text: What in the World Happened? “Joanie, watch where you step! Where are your shoes?” “They’re missing,” Joan answered, “How am I supposed to get to my room?” Kate sighed deeply, pushing her long, tawny-colored hair behind her ears for the umpteenth time. “Hold on, I’ll figure something out.” She went upstairs and searched Joan’s room. Finding only dress shoes, she gathered some rugs from the three bedrooms, pausing only briefly to look at Wendy passed out on her bed. That was when she noticed Joan’s shoes on her feet. Kate removed them saying, “We’re going to have a discussion tomorrow and you’re not going to like it,” Then she returned the rugs to their places. “Here,” she said, handing the shoes to Joan, “Where did you find them?” “On Wendy’s feet. She must have put them on in her drunken stupor.” “It was partially your fault,” Joan snapped. “My fault! How do you figure? I didn‘t force her to drink so much.” “You told Tom and Jerry they could bring their friends with them, along with the keg.” Kate recalled the conversation from earlier in the night when Tom had said they would be late and were bringing two other guys. There was no mention of a keg. If only she had known how things would turn out. Then she defended herself, “I did not! I never even got the chance to say, ‘no’ before he hung up. When I tried to call him back, he wouldn’t answer.” “You didn’t have to let them in.” “They’re your friends too! Why didn’t you tell them ‘no’?” “I’m not going to discuss it anymore. I’m tired enough as it is and arguing isn’t going to clean this mess,” Joan said, then asked, “Do you think the landlord will find out?” “I guarantee he will,” Kate replied, “He probably listens to the police scanner to see if any of his properties are being swatted.” Joan couldn’t stifle a laugh. “I can picture him sitting at home doing just that!” Then she pulled out the vacuum cleaner. Kate looked at the devastation surrounding her. Red plastic cups littered the room and the smell of beer was overwhelming. The two matching chairs that her parents had allowed her to have were both on their sides. Several hats lay on the floor, undoubtedly left by the combatants when the police took them away. Through the doorway, the keg sat in its plastic, garbage-can “icebox” in the kitchen. The thing that bothered her most was the shattered glass that had been covering her artwork. The other girls were very enthused when Kate offered to decorate the living area with the pieces. Now, not only were they not hanging on the walls, they were mangled messes. Tears filled her eyes as she stared. “I’m sorry about your art,” Joan said as she followed Kate‘s gaze, “I know how proud you were of them. Stupid Neanderthals.” Kate silently walked over to each piece and gently picked them up, shaking them to ensure that no glass was still on them. First was the ripped painting of the patch of sunflowers that grew in a corner of the backyard at home. Then there was the one of her black and gray tabby cat stretched out on the floor soaking up an afternoon sunbeam. Now Patches was without part of his tail. Finally, there was her favorite; a beach scene from the trip to Hilton Head Island. Her dad had surprised the family after secretly saving money for years. The happy little clouds were now wrinkled beyond repair. After she collected all of the ripped pieces, she took them to her room. When she arrived downstairs, Joan was attempting to vacuum the old, worn carpeting. Kate began to shift furniture around to make it easier for her to cover the entire floor. As she did, she began to replay the events of the night. Things had actually gone fine at first, despite the surprise of the keg arriving. Joan, Kate, and the four boys were playing some games and listening to some music. That was when Wendy came home. “Hey, Wendy, I thought you were going out with Spike tonight?” Kate had asked. “So did I,” she replied, “but when I got there he had two of his buddies over and they were already drinking. I didn’t feel comfortable there so I came home. Mind if I join you?” So the party had grown to seven people and things were still fine for the next couple of hours. Then Spike and his buddies arrived. When Joan let them in, Spike was immediately angry that Wendy was enjoying herself with other boys around. “Wendy, I want you to come with us right now!” he yelled. “I’m not going anywhere with you tonight,” she replied, “You’re drunk and I don’t want to be around you and your buddies.” “Wendy, I’m not kidding. Let’s go, now!” “She said she’s not going with you,” Tom interjected, “You having trouble hearing?” That was when the fireworks started. Spike raced over and knocked Tom out with one punch to the jaw. Tom’s friends all jumped up and attacked Spike, which led to the other two guys joining in. There were three separate battles going on when the police responded to Kate’s call for help. “Hey, can you help me with the couch?” Joan asked, disrupting the mental video. “Yeah, sure,” Kate answered, walking over to the sofa which had lost its two back legs when Jerry had bulldozed Spike over the coffee table and onto its cushions. She noticed some red spots on the yellow fabric that covered the back of it. “Do you think we can fix this?” Joan asked. “Maybe, with some of that monkey glue,” Kate replied. “Does that stuff work on wood?” “The commercials make it sound like it works on anything,” Kate said, then sadly added, “Except mangled artwork.” “Why is it that on television everyone has a great time together when they drink? We got a demolished room, guys at the hospital, and I’ve got a headache.” “Beer companies want you to think that everything will be great. The reality is that people can act like idiots when they drink. Now I know why my parents lectured me about drinking when I first left for college. I hope Spike gets to spend the night in jail for what he did to Tom and for mouthing off to the officers.” “I don’t like that guy...never did. I’m a little scared for Wendy.” “I’m worried too. Maybe this will make her see how dangerous he can be. I still can’t get over how much beer she chugged after they took him away in handcuffs. I think we need to make it clear to her that he is not welcome in this house anymore.” Joan thought for a moment before responding. “How can we do that? We’re all on the lease. I don’t think we can force that on her.” “Easy! We’ll just tell her it’s that or we go to the landlord and tell him who was responsible for the police being here.” “That might work. I think we’ve done enough for tonight. I need some sleep.” “I’ll be right behind you, Joanie. I sure am glad that we don’t have classes tomorrow.” As Kate wearily made her way into the bedroom, her eyes locked onto the destroyed artwork on her desk. Tears came again as she pondered the choice of trying to minimize the damage and keep them versus throwing away part of her life. She decided to sleep on the decision.