I wake up later than normal – around 11 – to the smell of Danielle making lunch. I lay there, thinking about recent events, when Scott walks past my door and yells something about me sparkling. I think he meant glowing, from last night’s activities with Ben, but who knows with him? After he’s passed my room I get dressed and head out to eat the lunch Danielle has prepared. Over lunch, the three of us talk – well, mostly Danielle does – about being ghouls. She lectures us a little on the subject, telling us that one day there will be a line we don’t want to cross. Once the ghoul topic has been put to rest, the three of us decide to visit Sandy at work later that night after my date with Donnie.
In the interim, we go to the mall to hang out – primarily to people watch. I forget how the topic of sex came up (I think Danielle was flirting with Scott again), when he makes the passing comment that he can “get it whenever he wants it”. I text this information to Sandy – I know it’s mean, but he has been a bit of an annoyance lately, and I know Sandy will have fun with this more than be mad at him. Take Danielle to a modern movie, and she is absolutely enthralled with it, giving me the impression she is very unfamiliar with CGI. On the way out after the movie, she gets distracted by pinball, however I am able to make it home in time to get ready for my date.
Donnie picks me up for our date in a different car than last time, and we head for a place that serves my favorite cuisine – Italian. After a nice dinner, he takes me to his place to give me the ten cent tour, as it were. His parents weren’t home, however his fourteen year old brat of a sister was (and I’m not kidding about the brat part – she tried to blackmail him about having a guest over!). After getting rid of Maddie (her name also happens to be Madeline), he commences with the tour, ending with his apartment. I call it that, because the house is practically a mansion, and he has the entirety of the basement to himself. We lock the door to prevent his sister (or anyone else) from barging in and talk for a little while before we begin to make out. Things get pretty hot, but we stop just shy of sex for two reasons – one being he doesn’t have any condoms, and two being so that we aren’t late to see Sandie perform (yes, I took him with me to a strip club – he had no issues with it).
He and I stop back by the house to collect Danielle and Scott, then we head downtown to the club to see Sandy. Danielle, Scott and I are on a litst, but Donnie has to pay the cover charge (Sandy didn’t know he was coming). All said and done, it’s a nice place – more of a gentleman’s club than a strip joint. There is a one drink minimum, and at the club they go topless, however lapdances can go full nude. When it’s Sandy’s time to perform, we pay her handsomely and I even get a lapdance first, followed by Scott (who, due to his alcoholism, has problems getting it up – this makes Sandy cry, he admits).
We stay there for the entirety of Sandy’s shift, then head to a dance club when it’s all over. We’re all enjoying ourselves, and when I’m at the bar I notice that I’ve got a response email from my parents. Hold on, I’ll copy/paste the email here.
Dearest Nicole,
I’m so glad to hear from you, me and your father have been beside ourselves with worry. I’m so sorry about what happened. I’ve wanted to talk to you, to explain things for years, but we didn’t know how to find you. Your father and brothers and I miss you very much and love you.
I even tried calling your publisher to get your address, but they said they didn’t give out that kind of info, and the e-mail through your publishers address seemed informal; Ii wasn’t sure if you even got those yourself or if…well I didn’t think it was appropriate to have someone else going through something this personal.
There’s something you should know about that night, the reason. It’s so hard to explain, your father. The night you came out to us was a shock, you hit us with a lot at once, and your father didn’t handle it well, his heart couldn’t take it. He had a stroke… we spent the next few weeks in and out of the hospital.
I’m so sorry but I was worried and tending to him and by the time we got things sorted out, you were just gone. I’ve been trying to follow your progress through your website, and I’ve bought all your books. I’d really like to call and talk to you more, I’d love if we could get together, but sometimes it’s hard to get out with your father’s wheelchair. Maybe we can talk on the phone? or Skype? I’ve got the Skype.
We do feel terrible about what happened, we love you, and we support you no matter what you do, we’re your parents and we want you to be happy dear. Just please, forgive us, and get back in touch?
Love, Mom
Donnie can tell I’m upset, so we gather everyone up and head back to the house. After a brief explanation of the email to my friends, Scott heads out in his car to take Sandy home, and I email my mother back with my contact info. She had to have been sitting on the computer, waiting, because not long after I get a Skype call from her and my father. We talk about a few things, and the camera pans over to my father. It’s heartbreaking to see him in a wheelchair with the telltale sign of a stroke on his face. I’m in near tears throughout the entire call, then I do cry when my father reads to me from his French copy of The Wizard of Oz, that he used to read to me as a child. I ended the call by promising to talk to them again soon. As it has been an emotionally draining evening, I am calling it a night.