The year was 1968. The place was Illinois, on the road to Chicago. There were six of us on our way to share a hotel room at the edge of town. It was affordable split six ways. The Democrats were having a meeting at the International Amphitheatre and we tried to go down there once but it was too crowded. We decided to just stay on the outskirts of town. We thought it would be more fun to just drop a few pills, fuck each others brains out, and keep away from the politicians or anybody else with an agenda.
Stella, Liz, and I had agreed to come with Ken, Jimmy, and Steve on a road trip. It wasn't discussed openly before we left but it was 1968. Everyone was anxiously anticipating drugs, alcohol, and free love. That was the way things worked in those days. We piled in Jimmy's VW bus and set off. We had about a 300 mile drive. We each had a little more than a hundred bucks and Jimmy had his dad's gas card. We figured it was going to be a great time and we were going to party till the money ran out.
Ken, Jimmy Stella, Steve and I had grown up together. Our parents were friends and Kenny's big sister had baby sat for us all on numerous occasions. Liz was the newcomer, she had come from down south and fell in with us our first year at IU. She was a natural fit and it seemed that she had been with us always. She was a petite girl maybe 5 feet 2 and a 110 or 115 pounds. I remember thinking that most of her weight was in her tits. I had seen her topless before at pool parties. Steve really had the hots for her and had lobbied hard for her to come along.
During the drive Ken rolled up a fattie and passed it around. It was some pretty good Mexican Shit and we all eased into a comfortable high. Stella opened a bottle of cheap sweet wine and that got passed around too. Pretty soon we had to stop for munchies and we spotted a sign for a burger joint coming up.
"Fries would taste great right about now," Liz observed so we stopped, piled out of the van and went inside. Jimmie headed straight for the men's room, Ken pulled his hair back and studied the menu. Steve, the girls and I got in line. While we were waiting Liz leaned over and whispered something to Stella, she smiled.
"Bet I can," Stella said.
"No way," Liz teased her.
"What?" I asked.
"Just watch," Liz said.
Stella moved to the front of the line and went up to the kid who was taking orders there.
"Welcome to Speedy Burger," he said, "what can I get you?" He looked to be about 18 years old but a young 18. He might have been 19; it was hard to tell. His hair was greasy and he wore his bangs in his eyes. He currently had an acne flare-up working overtime on his forehead.
"I think we'd like... ohhh, 6 large orders of Speedy fries, and Cokes," Stella said.
"OK."
"If I show you my tits can we get them for free?" Large fries were 60 cents each and a Coke was 50 cents so she was asking for more than $6.00 worth of free food.
He brushed his bangs back and looked at her. His eyes wandered down to her chest and she lifted the hem of her shirt. He could see her slim tanned belly but she didn't raise it high enough for him to see anything else. Not yet.
He looked at her face. She turned on the charm, 100 Watt smile, long blonde hair pushed behind her ears. She thrust her tits forward and he looked back at her chest.
Stella read his name tag, Brian. "What do you say, Brian?" she pushed him just a little bit. He glanced over his shoulder.
"I don't know," he whined, "Rudy's here, in the back. He doesn't like me giving away food."
"Who's Rudy?" Stella asked as she inched the hem of her shirt up a little higher. It was right below the bottom of her breasts, I could just see the lower swell, and Brian was staring.
"Rudy's the manager."