The Rise and Fall of Mary Colley

Chapter 9

Sunday June 1st, 1975. 9:46 PM. Denver

We arrived at our hotel about two and a half hours ago. Me, the band, three other girls named Darcy, Sarah, and Kathleen, the roadies, and Mr Grant (LZ's manager) were all lounging by the pool now.

I was next to Jimmy, Darcy was with Robert, Sarah with Bonzo, and Kathleen with Jonesy. Thomas was next to Peter and some other guy.

For a split second I was worried that Peter or Thomas would say something about my life and Thomas would find out I lied to him. But then I thought that that was crazy since they probably wouldn't even mention me, and even if they did, they wouldn't include details of my personal life. Besides, Peter and the other guy were talking mostly to themselves. Thomas wasn't really a part of the conversation.

I kept glancing at Thomas. Every once in a while, he'd glance at me too but he'd always quickly look away. He looked at little bit mad whenever our eyes met. As soon as he looked away though he relaxed.

He's been avoiding me all day. I've been smiling and waving at him but he hasn't done the same. I tried to walk up to him right before we left San Diego but he just walked away. It was almost like he hated me.

I waited for Jimmy to get into a conversation with Robert and then I walked towards Thomas. He didn't notice me for a little bit, but when he did, he gave a weak smile.

"Hello Thomas." I said to him.

"Hey, Mary." He replied.

"Do you hate me?" I asked.

He looked less surprised than I thought he would. "No," he said "Do you hate me?"

"No. It seems like you hate me though."

"Why?"

"Because you've been ignoring me all day."

"I have? I didn't mean to. You haven't tried to talk to me or anything."

"Yeah but I've waved to you and you've  just looked away."

"I didn't realize I was doing that. I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"I kind of thought you hated me to be honest."

That's when I started laughing again. "What? I could never hate you. I love you remember?"

He smiled and said "I do remember. I don't know. You didn't speak to me again today and I thought I was annoying you last night."

"You weren't annoying me."

"Yeah well it felt like I was."

I laughed. We're both so ridiculous. "Don't worry about annoying me."

We spent the next forty minutes or so talking about nothing in particular. There was an incredible lightness between us. It was almost unbearable.

I was enjoying myself so much. I was sad when Jimmy interrupted us to say "Mary, I've made time for us like you wanted. Let's go." I said "Lovely," And smiled "Bye Thomas."

"Bye, Mary." He replied. Jimmy nodded at him and he nodded back.

Once we got to our room, it didn't take long for him to make his move onto me. He brushed my hair off of my shoulders and kissed my cheek. "It's been so long." He whispered right into my ear. He slowly moved his hands down my back, under my dress. I started unbuttoning his shirt. Once I was done, he slipped out of it. Then I unzipped his pants and he stepped out of them. He unzipped the back of my dress and I let it fall off of me. Then we began making out. We moved to the bed and he got on top of me. He slipped my underwear off and I did the same to him. I could feel the heat of his body all over mine. I ran my hands through his long dark hair. Next thing I knew, we were banging.

Physically, it was incredible. As per usual. But emotionally, my heart wasn't in it this time. My guess was that I had gotten over the novelty of it. I had done this several times now. It wasn't as exciting as it used to be.

When we were done, he said "You're as amazing as ever."

We lied in bed for a little bit. When he finally got up, he pulled a little bag out of a drawer in the nightstand. He poured its contents it onto a mirror that was lying on the nightstand. It was cocaine. He used a razor to get it into a neat little line. Then, still naked, he snorted it. I just watched. "Do you want to try it?" He asked me. I used to be so experimental. A year ago, I would've definitely tried it. In fact, a year ago, I did try it. It was probably the best high of my life. I was in a fantastic mood, I felt like the queen of the world. After seeing Lily screw her life up though, I said "No thanks."

"Suit yourself." He said. He stood up. He put his underwear and pants back on. Then he put his shirt back on and left it unbuttoned. "I'm going back out to the pool. Wanna come?" He asked.

"Yes." I replied. Truthfully, I was hoping Thomas was still out.

I got up and put my dress back on. Then Jimmy and I went back to the pool, arms around one another. When we got back down, Jonesy saw us first and he winked. I blushed. I scanned the area for Thomas but I couldn't find him. Disappointed, I approached Robert. He was toking up.

"Hey Robert," I said "Mind if I have a hit?"

He smiled at me and said "Sure thing, Mary."

He handed me the joint and I slowly took a puff, inhaling all I could. I didn't want to get high, but I wanted a buzz. I needed to take my mind off of Thomas and chill out.

So that's exactly what I did. The band and us girls just spent the night hanging out by the pool. Some of us smoking a little pot, some of us trying harder stuff. Jimmy strummed his guitar and we had a grand time.

It was just what I needed to get over my silly little crush.