"We're gonna have a keg party Saturday night. Keep it a secret, just guys from the dorm and their dates."
The freshmen thought they'd succeeded, but a couple of us seniors found out about it. Even in fraternities, keg parties for those under 21 were illegal and could get everyone in trouble. We "responsible" seniors (that is, those who had no date for the weekend) decided that it would be impossible to crush the party in advance, but we would keep an eye on it to prevent excess.
It began to get out of hand shortly after 9 and our leader Scott swooped in and slashed the tap system. Someone repaired it quickly and threatened to fight if Scott tried that again. We were faced with having the place overrun with crashers who couldn't hold their beer, but calling campus police would have really caused trouble. Scott called the beer supplier and he agreed to cut them off, so at least when this keg was exhausted there would be no more beer and the party would fizzle out.
"Pete, I've got a problem."
"Can't hold your beer?" I cracked, though clearly he was completely sober.
"No, it's Steve. He's really drunk. Now he's arguing with some guy over the Red Sox, He took a swing at his date. I can't reason with him."
When I arrived there were three couples in the room. Steve was in a stupid argument about Red Sox relief pitching. They asked me to decide who was right and, after listening to both sides, I picked the other guy. Steve cursed me, his date, and his roommate, then staggered into his room and slammed the door.
Steve's date was pretty shaken up. Carol was tallish, maybe 5-7, with a delicate frame, long brown hair, and a peaches-and-cream complexion. Under the circumstances it seemed like a good idea to get her out of the room.
It was a warm spring night so I suggested we walk down toward the river. As we were heading down the hall someone said "Pete snaked Steve's girl!"
This was awkward. I didn't have a date this weekend, in great part because I was essentially broke. Suddenly I was responsible for a girl named Carol about whom I knew nothing. I had to take care of her until she went back to wherever she went to school, and keep Steve away from her.
I told her about the submarine races that were going to be held on the river, starting around 11, and that they were practicing now. She had never heard about them but as I explained she got more and more interested.
Since even in spring New Hampshire can be chilly at night, I went back to my room and got my blankets and two windbreakers. We headed toward a section of the college graveyard with a river view.
I spread one blanket at the base of large obelisk and wrapped us in the other two. She leaned into me and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.
I explained that you had to pay close attention to the river to spot the wakes of the submarines' periscopes as they sped by.
"Look, there's a practice run. See it?" Carol said she didn't see a thing.
I spotted several more periscope ripples in the next five minutes and soon she began to see them as well. We laughed at the absurdity of submarines in the Connecticut River and rewarded ourselves for successful spotting with high fives. At one point I bestowed a kiss on her forehead. When I spotted the next ripple she gave me a kiss on the lips.
The stone slab was getting cold, so we shifted our position to the grass. We kept spotting the subs and rewarded ourselves with quick kisses. After one particularly warm kiss, Carol drew her knees up in front of her and looked away.
"Thank you for saving me from Steve and his friends. I'm glad you brought me to the races."
"He was treating you badly. You deserve better."
We sat there, silently, she in her thoughts, me — well, thinking about her. Finally I asked her, "What's the story?"
Suddenly she was crying, shaking. I moved over to her and held her close. I stroked her hair but it took a while before she regained her composure.
"I met Steve at a mixer in February. He was very sweet. He came to Holyoke a couple of times and I just fell in love with him.
"We decided this weekend was the perfect time for us to make love. When I got off the bus around two, there he was with a large sign: 'Carol. I love you.' We took my bag in his room and I thought, 'I am going to make love for the first time right here, tonight.'
"We walked all over the campus and had dinner at a restaurant. By candlelight. With a bottle of wine. We held hands across the table. We got back to his room around 8:30. I was floating on air.
"The guys were using his room to store the keg. Steve got really angry. He told them to move it, but they said that they couldn't, they were afraid the crashers were going to ruin the party. He got more and more angry, almost crazy. I couldn't get his attention, he pushed me away.
"Eventually they moved the keg into the hall and right away he had a couple of beers. When this big guy came in and cut the tube, Steve wanted to fight him. Then he went after his roommate because his room smelled like a brewery. I couldn't reach him, he was in a rage. He got mad at another guy about baseball. By the time you got there he was almost incoherent. I think he was afraid of you, so that's why he slammed the door."
And she started crying again, sobbing.
Her sobbing slowly subsided, but the cold ground and the damp air were getting to us.
"It's late. Let's go back to my room. I'll get your bag and you can stay with me."
