Wednesday, August 09, 2023

August 9, 1985 (Revisiting the Past)

I'm going back through what comprised my senior year of high school and first semester of college in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Come along for the ride. New posts every day or so mixed in with other things.

August 9, 1985. This is as good a date as any to pinpoint as the night for Bruno's movie party that turned wild. I even wrote a 2 part short story that featured that afternoon and night as part one. Bruno had spent the summer in basic training with the US Army Reserve, but had to leave a few weeks early after fracturing a leg. Once he got back he decided to throw a movie watching party. He would rent Animal House, The Blues Brothers, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail and invite the whole gang over while we feasted on pizzas and chips. I guess people have streaming parties nowadays, but in the era of the ascendant VHS renting movies for parties was standard, yet also special. 

I still vividly remember meeting Bruno at Cat's Records right after he got back to town. He was lean and mean with a mohawk haircut straight out of Taxi Driver. We went over to his girlfriend's townhome and made plans for the party. She griped about DD. She didn't like the way he locked his legs. One of my high school world history class friends was over at her place drawing pictures. DP was a talented artist. 

The party began and we were having a good clean cut fun night when things went askew. First one of my friends tried to get me to eat dog food. He swore that it was a piece of pizza. No thanks. He left with Clyde soon after. Maybe an hour later they were back with some girls in tow. They had picked them up at some wild party just down the road. One of the girls had graduated with us in the spring and all seemed well. Clyde had brought us some Heaven Hell whiskey and I was on it. I was a fool for drinking it straight at the time. I would turn up a bottle and then feel the anguish as my throat got burned. Our classmate began to act erratic. 

Someone had the bright idea that she should go lie down and they directed her to Bruno's room. I was really good friends with Bruno in those days and I'd hung out at his home before so I knew the layout of his crib well. I drunkenly mused aloud, "Do you think it's a good idea to put a borderline hysterical girl in a room with real swords hanging on the walls?" Not only had they put her in there by herself, they had locked her in too trying to get her to chill out. She got very angry and began punching holes in the walls using the swords. 

My short story has her running outside after the door is open where she then gets hit by a car, but nothing that dramatic happened. Bruno opened the door and she left with the other girl. It was a strange evening.It may have happened on this day back in 1985. If not this day, it would have been close to this one. People were about to start heading off to college and our lives that had grown so close during our school years were about to diverge and everything since is like a Waffle House standard: scattered and smothered. I'll try to find my short story and post it too sometime.

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