My Year with Michelle

Chapter 02 is

here

. The events in this story are taking place in 1975.

Just to be clear, the sequence of Paul's girlfriends is as follows:

Nora Meara, June to October 1974, Michelle Hanley, October 1974 to November 1975. Judy overlaps as the "side girl," March 1975 to November 1975. Donna Azzato, September 1976 to June 1977.

Judy narrates some of her own story in

Judy's Late Coming of Age.

Prologue

It was Labor Day Weekend when I finally got to see Judy and Michelle again. Judy was the one who called me. It seemed that she was a New York girl who had never seen to Coney Island. Now she wanted to play tourist and find out what the deal was with that place. In addition, I heard that Michelle had agreed to drive both of us out there.

I had first been there with my parents in the summer of 1966 and my eleven-year-old self had not been impressed. In my view, it was a resort slum, crowded and run-down. The thought of eating at its various dingy food stands made me cringe.

The place had grown as a trolley car and subway destination and thus it was thoroughly urban. It also felt as uncomfortably hot as any location further inland.

Once it had been an equivalent of Disney World perhaps, but the big self-contained attractions like Dreamland, Luna Park, and Steeplechase had one by one burned down or been closed. Now only the poorest people went there. Almost everyone with a car would go to Orchard Beach, the Rockaways, or one of the beautiful state parks beyond the city line.

In the previous weeks, I had no contact with either of those women since Michelle's cheating on me at her apartment in Queens. I assumed that they had spoken to each other and decided to drop me from their lives.

Now that I had agreed to go on that trip I was anxious about seeing them again. Yet I was also curious about what had been going on after they had broken contact with me. I consoled myself with the thought that even if Michelle was done with me, there was still a chance that I could get Judy back into my life.

America's Former Playground

Judy and I were to be picked up by her friend on a West Side corner near the former's home. I got there first and Judy arrived a few minutes later. She seemed very glad to see me and she hugged and kissed me warmly. That was very different from the glum treatment I had gotten from her at Michelle's party in August.

She wore a tight sleeveless top, a short skirt, and sandals, and she was very flirty. "How do you like my little outfit today?" she said. She held her skirt up a bit and swayed back and forth.

I knew I could honestly praise her because she had gotten none at all before meeting me. "You look like the perfect summer girlfriend."

"That's definitely me!" She pushed up against me and hugged me again. I decided to test her mood further; I dropped my hand and tried to slip it under her skirt.

"Oh no," she said, "That's a little too naughty for the middle of the street."

"Maybe later than."

"We'll see about that!" She was obviously teasing me.

I teased her back. "You're such a cute girl, I can't be responsible if you get some very heavy petting later on."

That must have aroused her because she went beyond flirting into being more explicit. She quietly said, "You mean mutual masturbation, I assume," and she laughed at her own comment. "That's the way we got started if you remember."

That surprised me and I had to think about how to respond. "I'll certainly always remember that. I'm just being realistic about what might happen next." I missed getting regular sex. Judy seemed very upbeat and I was already imagining doing a lot more than petting with her.

A few moments later Michelle's Dodge Coronet pulled up to the curb. She looked out at us like a taxi driver assessing a fare. Then she made some gestures and we found out she wanted Judy in the passenger seat and me in the back. After I got in I said, "Hey, Michelle." I tried to sound neutral but I wanted to know what her mood was.

"Hi Paul." She didn't look at me; she seemed quiet and a bit tense. Had there been more sessions with Bert in recent days?

Judy was bouncing around in her seat. "Hey, why are we using the car to go out there today?"

Her friend replied, "I don't care how many subway lines run out there, I don't feel like riding trains today."

I decided to razz Michelle a bit about it. "When people get a car they become too good to ride with the rest of us."

"How about you? You don't even have a car except when you borrow your dad's." That sounded like a criticism, not a friendly jest.

I tried to turn the conversation around, "So Michelle, what are you wearing for today's excursion?"

"You can surely see for yourself." She was plainly dressed in a short-sleeved shirt, modest denim shorts, and tennis shoes.

"When are we going to see that halter top you talked about?"

"I told you, I've never bought one, and even if I did, I wouldn't wear it out there where a half-million people could see me." She was querulous about that and it seemed that we were beginning to annoy each other.

"I'll get a halter top if you want," said Judy. "I've definitely got the boobs for one."

God bless you, honey, you know how to make a guy feel wanted.

I said, "It's probably too late in the season to find one. How about next summer?"

Michelle glanced in the mirror at me. Her expression was flat, unreadable.

Judy looked back over her seat. "Sure, baby, I can get one for you." I fantasized about getting her in the back seat with me and taking things as far as I could before Michelle intervened -- if she intervened at all.

Judy then asked me, "So you've been to Coney Island before?"

"Mostly just passing through the station on various subway journeys."

"Journeys?"

Michelle said, "Didn't he tell you? During his adolescence, he rode every subway line in the city at least once."

"I'm still missing a few segments, like the end of the 3 train to New Lots Avenue. I wouldn't feel comfortable in that neighborhood."

Judy asked me, "Why would you care about riding all of those trains?"

Michelle answered for me. "Because he wasn't getting laid and had to do something with all that energy."

That was pretty nasty and I couldn't let it go by unanswered. "Yeah, that's before I met girls like you two who wiggled their asses at me."

She briefly looked back at me but she had a bit of a smile.

Maybe that affair we had going before isn't really over yet.

Judy said, "Let's play something on the radio."

"Go ahead, pick something." Her friend worked the dials and landed on the beginning of a song, "Sister Golden Hair."

Michelle said, "America, a perfectly generic name for a perfectly generic band."

I said, "Michelle has more refined tastes than we do. What's that band you like, Blue Oyster Cult?"

That was a dangerous topic because that was one of the bands she had played during the night of Bert's seduction of her. But there was no reply, so I guessed she didn't want to talk about it if she even remembered the song at all.

I certainly remembered it well. I could also vividly recall Michelle spreading her legs out and not just flashing but displaying her panties for Bert to see.

She had a lot of gall to do that when I was sitting right next to them.

Judy defended the song. "I think this is kind of romantic."

I said, "Judy, sing it for me, would you?"

She grinned at me, "Sure, I'd love to." She let the song finish, then she turned the volume down. Her singing voice was pleasant and she knew all of the lyrics.

I wonder if I love her as much as I love -- or used to love -- Michelle.

It was a Saturday so there wasn't much traffic in Manhattan. Michelle took local streets and eventually crossed the Manhattan Bridge. Judy noticed the subway trains on the outer sides of the deck. "I've been here before. I took these trains to visit my relatives in Brooklyn."

Then she said to me, "Of course, I'm a born and bred Manhattan girl, a Manhattan Jewish girl in fact, and thus I'm more than a little stuck-up."

I knew she was teasing me again. "I like stuck-up chicks. They are so much fun when you finally get them into bed."

She laughed at that too. I was glad to see that she had regained her sense of humor; I hoped that the summer was going to end on a high note. I openly praised her. "Actually, you're one of the sweetest people I know."

"Ah, really? You're a very nice guy too." Being nice was a positive male attribute in her mind, and I was suddenly craving her physically. I wished I could be alone with her immediately.

A half-hour later we were on the Belt Parkway as it swept along the shore of New York Bay. Michelle said, "Let's open the windows. I'll turn off the air."

Judy's window faced the bay and she rolled it all the way down. As she rested her arm on the sill I still had that urge for contact with her. I reached forward and rubbed her neck and shoulders and then I stroked her springy hair. She leaned back and cooed in satisfaction.

"Do you like this?"

"Yeah Paul, you can do that all day."

Meanwhile, Michelle remained cool and detached, focused on her driving. Eventually, as we headed east she said, "There it is, Paradise on the BMT." There were a few tall landmarks, including the Wonder Wheel and the inactive parachute tower, the latter a remnant of the demolished Steeplechase Park.

The amusement area had shrunk over the decades and now appeared much smaller than Disneyland, Walt's modest original park in California. The most prominent structures on the island by then were high-rise co-ops and public housing projects. I assumed that in another ten years, more residential buildings would obliterate the last of the old amusement places. Only the boardwalk and the beach itself would be safe from obsolescence and redevelopment.

Michelle took a side street down to Surf Avenue. "Why are we here again?"

"Because I was curious about it, you must remember that?" said Judy.

"She's just busting our chops." I then said to Michelle, "I know you are more accustomed to fabulous Long Island City." That was where her present apartment was. She chuckled at that so she must have appreciated my attempt at a joke.

We drove through the main intersection of Surf and Stillwell Avenues, with the abandoned Shore movie theater on one corner and Nathan's hot dog restaurant on another.

Michelle said, "Yum, those hot dogs. I can almost smell the grease from here."

I said, "I wonder what they do with the ones they don't sell. Do they just bring them back the next day for another go-round?"

"Please, I'm feeling queasy already."

Going around the block required a long detour around the massive elevated train terminal. She had an eye for finding tight but legal parking spaces and she got one a block inland from the theater. Before leaving the car she put on a cloth hat and replaced her regular glasses with sunglasses. She said to Judy, "You didn't bring a hat, did you? Here, I've got something for you."

It was like a white baseball cap without any insignia. "You'll need this to keep the sun off your head." Then she said to me, "You, sport, can take care of yourself."

We all got out and Judy noticed her reflection in the car's side window, "How do I look? I usually don't wear caps."

I said, "Better than ever, sweetie-pie."

She giggled and then looked at a street sign, "Hey, it's Mermaid Avenue. What a great name."

"Are you two merladies?"

Michelle replied, "Yeah, if we get in the water we're going to grow fishtails."

We walked in the shadow of the vast old theater. I took Judy's hand and she was happy that I did; it was good to get her back into girlfriend mode. Michelle was a few paces ahead. I imagined she was sending snarky signals back towards us.

She still needs a good ass-smacking,

I thought.

At one in the afternoon, Coney Island was crowded. The core of the area was a group of very old wooden buildings across the way. The narrow streets over there were even busier than the sidewalks of Surf Avenue.

Michelle had the opinion that I was already forming, "I don't want to venture in there, do you?"

Instead, we stayed on Surf and walked west. A couple of blocks later we came to an old wooden roller coaster called the Thunderbolt.

I said, "Anybody want to try this?"

Michelle wasn't interested. "You can count me out"

However, Judy wanted to ride on it. "I'm game if you are."

"I'm not going in the first car, however."

When we were seated halfway back in the train she pushed her ample hip against me and put a hand over mine on the crash bar. "You'll keep me safe, won't you?"

"I'll try, but let's hope they've maintained this thing." I saw the wooden beams of the structure, beams that were mostly bare wood now with little paint left on them. I didn't know that it had been built fifty years earlier. But I could see that it was a rundown ride for a rundown amusement park.

As our train was cranked towards the top I said to Judy, "I've missed you recently," and she replied, "I've missed you too, a lot."

I never liked roller coasters that much but at the age of twenty I could still tolerate riding them. Just before the first drop I always became a coward and closed my eyes. Then I could feel the tremendous force of going almost straight down and the jarring impact as the train suddenly leveled out and went up again. Judy was yelling with what I thought was mock terror.

The rest of such rides always felt like a series of fatal accidents that I miraculously survived. When I was able to open my eyes I felt like I was going to be decapitated by the girders passing overhead. All of that was supposed to be a thrill, the point of the ride, but I didn't find it fun.

When we got off Judy was pale and shaky. Michelle asked her, "Have you ever been on one of these before?"

Judy replied, "No, never, and I think I'm never trying it again."

She looked like she was about to cry and Michelle hugged her. "You'll be okay. It's just a ride. Much safer than being in a car in fact."

I was rattled myself. "How about you, Ms. Hanley? Why don't you try it yourself?"

"Oh no, I learned long ago that these aren't for me."

Her attitude was getting to me that day. For one thing, she hadn't shown the slightest bit of affection to me yet. I said, "I dare you, let's go over and do the Cyclone."

The Cyclone was another wooden roller coaster several blocks away. It was more famous and had a reputation among fans as being one the scariest of the old-school rides in North America.

She said, "You ride it if you feel like it." I had more than enough after the Thunderbolt but Michelle's taunt bothered me.

I said, "Let's go over there and I'll think about it."

On the way over we decided to sample the bumper cars. Judy declined but Michelle and I went through two sessions. During both, she ruthlessly hunted my car and rammed it as hard and as often as she could. I saw the determined look on her face as she pursued me. At one point I yelled at her to back off but she ignored me.

Instead of confronting her afterwards I didn't say anything. We went over to watch the Cyclone; the riders were screaming as the train went through its dives and turns. "Scenic railways" was the original term for those trains from hell. There must be some people who could enjoy the views from such rides but I certainly wasn't one of them.

It was Judy who broke the impasse. "I want to go to the Aquarium; I've heard it's pretty good."

I said, "It's great, I was there as a kid." In fact, it had been the highlight of my trip back in '66.

Several blocks of the amusement area had been demolished years ago to make way for that city-owned facility. It had well-maintained landscaping and its grounds made a pleasant contrast to the packed old blocks further down the boardwalk.

The three of us spent a pleasant hour viewing its exhibits. I felt relaxed for the first time that day. Judy was even more affectionate than before, holding my hand or putting her arm around my waist.

The last thing we examined was a tank outside with a single walrus cavorting in the water and on a concrete island set in the middle. I wasn't sure if he was the same one I had seen nine years earlier. That one had put on quite a show, spitting water at the crowd and generally clowning it up. The one I saw in '75 seemed more subdued.

Judy looked at the placard describing the creature. "I wonder if he'd be happier in the Arctic Ocean than here in New York."

"This is probably all he knows, and he seems okay to me."

Now it was mid-afternoon and I was wondering what else we could do out there. We went across the boardwalk to look at the beach. Judy and I sat on a bench while Michelle leaned on the railing. None of us wanted to go further and get sand into our street clothes.

Judy and I talked a bit; she wanted to know the purpose of the tower several blocks to the west. I described how the parachute jump had worked and she got the same look she had after the Thunderbolt ride.

"What happened if the chute didn't open?"

"Then you died and some law firm made a huge contingency fee, I guess." I continued, "It was actually built for the 1939 World's Fair and this place called Steeplechase Park rebuilt it out here. Now it's still around, but I don't know how it survived."

I told her what I knew about history, including the also defunct Luna Park and Dreamland. She said, "It seems sad now, like time has passed it by."

"The automobile killed it. I think soon another big fire will come and sweep away what's left. So, isn't it about time for lunch?"

Michelle looked back at us, "Yes, let's get some hot dogs and buttered corn and some lukewarm beer and, oh, fried clams and after that, we'll find a corner to puke in."

I replied, "Jesus, Michelle, what's with all the negativity?" I got up and gave her a smack on the butt.

"Hey, what's that all about?"

"You know I like denim shorts." Yet she wasn't truly mad at me.

I looked back at Judy and she got the hint; she got up and found another seat several yards away. I leaned over my own spot on the rail and said, "What's with you recently? You want to talk about something?" It was a hint that she could confess to her infidelities if she wanted.

"Nothing in particular." She then took off her sunglasses and let me look into her eyes. I suspected she wanted to get a reaction from me and it worked. I started to babble exactly the kind of things I knew I shouldn't say to most women. "You're usually so good-natured. You're about the best girlfriend I could ever imagine and you know I love you."

She nodded and moved her tongue around inside her cheeks. I thought,

Here it comes, she's going to dump me, break up with me right here on this hot boardwalk.

But she didn't. Instead, she said, "Let's go before we all get sunburned. We've seen what there is to see out here." She waved Judy over. "If it's all right with you, we're leaving now."

"Sure, it's all kind of a letdown except for the aquarium. Hey guys, let me show you what I've got." She opened up her bag. "I've got some pot brownies in here. You know, leftovers from last month."

I remembered that Bert had brought over a significant haul that night; I hadn't counted how many cakes Michelle had made from it. She said, "I've got to drive, but you two can start whenever you want."

We wanted to start right away, so Judy and I munched on them as we went back west along the boardwalk. Judy got thirsty so we stopped at a stand and had sodas. She said, "I love brownies, I mean compared to joints. I mean, no smoke! Nobody has the slightest idea that we're getting stoned right now. "