Page 9 of Across the Universe

“Two, one…”

Capitalizing on Ted Mackey’s lack of balance, Bill takes one last step in his direction and puts both arms around Mackey, lifting him off the floor and catapulting him towards the tall rack of pots and pans. But Mackey does him one better: he hangs onto Bill’s arms with a tight embrace, and instead of Mackey flying into the rack, the men go tumbling together, knocking the entire thing over in one go.

The violent cacophony of metal pans and falling silverware drowns out the shouts and cheers of the crowd. Mackey hits the floor with the side of his head, temple meeting tile, and is knocked out. Bill, though winded, lands on top of Mackey, triumphant.

Though Denny Hitzman’s voice is silenced by the clatter in the kitchen, Bill lifts his head at exactly the same moment that Denny Hitzman shouts into his microphone, rasping the words that he knows the rest of the ballroom are cheering along to: “Happy New Year!”

CHAPTER2

Jeanie

When Jeanie Florence's roommate,forty-five-year-old Vicki, stumbles in on New Year's morning, the first thing she does (after dropping her shoes and purse near the door), is to sit on the couch and light a cigarette.

"So?" Vicki asks, swiping at the smears of mascara under her own eyes. "How did you ring in the new year, princess?"

Jeanie is in cutoff denim shorts and a yellow t-shirt, vacuuming the living room rug. She's determined that 1966 is going to be the year she gets her life in order, and that starts with her apartment. She turns off the vacuum.

"I went to the party at the Stardust Beach Hilton."

Vicki lifts an eyebrow and swings her legs around so that her bare feet are propped up on a throw pillow at one end of the couch, her head resting on a pillow at the other end. She blows a stream of smoke skyward. "Did you make out with any cute astronauts at midnight?"

"I did not," Jeanie says resolutely. "In fact, I kissed a woman at midnight."

Vicki's feet come swinging back around and she's sitting up again, looking at Jeanie with newfound interest. "Well, baby girl. This just took a turn." She pats the couch next to her and Jeanie comes to sit. "Was she at least pretty?"

Jeanie laughs. "She was, but it wasn't like that."

Vicki spreads her hands wide and looks around the room like she's trying to convince an audience to be on her side. "Hey, there's no judgment here, babe. Anything goes." Vicki leans forward and ashes her cigarette into a glass dish on the coffee table. "I went home withtwopilots last night, so I'm in no position to lecture anyone else about their sexual choices."

Jeanie blinks a few times at this news.Two pilots? She has so many questions.

"Listen," Vicki says, heading her off at the pass. "So you kissed a woman. It's fine."

This makes Jeanie laugh. "No, seriously. She was about ninety." Vicki puckers her entire face at this. "I was getting my shawl from the coat check at the same time she was. She asked if she could kiss me for good luck, so we gave each other a hug and exchanged cheek kisses. I figured if she's ninety, she probably needs a little luck."

Vicki goes back to smoking her cigarette as she shakes her head. "You're a kinder woman than I am. I would have been in that ballroom when the clock struck midnight, looking to steal a husband from a drunk woman, so I had someone handsome to plant one on me as the confetti fell. Wait--there was confetti, right?"

Jeanie shrugs. "Yeah, I guess there was. I saw some people coming out of the ballroom with confetti in their hair." She goes quiet for a moment, sandwiching her hands between her bare knees and rolling her shoulders forward. "But I can't lie to you, Vick: it wasn't an amazing night."

"No?" Vicki reaches over and tucks a stray strand of hair behind Jeanie's ear; it's a maternal move that makes Jeanie smile. "What happened?"

"I had a bit of a confrontation with Jo Booker."

Vicki taps her cigarette against the side of the ashtray and lifts an eyebrow. "The lady whose house we were at on the Fourth of July?" she asks, referring to the barbecue at the Bookers' house the summer before when Bill had received the bad news that his first wife was dead.

"Mmhmm." Jeanie is distracted. She chews on the inside of her cheek. "But actually, maybe I shouldn't call it a confrontation. That's too strong. We ran into one another on the dance floor, and she was sort of grilling me about how often I see Bill at The Black Hole."

"Uh oh. Trouble in paradise. You want to run from that, princess. Take my word for it.”

"I want no part in it," Jeanie assures her. "I can promise you that."

"What did you tell her?"

"I said I certainly don’t go there every evening, and that I only see him there occasionally. Which is all true."

"But?"

"Did that sound like there was a 'but'?"

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