SUNGLASSES AND ROCKETS Part 1 : New Moon

READY FOR LOVE

Calling Vanessa was the most important thing to do. I took several deep breaths and picked up the telephone. I dialed her number. I breathed again. It was busy. What a relief!

I decided to do some jumping jacks as a way to relieve the tension. I must have done about thirty. The exercise did me good, but the relaxing effect did not last very long. Before it disappeared completely, I hurried back to the telephone. I sat myself down at my desk and dialed the number. My pulse raced. The hand that was stuck to the telephone started to shake.

It was busy. Oh! What a relief!

I decided to wait half an hour. I took advantage of the opportunity to study.

I understood nothing. I decided to go for a walk. The fresh air was what I needed to snap out of it. I urged myself to clear my mind.

I went back to my room at quarter past five. I got paper and a pencil and wrote up a kind of script: Hi Vanessa, it's Gordo, what time shall I come by? It was the perfect thing to say. Besides, it would lend my voice a touch of indifference. That would be ideal.

I lifted the telephone, my mind set. Oh no! Sonny was on the line*!  Although I had begged him nicely to keep the line free, explaining that I was waiting for an important call from Dr. Moses Masterton, I was certain he had taken as much notice of me as he would have if I'd said tomorrow was the end of the world. He ignored my supplications. Alien to all ideas of hurrying up, my older brother was surfing the Net at his leisure.

There was nothing else I could do but wait.

The minutes seemed eternal. 5:16...5:17...5:20...Darn! Time was creeping along! 5:30...5:31...They weren't minutes! They were years!

It was six o'clock. I had to call Vanessa right then, or they wouldn't let her go out. The situation was critical. I had to make a decision, anything, I had to do something. I resolutely took twenty dollars I had saved up and, holding the money in my clenched fist, I got ready to leave my room. I would give it to Sonny in exchange for the phone line. It was a pretty large sum, but the circumstances did not allow for scrimping of any kind. Almost reflexively, I picked up the phone again before leaving my room.

The line was clear. Incredible. It was two minutes past six. Now or never! I frantically dialed the blasted number. I heard it ringing. Oh god! The line was free! I noticed that I was breathing in shallow gasps.

"Hello," said a feminine voice.

It was probably Vanessa's aunt.

"Hello," I echoed back, before continuing in a shaky voice: "Could I please speak to Vanessa?"

"Who's calling?"

Who's calling? I asked myself.

"It's...it's...Gordo...please..."

"One moment."

Oh my God! My heart was beating faster than ever. Calm down, I told myself, Breathe deeply. Calm down.

"Did you say something?" I heard from the earpiece.

It was the woman's voice. She had heard my soliloquy!

"No. Ahem. I have a bit of a cough. Ahem."

"Vanessa's taking a shower, my dear, can you call her back in ten minutes?"

"Of course I can. Of course. Thanks, thanks, thanks."

Vanessa was taking a shower. Was it because she would see me? At least I had the benefit of the doubt. I still had a chance.

The next ten minutes were agonizing.

Finally, the moment arrived. I picked up the telephone again, and without further ado I dialed the number of the woman of my dreams. I heard it ringing. The line was free.

"Hello..."

"Hello, could I speak to Vanessa please?" I heard myself say, showing off my good manners.

"This is she."

Oh my God! It's her! I thought. I swallowed hard, and my pulse sped up. I picked up my sheet of paper and cleared my throat. I read the script:

"Hi Vanessa, it's Gordo, what time shall I come by?"

"Can you come to my house at nine?"

I couldn't believe it. Something big was happening. Something very big.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, stupefied. "What's your address?"

She gave it to me without hesitation. She lived in Georgetown! Just a few minutes away from my neighborhood in Arlington!

The brief conversation ended with a See you soon from me and a I'll be waiting for you from Vanessa.

I'll be waiting for you! I didn't know when I had gotten onto the bed, but when I realized I had, I was already jumping up and down, like a kid on a trampoline. I'll be waiting for you! I kept repeating amidst shouts of joy.

I found myself ready for love.

*At the time, cell phones were too expensive for regular consumers. Landline telephones were the norm.