have thought otherwise if you’d asked me beforehand, owing to the fact that Angela was a
minor and in violation of the law. She’d also broken another one of Hegbert’s rules for
proper behavior. Hegbert frowned on law-breaking and drinking, and though it didn’t get
him going like fornication, we all knew he was deadly serious, and we assumed Jamie felt
the same way. And maybe she did, but her helper instinct must have taken over. She
probably took one look at Angela and thought “wounded critter” or something like that
and took immediate charge of the situation. I went off and located Eric behind the
bleachers, and he agreed to stand guard at the bathroom door while Jamie and I went in to
tidy it up. Angela had done a marvelous job, I tell you. The puke was everywhere except
the toilet. The walls, the floor, the sinks—even on the ceiling, though don’t ask me how
she did that. So there I was, perched on all fours, cleaning up puke at the homecoming
dance in my best blue suit, which was exactly what I had wanted to avoid in the first
place. And Jamie, my date, was on all fours, too, doing exactly the same thing.
I could practically hear Carey laughing a squeaky, maniacal laugh somewhere in the
distance.
We ended up sneaking out the back door of the gym, keeping Angela stable by
walking on either side of her. She kept asking where Lew was, but Jamie told her not to
worry. She had a real soothing way of talking to Angela, though Angela was so far gone, I
doubt if she even knew who was speaking. We loaded Angela into the backseat of my car,
where she passed out almost immediately, although not before she’d vomited once more
on the floor of the car. The smell was so awful that we had to roll down the windows to
keep from gagging, and the drive to Angela’s house seemed extra long. Her mother
answered the door, took one look at her daughter, and brought her inside without so much
as a word of thanks. I think she was embarrassed, and we really didn’t have much to say to
her anyway. The situation pretty much spoke for itself.
By the time we dropped her off it was ten forty-five, and we drove straight back to
Jamie’s. I was really worried when we got there because of the way she looked and
smelled, and I said a silent prayer hoping that Hegbert wasn’t awake. I didn’t want to have
to explain this to him. Oh, he’d probably listen to Jamie if she was the one who told him
about it, but I had the sinking feeling that he’d find a way to blame me anyway.
So I walked her to the door, and we stood outside under the porchlight. Jamie crossed
her arms and smiled a little, looking just as if she’d come in from an evening stroll where
she’d contemplated the beauty of the world.
“Please don’t tell your father about this,” I said.
“I won’t,” she said. She kept on smiling when she finally turned my way. “I had a
good time tonight. Thank you for taking me to the dance.”
Here she was, covered in puke, actually thanking me for the evening. Jamie Sullivan
could really drive a guy crazy sometimes.