Part 2..read the other one first! Please. :)

There was ONE place we always got to go to. The skating rink. The magical place where all the kids in the small neighboring village and all the six house towns around it went to socialize. Uncle Albert was enlisted to drive us there every Saturday night after supper and pick us up at 10:00 pm when it closed. Five hours of freedom. Five hours in a place I was pretty damn sure Jesus didn't know about.
*
Oh, god, the roller skating rink. Just thinking about it gave me chills of anticipation. Who would be there? What would we wear? It was such a social event and the only one we had. RosaLee would spend hours trying to get her hair straight, with juice can rollers and ironing boards, and picking "good girl" outfits that were just right. No skin showing, but, as body hugging as she could get to show off her figure. She and Linda had a collection of scarves to tie around their necks so they'd blow in streamers behind them as they skated. Linda and RosaLee both had their own white boot skates and they also collected the pom pom puffs they sold at the rink. Those puffs tied on to the laces of the skate and they swayed back and forth in harmony with your feet as you skate danced across the polished wood floor of the rink. They would match the color of the puffs to the color of their scarfs and it was magic. My favorite was the nylon netting scarves because they changed color with the rink light color and looked really cool when the rink master did the black light skate. I wanted a scarf too and RosaLee would have let me have one, but, I was embarrassed to act all pretty at twelve. I wanted the puffs real bad, some of the other kids my age wore them so no one would think I was all snotty wearing them, but, I wanted icy cold Cokes and candy bars worse, so I never had any. I had to rent shitty skates too and they were in little kids sizes and I imagined they smelled bad, but, I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to skate for love or money. Neither of which I had any chance of getting at the time, but, who cared? I could skate!

*
I was not the best skater at the rink, but, I was good enough. I had two school friends who skated too, most every kid then skated because they had no other places to go back then. My friends from school were two girls from a big family in the next town who had it as bad as I did. Their house was a little shack with too many kids in it and it was a mess. One girl was Lainy, she was pretty and tiny and her sister was Big Ter, the terror of the rink. I liked them both and they were both in my grade. I guess Big Ter got held back once and I got passed on one grade so I was somewhere between them in age. Big Ter was wild on her skates, taking over the whole rink and you could see her coming a mile away, red hair flying, determined look on her face, her whole body ready to explode. She was a big girl, powerful, no one messed with Big Ter. Lainy and I were good skaters and we used to lock arms and skate the couples dance. We could two step even around the corners, we thought it was so hot. But, Big Ter could REALLY skate, she was the best most powerful skater there, she even scared the big boys. She could skate just as well backwards as forewords and could punch a smart mouthed teenage boy right in the kisser flying by backwards and knock him plum out. I hated playing crack the whip with Big Ter, someone always got hurt bad. No one messed with us though. I had a grown man try to feel me up near the bathroom door once and I told him, you touch me again mister and I'll tell my friend on you. Her name is Big Ter. Man, that dude took off his skates and lit clear out of the place. I loved Saturday nights.

*
RosaLee was a pretty good skater, she could two step and skate dance real nice and in the changing colored dark lights she looked nice. Pretty even. She was at ease skate dancing and seemed like a different person. They usually had a single ladies only dance and this was the great event of the night for her and Linda. Linda always looked like a bowlegged sinking duck and she was funny to watch. One night her scarf blew up in her face and she swallowed part of it. It was really funny watching her choke and fall on her ass. Anyway, the single ladies dance was where they'd dim the lights real low and the single girls would show off their outfits and skating for any eligible boys. The rest of us were forced to sit it out and sip sodas and eat candy. As they danced alone, round and round the rink, the girls would look up and flirt with any passing boy they fancied. Rosa Lee never really looked at anyone, it was like she was in her own world. She just loved skating and she was graceful and happy and accepted there. She had found a small world of new friends who had discovered her sweet nature behind the dorky look her mother had forced on her and in the dim light of the rink, she looked angelic.

*
On the particular Saturday night of this story, I had gotten into trouble the last Saturday and had missed the skating rink. I remember it was because I tried to wear cutoff jeans like some of the cool girls and my Aunt Junaita caught me and told my Mom, who just looked confused about this "new" craze. My Aunt said nice girls did not wear shorts with unhemmed edges, Jesus frowned on that, and she banned me from Uncle Alberts car for the night. It was infuriating, but, the next week I had even more money. My Mother always gave my brother the fifty cents it cost to get in, and Coke money, but, not me. She said it was because he was the baby and I could work and learn something from it. That was fine, but, they never gave me a paying job and the town only had six houses. It was hard finding that dollar every week, but, I always did. When you live on a country road there are always bottles people toss out. I don't know why they think being out in the country makes it okay to litter, but, they did and I found them by the dozens. Uncle Albert and I had a deal, he'd take them to town and get me my money and I'd distract my Aunt when he'd sneak his bottle down to the cellar. Did I mention my brother hated skating? Yeah, he did, he was never all that good at it and he always sat in the bleachers eating candy all night. The only reason he went was to see the hot rods parked outside.
*
So, this Saturday I had not one, but, two whole dollars in my pocket and I made sure I wore my "good girl" clothes. I wasn't taking any chances. Supper was over, the dishes were washed and all my chores done. I was chomping at the bit, damn, let's get this show on the road. I stood by the front door waiting for RosaLee to finish her eternal makeup and watching the electric clock that hung near the stairway. We were already late! Maybe she had a crooked eyebrow or maybe she lost one of her puffs. I yelled up the stairs, come on, RosaLee! Her Mother came to the top of the stairs and gave me the strangest look, it was almost like she was in a dream. She said, Joe will take you kids in and RosaLee will meet you there. What the fuck? Joe was eighteen by then and rarely home on a Saturday night. He'd just enlisted in the Army and I didn't want him to go. I wanted him to stay home with the rest of us forever, he was such a nice big brother. He never yelled at me when I followed him around and he taught me to fish. He was handsome, better than any old Elvis and he drove about ninety miles an hour around all the hills and curves, which I loved and my Aunt hated. So I was surprised she had him take us to the rink, but, it was fine with me. My Aunt also noticed the look of question on my face and it irritated her. She added: "You mustn't be so jealous of RosaLee just because she's the beautiful one. Go on now." She always said stuff like that and it never bothered me, I figured maybe a lot of Mothers thought their Daughters were beautiful. She was just weird. Now I realize she was always trying to get me and RosaLee to hate each other. It was some perverse game of hers that was lost on me. She still does it. I hate her, but, RosaLee just ignores it. It embarasses her.
*
After Joe dropped us off, I laced up my rented skates and began the nightly dance. Not just A dance, but, THE dance, the whole thing was a dance of the head. Big Ter's crack the whip had to be avoided, the two step had to be just right even on the turns, no falling allowed, and there was a boy I liked so I had to ignore him real hard. You know, so he'd know I was not looking at him. As I was laughing with my friend and trying to look pretty without looking like I was looking pretty, which is one tough job when you're twelve, something happened. Something I will never forget as long as I live and believe me I've tried. My face goes hot even now as I think of the horror of that moment.
*
I remember the exact song that was playing at that horrible moment. It was Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, I Got Love In My Tummy by Ohio Express. I loved that song, it had a beat made for two stepping on skates and as I sailed around the corner facing the door, Yummy stopped playing. The record was taken off so fast you could hear the needle being dragged across the grooves. It was horrid, but, much worse was yet to come. The door opened and in the dim lights it looked like, what the fuck was that? It looked like Elvis on acid. What the holy fuck was that thing!?? Oh, my god, no, no. NOOOOOOOOO! My brain screamed in the hot red light of total humiliation as I realized what it was. Words fail me, but, I'll try. It was my cousin RosaLee. Her hair had been bleached white and it was so dry it fairly crackled in the air. Her makeup was starker than usual and thicker so that was why I'd thought it was a mask at first. If all this horror wasn't enough, she was dressed head to toe in a girl's Elvis costume. White bell bottoms with a white gold sequined flare wristed long sleeved top, huge gold medallion belt and a cape. A fucking cape. Gold with bright red satin lining. Another record came on, this time it was Blue Suede Shoes by Elvis. As Elvis sang out "a one for the money, a two for the show" a spotlight flooded RosaLee and she began to move towards the floor. Even her pretty new white skate boots had gold sequined medallions glued on them. She wouldn't look up. If she had she would have seen the horror on my face. As Elvis blurted out "Go, Cat, Go," Big Ter had to hold me up. Lainy patted my arm and started to cry. My eyes filled too, but, I couldn't let it go. My mouth agape, I could only watch as poor poor RosaLee skated the rink alone. Everyone else quickly took a seat to stare. A few started to laugh in shock, but, were silence by the horror of it. Behind RosaLee and leaning over the railing was my Aunt Juanita with an Instamatic camera and a shit eating grin. The flashbulbs popped and were thrown to the ground and replaced and that fucking traitor Elvis just kept on singing that awful song. RosaLee just kept skating and looking at the floor. She had a red lipsticked smile on her face that was so tight lipped you could barely see that she had lips. Her poor hair was so fried it looked like it would seriously break just from the wind off her skates. When the song was over, RosaLee skated out, the cape snapping, and her Mother yelled at everyone to give her a round of applause. There was some sporadic clapping, but, mostly everyone was just wide eyed looking around and at each other, like what the holy fuck just happened? RosaLee skated right out the door and her Mother followed her. I spent the rest of the night out in the parking lot crying and smoked my first cigarette which I borrowed from Big Ter.
*
RosaLee never skated again that I know of. What her Mother did to her that night, well, she just never got over it. Poor shy sweet RosaLee who only wanted to fit in. To this day the story is told like this, by my Aunt...
"Oh, that RosaLee she was so crazy for Elvis that she made me hire a seamstress to make her a white and gold Elvis skating suit. She was the most beautiful girl there and when she walked in in that outfit, the place went crazy. A light from Heaven seemed to shine down on her beautiful gold hair and it made a halo around her and every boy in the place fell instantly in love. Some of them fell to their knees just from looking at her beauty and one fainted dead away. Twelve of them asked her to marry them right on the spot and one even handed her a great big Diamond ring he had in his pocket, but, RosaLee wouldn't take it, of course. They gave her a trophy for being the most beautiful girl in town and a talent agent was there and he begged her to star in his next movie. RosaLee is too religious to be in movies or she could have been a huge star after that night. I have pictures, you want to see?"
*
Like I said, never skated again and never went to school again either. She couldn't. I don't know where the fuck her Jesus was at that night, but, he sure as hell wasn't with RosaLee. A year and a half later RosaLee was caught kissing a boy in the driveway and a suitable husband was found for her. She was married off to an ugly stupid preacher, named Carl, with the IQ of a dog turd and that is where she stayed. She grew into her nose, had two kids that only made her figure better and she's a brunette again. She hardly has a line in her face and she IS beautiful now. Carl the idiot doesn't deserve to even know her, much less be married to her. My Mother met her third mail order husband shortly after that and we moved to Arizona for a couple of years, until I moved out at age 14. I went skating again after I moved out on my own and back to Iowa, but, it was never the same. Nothing was ever the same again.