Johnny walked from the car to Kay’s front door. He smoothed his hair and straightened his tie. I guess Pop was right, he thought to himself. Take a girl fishing, his father had said, and you find out real quick whether that girl’s for you.
On their very first date, they went to a lake that was stocked with bass. Johnny caught three. Kay caught seven. She baited the hook all by herself. First with worms and then with crickets. She smiled as she tore the hooks from their mouths.
For their second date, they went to a place that was painted all black, the walls and the floors. An art house place, it was called Mengele’s. They showed foreign films, offbeat documentaries. Johnny’s father had suggested it too.
Take her to Mengele’s, his father had said, if you want to know what she’s made of, son. I hear they’re running “Sub-incision” right now.
The film documented a ritual once practiced in aboriginal Australia; a rite of passage, where tribal elders, with nothing more than sharpened rocks for surgical tools, sliced through the underside of a boy’s private parts. Performed without benefit of anesthesia, sub-incision was a bloody and painful procedure. Kay never once turned away from the screen.
Johnny thought about nothing but Kay, day and night. He felt wonderfully weightless, his head in the clouds. He wanted their third date to really be special. What about Circus, his dad suggested. After that you should know if she’s really the one.
Circus was a club that just opened downtown. Live performances. Experimental theater. Perfect, said Johnny. You’re a genius, Pop.
Her moss green dress set off her golden red hair. Gee, you look great, Johnny said when she opened the door. You don’t look so bad yourself, said Kay. I’m a little bit nervous, to tell you the truth. I’ve never been to one of these things.
Me neither, said Johnny. But don’t worry, Kay. Whatever happens, I’ll be there to protect you. He beat his chest in a Tarzan-like way, and it made Kay laugh. My hero, she said.
Each room had a ring, like a circus ring. Each ring had a number but none were in sequence. Next to Twelve was Ring Two, across from Ring Nine. As Johnny and Kay made their way to Ring Seven, men in white uniforms came out of Thirteen. They carried a woman away on a stretcher. Her lipstick was smeared and her wig was askew. She cried and she mumbled, I will never, I will never…Geez, said Johnny. Holy cow, said Kay.
There were five other couples, each at a table with a white tablecloth. All the tables had lamps, like old dinner theaters.
After a few minutes the lights came up. Three men stood on what looked like a platform. One man was fair and wore his hair short. One man had hair so black it was blue. Both of their faces were hidden by masks, and between them a third man with bright red hair looked up at the ceiling and trembled, and shook.
At the top of the ring, attached by a rope, a slanted blade rested between two wooden poles. The fair-haired man nodded. The red-haired man cried. The dark-haired man cut through the rope that was tied.
There's always a moment, Johnny's dad told him, when you look at her and you know she's the one. The blade came down, a spray of blood misted the white tablecloth. Kay threw her head back and squealed with delight.