e kitchen to bring out the surf and turf.
When we returned, I saw that Porter had poured me another glass of wine, and I looked to Cassie to see if she had noticed or cared. She said nothing. Porter raved about the food. Everything was wonderful, but I was surprised that I was beginning to feel the effects of the first glass of wine so soon. It actually slowed down my eating. I didn’t want to say anything and look like a little fool who couldn’t hold two glasses of red wine. I could just imagine my friends at school laughing at me. Wine was probably like soda to most of the girls. Most important, I didn’t want to embarrass Cassie. This was, after all, the first time she had invited a young man to our home. All I had to do was ruin it for her.
Neither Cassie nor Porter seemed to notice how I was feeling, anyway. They talked on and on about the business and Cassie’s plans for changing this and that. Their voices began to drone in my ears, their words merging until I couldn’t distinguish one from the other. I felt myself waver and put my right palm down on the table to steady myself. It was as if the room was tilting first to the right and then to the left. I envisioned everything sliding off the table. Finally, their words were distorted, slowly pronounced, deeper in tone. I realized Cassie was talking to me, but I couldn’t respond. I was only vaguely aware of Porter rising and coming around the table. I thought I shouted as I slipped off my chair and fell into his arms.
The rest of the night seemed to be one long dream. I was floating like an astronaut in space. My body had lost all of its weight. Like a helium balloon, I drifted up over the stairs, bounced off a wall, and floated into my bedroom. I thought I could hear Cassie and Porter talking, but their voices were very far off, and I couldn’t understand anything they said. I do remember Cassie’s fingers on my clothes and laughed to myself, imagining that I was a banana being peeled.
In my dream, when I turned my head to the right, I saw Porter totally naked. He seemed to take forever to come toward me, but finally he did, and I could feel his hands over my now-naked breasts before he ran his palms down the sides of my hips and gently lifted my legs so he could fit himself comfortably between them. When he entered me, the shock sent me reeling backward into some dark cloud. My whole body seemed to undulate like a wave in the ocean. It went on and on, pushing me deeper into the darkness and then, when I began to emerge, pushing me back.
I could hear their voices again. They sounded different this time. Cassie’s was higher-pitched, as if she was angry. Soon after, I felt Porter moving over me again, fitting himself into me and turning me once more into that undulating wave. I thought I moaned and cried out, but I couldn’t be sure. My own voice sounded far off, outside my body. It was as if I had completely left my body and was watching some erotic scene played before me on my bed.
I would never be sure, but the same scene was replayed. I had no idea of time, how long it went on. I no longer had any sense of myself, any control. I felt whipped about, turned, and prodded, then finally deserted and left to linger in this dark space, where I drifted and drifted, until finally, I bumped into something that led me to light and consciousness. I realized I was in my bed, so that part hadn’t been a dream. I was naked, too. When I tried to sit up, my head started to pound, so I fell back onto my pillow. The slight illumination seeping around my window curtains told me it was nearly morning. My throat felt so dry that when I swallowed, it was as if I had a mouth full of sandpaper. All I could do was close my eyes again, and again I fell asleep.
This time, when I opened my eyes, it was bright in the room, and Cassie was standing by my bed looking down at me. She was in her robe—Mother’s robe, I should say.
“How do you feel?” she asked.
“What happened to me?”
“You passed out at dinner, and we had to bring you up to bed. I undressed you and let you sleep. You shouldn’t have gulped the wine so quickly on an empty stomach. I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to what you were doing.”
“I didn’t gulp it.”
“Please. You drank four glasses. That’s a whole bottle by yourself, Semantha.”
“I did?”
“I’ll show you the empty bottle if you don’t believe me. You should have known your limit.”
I started to sit up and groaned with the pain in my temples.
“You’re having your first hangover,” Cassie said. “That’s good. It will teach you a valuable lesson. I hope.”
I fell back onto the pillow again.
Then some moments from my dream started to return.
“Was Porter here when you undressed me?” I asked.
“Why would you ask such a thing?”
“I had … dreams … I saw him.”
“Please, spare me your erotic fantasies, Semantha. You’re going to be worthless to me all day today. I’ll bring something up to you that is said to help people with hangovers, although most of these recipes are tall tales. It’s like all the different solutions guaranteed to cure the hiccups.”
She started to leave and then turned.
“You nearly ruined one of my more spectacular dinners, but fortunately, I was able to rescue the situation.”
“I’m sorry. Was Porter upset?”
“Like any man, he was more amused than upset, although I reprimanded him for encouraging you. Let’s not tell Daddy about any of this. He’ll be the one who’s upset, and he’ll be mostly upset at me for letting you drink wine.”
“No, he won’t. He gave me wine at dinner when you went out with Porter. Just one glass.”
“Apparently, you didn’t take advantage of him as you did of me. We’ll have to get you up and looking at least half-awake by the time he comes home.” She thought a moment. “Just tell him you’re having a period if he asks. That works all the time with men.”
“But I had my period two weeks ago.”