Bookends
By Shotzette and Missy

1956
By Missy




"No. No, no no, NO."

Laverne pouted, "But Pop..."

"Go change!" He barked, and Laverne sighed.

"But pop, these are my brand-new slacks! I spent half of the money I earned working with you all summer on 'em!"

Frank DeFazio's expression was one of barely controlled anger. "The pants, yes. The shirt, no!"

She frowned, "But all the girls are wearing their shirts tied up at the middle! Look, you can't even see my belly button..."

Frank winced at the evidence of his daughter's blossoming womanhood, "Laverne, you ain't every girl." His look softened; God, on days like this he missed his Josephine more than anything. Their daughter's antic, moping face turned into a downtrodden parody of one ravaged by the injustices of life, and he sighed, giving in, "All right, you can wear the shirt; just tie it down and tuck it in!"

Laverne's frown broke into a smile, and she swiftly went to work untying the knotted shirt, "Thanks, pop!" The shirt was half-tucked when the insistent beeping of her friend Anne Marie's Ford sounded from the street outside. Laverene's eyes lit up with delight as she grabbed her pocketbook from his favorite chair; She finished tucking in her shirt and planted a kiss on her Pop's brow.

"You got change for a call?"

She nodded, "Have a good time watching Toast Of The Town."

He nodded, answering her request with another, "Get home before midnight, OK? Remember, School!"

She frowned at her father's request, not wanting that sort of reminder hanging over her head. "Love you, Pop." She added, running for the door as Anne Marie blasted the horn once more.

As Laverne raced out of her family's apartment and down several flights of stairs, to the ground floor, she could hear her father yelling at Anne Marie for 'wakin' up the whole neighborhood'. He exaggerated; of course he did, he was her pop. She leapt over the last flight of stairs, hitting the lobby door blocking her from the outside world with full force.

The outside world was quiet, save for Anne Marie's reporting to Laverne's father about her father's latest business acquisition. Anne Marie was the richest of Laverne's friends, and her red Thunderbird was a three-month-old sweet sixteen present. Swiftly, while her father was distracted, she rooted through her purse, found her compact, and applied a thin sheen of cherry red lipstick to her generous lips. A quick check in the mirror told her that she looked pretty good; her short-sleeved white blouse and black tapered pants were as neatly pressed as she cared them to be. A black "L", hand-sewn onto her right breast, gave the picture a touch of originality; her tightly tied-back hair shone, freshly washed.

And, she added mentally, she was filling out, just as her girlfriends and Tony Piccone swore she would.

As her father greeted Shirley, Laverne slipped into the scene; immediately, she noticed the look of envy her best friend wore, and realized that they would have to share her new lipstick. Vaulting into the back seat of Anne Marie's car, she followed her father's final demand, "Buckle your seat belt!", before Anne Marie peeled down the street.

Once Frank DeFazio was out of sight and mind, the threesome relaxed instantly.

"Where're we going tonight?" Anne Marie asked, passing a pack of cigarettes to Shirley as she turned up the radio. The primly dressed girl, every inch the lady in her pink, wide-skirted, sleeveless dress with white gloves and straw hat, declined Anne Marie's offer, passing them to Laverne, who greedily claimed her own cigarette.

"Debs headquarters?" Shirley piped, and Anne Marie rolled her eyes; that was about the safest place they could go on a night like this. Anne Marie apparently favored danger that day.

"Shirley, if you keep thinking like an old lady, you're going to turn into one. Just like Princess Grace!"

"The Debs ain't old ladies!" Laverne protested, pretending the look of a sophisticated model, flicking imaginary ash from the tip of her cigarette.

"Don't make fun of Princess Grace!" Shirley wailed, "Her wedding was so beautiful! My mother said that if I keep flossing..."

"...One day you'll get a man who looks just like Prince Rainier." Laverne and Anne Marie chorused together, earning them dirty looks.

"Never mind. Now, Anne Marie, what's going on in that mind of yours?"

"Yeah!" Laverne piped around her cigarette; Anne Marie tossed her lighter into the back seat, over her shoulder, and, simultaneously, giving Laverne a dirty look.

Outnumbered, Anne Marie changed her story, "Of course, I didn't mean that. The Debs aren't old ladies. It's just the last day of summer vacation, and I want to do something different."

"What are you th-," Laverne's sentence was cut off as she choked on the cigarette. After a coughing fit, during which she suffered under Shirley's contemptuous gaze, she continued, weakly, "What's going on, Nutsy?"

"Well," A devilish gleam entered Anne Marie's eyes, "I thought that we could go cruising for boys!"

"What!!" Shirley shrieked, giving Laverne a chance to toss her cigarette out of the car. "Anne Marie, I'm spoken for!"

Anne Marie rolled her eyes, coasting closer to the suburbs, "Yeah; Carmine Ragusa's going to carry you off on that white horse any day now."

Shirley sniffed primly, resting her hands in her lap, "He loves me, Anne Marie. In fact, when he called from White Hall..." Shirley then embarked on a long, extravagant tale that recounted Carmine's call from the exclusive arts school, where he was trying out on a charity scholarship for prep courses. Laverne never got tired of the story; Carmine and Shirley's agony-filled romance was almost as good as those True Confessions magazines she had to sneak into her bedroom every month. She didn't need a flashlight to gawk at Shirley's love story.

Anne Marie, on the other hand, was evidently bored by the entire affair. She poked Shirley harshly in mid-reverie, pointing up the street.

"Look!" She hissed, "It's the boys!"

Laverne knew only one set of 'Boys' and she groaned to herself; sure enough, Lenny, Squiggy and Hector Kestenbaum were gathered in a cluster in front of the building Lenny lived in, tossing dice against the pavement and shouting in delight as they won and lost piles of pennies.

"What do we do?" Shirley whispered, panicked; Lenny and Squiggy never provoked that sort of reaction within her, so Laverne realized that it was Hector who nauseated her.

Anne Marie grinned wickedly, "Have some fun," She retorted, then adjusted the straps on her dress, before leaning on her horn, drawing the attention of all three guys.

"Hey, boys," She purred, speaking for the three of them as she was wont, "How's it going?"

"Well, if it ain't Anne Marie," Hector said, trying desperately to look cool.

"Why don't you come on over?" Anne Marie purred, as Shirley, wide-eyed, tried to stop her ingress.

The boys instantly broke into a macho strut, moving almost in unison...until Lenny tripped over his own feet and nearly collided face-first with Anne Marie's car.

Laverne's face was filled with open pity as he boosted himself upward; sheepishly, he smiled, and their eyes locked, "Hey, Laverne." He said shyly.

"Hey Len..." She began, but Anne Marie cut her off.

"So, where are you boys going?" Anne Marie asked, her voice casual in tone.

"We were thing about taking the bus down to the drive-in," Squiggy said.

"Yeah, and we were gonna do it, but then we remembered we ain't got a car." Lenny said.

"So now we're playin' dice for our summer money." Hector finished. "And I'm winning."

"How..impressive." Anne Marie groped for words, "Say, since it only costs a fifty cents a car load down at the Tri-View, why don't we all go together?"

Shirley smiled politely at the boys, whispering through her teeth to Anne Marie, "Are you crazy?! Are you crazy?!"

"Sure!" Hector piped, speaking for the boys, "As long as I get to sit next to you, Annie."

Anne Marie smiled, but hissed at him viciously, "Don't call me Annie!"

The boys promptly tried to climb into the car...all of them at once, causing a fight filled with squirming arms and legs. Finally, Hector claimed dominance, climbing into the back seat and then over the front, sandwiching himself between Anne Marie and Shirley. Squiggy and Lenny followed, Lenny sitting next to Laverne, pressing her to the left rear seat. Anne Marie gunned the motor, sending them through the heart of Milwaukee and out to the suburbs.

The ride took all of ten minutes, yet it seemed to last a very long time. Laverne felt Lenny's eyes digging into her the entire way, but didn't have the courage to say anything. Meanwhile, the radio blasted Elvis Presley, the latest, coolest singer in the universe, and as he growled his way through Hound Dog, Laverne found her own foot tapping away. It was probably the sexiest sound in the universe, perfect background music to float away through.

She wondered how her mamma would feel about Elvis; most mothers hated him, thought he was evil. From what she could remember of the sweet-faced woman whom had given birth to her, Laverne believed that, somehow, Josephine DeFazio would appreciate the young man. But Laverne doubted that the ongoing war between the My Fair Lady Original Cast Recording and Elvis' self-titled record for space on the DeFazio turntable would be lessened by the presence of a mother figure.

It had been eight years since Josephine DeFazio had died. Much of her youth had fallen into the ether since then; she could not recall much about the woman now. As far as she was concerned, it was she and Pop, all the way.

The only thing that had kept her from falling apart, initially, was her gruff father; well, that and her best friend, Shirley Feeney. They had fallen into the Angora Debs together at fourteen, an activity that had helped bind them as a family to their fellow girlfriends.

Elvis' voice molted into Gogie Grant's; with a look of disgust, Anne Marie turned the radio off.

Mercifully, they joined an incoming line filing into the Tri-View. "OK, what do you want to see?" Anne Marie asked.

Hector smirked, his expression smarmy, "Ladies' choice."

The girls squinted up at the marquee resting outside the drive-in, "Oooh!! The She-Creature!" Laverne cried out.

"And it's playing with They Conquered The World!" Lenny added. The other boys were suitably impressed, even as Anne Marie and Shirley sank in horror in their seats.

"Well...what does everyone think about 'Around The World In 80 Days'?" Anne Marie tried.

"And it's playing with 'Carousel!'" Shirley cried out.

"Stinko!" Squiggy criticized, "It's got all of that stupid singing in it..."

Shirley smiled, through gritted teeth, "Why don't we go with the popular vote."

"She-Creature!" Sing-songed four voices.

Anne Marie groaned, accepting her fate as they drove up to the ticket booth.

Laverne was relieved that, between the six of them, they had just enough left over for snacks. As soon as Anne Marie parked the convertible, she leapt out of the car, promising to return with popcorn for everyone.

On the screen, a series of previews appeared, and the noisy din of the crowd quieted down. Hector tried to ask Shirley something, but the girl primly ignored him. That was Squiggy's cue to ask Shirley how she was doing.

"Ask Carmine," She smiled, her voice brittle.

Anne Marie returned before World War III could erupt, passing a bucket of corn into the back seat along with a Coke float for Laverne.

"Sorry they didn't have any Milk And Pepsi," Anne Marie jabbed, and Laverne laughed, sinking comfortably into her seat to enjoy the movie. As she took her first sip, the main feature started.

"It Conquered The World" was based on one prime theme; evil Venusian pickles. To Laverne's surprise, the picture wasn't too bad; she found herself buying into the concept of the evil gherkins rather readily. Lenny finally offered a handful of popcorn after Squiggy had swallowed half of the bag (she wondered to herself where the little guy kept all of the food he ate), and the two of them shared the remainder of the container in companionable silence.

Onward, the night passed, with surprising peace, at least to Laverne. Until she noticed some odd, foreign sucking noise coming from the front seat.

She tore her gaze from the screen, as Peter Graves went into his climatic speech, to get an eyeful of Anne Marie kissing Hector Kestenbaum.

On the mouth.

Shirley gawked at them in horror, too, quite oblivious to the fact that Squiggy was licking her hand. Suddenly, when he sucked at her index finger, she shrieked, a noise that went unnoticed in a horror movie.

"Come on, woman! You know you wanna make out with me!" Squiggy called out.

"Why don't you ask Carmine how much I want you?! You won't be able to, cause his fist'll be down your throat!" Shirley barked, and when he lunged after her she bolted from the car, running across the drive in, shrieking. He perused her insistently.

Laverne shrank in her seat, "I'm so embarrassed." She moaned.

Lenny shrugged, "They're always like that, Laverne." Simultaneously, their gazes locked on Hector and Anne Marie, who seemed lost in their own world. Their only choice was to watch the movie or converse, and The She Creature wasn't encouraging them to return their attention to the screen.

Laverne smiled, "Hey," She said.

"Hey," Lenny piped; funny, his voice sounded higher than normal. He had gotten taller, more awkward over the past two years. And, around her, he was all elbows and knees.

"Hey Len..." She groped for a conversational topic, "How's your summer been?"

He frowned, a small mar to his unusually lovely face, "OK. I worked all the time at the cannery with my dad." He smiled, "They said I was a real natural at tossing the big tubs of fish around."

She smiled politely; that explained the odor coming off of him. "That's nice."

"You?"

She smiled reflexively, "I helped my dad sell door-to-door. Boy, he has a hard job. I'm glad it's almost over, though, did I tell ya we're gonna have enough money for him to buy his own restaurant soon?"

"Really?! Wow!" Lenny piped, "My dad always wanted to buy his own boat..." he drifted off and sighed, "We ain't living good enough for that, though."

She touched his hand, gently, and every muscle in his body seemed to jump beneath her touch. "I'm sorry, Len."

He shook his head, "We're doing OK. We eat good."

"Are you sure? My Pop's a great cook; if you ever need the food..."

"Nah, we're good..." Her hand squeezed his. For some reason, she didn't want to let go of him. "We're good." He repeated, softly.

His eyes were captivating; a deep, oceanic shade of blue. She hadn't noticed that before, even after living around him for ten years.

Even the mixed scent of tuna fish and Bosco didn't put her off; his lips were a magnet, and, for the first time in her life, Laverne DeFazio kissed a boy on the mouth.

Her first impression was that it was nice. Real nice. The next sensation that broke through the fuzzy haze of surprised passion were the feeling of his hands pressed to her waist, a sensation she didn't quite approve of, but liked even more.

The third, which dispelled all of these wonderful things, was a flashlight, glowing down on them from above.

She promptly released Lenny's mouth, allowing an enthusiastic "Golly!" to escape his lips. That was rapidly followed by a widening of his eyes and a muffled "Uh-oh..."

The theatre management, in a voice that seemed to boom from the heavens, asked them, "Did you lose someone?"

At the end of his beefy grip were a red-faced Shirley and Squiggy.

***

"My mother's going to kill me!" Shirley wailed, as Anne Marie raced against time to get the group home before midnight.

"Well, you shouldn't've chased Squiggy all over the drive in!" Anne Marie countered

"He wanted to feel me up!" She whined.

"You should've let him!" Snapped Anne Marie, as they raced downtown. This caused an outraged scream to come from Shirley's throat. "Shut up, Shirley!" Anne Marie snapped.

"Well, we gotta think of the positives," Laverne countered, "At least we're getting back by curfew..."

"Yeah," Lenny piped up, "And Laverne and I got to make out..."

Shirley's eyes bugged out once more, and she released a mortified scream. Laverne rolled her eyes, sparing Lenny a sympathetic look; he looked as embarrassed as she felt. For his sake, she was glad that Squiggy and Hector were back at their buildings already.

Thankfully, Anne Marie pulled to a stop in front of Lenny's building, "Bye, Len," Laverne said, with a warm smile.

"Yes, goodbye, Leonard." Shirley primly concluded.

"See ya, blondie," Joshed Anne Marie, as she gunned the motor.

But for Lenny, only one woman existed, "Bye, Laverne," He said, quietly.

She turned her head, watching as he shrunk in the distance and the Thunderbird rushed down the residential streets of Milwaukee at a safe speed. When they were sure Lenny was out of earshot, Shirley climbed into the back seat, started in on Laverne in a stage whisper.

"Honestly, Laverne; making out with Lenny Kosnoski in the middle of a drive-in! What if the football team saw you?! How do you expect to get a steady boy like my Carmine?! What's gotten into you?"

"What's wrong with Lenny?" Anne Marie asked her.

"He's filthy! He hangs out with Squiggy! And his mouth and mind are garbage heaps!"

"Don't get your panties in a twist, Shirley." Anne Marie remarked, rolling her eyes.

"Why shouldn't I?! What if they become a steady item?!" She howled, speaking as though Laverne wasn't even in the room.

"I've got someone who'll fix that. His name's Arthur Fonzareli, but everyone calls him The Fonz. He's very, very cool."

"Not like Lenny at all?"

"Unfortunately, sometimes."

"What do you think of that, Laverne?" Shirley waited for a response. "Laverne?"

But Laverne's eyes were locked on a blond figure, clad in a red checkerboard shirt and jeans. A figure that didn't even move, even as the convertible rounded a curb, disappearing from view.

Suddenly, Laverne snapped back to consciousness, "Huh?" She asked.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

Laverne composed herself suddenly, reaching into her purse and retrieving her compact. When Anne Marie stopped in front of her building, she was once more an Average Italian-American Catholic Girl, one who never wore lipstick on a Sunday.

She smiled at her best friend.

"Ask Carmine to kiss you," she said sweetly, "And then try to talk for yourself." Then hopped out of the car, returning to her virginal, sanitary life.



To 1946

To 1966











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