Sally Boy (9 page)

“Yeah, thanks for the heads-up, Sal. Don’t
worry, I’ll hurry up.”

“Awright, take it easy, Cheese Balls.”
Smiling at the uncomfortable looking girl, Sal said politely, “It
was nice meeting...”

Mikey forcefully shouldered Sal away from
the car and stuck his head even farther into the window this time.
“Hey Cheesy, I hope you ain’t planning on having any kids with this
fucking broad?”

Feeling like a circus freak side-show, the
girl finally snapped, “Why shouldn’t we have kids?”

“’Cause between the two a youse, your kid’s
gonna be one scary, ugly, redheaded bastard!” Mikey stepped back
from the car. “Fellas, after seeing those two Irish mutts fucking,
I really need a drink.”

The three swiftly covered the remaining
half-a-block and finally arrived at the party. They entered a
basement through a screen door into Frankie Knuckles parents’
house. The home was a well-maintained, two-family dwelling where
many of the club’s parties were held. Frankie’s parents reluctantly
allowed him to tear out some of the walls in the basement to
accommodate the many people who showed up regularly for the social
gatherings he hosted.

The walls were now unpainted cinder-block,
and there was a slight mildew odor present. One year ago, during a
heavy rain storm, the basement was flooded. After tearing out all
the water soaked sheetrock, Frankie and the guys cleaned up as best
they could. Then they loaded the basement with discarded, but still
very usable, sofas and love-seats, which they acquired from
neighbors.

Now the downstairs was a young man’s party
paradise, complete with a new Victrolla, lots of records, and a
refrigerator full of alcohol. Attending a party in Frankie’s
basement was considered a rite of passage amongst the fellas,
because over the year’s dozens of pretty girls from the
neighborhood, and almost every one of the guys, had lost their
virginity in Frankie’s basement.

Sal, Mikey, and Anthony were greeted like
movie stars as they made the rounds shaking hands and kissing
girls. Taking note of the many couples that had already hooked up,
Mikey stopped to watch as they passionately made-out, touched each
other, and some doing quite a bit more, anywhere they could find a
spot to sit or stand. Biting his balled-up fist in anticipation of
his future conquest, Mikey tilted his head toward his friends and
remarked, “M’m m’m m’m, check out all this sweet pussy.”

Two attractive, young Italian girls standing
within earshot, inadvertently overheard Mike’s disparaging comment.
”What did you just say?” the first girl asked condescendingly.

“Didn’t your mother teach you no manners?”
the second girl added, expressing a great deal of attitude.

“What? I know youse ain’t talking to me like
that,” Mikey responded in a threatening tone.

As a precaution, Sal stepped in between Mike
and the girls. “Look, I’m sorry youse heard that. He didn’t know
youse was listening.”

Rolling her eyes and smacking her lips the
first girl sounded off, “That shouldn’t make a difference if we was
listening or not. He shouldn’t say such stupid things.”

Mike stuck his finger right in the girl’s
faces and warned, “You better watch your fucking mouth, bitch.
Don’t think ’cause you’re a girl I won’t fucking drop you.”

“Take it easy, Mike. That ain’t gonna
happen.” Holding back his friend, Sal turned toward the girls and
respectfully suggested, “Listen, we’re all here to have a good time
and wish Louie well, right? So why don’t youse have a drink, maybe
go over there, and forget about what he said. Don’t let this ruin
your night. Okay?”

Impressed, the first girl remarked,
“Finally, a gentleman amongst all this mess.”

Seeing that Sal’s approach was effective,
Anthony tried to follow his friend’s lead. “Sorry about him, girls.
Mike don’t understand how sensitive girls are about their anomalies
and stuff like that.”

“What? What the hell are you talking about?”
the second girl asked confused.

Wedging his head right in between Anthony
and the girls, Mikey shouted, “He’s talking about your
pussies...your tits...your fuck-holes. Your anomalies! Get it?”

“No, I wasn’t!” Anthony insisted,
red-faced.

“You’re an asshole! You know that? You’re
all assholes,” the first girl shrieked. Then the two flustered
females stormed off, shoving other guests out of their path.

“Mikey, what the fuck’s wrong with you? What
do you got, a fucking mental problem or something?”

“Sal, I was just trying to have some
fun.”

“That’s your idea of fun?”

Trying to save face, Anthony jumped in on
the conversation. “Fuck those bitches, Sal! They got a
super...superior...superiority complexion, anyways.”

“Do you even know what the fuck that
is?”

“Kinda.” Anthony shrugged.

“I know what that is, I’m ambidextrous,”
Mikey declared, flashing a big grin.

“What a pair of fucking cidrules. I can’t
believe youse are my friends. C’mon, let’s find Louie.” Sal started
to weave through the crowd then stopped. “Yo fellas, hold up.
Remember last year when we was rumbling with that moulanyan gang,
the Black Spades, over by the Botanical Gardens?”

Mikey nodded. Anthony said, “Yeah, I
remember. What the hell made you think about that?”

“I don’t know. It just kinda popped into my
head. I gotta tell you guys something. Something I ain’t never told
nobody before.”

“What?” Mike asked.

“The rumble was just getting started and
everybody was squaring off with somebody. You know what I’m talking
about, right? That fucked up time right before the action starts,
when you got those butterflies in your stomach and shit.”

Anthony nodded. Mikey said, “Yeah.”

“Anyways, somebody throws the first punch
and all hell breaks loose. I end up fighting this one big, ugly
fucking jigaboo. So I move in and hit him with two quick jabs right
in his jaw. Bang! Bang!” Sal threw two lightning quick left jabs.
“I don’t even think the moulanyan knew what fucking hit him. ’Cause
I’m bobbing and weaving and he’s just standing there bleeding. So I
move in again and pop him two more times. Now, the fucking nigga’s
bleeding like a stuffed pig. I almost felt bad for the monkey. I
even thought about ditching his ass to find somebody else to fight.
At least that’s what I was about to do, when the spook pulled out
this big fucking blade tucked in his belt, from behind his
back.”

“Blade? That rumble was supposed to be
skin-on-skin.”

“I know. But try telling that to some crazy
fucking coon swinging a big knife. He wasn’t in the mood for
talking. Anyways, the shine has this huge blade and all I’m holding
is my fucking brascholl. So he comes at me fast, trying to stick
me, but I make him miss and take him down. Now the spear-chucker’s
on top of me. He starts to come down with the knife and I grab his
arm. I’m holding him off pretty good, but I can feel my arm
starting to give. I thought it was all over for me, man. That was
the first time I was ever really scared in a fight. Just as the tip
of the blade was about to go into my chest, from outta nowhere,
somebody pulls the tutsoon offa me and cracks him with a fucking
pipe. I’m telling you that darkies head split open like a fucking
watermelon. I look up, and there’s Louie standing there smiling,
with that big stupid grin of his. I’ll never forget what Louie did
for me that night. I owe Rag’s my life.”

“I woulda saved your ass, Sal. But I was
busy fighting three fucking jungle-bunnies myself,” Mikey declared,
in a slighted tone.

“I’m not trying to say nothing. I’m just
saying.”

“How come you never told us that story
before?”

“It never came up, Anthony.”

“That’s all you got to say?” Mikey yelled
and got right up into Sal’s face. “It never came up.”

Pushing his friend away, Sal shouted,
“What’s your fucking problem, Mike?”

“I ain’t got no problem. I was just
wondering if there was anything else you never told us.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“He’s got a point, Sal.”

“You too, Anthony? What the fuck’s wrong
with youse?”

“Is there anything else, Sal?” Mike asked
again, loudly.

“No!”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. But if I should happen to
think of something, youse’ll be the first ones to know.
Awright?”

Looking up through the sea of people, Mikey
could see Louie’s face above the tops of the heads of the shorter
guests. “Hey, there’s Louie. He’s over there.”

“C’mon, let’s go,” Sal said with a
smile.

The three then proceeded to squeeze, push,
and contort their way through the mass of bodies. As they got
closer, they could see Louie’s girlfriend, Anna-Marie, sitting on a
sofa next to him, crying into her tissue laden hands. Two of her
close friends sat on either side of her, trying in vain to console
her. One girl gently stroked Anna-Marie’s hair, while the other
girl rubbed her back, but nothing seemed to ease the girl’s
sorrows.

Everybody in the neighborhood thought of
Louie Ragossa and Anna-Marie DeAngelo as the perfect couple. They
were truly in love and virtually inseparable since they met two
years ago at a school dance. Anna-Marie, or “A.M.” as her friends
called her, was a sweet, kind, academically-gifted girl. She got
straight A’s and she adored children and animals. Her dream was to
go to college to become a veterinarian and raise a family of her
own one day.

Widely regarded as the quintessential
class-clown and an all-around great guy, Louie routinely made
everyone laugh with his impressions of famous actors, friends, and
neighborhood characters. Standing over six feet, Louie had a
medium-build, dark brown hair, and bedroom eyes. Like most of the
fellas in the neighborhood, he wasn’t very interested in school and
only sporadically showed up for class.

Knowing college wasn’t in his future, Louie
studied very hard and took the test to become a fireman. He scored
extremely well and was waiting to be called by the F.D.N.Y. when he
got his draft notice. Louie planned to propose to his girlfriend
after he was accepted into the fire-fighter academy. His dream was
to marry Anna-Marie and buy a house upstate in WestchesterCounty.
So much for the best laid plans of mice and men.

Greeting his good friend with a big hug, Sal
kissed him on the cheek. “Rags, how you doing, pisan?”

“I’m doing good, Sally Boy. Hey, thanks for
coming to say good-bye,” Louie responded in a sentimental tone.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I love you like
a brother, you silly bastard. Come here.” Sal grabbed Louie and
hugged him tightly once more.

“What the fuck, Rags.” Anthony hugged Louie.
“Why would you think we wasn’t gonna show? You’re a fucking legend
in the neighborhood. Nobody’s ever gonna forget you.”

“Thanks, Ant.”

“Well, it ain’t like you ever saved me and
Anthony’s life. Still, we never woulda skipped out on you.” Mikey
slapped Louie on the shoulder and shook his hand.

Seeming perplexed, Louie responded in kind,
“Yeah, thanks, Mikey.”

“Good luck in Vietnam. I feel sorry for
those little yellow bastards with you over there.”

“Yeah, save some of those little cocksuckers
for us, huh?” Anthony feebly joked.

“Yeah, I will.” Nervously, Louie peeked down
at his still crying girlfriend. “Look fellas, I don’t mean to sound
like a jerk-off or nothing, but would youse mind if we talked
later? I ain’t really paid any attention to A.M. all night.”

Although he knew his friend was lying, Sal
smiled and shook his hand anyway. “Yeah sure, we got all night,
right? You take carea yourself, Louie.”

Louie winked at Sal and shook his hand.
“Thanks. You too, Sally Boy.”

“Yeah, we’ll see youse later, Rags. Take
care.”

“Awright, Mikey.”

“See you later, Louie.” Anthony shook
Louie’s hand hard.

Once more, the three fought their way back
through to the center of the room. Confident they were far enough
away, Mikey grabbed Sal’s arm. “You see that, Sal? That’s why I
don’t go steady with just one broad. All they do is ruin your good
time and keep you from hanging out with your buddies. They fuck up
everything.”

“Whatever you say, Mikey,” Sal remarked
sarcastically. “She’s beautiful, smart, and she loves him so much
she can’t stop crying. Yeah, I can see how she’s really fucking up
his night.”

As he scanned the room, Anthony’s eyes were
drawn to a dark corner where three very attractive girls sat
together, casually talking on a love-seat. Recognizing the blonde
sitting in the middle, Anthony smiled. “Yo fellas, guess who made
it to the party?”

“Who?” Mikey asked.

“Nicole.”

“Where is she?” Sal inquired eagerly.

“Over there.” Anthony discretely nodded in
Nicole’s direction.

Trying not to appear obvious, Sal
nonchalantly turned in her direction. Even though Sal was
infatuated with Nicole, he believed, with good reason, that his
feelings for her were immaterial. Like everyone else, he thought
Nicole and Sonny were in a serious relationship. Now that Philly C
explained the truth behind their phony romance, Sal was determined
not to let this opportunity escape him.

Craftily ducking behind people to conceal
his presence and shield his impassioned stare, Sal intently studied
every inch of the blonde bombshell. Every time Nicole moved, her
long, luxurious, strawberry blonde hair swayed like wheat in a
windblown field. The delicate features of her flawless face were
only enhanced by her shimmering blue eyes and alabaster skin. When
Nicole shifted in her seat to find a more comfortable position, her
skirt rose up enough to highlight her shapely legs, and provide a
glimpse of her round derriere. Although she immediately adjusted
her attire, Sal could already feel his glorious manhood stirring
beneath his jeans.