Chapter 7

The school gymnasium was festively decorated with streamers, balloons and a number of sports banners commemorating various teams over the years. At the far end of the room, an entertainment station was set up where a “Disc Jockey” was going through play lists for the night. While the school was perhaps 50 years old, he had music in digital format going back to the 1940’s. A good sized dance floor was open in front of the station for dancing. On the back wall were tables that held soft drinks and water. Later, snack foods would be brought out and placed there. The rest of the room was filled with tables for people to sit at, each numbered.

The sisters exchanged a hug and were escorted to their respective table. Tank and Felicia were sitting with members of the football team (affectionately called ‘The Brute Squad’) and their dates, while Scott and Karmen were sitting with several of her friends. In theory, four couples were seated at each table, but it was a given that as the evening progressed, chairs would be moved and people would want to sit with others to socialize.

It was a time for friendship, fun and celebration.

Even though students and guests were still slowly entering at 8:15, the principal stood in front of the room with a wireless microphone and called everyone to attention. “Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you all for joining us tonight. I think it’s safe to say that everyone will enjoy themselves as we celebrate our big win last night, and we can reconnect with students who once attended class here.” A few announcements were made, and then, “Our school opened in 1977, so for nearly fifty years, we’ve had many types of music heard in these halls and at dances. Our entertainment tonight is from Música Mágica, and if you have a request, come and ask.” The DJ behind his control board smiled, nodded and waved. “So at my request, we will start with a song from when I was a student here.”

The sound of a strumming guitar and horns burst from the sound system. “Celebrate good times, come on!! Celebrate good times, come on!! There’s a party going on right here! A celebration to last throughout the year! So bring your good times, and your laughter too! We’re gonna celebrate your party with you!”

Within moments, about half the people were on the floor, dancing to the ‘Kool & The Gang” classic.

Karmen was laughing with delight as Scott spun her around and dipped her backwards slightly. “Later you need to have at least one dance with Felicia! Tank isn’t that good a dancer.” “I’ll make sure to ask if it’s okay first. Especially after what happened in the car on the way here.” “It should be fine. He knows that the only real dance he knows is the ‘dumb guy disco’.”

“The what?”

“You know the one where a guy stands while the music plays and looks down at his feet and says ‘dis-go here, dis-go there’ over and over! I fear for Felicia’s toes!”

Scott laughed, not caring at all that he and Karmen were getting a few curious (and envious) looks.

The song ended and ABBA reminded everyone that the Dancing Queen was ‘young and sweet, only seventeen’ followed by Katrina and The Waves telling everyone they were Walking on Sunshine (and don’t it feel good?).

The harmonies of Lennon and McCartney allowed everyone to slow down to “Here, There, and Everywhere”. Scott hummed softly along to the lyrics. “I want her everywhere, and if she’s beside me I know I need never care...”

The song ended and Karmen took Scott’s hand. “How about we go sit for a few minutes? Rest? We can get some water and talk with others.” Sitting, they laughed with friends about who was and was not dancing and how they looked.

“Bruh! You making us look bad!” This came from one of the other boys at the table. “You keep this up and our girls will all want us to dance like you do, with them!”

“Blame my grandparents,” Scott laughed. “Besides, I can tell you that holding your lady in your arms as you dance is an exceptional feeling. Take lessons! You will not regret it!” Karmen giggled and nodded enthusiastically.

Suddenly, one of the other girls at the table looked up with a slight frown. “Well, this is interesting.”

Coming through the door was Merced. He was wearing a navy blue suit jacket over jeans and a white button down shirt. Standing with him was a girl in a blue sundress. Several people were wondering who she was, and suddenly, Yvonne recognized her.

“Dios mio! That’s Gina Cosgrove!”

Recognition was sudden. Gina Cosgrove was in 9th grade and a proverbial wallflower/nerd. Most of her classes were geared to science and math. To the best of anyone’s knowledge, she had never been on a date in her life. Her brown hair was usually braided but tonight it was loose to her shoulders. The open eyed squint on her face was due to vanity, not wanting to wear her glasses, so she made sure to hold Medced’s arm tightly.

Scott noticed that the side of Merced’s face was red and scratched, but didn’t look too bad.

Leading her to a table, Merced introduced Gina to several of his friends who were all part of the ‘bad boy’ gang. The other girls studied her with curiosity. After a few minutes, he stood and escorted her out to the dance floor.

Scott asked Karmen if she wanted to dance some more. “Not yet. Something’s going on. Not sure what, but how about we just watch a little?”

As the next song ended, the disc jockey was heard. “We have a special Ladies Only Dance, everyone! All the ladies come on out to show the men your moves!” Laughing, most of the girls headed out onto the floor. Karmen and her friends made her way towards Gina and they chatted softly as the music started and the powerful vocals of Taylor Swift encouraged the girls to “Shake it off!”

Scott and the guys all laughed at the antics of the girls as they danced and jumped and flailed their arms to “shake it off” with the music. The dance floor was a sea of colors from the dresses each girl wore, spinning and flashing to the high energy song.

Glancing over towards the table where Merced still sat, Scott saw something that made him pause. Grinning at his friends, Merced pulled a small bottle out of the breast pocket of his jacket, unscrewed the lid and placed a few drops of a clear liquid in Gina’s drink. He picked up the glass and swirled the contents a little then put it back down. His friends were laughing at this, but Scott couldn’t hear what was said.

The song ended and the girls returned to their tables. Kamen took Scott by the hand to get him back out to dance, but he stopped her. He saw Gina return to her table and grab her drink and gulp it down. “Not yet. This isn’t good. Go get Tank and his guys. We might have a situation in a few moments.” Karmen followed his gaze and nodded. She quickly made her way to the other table.

When the brute squad came over, Scott quietly related what he had seen. Everyone was aghast. “What should we do?” someone asked. By now, Gina was looking a little confused and wobbly. “Ladies? Take her to the bathroom and keep her safe. Call 911 and say that we have a possible date rape drug situation. We can try to keep this as quiet as possible because we don’t want to ruin the dance for everyone.” Eight girls went over to the other table and assisted Gina to stand. Over Merced’s protest, they rushed her off to a bathroom, with Felicia pulling out her phone.

Scott, Tank, and the brute squad sat down with Merced and when he started to say something, Scott cut him off. “You will sit. Not move. Not say a thing. Otherwise, you will find that life is about to get VERY unpleasant. Understand?” Looking at the other girls still seated, he continued. “So, how do you ladies feel, dating a guy who laughs at this fellow putting date rape drugs in a girl’s drink?”

“Is this true?” one girl asked. When her date stammered something, she cut loose with a string of Spanish that was snarled so fast, Scott had no way to keep up. But he understood it wasn’t pleasant.

Tank had caught the eye of the principal and quietly explained what had happened. There was a thunderous look of disgust on his face, as flashing lights were suddenly seen outside. Going to the disc jockey, he requested a microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen? I’m sorry for the interruption. Can everyone please have a seat for a few minutes? A student has fallen ill and is being picked up for assessment by medical professionals. We will resume the dance in a few minutes, but again, for now, please stay seated. Thank you for your understanding.”

Soon, Gina was rolled out on a stretcher by the EMT crew and Merced found 3 police offices asking him to go outside with them. The glass that Gina had drunk from was slipped into an evidence bag, since it would still have traces of the drug as well as fingerprints.

Merced realized that he was truly screwed.

Once things had quieted down, the disc jockey spoke. “Okay everyone, so we had the Ladies Only Dance. Now it’s time for the guys to get up here! Most people laughed as the guys all stood, to the yells and cat- calls of the girls. A heavy bass riff was slapped and everyone suddenly knew it was one of the classics that everyone knew and could sing along with.

Tank and the guys on the team started their own conga line and somehow, Scott was in the middle, singing to Wild Cherry. “Yeah, there was dancing! And singing! And moving to the grooving! And just when it hit me, Somebody turned around and shouted, ‘Play that funky music, white boy! Play that funky music, right! Play that funky music, white boy! Lay down that boogie and play that funky music ‘till you die!’”

Everyone made sure to over exaggerate their actions, to make folks laugh and distract attention from what had occurred a few minutes earlier. For the last chorus, the conga line broke up and the brute squad was crouched down and running around, hands in the air, hooting and howling like monkeys. Scott couldn’t help himself. He just sat on the floor, holding his sides, laughing.

As the song ended, the disc jockey chuckled. “Lord, I hope someone recorded that! I have never seen that type of ‘interpretive dance’ to that song!” Laughter echoed. “But now I have a special treat for everyone. I was able to get a pre-release of the latest single from La Banda Sage. It’s supposed to hit the airwaves next week, but you can tell everyone that you heard it here first. Ladies and gentlemen,” he paused, “the name of the song is ‘You’re my tomorrow’ and I know you will love it.”