The weeks leading to prom were busy for all of us. It wasn't enough that we had work and the others had school, there were serious plans to be made, at least they seemed serious at the time. The other guys was picking up as much extra work around Al's as he could give them so they could take their dates out to dinner. That was the nice thing about having a full-time job; I never had to scramble for things like that. I got paid a decent wage and my own needs were simple so having extra money to spend on something like taking my girl out was easy enough to accomplish. Of course, since Joanie was the only one of us in school, she had to buy the tickets but I insisted on giving her the money. Emma and Teaspoon had taught me enough of how a gentleman ought to act. Besides, I wanted her to have the same prom experience the rest of her friends would have. Just 'cause she was dating a loser from town shouldn't keep her from having the night girls dream of. Oh, I had it bad alright and I didn't care a bit-still don't.
Ike was getting more and more nervous as the time went on. He hadn't dated a lot of girls and had fallen for this one hard. We was all thankful that Annie was a nice girl who wasn't going to play with his feelings. I think she was almost as shy as he was and it was kind of sweet to see the two of them together. Still he fretted nearly every day. He didn't talk any more than usual but we all knew what was bothering him. I tried to reassure him and so did Kid and Buck. Even Billy stopped his teasing and tried to calm poor Ike down.
It felt strange to know that I was going to a prom but that I wasn't going to be at the same one they was. Theirs was the same night as Joanie's so everyone had to promise to take lots of pictures we could all share later. Still, Emma caught me as I was getting ready to climb into my car to head to Joanie's for the big night and insisted on taking a picture of me in my suit. I think she looked about ready to cry. I'll never understand women but I've come closer through the years. When my own kids were gussied up for their proms and weddings, I know I felt myself tear up a little bit. I still don't understand the whys of it but I know it happened.
I was kind of nervous and maybe a little scared too driving out to Joanie's that day. I still hadn't met any of her friends and I wasn't sure how I'd be received though I was in a suit and wouldn't stick out too bad, except for the hair. I pulled up in front of her house and snatched the corsage off the passenger seat before heading to the door. Mr. Cohen was waiting for me as I climbed the porch steps. It was really just a stoop on the front of the house but there was a huge deck on the back. Joanie said her folks had a lot of cookouts and parties out there. I had already been instructed to keep the fourth of July free. Mr. Cohen shook my hand as I walked in and told me she was close to ready.
"Or at least that's what Gladys yelled down to me when I told them you were here," he said. I understand that now but didn't have enough experience with women and how long they could take to ready themselves at the time. We sat and stuck to safe topics like the Tigers and how disappointing the Red Wings had been going down in the first round like they had and to Toronto too. I saw Mrs. Cohen come down the stairs and stood up, Al had told me that I should stand when a lady entered the room. Then I saw the most beautiful thing I had ever laid my eyes on. Joanie was coming down the stairs in this powder blue dress. It went off her shoulder and had this puffy skirt made out of material that looked like a kind of net. Her hair was up and there was a little spray of white flowers poking out of it. I'd seen her wear a little make up in the past but she had done her eyes all up for this night and they were so big, I thought I might get sucked right into them. Joanie's eyes always were one of my favorite things about her. Her lips were shining with just a little glossy stuff. It wasn't like the bright red lipstick that some women wore and it was perfect, she was perfect. She smiled at me.
"Hey there handsome," she said. She always did know when I needed someone else to break the ice for me.
"You are beautiful," I said at last. She would joke at me about that sometimes thinking I had misspoke but I didn't mean she looked beautiful just then. I really meant that she was beautiful. I took out the corsage that Emma had helped pick out. She told me it would be less awkward for me if I got one that went on her wrist and helped me to find one with pretty white flowers so they would match any dress she might get. I think it had a gardenia on it. Yeah, it did 'cause Joanie always had a liking for gardenias after that.
We must've posed for a thousand pictures and some had to be taken with Al's camera he sent with me. Emma's was taking pictures of my friends and their dates. Finally we were off to dinner. I had made reservations which was new to me. I'd never been to any place you had to reserve a place at.
I wish I could say I remember every detail of that night but I don't. It's just been too many years. I remember that powder blue dress and Joanie's big eyes and I remember slow dancing with her head against my chest and that the light smell of lilacs seemed to surround her. I remember she smiled a lot and I guess I must have too. I still have some of the pictures and the copies of the ones I got of the guys.
Kid and Lou looked so happy and I guess they were. She looked lovely in a lemon yellow dress that Emma had made for her and Kid looked proud enough the buttons should have busted right off his shirt. Of course any man escorting a lady that pretty anywhere ought to be proud. He proposed to her that night so I guess he had even more reason to be proud 'cause he knew he'd always be escorting that lovely creature. Ike and Annie made a sweet couple. The pictures I have are black and white so I have been told her dress was light purple but I have to take the word of the others on that. I did see Lou in her yellow dress so I know that.
I remember I didn't want that night to end ever and I just stood on her front step for a while hoping to delay the end. We kissed quite a lot, I do recall that. We kissed until the porch light came on next to us. Joanie laughed and said goodnight and I went home. I didn't go to my apartment that night, I climbed up the next flight of stairs and spread the blanket on the roof and stared at the stars all night and kept replaying her walk down the stairs.
The rest of the school year was a blur of phone calls during the week and then Friday's and Sunday's spent together. Sometimes we hung out with the gang and sometimes on our own. There were a lot of those Friday nights spent on the roof looking up at the stars. My birthday came along and she brought me a cake. I don't know who told her it was my birthday but she was there and actually put nineteen candles on the thing. It's a good thing I didn't smoke like a lot of guys did then or I wouldn't have been able to blow them all out. She had baked the cake herself. She was quite a cook, as if I needed another reason to love her. Finally school came to an end and she wanted me at her graduation. It wasn't the same day as the rest of my friends were graduating so that made things easier. I didn't graduate or see the need in it for myself but I was real proud of the guys and of Joanie. She was salutatorian. I didn't even know what that was until she told me. She seemed miffed that she wasn't valedictorian and that it had gone to a boy. Joanie never did take kindly to something like sex or race determining who got something. I don't suppose it helped her anger that the boy was a blue-eyed blonde with the last name of Henderson so he certainly wasn't Jewish. I was even wondering if there was something to her argument. They had the same grades and her A's were in just as hard of classes as his were and she was just as involved in clubs and things as he had been. I sure could see her point. But I also had the feeling that she'd get the last laugh on Mr. Lawrence Henderson.
Joanie's graduation party was pretty uncomfortable for me. I had to meet a lot of her family. Mr. and Mrs. Cohen and Judy liked me a lot, I could tell and none of them had any reservations about me dating Joanie but her grandfather Cohen and her aunts and uncles were less than thrilled with me. I could sure see their point too but there wasn't a lot I could do about who I was. School and I were never going to get along. I could change the way I dressed and wore my hair but I was never going to be a lawyer like Mr. Cohen or a teacher like Mrs. Cohen. I was a grease monkey car mechanic and that was the best I could hope for. Someday I wanted my own shop like Al had but that was a ways off at that time. There wasn't much else I guy like me could hope for. Joanie stayed by me though and somehow they softened a little bit. She kept saying things in some language I didn't understand. I do a little now but I never got good at Yiddish like she was. All I know is whatever she said calmed them. At some point I should have asked what she told them but I think I was too afraid.
At night, after the guests had gone home and her parents had gone to bed, Joanie and I sat out on the deck and held hands.
"You're grandfather doesn't think I can take care of you," I said. I felt a little strange saying it because we hadn't talked about forever or anyone taking care of anyone.
"He doesn't understand I don't need to be taken care of."
"What do you need?" I asked and I suddenly really needed to know.
"I just need to be loved," she said, "And respected and listened to but I think those fall in place with being loved."
"I love you," I said and it was as much said in wonderment to myself that I might just have all I needed to have to be with this girl but I did get scared for a moment because it was the first time I had ever said it to her. I hadn't said it often in the past. I felt it but usually only hauled out the words when I thought it might help me get into some girl's panties. I was just a boy after all. I'd like to say I wasn't that guy who would lie or play on a girl's emotions to get sex but that would be a lie in itself. I never lied to my own daughter about it either. I figured she was best off knowing what some boys were like.
It was real quiet for a while and I didn't know what to do. It was the first time I had said those words and not been actively trying to get somewhere with a girl. I just said it 'cause I meant it. That's a pretty vulnerable place to be. She had said she loved me before then so it wasn't like I thought it would be left dangling but she still didn't say anything right away and that was the longest minute or so of my life. The breeze even stopped for that moment as if the world itself was holding its breath awaiting her reply.
She squeezed my hand tighter.
"I know you do," she said at last, "And you respect me and you listen to me, even when I rant. The best thing though is that I love you too. So I guess that makes you exactly what I need."
We stayed quiet for a while and then out of the blue she started talking again, as if the big "L" word had not just come out of my mouth. Like I might have mentioned before, Joanie seemed to have a sixth sense about when I was uncomfortable or didn't know what to say or felt I had said something wrong.
"So Kid and Lou are getting married?" she asked like it's what we'd been talking about all evening.
"Yeah," I answered, "And I think Ike might not be too far behind them. Buck's been seeing Carol for ages and I think it's just a matter of time before he pops the question. If we could only find someone who wants to deal with Bill for any amount of time, we'd be all set."
"Aren't you forgetting someone?" she asked and I knew what she meant though I played dumb.
"Al?" I asked, "He's already been married a couple times, he divorced one and the other passed away. I don't think he'll be up for marrying anyone again."
"James," she said scowling at me, "You aren't quite as cute as you think you are."
"I know and I knew what you meant," I said kind of sheepish, "Well, I'm not opposed to marriage, I guess and I do have a lovely young lady I sure do like spending time with. But she and I haven't really talked of such things and I don't want to go speaking for her thoughts on the subject of marriage and specifically how she'd feel about getting stuck with me forever."
"That's very forward thinking of you, James. Most men just assume that all women are looking for a ring and a white dress. Some girls have other priorities although even those still think that getting married in due time might be kind of nice. I think you should talk more to this young lady of yours and see how she feels."
This seemingly light conversation had gotten very heavy very quickly but I had walked right into it so I guessed I just had to keep going.
"So how do you feel about marriage, Joanie?" I asked.
She smiled and thought a moment.
"I really want to get my degree first and then marriage sounds like a nice idea. But I'd be awful particular about the guy. He'd have to be very special."
"Tell me about him," I said, "Then I can keep an eye out for your Prince Charming."
"Oh he'd be tall and handsome. He'd love me even when I was ranting and raving about things he didn't care that much about. He'd think I was beautiful. He'd let me drag him to art museums on perfectly beautiful spring days. He'd hold the door for me but still know it wasn't because I was too weak to do it myself. He'd care about all people, no matter their skin color or religion. Oh yeah and he'd be a great kisser. That is just a must."
I couldn't help auditioning for the role of Prince Charming and kissing her right then. When we parted, she smiled at me with a gleam in her eye. I learned in time that it was a mischievous gleam.
"I think you'll do just fine," she said, "If you can hold out and wait for me to finish school."
"I'm sure I can manage that," I said and the enormity of what had happened didn't hit me until later that night. I hadn't exactly asked her to marry me and she hadn't exactly said yes and there was no ring but still I think we had promised to marry each other all the same. I panicked for a second or so and then decided that it wasn't a bad thing at all.
Wow...I actually didn't see that coming...well, I did but not there...I don't think there were any references in this one that need defining. Loves to you all!-J