Lara Reznik - The Girl From Long Guyland (18 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY

The Affair

Connecticut, 1970

It was after midnight when my plane landed at Bradley International airport in Hartford. While I felt relieved the Secret Service hadn’t been waiting in Albuquerque for me, I still had to pick up the suitcase from baggage claim. I tried to focus on sharing the details of my adventure with Denise. No doubt she’d think it was totally far out. It certainly had been a roller coaster ride of adrenalin I’d never forget. And then there was the matter of Joey’s toes.

One more hurdle to overcome now, and I’d be home free. Ben had said that far more people get busted getting
off
the plane than getting on. I headed to baggage claim, inhaling and exhaling like a Yogi. My stomach felt like a family of rattlesnakes had taken up residence. When I reached the carousel, I had worked myself into such a state of panic, I nearly fainted.

Were narcs posing as fellow passengers waiting for luggage? The man in the three-piece suit across the way had a weird eye twitch. Was he signaling his partner in a bomber jacket on the other side of the room? An old woman with a mole the size of a nickel glared at me. Maybe I should leave the suitcase and head back to the dorm. To hell with the family. What could they do to me?

But there’d be Angel to reckon with.

One by one, the baggage slid down the conveyor belt. Finally, the plaid suitcase and my pink overnight bag flew out of the shoot. They circled around once, then twice. As they orbited past me for the third time, I gripped them both with two hands and staggered toward a row of phone booths in the distance. The worst was finally over.

Then someone tapped my shoulder.

When I turned around, I met the glare of a black security guard as massive as Wilt Chamberlain. He glanced at my suitcases then back up at my face.

I tried to smile but my lips felt like they’d been Super-Glued together. Things tripped into slow motion like I was back on
LSD
.

I heard, “Excuuusemeeemissss, I neeeed your claaaaaaim…” His lips were moving but I couldn’t understand the words spilling out.

A line of people hauling luggage formed behind me. An old lady dropped her overstuffed valise and it burst open. White bloomers, polyester pants, a tube of toothpaste, and a hodgepodge of cosmetics spilled all over the floor.

The security dude clicked on his walkie-talkie and held it to his mouth. “I need some help at carousel three.”

I stifled a shriek. Surely this is the end. “I’m only seventeen.”

He rolled his eyes. “And I’m forty-seven. Hand me your claim ticket, young lady.” He snatched my boarding pass from my hand and checked that the numbers matched the ones on the plaid suitcase and the pink bag. “Okay, move along now.”

I was panting by the time I reached the ladies room. Mission accomplished. I threw cold water on my face. Should I call Chris to pick me up? Or surprise everyone with an early return. It didn’t take but a minute to decide I would show them that Laila Levin was one independent chick. Despite all obstacles, I had succeeded by myself. I dragged the luggage outside the arrival area and stood in line to catch a cab.

IT WAS SUCH A RELIEF
to be back in Bridgeport safe and sound. Using the key Chris had given me, I unlocked the front door of the family house. I hauled the suitcase and my overnight bag up the flight of stairs to the family’s apartment then unlocked the door using the second key on the ring labeled Apt.
B
.

The place was dark and silent. What did I expect at three in the morning? Should I check in with Ben before heading up to Chris in the attic? He’d want to know I’d arrived home safely with the suitcase. No, Chris is my boyfriend, not Ben. I should go to him first. This fantasy of Ben must end right
NOW
.

I left my peacoat and the luggage on the couch in the living room, tiptoed up the stairs and pushed the door open. Chris will be so happy see me. Perhaps I’ll just slip under the covers and make love to him.

The dark attic room smelled moldy. Chris must be asleep. I started to unzip my jeans when I heard stirring in the bed.

“Who’s there?” Chris said in a husky voice.

“It’s me, honey. I caught an earlier flight to Hartford.” I fumbled to find the lamp and pressed the switch.

Chris’s face was beet-red. “Shit.”

“Are you glad to see—?”

A blouse, bra and lace panties lay in a trail on the floor. A big lump in the bed told the rest of the story.

My mouth fell open. “What the ef—Who is in there?”

The protuberance burrowed itself in the blankets like a box turtle in its shell.

I grabbed the covers and started to pull them down when someone seized my arm.

“You don’t wanna do this,” said a somber-faced Ben from behind me.

I let go of the quilt and searched his eyes.

“Come downstairs with me, sweetheart,” he said.

Chris said nothing but stood and slid into his jeans.

I was furious as I followed Ben down the stairs to the kitchen.

Ben told me to sit at the table as he filled the teakettle. “Would you like a Quaalude?”

“Are you ef-in crazy?”

He held his hands up to his face in a protective gesture. “Okay, don’t bite my head off.”

“I just risked my life for you guys, and this is the thanks I get?”

“I’ve checked out the suitcase. Everything seems to be in order.” He reached in his pocket, retrieved a wad of bills, and handed them to me. “There’s five hundred dollars there.”

I threw the money in his face. “I don’t want your dough.”

“You’re making too big a deal of this. Chris just got lonely,” he said.

“It’s Ivy, isn’t it?”

“What difference does it make who he’s with? I can assure you this means nothing to him.”

“You’re right. None of this means anything to anyone. Except to me,” I said with conviction.

“Sex, drugs and rock and roll. That’s what it’s all about, honey. I thought you got the drift.” Ben said.

“You’ve gotten what you wanted from me,” I yelled. “May you all rot in hell. I’m out of here.”

I RACED THE FOUR BLOCKS
to Bodine, oblivious of the wind in my face and the snow falling in clumps on my bare head. I was so upset I had forgotten to retrieve my coat and the pink bag with my clothes from the living room.

It was
3:36
a.m. on the Bodine lobby clock when I entered the elevator. Minutes later, I stepped off on the fourth floor. Sounds of a guitar filtered through the hall from someone’s room. A girl in Bugs Bunny pajamas was pulling an all-nighter in the lounge. I couldn’t wait to see Denise and share the insanity of the last few days, confident she would not mind if I woke her up.

When I opened the door to our room, I called her name.

No answer.

I flipped on the light switch and noticed her bed had not been slept in. Had she found a new boyfriend since I’d left for New Mexico? Joey would be so bummed out. If I had ever needed a friend to talk to, it was now.

It dawned on me how few Bodine girls I felt close to since I’d joined the family. Who could I confide in besides Denise? Katie Birnbaum perhaps? She and Denise had become good friends in my absence from the dorm. Katie treated me differently since I’d started seeing Chris. She had asked me to introduce her to Ben. I’d ignored that request for obvious reasons. How hypercritical was it for me to be jealous of Chris with another woman when I still had feelings for his best friend?

I rushed down the hall to Katie’s room and knocked on the door.

She opened the door yawning in a long
U.B. T
-shirt. Her hair was wrapped around an orange juice can on the top of her head. It was how we all kept our curly hair straight.

“What’s up?” she said in a sleepy voice.

“I’m sorry to wake you but I really need a friend to talk to. Denise is gone.”

“Have a seat on the bed,” she said. “I’ll fire up a dube.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” I said.

Now that Katie had opened the door for a heart-to-heart, I didn’t know where to begin. Could she be trusted? She lit a joint. After two tokes I confessed I had just gotten back from a trip to New Mexico with a suitcase of weed. I didn’t mention I’d seen Joey or the trauma that ensued.

“Were you scared? I would have pissed my pants.”

“Are you kidding? I was totally freaked out. Then I got back to my boyfriend Chris’s and caught him in bed with someone else.”

“Oh my God. Would you like a Quaalude?”

“That’s what Ben offered me. I’m not interested in zoning this out. I feel like I’ve been played.”

“That Ben is so cute. Did you ever find out if he was available?”

I laughed. “Don’t you see? They’re all available. Doesn’t make a difference if they have a girlfriend or not.”

“So who was Chris sleeping with?”

“She stayed buried under the covers but I’d bet my bottom dollar it was this woman Ivy that lives with them,” I said. “She sleeps with all the dudes.”

“Ivy, the astrologer chick?”

“You know her?”

Katie shook her head. “She did my chart a few months ago. Said I’d be famous someday.”

The sound of a loud knock interrupted our conversation. Katie took a last toke of the joint, opened the window, and tossed it out. Then she sprayed the room with Secret deodorant. “Who’s there at this ungodly hour?” Her voice sounded angry.

“It’s me, Denise.”

Katie unlocked the door and Denise entered. The whites of her eyes were laced with red lines. She gave me a hug. “How was the trip?”

“Really, really strange. Like insane.”

“How so?” she asked.

“I guess you could say I’d entered a modern world version of Sodom and Gomorrah.” I filled her in on the details including finding Chris in bed with someone else. I didn’t mention Joey, however. He’d made me promise not to tell her.

“Why are you so surprised?” Denise said. “They’re not monogamous type of dudes.”

Katie smiled. “Bad boys. It’s part of their charm.”

“You’re both right, of course. But I’m not sure I fit in with that crowd.”

Katie rolled another joint and passed it to Denise. “So where were you tonight?”

“Cramming for my sociology exam with a couple guys at North Hall,” Denise replied. “Can’t afford another incomplete.”

“Well, I’m done with Chris.” I said. “And that whole damn family.”

“What about Ben?” Katie asked. “He’s the hottest guy I’ve seen in this sucky town.”

If she only knew my feelings for Ben. “You’ll have to figure that one out yourself. If I never see those dudes again, it will be too soon.”

THE NEXT MORNING
Denise and I were awakened by a knock on our door. “Telephone call for Laila,” said Mary Lou.

I tread slowly to the hall phone dressed in my flannel nightgown, unsure what I wanted to say to Chris. Did I even want to speak with him?

The receiver dangled in the air. What was wrong with those people? Chris, Ben, Ivy. The family. Did they even know what the word family meant? Still indecisive, I grabbed the phone and put it up to my ear.

“Laila, it’s Ben. Can you meet me for breakfast at Rodman’s?”

“Ef-you, Ben. I told you last night I never want to see any of you ever again.”

“You do want your coat and clothes back, no?

“Well yes, but I-I can send my roommate over to fetch them,” I said.

“Laila. I’ve got something to share I’ve never told you before. See you in fifteen.”

“Do you love me, Ben?”
That was something I still wanted to know, needed to know.

The sound of the dial tone was all the response I got.

Every bone in my body said,
DO NOT GO.
Stay at Bodine with your friends where life is safe. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know the family scene was toxic. But some powerful current named Ben Franklin Jones sucked me back in.

I quickly dressed and brushed my teeth. No time to go through the tedious process of straightening my hair. I left it tangled in waves. Denise loaned me her jacket and rode down in the elevator with me to the lobby. She was such a good friend.

On the ride she squeezed my hand. “Are you in love with Chris?”

“I don’t know.”

She glared at me. “Didn’t you tell me you’d slept with his best friend?”

“Yes, but it was dark and… it was an accident,” I said.

“Do you have feelings for Ben?”

I let out my breath. “I’m confused about my feelings for both of them. Why are you grilling me about it?”

“I’m trying to help you sort things out,” she said.

“I’m a mess, aren’t I?”

“You’re a complicated girl, Laila. Much more so than I’d ever have thought.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Is that good or bad?”

The doors of the elevator slid open in the lobby. I stepped out but Denise remained inside. I held the door open with my arm and repeated my question to her.

She smiled. “Have you ever heard the expression, ‘What’s good for the goose is good for the gander’?”

As I walked down Main Street, I wondered if that was Denise’s way of telling me to forgive Chris because I’d done the same thing. But it wasn’t the same. Did Chris even know about my night with Ben?