Episode 39: Sock Hop

You are walking over to the Care Center on the evening of Valentine’s Day, to serve as a chaperone for the Sock Hop taking place tonight. You notice that there is still light in the sky, even after 6:00, and you hear many more birds than just a week ago, as the coldest days of the winter have yielded to milder air coming all the way from the Pacific. As you walk past the boulangerie, you smell the heady aroma of French onion soup coming from the kitchen vent in the side alley. Snowmelt is dripping from the rooflines all around you, following a day of warming sunlight. The sand on the sidewalk crunches beneath your sneakers as you take a deep breath.

When you step in the front door of the Care Center, you feel the beat from the music in your chest as much as you hear it. There is a dance floor in the visiting area, with the piano and all of the furniture pushed to the back of the room. Next to the reception desk, there is a photo booth, with bins of props and silly hats. You spot Joshua from the Festival Committee as he fixes a jeweled crown on his head, with a purple feather boa wrapped around his torso, and a gold scepter in his hand.

“Hello, You,” he says with a regal wave. “Prithee, a photo with your benevolent ruler?”

You tell him, “Yes, Your Grace, if you will grant a moment for your loyal subject to procure a suitable hat.”

Joshua points with the scepter and declares, “The jester hat will suffice.”

You bow to him as you reach for the hat, saying, “Your Grace has an excellent eye.”

Joshua holds up the scepter and says, “Pray silence, commoner! The heirs arrive.”

You look back to see a wave of kids coming through the front doors, tugging at their fancy clothes as they chatter excitedly among themselves. A few of them make a beeline for the photo booth, gathering around Joshua and making silly faces, as he scowls regally at the camera from the center of the group. 

Elise totters up to you, with a laundry basket full of socks riding on her walker. “Oh, I’m happy you’re here,” she says, giving you a hug. “Will you help me hand out socks?”

You relax into her embrace as you say, “Yes, of course.” The photo booth kids squeal with delight when they see Elise, trading high fives with her as she hands each of them a pair of socks. Soon, there is a huge and chaotic pile of shoes in front of the reception desk, as the kids put on their handmade socks and tumble out onto the dance floor. You notice that a snack bar has been set up in one of the corridors leading away from the entrance area, and in another corridor, there are tables set up with crafts and activities for the kids to do when they need a break from the dancing. When the overhead lights dim for the official start of the dance, you let the buzzing energy in the room wash over you with a slow breath. 

As the night plays out, you find that you have very few responsibilities as a chaperone, because the middle schoolers are on their best behavior all evening. The elder residents of the Care Center, on the other hand, are a different story. 

The first sign of trouble is when Joshua breaks up a drag race in the activity corridor, which leads into the rehab wing. Two residents on walkers were racing each other toward the nursing station, shuffling at high speed with friends cheering them on. Joshua and the charge nurse from rehab give the two motorheads a stern scolding, as the other residents giggle behind Joshua’s back.

Next, you come across Elise and another resident named Dennis at the snack bar, sneaking cupcakes and brownies to a crowd of kids massed around the serving table. You step into the middle of the group and say, “All right, last call on sweets was at 9:30. What’s going on here?”

Dennis looks up with wild eyes from the brownie pan, pointing the spatula in his hand at you, as he growls, “Snitches get stitches.”

You take a step back from the table as you say, “Whoa.”

Elise rests her hand on Dennis’ arm, and tells him, “Easy, dear. We don’t want to frighten the children. Or their chaperones.”

Dennis lowers the spatula and stares you down as he says, “I made these from scratch, you know. Here, have one.” He scoops up a brownie, and hands it over toward you.

You reach out tentatively to take the brownie, and you sample a bite. The chocolate is lush and salty, still warm from the oven, and you say, “Wow, that’s amazing.”

Dennis winks at you as he says, “Wouldn’t want to deprive the kids.”

As you head back toward the dance floor, you see a huge cloud of bubbles floating over the reception desk. You lean against a pillar at the edge of the room, and you savor the last bites of your brownie, as you take an easy breath.

Joshua appears next to you, holding a brownie of his own. He declares, “This place is out of control. Out of control. I give up.”

You give him a bemused look as you say, “I thought we were here for the kids, not the seniors.”

Joshua sighs and tells you, “I’m gonna need some serious self-care to recover from this. Speaking of which, have you been to night swimming yet at the college? It’s just running for a few more weeks before the end of the winter. Kerri and I are gonna go together. Will you join us?”

You say, “Yes, I’ve been meaning to check it out.”

Joshua says, “Cool. We’ll text you.” He adds, “The staff said absolutely not on the bubbles. Which they say every year. And every year, those crafty old folks sneak in a couple cases of them. It’s a conspiracy.”

As a parade of residents comes down the hall, pushing kids on their walkers who are blowing plumes of bubbles, you say, “Looks like good clean fun to me.”