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The Prom
(An excerpt)
It was evident to me that I would probably not go to the prom. But by
mid-March, through some inexplicable miracle, I had a boyfriend. Not only
that, he was ten years my senior.
So, my mother and I began shopping for the prom dress. At the store,
I tried on every conceivable gown within the budget I had set for myself. I was
determined not to have a "little girl's dress," or some high-collared, long-sleeve
dress that yelled, "I'm the maid of honor!" Then, among all the colors and
fabrics on the rack, I caught a glimpse of black lace. This appealed to me, so I
searched through the garments until I found the dress. It wrapped around my
body forming a "V" in the front. A lace pattern covered the back with black
embroidered flowers, curving gently on the stems and leaves of the thick,
glossy thread. The dress had long sleeves and it was floor length. It had a
slinky, silky feel. At seventeen, my body was well formed, and my 34B breasts
revealed substantial cleavage- maybe too much. I came out of the dressing
room, for my mother to see. Looking aghast, she contained her fright and
asked Te gusta? Sí, I answered, and immediately mentioned my concern about
the cleavage. She suggested we could fasten a small safety pin. This meant
there was tacit agreement on the dress. This was the non-direct communication
my mother and I always had. I never looked for her to say, "Yes, let's buy
this dress," or "yes, let us do this." The words never came out that way. But,
somewhere in her phrases, I would catch whether I had her approval, or not. I
was very pleased that she had agreed, as I felt that this was a grown-up dress,
one that I could look sophisticated in, with my twenty-eight year-old escort, to
a high school prom.
The day of the prom arrived, and George was to pick me up early to
have dinner with some friends. He had a '58 Chevrolet, deep sky-blue exterior,
with shiny chrome and perfectly waxed body. The interior was plush velvet,
the sea blue color on the dashboard, on the inside of the doors, and the vinyl
blue seats shiny. It was a well taken care of
'low rider.' . . . . .
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