to ever see again. We ate and then left for E’s place so she could change. I waited downstairs while she went to her room to put on something new. I thumbed through an oversized book containing Wordworth’s poetry. After I read many, many poems E appeared in full combat attire wearing a green army outfit and camouflage paint on her face holding a martial arts robe asking me wouldn’t I rather be a karate man and I told her no thanks I was happy being who I was. She shrugged and tossed the robe on the sofa. I asked if I could wear her full-length leopard skin jacket and she said no because she was no longer dressed like a cat. I told her we really didn’t match with her dressed like a soldier, but she still said I couldn’t wear her jacket because it made me look like a pimp. I figured no meant no, so I didn’t argue any longer. I wish I could have worn that jacket. Before we went to the first party, we went around her neighborhood visiting her favorite trick or treat houses. There was one that had a dinosaur head rigged up so that when you rang the doorbell its mouth opened and offered some candy on its tongue. Another was a haunted house where this person dressed in a black robe and skeleton mask led us around while ghouls and monsters leaped from behind doorways grabbing at us. The payoff for putting up with all that silliness was pretty good. The black robed skeleton was very generous with his treats. We also visited some neighbors of E’s that she had worked for. Their house was impressive. They were obviously quite wealthy. The first party was in a high-rise apartment building next to E’s gym. The people who invited her were from the gym. We parked on the street and followed the handwritten sign that pointed the way to the party. We went up stairs, elevators, and along hallways, eventually locating the lair. The door was open, and we stepped into the company of children. I would say the average age of everyone there was twenty-five and they were busy doing the things that twenty-five- year-olds do: Heavy drinking and heavy petting. E spotted the guys that invited her, and we said hello. They asked who I was supposed to be and when I told them they didn’t know what to say. I smiled and told them their costumes looked great. One was dressed in a trench coat and when he opened it, he revealed a very large dangling replica of the male genitalia. Most of the girls at the party thought his costume was hilarious and I must say it was rather bold in its own way. The other gym guy was dressed in combat gear complete with face paint. Had he been better looking he and E would have matched. The kids made some Jello shots with vodka. One of the girls dressed like a prostitute with plentiful make up and very little clothing walked around offering them from a large plate. When she made her way to me, I declined and got a very good look down the inside of her loose tank top as she bent over to offer some treats to another prostitute sitting in the chair next to me. E noticed this and elbowed me in the ribs very, very, hard. I looked at her and could see that she was angry and when I told her that she didn’t have to elbow me so hard she got huffy and went to the kitchen. She started flirting with the boys especially the gym guy in combat gear. I just turned away and stepped out onto the balcony. There was a couple making out on a chair and we did our best to ignore one another. I rubbed my ribs and leaned on the balcony looking down at the quiet suburban sidewalk and up at the moon. E joined me and she did her best to ignore the couple making out in the chair. I asked her if we could please go to the next party, and she said didn’t I want to stay awhile longer and look down all the other girls’ tops. I didn’t know really what to say. I just stared at her and then answered that actually I would prefer to leave. The couple in the chair was oblivious to us and continued slurping away. This bothered E and she said that we might as well leave so we did. On our drive to the city where the next party was, I asked E if I was the only person she was seeing. She said of course not and listed off three other guys names and occupations that apparently were vying for her attention like myself. It felt like someone kicked me in the gut and I didn’t say anything for a long time. She said that she would try and come to the show I had invited her to the day after tomorrow and I absently answered that would be great. I forgot that I had sent her a flier for a show my friend was playing on Monday night and was thinking that I would like to go ahead and jump out of the car. We were only going the speed limit and if I landed right and rolled maybe I wouldn’t actually die. Maybe the worst I would suffer would be a broken neck or head. I already had a broken heart. The second party was just over the hill from my place and was a much more enjoyable scene. There were many Devils, some quite elaborately presented with horns and tails. But to tell you the truth if there is such a thing as Satan, I don’t think he would make himself conspicuous like a cartoon character. My guess he would look like the nicest guy you would ever want to meet. The party had a movie screen over a garden courtyard to which an old black and white scary movie was projected while techno music was playing. E’s boss was the one throwing the party and we went and said hello and made small talk for awhile before excusing ourselves to the kitchen to get some Halloween punch. Neither of us were in a very good mood. Mine was due to the fact that I wasn’t her one and only and I had no idea why she was sour. My guess is that she was still mad at me for looking down that girl’s tank top at the last party. There was a room set up with a coffin leaned against the wall and an instamatic camera where you could take photos. I took the camera and told E to get into the coffin. She said no so I simply told her to smile and then took two quick pictures of her. She said she wanted to go. I put the wet and still developing pictures in my coat pocket and followed her to the car. She was walking on ahead and I stopped and let her go. She noticed I wasn’t following and turned and told me to hurry up. I told her I could walk home, and she looked at me with a blank expression on her pretty face and said for me to suit myself and left. I sat down on the big steps leading to a home near the party and looked at the big black sky. I thought about going back to the party. I didn’t really feel like it and since it was well after midnight anyway, I figured Halloween was over. I stood and walked up the steep street stopping at the top to look at the skyline of the city. The lights on the Bay Bridge seemed stretched out to infinity and I remember muttering something to myself about E and then turning and heading down the other side of the hilly street and walking in absolute despair. When I got to my room, I pulled out the photos I had taken of E and pinned them on my bulletin board. I took off my shoes and hung up my coat and then looked at the photos very closely. I removed the pictures and tore them into little pieces vowing that I had to break up with her as soon as possible. The next day I called her fully willing to speak with her live, but instead I got her voice mail. I told her that I didn’t want to see her again and that I really had fun with her, but since she was dating three other guys anyway it really should not be that big of a deal.