of tea for Rhoda.
“Muh’Dear, Annette’s goin’ to the prom, too,” Rhoda told her mother, reaching for her cup.
Mrs. Nelson stood back and folded her arms. “Well isn’t that nice! I hope you both have as much fun at your prom as I had at mine.” Rhoda perked up immediately and decided that Pee Wee and I would ride with her and Otis. I thought I would faint when Mrs. Nelson told me she was sending me to Miss Rachel’s to get my hair done. This was another night I didn’t sleep at all.
The next few days were the most hectic of my life. Judge Lawson let Muh’Dear take another day off with pay so she could take me shopping for my prom dress. I wanted to buy the first one I saw at one of the cheap downtown dress stores, but Muh’Dear didn’t like it. It was blue chiffon with lace across the top. “We could find somethin’ much nicer at the shoppin’ center where Rhoda got her dress,” Muh’Dear insisted. “We can’t afford those stores,” I reminded her. “Um…this is a special occasion. We’ll figure out a way to afford one,” Muh’Dear assured me.
I didn’t ask Muh’Dear where the money came from for the expensive blue chiffon I picked out at Stacy’s, the same shop where Rhoda got her pale pink chiffon.
I had been doing my own hair since the age of thirteen. Cheap perm kits, straightening combs that were too hot, and not enough general care had damaged my hair badly. The prim and impeccably groomed Miss Rachel had a time bringing it back to life. “You’ve got nice thick hair. You should take better care of it,” she told me. I felt like a princess sitting in the most exclusive Black beauty parlor in town right along with some of the other Black girls preparing for the prom. I knew that things were going too smoothly. So when Lena Cundiff, the bully Rhoda had pushed into a toilet in the eighth grade, entered Miss Rachel’s salon to get her hair done I wasn’t surprised. “What the hell are you doin’ in here, Bertha Butt?” she barked at me. Two of her equally loathsome girlfriends were with her, and they all snickered. Over the years, I had had several more minor run-ins with Lena since the toilet incident. I knew her schedule, so I was usually able to avoid her a lot the last couple months of school. “I came to get my hair done for the prom,” I announced proudly, walking away before she could hurl another insult my way.
Judge Lawson brought Muh’Dear home early the evening of the prom so she could help me get ready. My understanding was, Pee Wee and I would ride with Rhoda and Otis in his car. I was shocked when an hour before we were to leave from my house, a black stretch limousine, compliments of Judge Lawson, stopped in front of our house. We took a dozen pictures at Rhoda’s house and then a dozen at mine. I had never seen Muh’Dear look so happy when she hugged me, and said, “See, I told you if you was good to God, God’d be good to you.” She stood on the porch with Judge Lawson and Caleb waving until the limo turned the corner.
The auditorium looked spectacular. Shiny silver stars of various sizes hung by pastel-colored crepe ribbons from the ceiling. The tables had silver tablecloths with a large dark blue star in the center of each one. A band that played both soul music and soft rock entertained. One of my favorite soft rock tunes was playing, “I Want to Make It with You” by Bread. As soon as we sat down at our table near the bandstand, I spotted Lena standing nearby with a few of her vicious girlfriends. As lovely as they all looked in their beautiful dresses and nicely done hairdos, there was an ugliness about them. Their stares were so cold I wish I had worn the shawl Lola had offered me.
Muh’Dear had warned me and Rhoda not to drink any alcohol, but Otis and Pee Wee started drinking from flasks they had smuggled in right away.
I had never attended a dance before and didn’t know if I had any rhythm or not. But I surprised myself when I got on the floor with Pee Wee to jump around like everybody else to the Motown tune “Do You Love Me?” The first hour went fine.