Chapter 40

April 22, 1978

The prom is a special occasion, particularly for seniors. It’s the last hurrah of high school. This makes it the social event to cap off the entire education experience which — as everyone knows, or should know — is more social than intellectual. It is a big deal and no one wants to show up without a date. Those without a date are more likely going to stay home rather than suffer the social embarrassment of showing up alone. Young men worry and fret if the young woman they ask will say yes or no. Young women fret about whether or not that special guy is going to ask her.

Once the date is formalized, then it’s time to prepare for the prom. For the ladies, this is an ordeal. There is the formal gown to buy, something which involves many trips to the mall. They spend the day primping with trips to the beauty salon and time spent at the makeup station. Everything must be ‘just so’ in order to make the best impression on everyone.

For the guys, there are tuxes to rent. He can’t forget to buy the corsage for his lady nor the carnation for his tux. The flowers must match the color of his date’s dress. Limousines are rented to assure that the appropriate first impression is made.

The prom doesn’t involve only the students, but their parents as well. There’s the effort of getting the young man or woman ready for the event. Mothers get heavily involved in helping daughters pick out just the right formal dress. Then there are the pictures of the young couple. Lots and lots of pictures for posterity.

There’s another dimension to it all that is easily overlooked. The prom is the last school event to which they will send their child. After this, social events turn adult. There may be alcohol involved. The locations move to private residences, restaurants, or hotel ball rooms, so the prom is the last hurrah of childhood.

Benny’s first senior prom passed without Benny in attendance. It wasn’t that he couldn’t get a date. It was that he hadn’t noticed that it was coming, that it was held, or that it was over. To him, it was a complete non-event of no importance.

The same was not true for Cathy and Sandra’s prom. In a perfect world, Cathy would have loved to escort Sandra to their prom alone. Sandra was of divided thoughts on that matter. She would have loved to go with Cathy. She was happy to be going with Tim. Tim was pleased to escort Sandra. After all, he had real feelings for the young woman which were returned, though not to the same degree. Benny was Benny. He went to his second prom because Cathy asked him to go.

While Cathy, Sandra, and Sandra’s mother went shopping for gowns, Tim and Benny were trying on tuxedos. Benny’s suggestion that he wear the neon orange tuxedo he had purchased before, was met with solid negatories on all fronts, even though they were a lot more laissez-faire about the whole thing than most couples. Cathy and Benny weren’t really a couple. Sandra and Tim were somewhat of a couple. The real couple, Cathy and Sandra, couldn’t go as a couple.

Of course, the parents thought it was all real. Benny’s mother cried at the idea that he would actually attend a prom.

Tim’s mother was pleased that Tim had found a level of acceptance that made the last four years of school a pleasure rather than torture. Sandra’s mother was pleased to see Sandra dating Tim, a young man who she thought would be a good catch for her daughter. For years she had been secretly worried that Sandra didn’t like boys and was one of those ... you know ... lesbians.

While other kids arrived at the prom in chauffeur driven limousines, they arrived in the 1935 Chevy Standard Phaeton, which had just been returned from California where its interior and convertible cloth top had been restored to its original condition. Everyone noticed its arrival. Even the chauffeurs got out of their cars to admire the antique which pulled up to the curb. Benny let Cathy, Tim, and Sandra out of the car. They went inside to wait for him while he parked it.

Benny parked in the lot with the limousines. The long cars were driven by professionals and he trusted them around his car more than some of the yahoo high school students. After a slight discussion about the car with the chauffeurs, he made his way to the front doors of the school where Cathy waited for him. They were not alone.

“Hello, Benny.”

“Hello, Mrs. Lancaster. How is everything in the principal business?”

Mrs. Lancaster laughed. Most students did their best to avoid coming to her attention. The four students standing in front of her were exceptions. They had no problems talking with her. Well, at least two of them didn’t. Tim and Benny always managed to surprise her with what they said.

“I’ve missed having you here, Benny. You were always good for a conversation or two, usually about the faculty and often not very flattering.”

“People do not feel comfortable around me.”

“That is something that you and I share, Benny.”

Without blinking, Benny said, “That’s nice of you to say.”

“I see you’re still escorting Cathy around.”

“Yes.”

“He’s the perfect boyfriend for me.”

“That is something I can’t pretend to understand,” Mrs. Lancaster said.

“Those who need to understand it, understand it.”

“Well, enjoy yourselves at the Prom.”

Cathy said, “We will.”

At first Cathy had wondered why Benny wasn’t intimidated by Mrs. Lancaster like every other student and teacher she knew. Then she realized that most people barely registered with him, much less gaining enough of his attention to intimidate him. The fact that he not only recognized her, but knew her name after a year of being out of school, signified that she had registered with him. She guessed that was the equivalent of intimidating him.

Benny leaned forward and whispered something in Mrs. Lancaster’s ear. She listened with a puzzled expression. “What?”

Benny explained a bit more. Mrs. Lancaster looked at Cathy and said, “I understand now. How about right after the first band break?”

“That would be great.”

When Benny and Cathy departed to enter the gym where the dance was being held, it was Tim and Sandra’s turn to pass by Mrs. Lancaster. Tim’s friendly smile prompted a greeting.

“Hello, Tim. Hello, Sandra.”

“Hello, Mrs. Lancaster.”

“Mrs. Lancaster,” Sandra said a little less confidently than Tim. She was numbered among those students who were intimidated by the woman.

“Tim, I see that you and Benny are still friends.”

“We’ve been best friends for years and years.”

“Didn’t you meet just four years ago?”

“Yes. And your point is?”

“I don’t think four years counts as years and years ago,” she said.

“It depends on whether you count 1973 once or twice,” Tim replied cryptically.

“That’s a very odd answer.”

“I’ve been around Benny too much.”

“That would explain it,” she said with an amused smile on her face. “Enjoy the dance.”

“We will,” Tim said.

When they walked away, Sandra said, “Years and years ago? I thought it was more like decades.”

“We only met in 1973.”

“I guess it depends on whether you count 1973 twice.”

“I’m sure it does,” Tim said.

When they reached the table where Cathy and Benny were seated, Tim held out the chair for Sandra. She sat down.

“Would you like something to drink?”

Sandra answered, “Punch would be fine.”

“Yes,” Cathy said.

“Come on Benny. We need to go get beverages.”

Benny stood and walked along beside Tim to where they had the beverages.

Tim said, “She said ‘yes’ I take it.”

“After the first break. You should make sure to get your dances in with Sandra during the first set.”

“Good.”

As the band took their first break, the two couples made their way to the coach’s office. The girls went in, and shut the door behind them. They could hear the recorded music in the office and dance in private.

Benny and Tim were leaning against the wall waiting outside when Mrs Lancaster approached them.

“Well, boys?”

“Hello, Mrs. Lancaster,” Tim said.

“Hello.”

“It’s a nice thing you are doing for them.”

“She’s my girlfriend,” Benny said.

“I had thought that they were the beards. They come across as such nice wholesome girls. You two seem so codependent on each other that it tends to raise suspicions. You don’t see one of you without the other being nearby. You can’t imagine my surprise to learn I had misjudged the whole situation.”

Tim said, “Then we did our jobs well.”

Benny said, “It’s not going to last.”

“What’s not going to last?”

“The whole thing against gays and lesbians. One day people aren’t going to care, one way or the other.”

“Not in my lifetime,” Mrs. Lancaster said sadly.

“Yes, but in ours ... well ... we’ll see, won’t we,” Benny said.

“You’ve got an old soul, Benny. So do you, Tim.”

“So do you, Mrs. Lancaster. I wonder why.”

Benny said, “That’s easy. It’s because she’s old.”

Mrs. Lancaster laughed. “It’s really hard to have a swelled head around you two.”

“That’s Benny. He’s blunt.”

“How old do you think I am, Benny?”

Benny said, “I have given that question a lot of thought. The answer I keep coming up with is Portland, Oregon, February 26, 1979.”

Mrs. Lancaster looked startled. It was the first time they had seen her lose her composure.

“You’re 62 now. That means you were born in in 1916 or 1917. Coming back at 14, that would make you around a 108 now.”

“What gave me away?”

“I said that you have an old soul. You look at everyone around you like they’re kids. Even people in their fifties seem to recognize that there’s something older about you.”

“I bet you have questions.”

Benny said, “First question, why are you a school teacher?”

“It’s my second career.”

“Your second?”

“My first was making money, just like the you of two are doing. It took me 16 years to make it up to a half million. That was a lot of money in those days. It’s still growing. I guess you could say that I’m a very wealthy woman.

“When I had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life, I figured I could help more young ladies of my sexual persuasion from within the system that confines them. Their high school years are the time when they are most vulnerable. It’s easy to destroy a young woman at that age.”