Sarah Befriends the Spiked Bowl of Punch

Two Little Girls Chapter 11

At last, the late evenings and rising with the sun were over. Every spare second spent filled with papers and books. Last-minute drilling of facts for the exam of the day. Finished. Over. Done.

On June 1st, 1982, Sarah and her best friend celebrated their sixteenth birthdays. The party was at Billie’s house with a fruit punch. Sarah had not had punch before. She sat at the folded table beside the punch bowl and helped herself.

After a while, she was chatting away to everyone who came to the punch bowl. Billie replenished it with fruit juices many times. After Billie had rejoined the throng, a boy added a bottle of something to it.

Sarah’s dad came to fetch her at 11:00. She’d been a little wobbly as she stood up from her position of guarding the punch bowl. Billie and her boyfriend Rob helped me to the car.

“Are you drunk, Sarah?” Dad turned from the driver’s seat to scrutinise her. The fifteen-year-old propped herself up against the passenger side door in the back of the car.

“No!” she said. “I’ve been drinking fruit punch all evening. I can’t be.”

Dad got out of the car and strode into Billie’s mum’s townhouse.

Sarah woke up the next morning to find the red plastic bucket used for washing the car beside her bed. When she sat up, her head swirled. She lay back down but felt sick.

The girl made it to the bathroom without throwing up. After a shower, she felt a tad better, so she went downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast.

Mummy and Daddy were waiting for her.

“Good party was it?” Dad asked.

“Mmm, yes, the punch was lovely, super fruity.”

“How much did you drink?”

“Oh, I don’t know, a few glasses. Why?”

Sarah wondered why her dad was asking her all these weird questions. She rests her head on her hand.

“Did you notice anyone adding anything to the punch?”

“Yeah, one of Rob’s mates added a bottle of something to it after Sarah had poured in the cartons of juice.” Slow on the uptake, realisation dawned on her. “Oh, it was alcohol, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, the boy was spiking it, Sarah, you were lucky nothing happened to you.”

“What would anyone do to me?”

“Boys can sometimes, um, take advantage of girls who are drunk.”

“I was drunk?” She couldn’t hold back the grin. Being warm and chatty — that was what being drunk was.

“Yes, you were! You’re too young to be getting drunk, there’ll be plenty of time after you’re eighteen.”

“But that’s two years away!”

“Yes, well, you’ll have to wait, won’t you?”

“Yes, Dad.” Sarah groans inside.

“Be careful, Sarah.” He gave me a smile, but he didn’t seem happy.

“I will, Dad.”

As soon as the exams were over, Sarah went full time at the Wimpy.

Gina and Elise were the queens of the floor during the week. This was their full-time employment, but Sarah was working to pay for three weeks in Italy with Billie. They were going by train at the end of August. The first week with Sarah’s father and his Italian girlfriend.

Italy for three entire weeks!

Billie and I saved up our Saturday wages to buy our train tickets. Our summer holiday earnings were to pay for food, camping and cigarettes.

On the last Sunday of August 1982, Sarah’s dad took them and their backpacks to Oxford train station. He got them onto the 12.55 PM First Great Western to London Paddington train. And put their backpacks in the luggage area. He gave Sarah a peck on the cheek and went to wait on the platform. As the train pulled away from the platform, he waved and the girls waved back.

Two Little Girls and Other Life Moments Kindle Edition by Karen Madej.

© 2018 Karen Madej. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

Sarah Two Little Girls Chapter 1

Miles Two Little Girls Chapter 2

Frances Two Little Girls Chapter 3

Enter the Au Pair Two Little Girls Chapter 4

Barbara for Teresa Two Little Girls Chapter 5

Getting Lost in Abingdon Two Little Girls Chapter 6

Moving to Marlborough Road Two Little Girls Chapter 7

Groped in the Park Two Little Girls Chapter 8

14-Year-Old Sarah Learns to Inhale Like Holly Golightly Two Little Girls Chapter 9

No Escaping the Nose Two Little Girls Chapter 10

A Golden Beach Holiday and a Funicular Two Little Girls Chapter 12