The Necklace - The Dusky Club, June 1962 - Linda S Rice (books to read fiction txt) 📗

at all this food has given me an appetite.”

“Well, I thought of a place last night. It’s down on the pier. They have great sandwiches, and of course, they have fish and chips, their specialty. But, if you’re going to the band practice this afternoon, they’ll probably send Mindy out to pick up fish and chips for supper after the practice. James is gonna have to pay, ha, ha...”

“Did you really have to remind me of that wager business?” asked Susan.

“Oh, sorry, Luv. Didn’t mean to mention it again.”

“Hmmmmm,” was all Susan responded.

Susan thought lunch was only so-so. England was known for its bland food, so it’s what she expected, and that’s exactly what she got. The soup she ordered was filling enough, however, and she enjoyed Sandra’s company.

Sandra told her about her family, how she got the Dusky job, and that she had a boyfriend from one of the other bands who played there. She was currently mad at him, however, for making eyes at a girl she called “one of the groupie sluts” who hung around every night, hoping to go home with one of the band members.

“Wow! And I thought everyone in England would be so prim and proper! You’d think this was the 90’s or something!”

“What’s that, Luv?” asked Sandra.

“Oh, nothing,” Susan replied, realizing she needed to guard her tongue better.

It was close to 2:30 when Susan got back to her hotel. She went upstairs to find something in her suitcase not too stupid-looking to wear, and Sandra went off to the Dusky to make sure all the tables, glasses, etc., were in order for the night. Her boyfriend’s band was practicing before the boys, and she was thinking of making up with him.

Susan knew Sandra would also likely spread the news about the hand-kissing and cringed. She shouldn’t have said anything. James would probably be angry as well as embarrassed. Maybe he’d kick her out of the practice, figuring the silly-ass American girl was a tease and just as annoying in a different way from Hilary. But she was still very offended about the wagering and thought that he at the very least deserved a good set down.

“Well, I guess I’ll find out,” she thought. “It’ll just be an amazing experience to hear them practice...Oh, I wish Lynn was here to share this with me. I wonder if Ian would be after her like James seems to be after me...oh come on...calm down...he’s not after you as a person...just to win a dumb bet...how humiliating is that?!”

She started to feel her temper again at the thought and raised her chin as she looked at herself in the mirror. Holy crap! She did look pretty damn good at seventeen! Long blonde hair, nice eyes, a flawless complexion, thank God, no zits... A small waist and good-sized boobs.

Before she slipped her dress on, she looked at the tag in her bra. 32D...nice! Dropping a white dress she’d discovered in her suitcase over her head, she twirled in front of the mirror. The white “churchy” dress made her look peachy fresh and innocent, just as she intended. Dare she say even “virginal?” She giggled.

The dress came to just below her knees. There was no visible cleavage, but sometimes keeping things like that hidden did more to draw a guy’s imagination to what was underneath. And, a man’s imagination was a powerful weapon, so she may as well use it.

Geez! Did women really used to wear these dresses? It seemed so long ago that it was hard to remember. She’d probably worn a dress like this herself at one time, long, long ago, like maybe in sixth grade. She laughed. In 1962 in real-time, she was close to being in sixth grade.

She brushed out her hair, and as a last touch, she pinched her cheeks to brighten them up a little, then smeared on some lip gloss, looking at the lipstick tube. Yardley Slicker? Wow! She had always loved Yardley.

“Oh, my God! Do I have any Oh de London?” she wondered, digging through her purse for her favorite old perfume that had been discontinued in the mid-’60s. It smelled so good, like a field of flowers.

Yes!

She liberally sprayed it on, even putting some in her hair, which she left hanging loose, swirling around her shoulders and down her back.

“We’ll see how Sir James responds to this, won’t we?” she said out loud as she winked at herself in the mirror before picking up her purse and locking the door behind her.

Susan walked into the Dusky just as Sandra was leaving.

“So, how’d it go with your boyfriend?” Susan asked.

“Not so bad,” responded Sandra. Todd was jealous of Frank, which was pretty stupid on his part, so he thought he’d make me jealous. We’ll work it out. How he even thought I’d look twice at the bartender beats me. So, I see you decided to come to the practice. I think Mindy’s waiting by the back door to let you in. I’d walk you to the door, but I think you know where it is. None of the girls hiding in the alley this time of day.”

She seemed anxious to be off. Susan wondered what story she’d told about the hand-kissing event or if she kept her promise about her being a virgin. She felt heat flood her face at the thought of Sandra telling anybody about that!

Susan exited the club up the stairs and out the front door, then went down the alley to the back door leading into the practice room. She knocked on the door. Seconds later, it was opened by a pretty blonde girl, who told her to come on in.

“The American girl is here!” the blonde yelled.

The boys were in the corner of the room in what appeared to be a heated conversation, not quite an argument, but it sounded about to escalate into one. At the sound of the blonde’s voice, they all turned around, James glaring at Susan through what she thought were cold and angry eyes. They were burning into hers accusingly. It seemed obvious someone had told about the hand-kissing and his failure to get into her bed the previous night.

“How dare him!” she thought. “He’s the jerk who was crass enough to make a wager!” She was incensed at the thought of being the subject of a bet.

James turned and said something to Derek. The blonde held her hand out to Susan, trying to draw her attention away from the boys.

“I’m Mindy,” she said. “I’m glad you decided to come. Derek didn’t think you’d show up...”

“Wouldn’t show up?” Susan interrupted. “Why would that be?”

“Well...um...after last night and all...”

“What about last night and all?”

“Well...um...”

Derek stepped up to the microphone. “Testing, one, two...testing, one, two...Let’s go, boys. Hey, Min...here’s one of our new ones; James wants to start with this one today for the new bird.” He winked.

Mindy and Susan raised their eyebrows. And the boys all broke into the song.

“Oh, my…oh yeah…oh, my…oh yeah...

Pretend that I am holding you...it’s simple cause I know...

I’ve pretended I was holding you though I guess it might not show...

It’s not really to pretend...but I’ll have you, I’ll have you in the end...

Yes, I will, I’ll have you in the end...oh my, oh yeah...”

James was glaring fixedly at Susan as they sang, with a wicked gleam in his eye. He looked at her, she thought, as if he were a bird of prey, and she was ready to be caught and netted. She thought about what Sandra had said about him always having his way with girls... either sooner or later.

She, of course, knew the words to the song and was outraged. He thought he was going to “have her,” did he? Well, he was very much mistaken! The arrogant asshole! Who in the hell did he think he was anyway?!

“That’s enough, damn it all!” she yelled as loud as she could over the music. “I’m outa here right now! ...How dare you...how dare you!” she screamed over the guitars, staring James down. Her eyes were blazing, and she was shaking with indignation.

The music came to a sudden halt.

“Why, whatever can you mean?” James said so softly that she had to strain her ears to hear him. He was looking down at his guitar and playing with the adjustments to the strings.

“You know damn well what I mean, you low-life, arrogant, jackass!” she yelled back before she could stop the words from coming out of her mouth. She was visibly trembling now. Her promise to herself not to spout inappropriate language flew out the window.

The rest of the boys and Mindy were looking at her. They all turned their heads back to James, waiting for his response.

“I think we can go outside and discuss this,” he said, taking off his guitar.

All heads turned back toward Susan.

“Oh no, we won’t!” Susan said, standing her ground. “Everyone here can listen to what I have to say! Admit that you made a bet as to whether you’d get in my panties last night, you good for nothing who thinks he’s so damn irresistible! Go ahead and admit it!”

She was on the brink of a tirade now with no holds barred.

James flung back, “So miss hoity-toity, cold-as-ice...what makes you think you’re so abused to the whole world after making fun of me for kissing your hand and leaving me standing in the lobby of your hotel? Eh? What do you have to say to that? Thought it was pretty funny, didn’t you? Trying to make a fool of me by spreading the word around and all!”

She tossed her head, and her hair went flying off behind her shoulders. “I was pissed off when I heard about your stupid wager,” she responded. “I believed you were a gentleman, but gentlemen don’t make wagers on a girl’s virtue. I only told Sandra...And, I never made fun of you...so there! You…you conceited, worthless piece of shit!”

There was dead silence in the room. Mindy gasped and put her hand over her mouth.

Susan held her chin up and tossed her head again. “You owe me an apology,” she said. “In fact, all you guys owe me an apology. She looked around the room. Betting on something like that isn’t...nice!”

She could see Derek was trying as hard as he could not to laugh. James, a “gentleman!” Where in the hell did this bird come from anyway? Nobody talked like that! But at the same time, he mused, she swore like one of the sailors down at the docks. Where had “little miss prissy” picked that up from?

“Sorry,” mumbled Ian, turning around to fumble with his guitar strings.

“Sorry, Luv,” said Derek, still smirking and looking over at Mindy as if to say, “This is quite amusing.”

“Fine! I’m sorry then...so, so sorry,” said James sarcastically, turning away from her.

She glared at him. “Say it like you mean it, or I’m leaving right now. You obviously don’t want Miss cold-as-ice here anyway!”

She spun around on her heel and started to walk toward the door leading to the alley, then turned her head back and added, “So, what was I supposed to be, some kind of trophy you could say you’d won? Something you could add to your collection of cheap conquests? Do you carve notches on a wall somewhere to keep track? …How could you…!!”

Tears welled in her eyes, and her voice was quivering. She moved towards the door again, wiping a hand across her eyes before any of the tears had a chance to roll down her face. She grasped her necklace and