Pick-me-up

by Cecilia La France

  Chapter 20: Hanging Out

  The bathroom in McDonald’s had one sink, and Katelyn leaned over it to look into the smudged mirror.  The bad cleaning job wasn’t her poor handiwork.  Katelyn was working behind the counter now—in the kitchen actually.  When she wasn’t working the drive thru, she was filling in as a line cook on busy days.  Bathrooms belonged to some other loser lower on the fast food seniority chain.  

  Katelyn finished adding a dark line of eyeliner and backed up to inspect it.  She turned to each side to check her outfit.  She pulled the back of her shirt down.  Working at a fast food chain wasn’t helping her figure.  I’ll have to stop eating the fries, she thought.  She turned back for a front view.  The black shirt fit tighter than she normally wore her clothes, but Angel had encouraged her to buy it.  It also dipped low on her chest.  Another half inch and the top of her bra would be showing.  It was a good thing Katelyn was going to the party straight from work.  Her mom wouldn’t like this shirt, and Katelyn really didn’t need to get into a fight with her dad, either.  Lately, finding any reason to start a fight seemed to be his main form of entertainment.

  Katelyn stuffed her uniform into the bag and leaned back into the mirror a final time.  She stuck out her tongue and cringed.  A silver ball sat on a mound of raised and flaring red flesh.  Even the strain of pushing her tongue out made the piercing sear with pain.  Katelyn moaned.  Another good reason she wasn’t going home first.  There was no way she’d be able to utter any words in her defense.  

  Katelyn left the bathroom and went out the side door of the restaurant.  She spotted Angel’s enormous car at the back of the lot.  A tinted window was cracked and smoke trickled out.  It was Saturday night and they were headed to a college dance club in Des Moines.  Valentine’s Day wasn’t actually until Monday, but the club was hosting some rock bands in a “Rock n’ Riot Valentine” party.  Angel’s newest boyfriend ran lights for one of the bands, so she wanted Katelyn and Tim to keep her company while he was working.     

  Katelyn couldn’t help feel a little worried about the trip.  Tim’s disappearing act from the last time they went to Des Moines was still clear in her mind.  But, Tim said he wanted to go hear these bands.  Besides, he hadn’t left her alone anywhere since they had been back together.  Second chances, she reminded herself.  

  Tim was working at a garage in Ames four days a week.  He was mostly doing oil changes, but the manager was starting to let him do some brake work.  Tim now talked about taking automotive classes to get a certification he wanted.  

  “It’s about time, Girl,” Angel yelled at her in mock anger as she threw her cigarette butt out onto the icy parking lot.  

  Since Tim was in the front passenger seat, Katelyn opened the back seat and climbed in.  “Thut up,” she managed over her swollen tongue.  Angel and Tim both broke into a laugh.  She ran red with a small temper, but stayed quiet.

  “How’s it feel?” Angel asked as she drove out of the parking lot.  “Did it go down any?  It should be better today.”

  Angel had wanted to get another tattoo on her back, so Katelyn went along on Thursday night to a parlor in Ames.  She managed to sit through the hour of buzzing while Angel laid on her stomach as casual as if she were watching cartoons on a Saturday morning.  By the end of the hour, Angel and Charlie, the heavily inked artist permanently staining Angel’s back, had convinced Katelyn that a tongue piercing wasn’t that painful.  

  Ear piercing hadn’t hurt too much, Katelyn remembered, just the initial stick and a few days of soreness.  But ear piercing was so boring.  Everyone had their ears pierced.  She wanted something different.  Whenever she saw someone with their tongue pierced, she was in momentary awe.  She couldn’t tell outright who had them, except for those people who talked with a lisp or those that constantly played with their tongue.  Those people looked like idiots in her mind.  But, for those people who pulled off their secret until it shone through on its own, they were cool.  

  So, after Angel was bandaged and her permanent ladybug safely concealed by her pants, Katelyn sat in a stiff chair, had her tongue clamped, numbed, and then pierced.  The pain hit on the way home, kept her up all night, and burned through school the next day.  Katelyn wanted to go home, but her mom was there during the day.  She had no intention of letting her mom in on her secret yet.  

  “Ih thinth ith infethed,” Katelyn tried to pronounce.

  Tim sprung over the front seat into the back.  

  “Hey,” Angel swerved and protested.  “How ‘bout a warning next time?”

  “Lem’me see,” Tim said and turned on the car’s overhead light.  He stared at Katelyn expectantly.  

  Katelyn sighed and opened her mouth.

  “Can’t see.  Stick it out.”

  “Ah am,” Katelyn complained.  She tried to stick it out farther.  

  “I can’t tell, but it’s ugly!”  He drew out the last word with emphasis.  He drew his arms up just in time to block a hit from Katelyn.

  “Nogh funny,” and she collapsed into him as he drew her in with one arm.  Tim comforted her for a moment and then leaned forward into the front seat trying to reach something on the floor.  He came back with his small cooler.  He pulled out a piece of ice.  

  “Open,” he said like a doctor.  Katelyn obeyed, and he put it on her tongue.  She moaned and tried to spit it out.  “Keep it on.  Be tough.”  He pulled out a can of beer, opened it, and leaned back into the seat.

  She kept the ice on her tongue, but leaned into him for comfort.  The ice quickly melted, but had numbed the feeling a bit.  She reached over and grabbed a new piece.  By the time they hit Des Moines, she was able to contribute to Angel and Tim’s conversation, which mostly revolved around greatest guitar players.  Katelyn had heard Tim argue his case several times before, so she was able to comment on a few of the artists.  

  They found the club after Tim and Angel argued about which exit to take.  Angel took her own exit.  Tim stayed silently amused while she drove through the empty business district, through a hospital parking lot, and finally pulled into a church parking lot.

  “Okay, fine.  It’s either your directions or divine intervention at this point,” she surrendered.  

  “You could have it both ways, baby,” Tim teased.  Katelyn laughed.  She was glad Tim and Angel joked with each other.  Tim was quick to find fault in other people she had tried to introduce him to.  Katelyn didn’t take him to any parties she heard about through school.  Tim didn’t even try to be social at those.

  “Take a left.”  He directed Angel through Court Avenue.  Katelyn saw the bar where she was left alone four months ago.  She tensed slightly, but Tim didn’t notice.  They crossed the river and easily found the neon sign for Club AM.  

  “Jesus,” Tim cursed with disgust as he saw a group of girls waiting at the door to get in.  They were huddled together and their high-pitched complaints could be heard from inside the car.

  “It’s cold,” they whined in turns, each out princessing each other with their complaints.  The girls stood without coats in tight low-rise jeans and spaghetti tops.  Plenty of skin was likely to get frost bite.  

  It wasn’t their outfits, but what the girls represented that caused Tim’s objections.  Katelyn knew he didn’t care for girls who worked too hard for popularity.  “They’re trying to get noticed but end up looking more like each other.”  Katelyn started paying attention to the popular girls at school.  Just like these girls, the colors of clothes and hair were different, but there was no individual style.  Needless to say, Emily made Tim’s list the first time he met her.  

  Angel parked half in a regular street parking lot and half in a loading zone area.  Angel always got away with stuff like that, so Katelyn didn’t say a thing.  

  “Ih may noght be ahll bahd,” Katelyn said, trying to cheer Tim up.

  They filed in after the princesses paid their cover charge.  Katelyn e
asily passed inspection as a 19-year-old when the bouncer looked at Jenny’s ID.  She had to give Jen $5 to borrow it, but Jen was at least being civil to her.    

  Inside the club, there was much more representation from the other categories of the lower 20s group: stoners, emos, hipsters, boy band wannabes, more princesses, and a strong showing of metal heads.  The night was for rock.  

  A really horrible band was finishing up.  Angel’s boyfriend’s band was third in the line up of five local bands.  There was potential for sucky music since they weren’t the featured band, but neither Tim or Katelyn would say anything negative in front of Angel.  She’d had a bad run of men lately, and Oli, the lighting guy, was Angel’s new hope.  

  Angel disappeared to find Oli.  Tim had finished his scan of the club and motioned Katelyn along a crowded path toward the back.  Up front, an open dance floor in front of an erected stage took up about half the club’s space.  A bar sat off to each side of the dance floor and both were crowded.   The club served alcohol, but if there was a legal age drinker present, they had to be wearing a yellow band to order, hold one, or even have it in front of them.  Bouncers were everywhere protecting the liquor license and preventing fights.  There weren’t many yellow bands.     

  Most of the tables were taken—not necessarily occupied, but taken.  Coats, bags, or half-full drinks sat on some tables to indicate a group had laid claim to it.  It was not cool to sit.  As Katelyn was bumped by several girls on their parade route, she didn’t care much about cool.  One bump caused her to nearly bite her swollen tongue and she cringed.  She felt Tim tug on her arm and she turned back around as he dove into the cushioned seat of a wrap-around booth.  There were coats on the seat and cups on the table, but this didn’t faze him.  She took his lead and scooted in with him.  

  Within two minutes, a pair of highlighted and bronzed girls came up to the table with the obvious question on their face.  “Um, this is our stuff,” said one.

  Tim surveyed the “stuff” and nodded.  “Nice.”

  The girls looked at each other and the bold one tried again.  “Like, we were sitting here.”

  Tim fed them bait.  He moved over slightly, patted the seat, and said, “We don’t mind sharing.” And he gave them a very full, fake smile.  

  The Bold One shifted her weight to the other leg and her face couldn’t hide her distaste at the idea.  She looked at Katelyn, but Katelyn looked away. She looked back in time  to see them grab at their stuff and walk away.  The Bold One said loudly enough for Katelyn to hear it.  “Let the asshole and his bitch have the table.  It keeps her fat ass out of our way.”

  Katelyn tensed, wanting to get up and yell back.  She immediately felt Tim’s hand on her leg.  “Please,” he said in judgment, “you wouldn’t waste energy on that, right.”  It wasn’t a question.  Katelyn went slack, but felt wronged.  She didn’t ask for the insult.  It was his idea to steal the table.

  Angel bounded up to the table and threw her bag on the seat next to Katelyn.  “Great news, Oli’s band is up next.  The other band’s singer is totally blowing chunks in the backroom, refuses to go on.  I think you’ll like Modeanna.”

  “You want something to drink?” Tim scooted out his side of the booth.  Katelyn thought about how the ice felt and nodded.  

  “Sp-ite,” she managed and automatically started to dig in her bag for some money.

  “I got it,” Tim said with a gracious tone.  “One Sprite coming right up.”  He smiled at her before he turned into the throng of young adrenaline.  Katelyn warmed with the kindness.  It was nice not having to pay for everything now that Tim had a job.  

  Angel was digging in her purse and took out a small tin decorated in an oriental red pattern.  Katelyn had seen it before, but usually ignored Angel’s use of its contents.  Angel slipped it under the table out of view and gave Katelyn a knowing smile.  “Oli was handing out gifts.”  She pinched two small orange pills and popped them into her mouth after she was sure she wasn’t being watched.  Angel casually took a drink of an energy drink Oli must have given her, too.  “Here’s to being Generation Rx.”  She laughed.  

  Katelyn looked Angel over.  She was skinny thin.  It’s not fair, Katelyn sulked.  She eats like a pig and doesn’t gain weight.  It must be the pills.  Angel’s body was lanky and narrow, even her face.  Her long hair hid her thin neck, a feature that didn’t exactly scream beauty.  But, Angel was attractive.  Guys always checked her out.  

  Katelyn sulked.  She bet Angel never had to deal with nasty comments and insults about weight.  Angel had left her high school not long after her mom was diagnosed with brain cancer.  Angel stayed home and cared for her--at least that’s what Katelyn heard her tell people.  But, Angel told her in private that she just couldn’t care about school when she knew her mom was dying.  Her mom died.  Angel turned 18.  And, with some of the Social Security money she received, Angel went to California to spend it.  She came back to Iowa and moved into a temporary group home.  One program encouraged residents to achieve their GED or try the alternative school.  So, Angel was totally out of the drama and pressures of high school social life.  

  “What?” Angel caught Katelyn studying her.  

  “Are you goin’ to be able hoo brive?”

  Angel leaned in to Katelyn with wide eyes.  “Drive?”  Katelyn nodded.  “On this?”  Angel pointed to her mouth where she had just swallowed the pills.  “To Texas and back, baby.  To Texas and back.”  She laughed, and then looked at Katelyn as if seeing her mood for the first time.  “Oh, girlie, no worries.  It’s just an Adderall boost.  Your tongue bothering you that much?”

  At the mention of it, Katelyn was reminded of the pain.  She shrugged.  

  “Shoot.” Angel dug back in her purse for the tin, “I got something that will make that feel better.”

  Katelyn instantly started shaking her head, but stopped to consider the offer.

  Angel held two oblong white pills out to her on the booth’s seat.  “Want ‘em?”  Katelyn always passed on Angel’s offers from her pill collection, and Angel had stopped asking.   This was odd for both of them.

  Katelyn stared at them.  “Wha is ih?”

  Angel looked at them closer.  “Vicodin, I think.  Josie gave them to me at the Academy last week.  For her dad’s migraines.”  She paused, but continued as Katelyn hesitated.  “Look, a doctor would prescribe you something, right?”

  Katelyn took the pills and washed them down with a drink from Angel’s energy drink.  Her stomach twanged with a reminder that she hadn’t eaten anything more than a strawberry shake on her break all day.  Her tongue had hurt too much to add food to the problem.  

  “Thanks,” Katelyn said to Angel, which came out more like “Hanks.”

  “You better take another,” Angel said, and she sorted through her tin under the table until she handed another to Katelyn.  Katelyn swallowed it with little thought.  

  The speaker’s music was suddenly cut off as Modeanna began.  “Check, check,” the lead singer tested and turned to the bass guitar player with a smile before his joke, “I prefer cash.”  The band launched into a fast heavy beat.  The first chords from each player clashed, but then they found their rhythm.  A group of guys made their way to stand and nod in front of the band.  A couple of girls ran out and began slutty dance moves.  The dancing didn’t match the music, but worked in getting all the guys’ attention.    

  “I’m going to get a better view,” Angel announced as she was already moving out of the seat.  Angel never bothered asking Katelyn if she’d be okay alone.  That wasn’t her style.  Angel was on her own mission.

  Katelyn took a deep breath.  She looked around and took some relief in that people were paying attention to the band or dancers instead of watching her.  She looked around, but didn’t see Tim.  Not again, she thought.  She started to bite her nail, but the simple movement sparked her tongue.  Katelyn dropped her h
and, but soon was twisting her hair absentmindedly.   

  Tim practically jumped into the booth across from her, like he was waiting for the right moment to scare her.  Her shocked look was instantly transformed into relief.  “Miss me?” He smiled and set an almost full glass of soda in front of her.  She smiled and nodded.  She moved closer to him and they watched the band for a while.  Actually, they listened and mostly watched men watching the girls pretending to love the band.  

  “You alright?”  Tim yelled over the noise.

  Katelyn realized she was holding her jaw lower to make room for the swollen mountain in her mouth.  It didn’t feel any smaller, but she felt slow and far away.  She shrugged.

  “It will feel better, eventually.”  He rubbed her arm as he held his around her shoulder.  “I think it will look great.”  He moved in real close for his next comment.  “Can’t wait to find out how it feels.”  His breath was warm in her ear.  “Sexy.”

  Katelyn would normally blush, but she was too tired and couldn’t act on a feeling at the moment.    

  Tim noticed her lack of energy.  “Hey,” he lifted her chin up.  His concern was real.  “Hey, I have something that might make you feel better.”

  Katelyn sighed and prepared herself for a perverted suggestion.  Instead, he dug into his back pocket.  “I was thinking to wait till Valentine’s Day, but thought I might find a time tonight.”  He found what he was looking for and brought out his closed hand in front of her.  After he knew he had her attention, her eyes waiting in question, he opened it.  Katelyn saw a silver chain necklace and a pendant.  She softened.  She was expecting a joke, another one of his pranks to get a laugh.  She wasn’t expecting this, and she wasn’t sure what to do.  Katelyn’s face warmed.  She looked up at him as if asking permission to pick it up.  He smiled and gave a slight nod.

  She gently lifted the chain up to study the silver twisted circle that hung freely around the chain.  The design was simple, a silver strip turned once before it banded in a circle.  The effect was an ever turning path, a slow, single spiral that led into itself, never truly ending.  Katelyn’s day had been so crummy, full of work and a sore mouth.  And, she had just been worrying and doubting Tim when he didn’t come back right away.  This kind gesture was a true surprise.

  No guy had ever given her a gift of love.  The CDs Tim gave her at Christmas were hardly a romantic gift.  This gift meant so much more than the beauty in front of her.

  Katelyn turned to Tim and melted into his eyes.  “I love it, Tim.”  It didn’t matter how the pronunciation sounded because he couldn’t hear her clearly.  Katelyn knew he heard her anyways.