Lara Reznik - The Girl From Long Guyland Read Free Page A

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CHAPTER THREE
    The Feast

    Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1969
    We scattered down the beach and hid behind the sand dunes as two cops rushed out with a bullhorn yelling, “Stay where you are.”
    I was panting like a Saint Bernard as I huddled with Denise, Jack, and Hal. But Joey, the Hash King, was nowhere in sight.
    Then the cops shouted, “You. Stop right there!”
    The four of us crouched together out of sight as they read Joey his Miranda rights. Tears streamed down Denise’s face. Jack started to get up, but Hal pulled him down and whispered, “It won’t do him any good.”
    We didn’t see Joey again for weeks. Cute boys flirted with Denise all the time, but she remained faithful to Joey. He had gained a sort of cult status around campus as the cool “Hash King” dude who’d been busted the first night of school.
    Denise didn’t care much about her grades and dropped two of her classes. I, on the other hand, didn’t have the luxury to screw up. In order to keep my scholarship I needed a 3.5 cumulative average. That meant all A’s and B’s or back to Long Island. The thought of going home to my parents kept me hightailing it to the library.
    Everyone talked about the war in Vietnam. Peaceful anti-war protests became a weekly event on campus. Radical groups like Students for a Democratic Society gained popularity. In November, a half-million people participated in an anti-war demonstration in Washington, DC.
    Our dorm room became a major hangout. We’d get stoned and talk about how we felt the world was out of control. A girl on the next floor got pregnant. We all helped raise money to send her to Puerto Rico for an abortion. Most of the girls went to the U.B. clinic and got on the pill.
    Denise became friends with Katie Birnbaum, the rich girl from Westchester we’d met the first night of school. Katie drove a fancy new Saab, wore the grooviest outfits, and had the largest record collection at Bodine. She received more phone calls from boys than the rest of us put together.

    ONE NIGHT I LEFT DENISE with a group of girls in our room to go get a six-pack of Cokes we’d bought from the refrigerator in the hall. I was headed back to the room with the sodas in my hand when someone grabbed my shoulder.
    At first I didn’t recognize the dude standing behind me in an oversized tie-dyed T-shirt, jeans, and shades with purple-mirrored lenses.
    “Do you remember me?”
    He’d lost a lot of weight. “Joey?”
    “I’m back in action, baby. Is your foxy roommate still available? Tell me she doesn’t have a boyfriend.”
    I took Joey back to our dorm room. Denise screamed and raced into his outstretched arms. They’d only known each other that one night, but something special had taken place.
    The next night Joey invited Denise to his dorm. She insisted I tag along, but I told her I needed to study for a biology test.
    She grabbed my peacoat and handed it to me. “Can’t you fucking study later?”
    I threw my coat on the bed. “What’s your problem? You know how much pressure I have to keep up my grades.”
    “Okay, I admit it. I’m afraid to be alone with him.”
    “Really. Why is that?”
    She adjusted her granny glasses. “Have you actually… you know, done the deed?”
    Should I lie? I so wanted to shed that prude reputation from high school. But could I bullshit my best friend? “No, well, almost, with Tommy Abrams at Camp Alamar. But I got scared at the last minute, bolted from the counselor cabin, and ran down the hill.”
    She chuckled. “He must have been pissed.”
    “Hell, yeah. Didn’t take but a day before he found some fast little number. It broke my heart.”
    “This may shock the socks off of you, but, well, I haven’t done it either.”
    I was confused. “But what about Marco? You said he used the condom, remember?”
    “Yeah, after he dumped me, he used it all right. The bastard.”
    Holy shit. Denise shared my virgin status. “I never would have guessed.”
    She smiled.