When the bus left Brooklyn, I was skeptical that we would find snow. I had never been to upstate New York, and didn’t know what to expect. The kids on the bus were rowdy, and boisterous. I could not sleep. Some of the kids started singing songs. The singing, clapping, and cheering grew louder with every song. Someone handed me a ukulele. I played while some of the girls sang. Everyone seemed to be taken back by how well I could play the ukelele. It really wasn’t much different from the guitar. Delancey was not on my bus.
About two hours into the drive, there was plenty of snow on the ground. We arrived at the Valdis Ski Resort surrounded by snow and mountains. I had never seen mountains before, and the Catskill Mountains were covered in evergreen fir trees, snow, and ski trails.
The trip advisor was Ms. Bulzer, my health class teacher. We were met outside by the other buses and two chaperones. It would be three boys to a room.
Ms. Bulzer called out three names at a time, and said to go to the front desk to get room keys. I waited a while for her to call my name. One of my roommates was Eddie Lo, my friendly neighborhood Chinese gangster. The other was Maurice, the religious Jewish kid.
We went to our rooms to settle in. Maurice unpacked his clothes, a bible, which he called a Torah, religious garb, snacks, and toiletries. He had a second suitcase with food. Maurice only ate kosher food and brought his own with him. I unpacked just clothes and toiletries, no snacks, and no religious items of any kind.
Eddie was unpacking as well. He unpacked his underwear, toiletries, socks, boots, ski mask. He pulled out a silver .22 caliber pistol, nunchucks, a butterfly knife, ninja stars, and a red rope.
Maurice and I glanced at each other. It was easy to take Eddie out of the city, but harder to take the city out of Eddie. Maurice asked Eddie why he brought the weapons.
“These days you can’t trust anyone. Besides, you’ve got your religion, and I’ve got mine,” said Eddie, holding up his gun.
“Do you really think the Deceptors would come all the way up here to cause trouble?” Maurice asked.
“No one knows who the Deceptors really are. They could have arrived here by bus with the rest of us,” commented Eddie.
“But this is a vacation from school. I think you are too paranoid; even if they did come up here, they would be out of their element,” said Maurice.
“Look, I’ve fought the Deceptors before, on the subways, in Brooklyn, and in Queens. These guys are dangerous, and they will strike whenever and wherever. Death does not take a vacation. I’m going to be prepared for anything on this trip. As far as I know, you guys could be one of the Deceptors,” Eddie grinned at us in silence.
“BOO!” yelled Maurice, and we all laughed.
“Besides, this is a good opportunity for the Deceptors. They can rob our rooms
while we are skiing.” Eddie continued to unpack. I was confused about his red rope. Eddie was being overly concerned, but there was a possibility that he could be right. I grew angry with the thought of the Deceptors robbing and stealing from us during the trip. I decided to stay alert and keep my guard up. I’d rather be safe than sorry. I decided to play it down a bit.
“I think you are on the wrong senior trip, Eddie” I said. “The trip to
Armageddon is not this week. This is the ski trip.”
“I know. That’s why I brought my ear muffs,” joked Eddie.
“What’s the rope for?” I asked.
“In case I ever need a way out,” he remarked casually.
A way out of what? A tunnel? A mountain? He didn’t make sense. Eddie Lo was the most famous or perhaps infamous student on the trip. It was hard to believe that he was my roommate. I was glad that I was on his good side, thanks to Christine.
I peered out the window. Snow covered tree branches complimented moonlit white ski trails, and a family of raccoons scurried across the parking lot. The scenery appeared to have been tinted blue. On the far right side, there was a pond, appearing frozen over. The snow fell in slow motion. The image was beautiful and surreal, as if I had fallen into an Ansel Adams photo.
Students gathered in the main dining hall for lunch. There was a large stone fireplace at the far end of the dining hall. Several kids stood in front of the roaring fire to warm up. The ski lodge was closed to outsiders. Its guests were our school, and another school from Staten Island. We joked around that the other school didn’t stand a chance against us on the slopes, even though most of us had never been skiing before.
There were many students from school that I did not know. But I also saw faces that I did recognize. Natalie was there. Jacob was there with Sandra. And Delancey was also there, dressed up like a professional Olympic skier. Most of us did not own ski clothes, and wore denim jeans. Not Delancey, she looked like an Olympic pro.
Eddie Lo was in his usual Chinese Gangster uniform – tapered jeans, black leather jacket, t-shirt, and spiked hair. Eddie was not going to be the coolest guy; he was going to be the coldest guy. He could freeze to death on the slopes by wearing such thin clothing.
Delancey and I sat down at a table with her two roommates. I did not them know from school, but they were friendly enough. The ski lodge had a buffet lunch, consisting of baked chicken and French fries, and at least ten other items. Maurice joined us and ate a sandwich that he had brought from home.
“Who’s your other roommate?” asked Delancey.
“Eddie Lo,” I said proudly. The table went silent.
“Eddie the Chinese Gangster?” asked Delancey. Maurice made it a point to take a large bite of his sandwich so that he wouldn’t be able to comment.
“Yes, that Eddie Lo,” I said. I didn’t want to speak too much on the subject, and I certainly did not feel comfortable divulging Eddie’s packing list.
“I hear there’s a party tonight,” Delancey said eagerly.
“Oh really? Should be fun,” I replied as the knots in my stomach tightened.
“It’s a dance party,” said Delancey, staring at me with wondrous eyes.
This made me sick to my stomach. I could live with a Chinese Gangster for a few days, but the thought of dancing in public was scary. Dancing was never my thing.
Delancey and I were walking after lunch when we were approached by Juan Perez, the class president. Juan seemed like a typical politician, formally shaking my hand, saying and doing all the right things. Juan was in formal attire, suit and tie, despite the fact that we were on a vacation. He wore his trademark long black leather trench coat. Juan always wore a suit, and as if perpetually campaigning.
“Where’s your room Delancey?” Juan asked.
“I’m the last room in the West Wing where are all the girls are staying,” she said.
“I’m in the South wing, first room on the right if you want to come by later. We’re planning an after hours party,” said Juan.
“I’ll think about it,” replied Delancey.
“I hope you have a great time and remember that it was at my urging that this was put this together…… at my constant requests,” said Juan. The guy was a constant self promoter. Delancey told me that Juan had asked her to the prom.
“Did you say yes?” I asked.
“He’s a lot to take. I can deal with him for about five minutes, but no more than that. I get the feeling that he only wants to go with me so that he can tell all his friends that we are going out. Juan is very self absorbed. I guess I’m looking for someone not like Juan….some one that would go the extra mile for me, someone that isn’t afraid or too busy to really go the distance for me. He’s not that guy.” Delancey looked out the window.
“Hey…there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do or anywhere I wouldn’t go for you,” I said.
“Thanks, David.”
Juan Perez was also a highly ranked senior student, at the top of the class. I did not know much else about him, other than the fact that I didn’t care for him or his political antics. When he left, I saw him glower at me.
Delancey seemed lost in thought, staring in silence out the window at slowly falling snow flakes. It was cold where we were standing. I was about a foot from her, and I could feel the heat and warmth radiating from her body.
“What’s on your mind?” I asked.
“Well, it’s just that I wish it didn’t have to end. I’m not ready to leave high school. I sometimes think that life is over after high school. At least life as I know it. I have a lot of expectation and demands from my family, and once I get into college, the expectations will increase.” She kept staring out the window.
“It’s the opposite for me. I can’t wait for high school to end. I really don’t want to be a kid anymore. I just want to live my life, my way. I want to leave and never look back.” I was feeling very confident in the way I said things. The more I said it, the better it sounded.
“That’s because you have nothing holding you back. For me I am constantly getting pulled in different directions,” her eyes were melancholic as she spoke.
“I guess that’s true,” I agreed, never before considering that there was really nothing holding me back.
“I have a lot here. I’m very close to my father, and my mother, and just my whole life in New York. We go to restaurants and Broadway shows, and high society parties. It’s really a wonderful way to spend my teenage years.”
Delancey had a great life, and she was attached to her high society soirees, and her night life. Delancey was a good friend, and I was very attracted to her. Nonetheless, I was hesitant to jeopardize our friendship by trying to take things a step further. I still felt that she was out of my league. For now, I was happy just to be in her company.
I rented boots and skis and joined a group of kids taking a lesson. It was helpful, but I realized you just have to do it, and no lesson was really going to prepare me for actual skiing.
I stood waiting for the handheld lift to take me up the beginner’s hill. Natalie was going up the bunny trails. I was still staring at Natalie as the lift was coming my way. I reached out and grabbed it, distracted, not realizing the force with which it would pull me up the hill. It pulled my arm very fast and very sharply. I felt a twinge in my shoulder. I tried to let go, but my sleeve was caught in the lift, and I found myself getting dragged to the top of the bunny slopes. My skis were being dragged with me, and my ankles were twisting. I was struggling to free my wrist from the lift strap.
I continued to be dragged up the hill, and could see the faces of my fellow students pointing and laughing. I finally managed to straighten up and at least look like I knew what I was doing. I freed my sleeve at the top of the hill. If I wasn’t cold and wet, I probably would’ve been warm enough to feel embarrassed.
From the top of the hill I felt frozen with fear. Everyone was going down the hill so fast. “Its now or never” I shouted, and quickly jumped down the hill. The wind was whipping across my face, and I was exhilarated. Other people were waving to me, and it felt like I was flying. It was so much fun, until I tried to stop, and could not slow down. At the very end, I twisted my legs, and came to a stop by violently tumbling down. My legs and knees twisted, and my face rubbed against the ice like sandpaper. I couldn’t wait to do it again. By the end of the day I was ready for a bigger slope, which I figured I could do the next day.
I changed out of my wet clothing. Maurice entered the room and his skin was bright red from ski burn, matching his red hair. We both sat in our beds completely exhausted. No sign of Eddie. I took a hot shower and got ready for dinner. My shoulder stiffened, and I had aches and pains all over. I had bruises on my ribs and back as well. I really didn’t mind; I had a high tolerance for pain.
I ate dinner with Maurice and a few other kids that I did not know too well.
Maurice was eating
shwarma
, his meal brought from home. It looked like a gyro.
“One man’s gyro is another man’s
shwarma
, you say tomato and I say
shwarma
,” he said. The others seemed like normal kids; many were involved in various organizations throughout the school. Their personalities were much easier to deal with than Sam’s.
There were kids from the yearbook committee, from the band, from the chorus, and the last thing we spoke about was Stanton or colleges. I felt like I chose the wrong friends, and missed out on knowing a lot of cool people. This was my opportunity to remedy that notion before high school was over.
The food was pretty good, but, like my father always says, all food is great when you are hungry. I had worked up quite an appetite skiing.
I went back to the room and took a nap. When I awoke, I could barely move my shoulder. I was in tremendous pain. Maurice said my shoulder was completely swollen. I took another hot shower to loosen it up.
At the dance party, I grabbed a Coke and watched the kids dance. It turned into a great party quickly. The music was loud, and the ski lodge provided flashing strobe lights and a smoke machine.
I was the only one not dancing. It looked worse that I was not dancing than it would if I was a bad dancer. In addition to being a terrible dancer, I could barely move my shoulder. On the life map, I wrote that I would never be intimidated by any situation or person and so I started dancing with some friends. Delancey and her friends joined in.