Teen Angel (19 page)

The hot water had brought color to her face. Sonny was ready to begin the ritual. When it was finished, she would no longer be the Sonny Palovsky of everyday. She would be beautiful or, at least, as close as she could come to it.
Abracadabra … Covergirl Foundation, Natural Wonder Powder, Deep Rose Rouge, Sapphire Blue Eyeshadow, Iridescent Midnight Eyeliner and Mascara
. She used her mother’s Maybelline Black Eyebrow Pencil to paint a beauty mark on her cheek. And a combination of White and Shocking Pink lipstick.

Time for her hair. She removed the rollers, which left her with a head full of little sausages. Taking her steel comb with the teeth of different lengths, she began to tease each curl. This took fifteen minutes. Not one hair on her head was left unravaged. Then she sprayed and sprayed and sprayed. She lightly patted the halo of hair and gathered the ends in the back together. Turning them with both hands until they formed a fat French Twist, she quickly stuck bobbypins to hold it in place.

Checklist. Hair: okay. Eyes: not bad, actually pretty good. Skin: passable, if you didn’t look too close (well, the movie theater would be dark). Lips: good. Nails: bitten to the cuticle.

Next she took out the sexiest underwear this side of Washington Heights. She had seen them displayed in the window of La Mode and had paid $2.50, five hours worth of baby-sitting, but they were worth it. When she stepped into them, she felt like her behind was 14K gold-plated. And they matched the bra D.B. gave her. Maybe it would fit without stuffing this time.
No way
.

Her new dress lay pressed on her bed. Ever since she was little, her mother had always sewed for her. Dresses with matching vests and hats, jumpers, pleated skirts with little jackets. This one had been sewn from blue wool remnants she found at the
shmata
store. By embroidering and adding a border of ribbon, she was able to hide the seams. And even if it wasn’t exactly what Sonny would have chosen in a store, it wasn’t half bad. And her mother had put little darts under the bust so she would look a little more chesty.

Sonny stepped back from the mirror. She looked human. Maybe even a little more than that.
Okay!
She confessed to herself, where no one else could overhear, that she thought she looked
gorgeous
. But would Ruben think so?

She wanted to show someone. Mike was engrossed in
Terrytune Circus
. Sonny walked in front of the television set.

“Get out of the way, ugly,” he said. “You going to an ugly contest?”

“You’re just jealous ‘cause you have to go to sleep.”

“Can I come with you?” Mike asked.

“You?” Sonny asked, cracking up. “Should I say you’re my midget date?”

“I won’t bug you. I promise.”

“Goodnight, goon.” Sonny wanted to tell him about the news. “I have a secret that you don’t know,” she teased.

“What?”

“Can’t tell. Sorry.”

“Come on, Son. Don’t be so cheap,” Mike whined.

“Tough luck.”

“I’ll tell!” he said. “I’ll tell how you were on the phone before.”

“What do you know about that?” Sonny demanded.

“I heard you talking about Ruben and the movie.”

“If you say a single word,” Sonny said, grabbing him by the collar of his flannel shirt, “I’m going to strangle you. Do you understand?” She made a motion of slitting his throat.

“What’s your secret then?”

“All I can tell you is that you’re not going to be the only baby in this family.”

“I’m not a baby.”

“Well, that’s the secret.”

“Okay,” Mike said, returning his attention to the TV.

“Do I look okay?” Sonny asked. “Seriously?”

Mike held his nose. “What smells?”

“My perfume, you moron,” Sonny said.

She walked into the kitchen where her mother was preparing dinner. She turned to look at Sonny and gasped. “You’re not going like that?”

“What’s wrong?” Sonny asked, patting her hair.

“All that makeup and your hair. No nice boy would want to talk to you–like that. You look like a Puerto Rican.”

“Yes, they would,” she said. “I won’t be home late.”

“You mean, you’re not eating supper?”

“Mom, I told you I had to leave before supper.”

“Okay, okay. Please Sonny, don’t be home late. And remember, you can call Daddy if you want him to pick you up. Don’t make me worry. I won’t sleep until you come home.
Did you wash behind your ears and neck?
”

“Yes, Mother,” Sonny said, trying to escape from her hold.

“Wait, let me take a good look at my little girl.” She stepped back and looked at Sonny. “I think the hem is all right. You do look beautiful. Too much makeup and your hair, well, it’s crazy, but I have a beautiful daughter.”

“All right. Mom, I really do have to go,” she said, grabbing her coat.

“Is there some telephone number where I can call? Just in case?”

“No, Mother. Come on. I’m a big girl. I’ll see you later. Now don’t worry, okay?”

“She tells me not to worry. If I don’t worry, who should? A
stranger?” She hugged Sonny like she might never see her again and then planted a big, disgusting kiss on her mouth. Sonny flinched. “Have a good time. I want you to have a good time. I want all the boys to ask you to dance.
But be careful
.”

“I promise.”

Sonny fled out the door. The elevator was there so she took it down to the lobby. There she examined herself in the full mirror. Sonny turned one side of her face, then the other. She smiled, laughed, and then looked serious. She pursed her lips like she was about to kiss someone. Unbuttoning her coat, she flung it over her shoulder and modeled her dress like Loretta Young, taking long strides around the lobby.
Thank you all for coming, I am honored to be here. I will never forget this evening in my whole life. You have made me very happy. And this award would not have been possible without my director and co-star
… Then, with her arm reaching out as if she were being led, she walked up to the mirror and pressed her nose against it, giving her own mouth a long, sexy kiss.
So that’s what she looked like to Ruben
. And there’d be plenty more of that–provided she didn’t get mauled on her way uptown on the subway. Sonny screwed up her face so she looked mean, like a murderess lurked in her heart. If anyone tried anything, they’d get a spike heel right in the balls.

“Where’s the balcony around here?” D.B. asked.

“Shhh,” the usher said. “There’s no balcony. Will you please be seated.”

“No fucking balcony. I don’t believe this.”

“Yeah, and they don’t have any popcorn either,” Miguel added as they walked across the last row in the theater.

“They have some candy machines,” Sonny whispered.

“I ain’t gonna lose my dime in them.”

“Hey, what language are they speaking?” Ruben asked. “Chinese?”

“I can’t make out that white on the bottom of the screen,” D.B. said, squinting like Mister Magoo.

“Those are subtitles,” Sonny said. “You know, they translate–”

“Will you kids shut up!” a bearded young man turned around. He had this girl with him who had long straight hair and glasses. Was she ever ugly.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Ruben said menacingly.

Sonny pulled him back into his seat. “This must be a beatniktype theater,” she whispered. “You know, the ones who drink coffee all the time and talk like Maynard on
Dobie Gillis
. ‘Like man, you dig.’”

The couple in front of them turned around again.

“You looking for something?” Ruben said. They whispered to each other, gathered their coats and changed seats.

“Splitsville, like it’s cool, man,” Sonny continued.

“Huh?” Ruben said.

Since D.B. couldn’t see the subtitles and Miguel couldn’t read them, they settled down to business immediately. Sonny turned in her seat and tried to get into watching this ugly old hag. on the screen stirring a black pot. But she could not help noticing the rapid progress of Miguel’s hand across D.B.’s knit top.

“Why can’t they speak English?” Ruben said.

“I thought this was supposed to be sexy,” D.B. complained.

Miguel drew her to him so she didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Then she piped up, during a rest period, “What’s with this dumb twat riding a horse to church?”

Ruben tried to kiss Sonny but she pretended to be concentrating on the screen. So he settled back into his seat. “Do you know what’s going on?” he whispered.

“Sort of. This girl is taking candles to the church. But I think it’s symbolic or something.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, like when you french,” Sonny said.

“Anyway, they could at least have popcorn,” Ruben said.

Sonny nodded, but actually she was glad there was no popcorn. She had heard that some guys made a hole in the bottom of the popcorn box and stuck their cock in. So all through the movie, the girl would be stroking them and not even knowing it. Then when they came and the girls said, “What’s this,” they said something
like, “Oh wow, all the butter must have been on the bottom.” Ruben put his arm around her. That was okay as long as he didn’t slip down the front. Besides, she had two crumpled tissues in the cups of her bra and he’d be pretty disappointed.

“That chick should get her head fixed,” Ruben whispered in her car. “I wouldn’t trust those creeps for a minute.”

The girl in the film got off her horse and was talking real friendly to these three scary-looking guys. One couldn’t talk and the other one had rotten teeth. They reminded Sonny of some of the characters in her neighborhood. But she’d never give them the time of day. That girl was just asking for trouble. “Yeah,” Sonny whispered, “those guys are mean and perverts besides.”

When the rape scene began, Sonny tapped D.B. on the shoulder. “They’re raping her now.”

D.B. looked up momentarily. “They don’t show anything,” she said, returning to Miguel.

Sonny was scared. Even though they didn’t show anything dirty, the men terrified her. When they started stabbing the girl, she hid her eyes in Ruben’s shoulder.

“I told you she shouldn’t have been hanging around with them creeps,” he said tensely.

A woman with hair as short as a boy’s and big earrings turned around. “If you kids don’t shut up, I’m gonna call the usher.”

After she turned around, Sonny gave her the finger. Meanwhile, Ruben’s fingers were edging down the front of her dress. She didn’t want him to think she was a prude but–maybe she was. She took his hand in hers. Then he began to stroke the palm of her hand with his middle finger, which meant he wanted to do it, according to Crystal. She could hear slurping sounds coming from D.B. and Miguel, who were slipping off their seats.

“This is boring,” D.B. said, looking up. “Let’s get out of here. Besides, I thought Ingrid Bergman was supposed to be in it.”

“This is a bullshit picture,” Miguel said. “Cheap.”

“We could do something else,” D.B. said. “I think Ruth’s out tonight. You people could all come over … you know what I mean.”

“YEAH?” Ruben said.

“I want to stay to the end of the movie,” Sonny said. “I’d like to see what’ll happen. Is that okay?” she asked Ruben.

“Sure.” He put his arm around her.

“You people,” D.B. said. “If you want to stay, it’s okay with us.”

“What a bullshit picture,” Miguel repeated.

“Well, see ya,” D.B. said, taking her coat. “Hope ya
make out
all right.” Titter, titter. Miguel followed after her like Lassie.

“I hope you don’t mind staying. It’s just that–” Sonny began.

“I’m glad they left anyway.”

For the rest of the movie, Sonny split her concentration between the screen and Ruben’s hands. Just when she thought she had one propped against her shoulder and held the other one, suddenly he’d be descending again. And the movie kept getting weirder and weirder. The murderers were in the girl’s house and neither of her parents knew it. Then the father killed them. When the movie was over, she felt funny. It wasn’t tears or the way she felt after
Imitation of Life
with Lana Turner and Sandra Dee. Susan Kohner was this girl who was really colored but was trying to pass. Then her mother died of heartbreak. Sonny went through seven tissues and some toilet paper too. So did Sonny’s mother, who said, “See what happens when you have a bad daughter.”

They sat through the coming attractions of an even weirder movie. It had Anthony Perkins and some Greek actress who was supposed to be his mother. Some mother. They made it together and then both died, which was when Ruben began to kiss her. It was just like it had been down in Riverside Park, only better. The kisses were long, sloppy, wet, yummy, fantastic-so much so that Sonny figured she better stop immediately or Ruben would get so
hot he wouldn’t be able to control himself. Men were supposed to be like that. Once they got to a certain point, they just couldn’t stop. So it was the woman’s responsibility to say no before that point, and judging from Ruben’s heavy breathing, he was getting there fast.

“We better get out of here,” Sonny said, pushing him away from her. She was out of breath herself.
Imagine how he must feel, being that he’s male
. “Please stop.”

“Just one more,” Ruben said.

Sonny threw herself back into his arms with a kiss that was the absolute living end. She didn’t want to stop. She had to or it would be too late. He’d lose control. She pushed him away again.

“What are you scared of?”

“I’m not scared,” she said. Her backside was beginning to burn from all the friction. “Let’s go, okay?”

“Do you wanna get something to drink?”

“Love ta,” she said. When Sonny stood up, she felt a funny wetness in her underpants.
Oh no. It happened!
“I’m just going to stop at the powder room.” That’s what she heard it was called when you talked to a boy.

Ruben walked her to the door marked Ladies. It was empty. Sonny rushed into the stall to check what the hell was going on down there.
Humidity?
Inside of her black sexy underwear was a puddle of white gook. It was sticky, like flour and water or Elmer’s Glue. And what was this supposed to be? A new body function? Number
three?
An albino period? Why couldn’t D.B. be here? She’d know what it was. She always knew those kinds of things the way other people knew all the capitals of the United States. Sonny wiped it with a piece of toilet paper and prayed it would not return. If only they taught you something you really needed to know in Biology instead of how flowers and frogs do it. She knew about pollination with stamens and pistils. But did she know a rabbit’s poop about her own functions? No. Could it have been
something she sat on in the theater? Oh, D.B., S.O.S!
Sonny’s Organs are Screwed up!