What My Mother Knew #11: Kisses and Cat Fights

The next few years are a bit of a mosaic of late nights, new highs and fast cars.

I began dating a boy from school. We were in grade eight and he was mysteriously quiet, but his eyes were piercing sky blue and he was not shy with me. He spoke with a California drawl and shocked me with stories of gang violence, guns and detention camp. He'd been partying in a beat up Chevy Nova with a bunch of young gang-bangers and one of them shot a handgun out the car window. It ricocheted off a light standard and hit a woman in the head. After he'd finished his sentence, his mother thought that Canada would be a more wholesome environment and sent him to live with his father. Luckily, for me, his father happened to be a dope dealer. We smoked his father's stuff together after school in the forest behind the rec centre. He tried to kiss me with an insistent tongue, prodding my throat like an anteater looking for grubs. It really was terribly gross. He was cute and I loved his accent but I just didn't 'feel it' when we kissed and I ended it as gently as I could. That never feels good.

I had a friend whose father beat her and who also loved to shoplift. She was completely brazen and would take anything without a second thought. Most of the kids in junior high had branded her as a full-fledged witch. While it's true that she did read tarot cards and dress in freaky clothing, she wasn't a witch - just strange. We got drunk one night and ended up arguing about whether or not to follow some boys she'd just met into the forest to party with them. Things got a bit out of hand and we ended up in a total all out girl scrap. It's the only fight I've ever had and it was over quickly. A typical girl fight, there were no punches thrown, only scratching, pushing and lots of screaming - I guess that's why they call them cat fights! We both cried afterward, then hugged and went home.

It was not long after that we moved to a better neighbourhood with a better school. It didn't stop me from getting into lots of trouble though - it just meant access to more home mini-bars and guys with better cars.