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It was about a week after my 18th birthday and I really wanted to do something special to celebrate. There was an 18 and over club I wanted to go to but the older friend who said he'd take me just wanted to crash.
I was 18. I wanted to do SOMETHING. So I went out to the Midnight Movies at Sacramento's Sunrise Mall, thinking I'd catch a showing of The Song Remains the Same or something. Anything to get out and enjoy a taste of my newfound freedom. Such as it was.
So there I was, standing in the mall in front of the theater, eyeing the strangly-dressed people clustered around the large stone discs that served as seats, smoking, chatting, and having a good time.
I really didn't know anyone in the area my own age and wasn't really good at walking up and introducing myself to people. So I bummed a smoke. I didn't smoke at the time, but I'd used the gambit before and it seemed to work fairly well.
And it worked this time. I got to meet the whole Sunrise Mall Rocky Horror cast, and, within a few weeks, I was going out with the lady who played Frank. She was quite the character, let me tell you. She could imitate Frank's gestures, facial expressions, and everything, and even run and jump in 4 inch pumps. She could sing too.
She had a great sense of humor. Once we were all heading for the show and stopped in at a Circle K convenience store. She was already in full makeup, so we attracted some attention as we entered. There was three or four of us together and we made for an interesting sight indeed.
She walked up to the pop cooler, opened the door, and reached in and grabbed a Dr. Pepper. Turning around, she realized how much attention she'd attracted. She smiled, looked over at me, and launched into "I'm a Pepper." Complete with dancing.
Not wanting to be left out, the rest of us joined in.
The guy that played Brad in the cast was a guy named Rick who looked an awful lot like a young Tom Hanks. He had the funniest facial expressions. A lot of the times when he was talking we'd just bust up laughing and he never understood why. We couldn't explain it to him. He's the first person I ever heard use the insult "needle-dick fly fucker."
After the show we'd often go and hang out at the local Winchells, where the night baker would give us all the old donuts they were going to throw away anyway.
You know, it was probably ten years until I could eat another donut.
One day I called her up and she asked me if I minded doing her a favor. I said "sure." Well, as it turned out, she had made arrangements to meet up with a friend at a certain time and would be delayed. "I just have to warn you," she told me. "He's a little odd."
"He's a friend of yours," I replied. "Of course he is."
As it turned out, he was in the middle of a sex change operation. One of the funniest people I've ever known. Full of life and bound and determined to enjoy every minute of life, even though he'd been more or less disowned by his family. This was 1984, after all. Not that it's much better now, I'm sure. But back then?
The year or so she and I were together was a very interesting one. I still think back on those times and smile. I made some mistakes back then. But, then again, I was 18. I've come to the conclusion that everyone is stupid at 18. It comes with the territory.
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