It was late in the afternoon when Betsy drove into the Colony Estates complex. She took another quick glance at the invitation, then started scanning the house numbers on Granada Avenue for the party address. LaTryce, one of her co-workers, had invited her to her new niece's christening party. It was mainly a family gathering but certain family friends were invited.
Betsy had no trouble finding the location as the house and yard were decorated with white and yellow crepe paper and balloons. She had to park well down the block, and as she walked up to the house, her friend saw her and came out to meet her with a hug and kiss.
"Betsy, you made it...welcome to my parents' home. Let me introduce you to my family."
LaTryce walked Betsy through the living room, and into the kitchen where her mother was preparing food for the barbecue.
"Mom, this is my best friend from work, Betsy, and Betsy, this is my Mom, Earline."
Earline paused from her food prep, "Oh, so nice of you to come. This is a special, special day for us. You must be that Filipino girl LaTryce is always talking about."
Betsy nodded, "Yes, actually Japanese-Filipina. My family is from Hawaii."
Earline nodded, Yes, and you are as pretty as she said...LaTryce, you take Betsy around and introduce her to all the cousins and your sisters. Betsy, if you need anything while you're here, let us know. Mi casa es su casa, okay?"
Betsy nodded, "Thanks Earline. You have such a nice house. Do you need any help with the food?"
"Oh, so nice of you to offer...I think we got it. You just get yourself something to drink and enjoy yourself...I love that pretty white dress and your shoes...very stylish. Watch out for some of these young guys...LaTryce, keep an eye on her."
They all laughed, and Betsy replied, "Thanks for the warning...I'll be careful."
Betsy was wearing a short, white lace skater's dress and white slide sandals and turned a lot of heads as she made the rounds meeting and greeting. There must've been 50 or 60 people at the party, a mixture of very old, very young, and everything in between, and most in attendance were African American.
The children were having fun with a piΓ±ata in a corner of the yard, supervised by a group of young guys. Betsy noticed one of the guys when he had to quickly duck to avoid a swinging stick in the hands of an aggressive 8 year-old.
"LaTryce, who is that guy, white t-shirt, jeans, almost got hit in the head just now?"
"Oh, that's my sister's son, Carlos, or as we call him, Carlito. He's going to community college...father is Mexican...good looking kid, huh?"
"He is." Betsy couldn't take her eyes off him. He was strikingly handsome, appeared to be in his early 20s, average height with shoulder length, straight black hair kept in place with a red bandana, and he had a lean, muscular build with a lot of tattoos on his arms.
"So what's with the ink? Is he in a gang?"
LaTryce shrugged, "Who knows...he got in trouble a few years ago and did some county time. He was in a stolen car with some friends and the cops found guns and dope in the car. He's working full time at some box store and taking classes at the JC...wants to do heating and air conditioning."
As if his ears were burning, Carlos glanced over at LaTryce and Betsy and smiled. Betsy looked familiar to him, but he couldn't place her.
After dinner was served, LaTryce and her family cleaned up a bit while a disk jockey set up his music. Betsy saw that Carlos and one of his cousins was tasked with bartender duty and decided to try to get to know him. She made eye contact, then took a stool at the end of the makeshift bar.
Carlos came right over, "Hello, what can I get for you, pretty lady?"
"Hi Carlos, can you get me a margarita?"
"Coming right up...how'd you know my name?"
"Your auntie told me...we work together, and she invited me."
Carlos laughed, "Well, I'm so glad she did...one margarita coming up."
For the next couple of hours, Betsy sat at the bar, nursing margaritas and making small talk with Carlos and the other bartender. When a The DJ put Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" on, Carlos asked her to dance.
They started out with discretion, continuing with their chat, but by the time the song ended, Betsy had drawn him in close. When "Unchained Melody" began to play, she pressed herself against him, and moaned when she felt his erection and hand on her ass. As the song ended she whispered, "Can we get outta here?"
Carlos nodded, "Yeah, say your thank yous and good nights and meet me at the Circle K on the corner. I got an apartment nearby...we can go there. Give me about ten minutes so it doesn't look too obvious."
Betsy found La Tryce to say, "Good night," and all, and, as she walked her out, she commented on Betsy and Carlos dancing together, "You know people noticed you two. His mother was giving you a major stink eye...she thought you were one of the young girls from the block, and she was surprised when I told her your real age. She thinks she knows you from somewhere. I'm definitely gonna hear about it."
Betsy tried to shrug it off, "I know...but you know how these young guys are...all hormones and testosterone."
LaTryce wasn't going to let Betsy off the hook so easily, "Well, you seemed to enjoy it when he grabbed your ass."
Betsy giggled at that, "Good night Mom...thanks again for everything," As she was walking out, she turned and asked, "You saw that?"
"Yeah I did, and so did his mom...she's kinda pissed."
Betsy arrived at the Circle K and waited for 10, then 15 minutes, and Carlos finally showed up, apologetic.
"Sorry, I had kind of a hard time getting away. My mother saw us dancing and gave me the third degree about embarrassing her.
Betsy shook her head..."Yeah, I guess we got noticed. LaTryce picked up on it too and said something to me. So where are we going?"
"I live at the Quiet Creek Apartments...about three miles from here. Can you follow me?"