Send Me An Angel

"Just treat me like a grown-up, okay?"
-An Education (2009 Film)

PHOTO: Michael J Armijo, Rachelle Davies


Twenty-five years ago today:

June 1, 1985
Saturday

Wouldn’t you know it? The telephone rang much too early. Three times! Thanks to Dale, mom and Steffanie.

I got pissed at Dale for telling Rachelle extra shit about me and Karyn Kossoff and ‘junk’. And apparently he denies it, claiming he is innocent.
Dale said, “I’m going to reaffirm an ‘I told you so’ phrase.”
I kept wondering what that story will be all about.

I went to mom’s house for breakfast. Then I rushed to GRODIN’s for the pink dress shirt and a new T-shirt to go with my Jay Jacobs blazer that I’m planning to wear today for the wedding. It’s a funny thing. It was Raymond, the black fellow that works at the gym who sold me the shirt at GRODIN’s. He was pretty nice.

I went home and dad telephoned to see if he could borrow a belt of mine, knowing full well one of my belts wouldn’t fit around his waist. I laughed. John borrowed a belt and only one of my belts fit him.

As I showered I began to recall my conversation with Rachelle.
I thought how I said, “I would comply with your wishes. I would go ahead and support your decision if you are pregnant.”
She felt better when I said it even if I wasn’t totally comfortable with it. I was to meet her at 2:30PM today.

I picked up Rachelle and we ended up going to the wrong wedding. It was a crack-up. Mom’s cousin Judy, her husband Max, and her daughter Diane were there making the same mistake. We went stage right and got right up off of our seats as soon as we saw the wrong bride coming down the aisle. It was so funny. How could this happen?

We eventually found the right wedding and the reception was at Knowland Park’s Snow Building. It was fun except when I spilled champagne on Rachelle’s dress.


PHOTO: Joe Nelson Armijo, Ashley Marie Armijo
Virginia Marie Lucero-Armijo

Sherri and Helen looked divine. It was nice seeing cousins that I rarely see. I thought my first cousins Lori, Sonja and Mandy looked RC (Real Cute).

The band played some Latino-type music at times that I thought was just horrible. We left the reception after Tony and John made their vanishing act.

Rachelle drove the car to my house so that I could change my clothes. Then we went to her house so that she could change her clothes. My head had a headache. I was buzzing from the champagne bubbles.

We stopped by Rachelle’s friend (Heidi) for convenience-sake. Rachelle and Heidi reminisced about good times and other fiascos they’d experienced as youngsters. They seemed to have recent memories, too. I laughed when they laughed about the time that Heidi took a pee in their classroom.

We left not long after and had a hot chocolate at LYON’s Restaurant. Then we went to see the movie “The Nightmare on Elm Street”. It was kind of scary. I was tired but it was still fun being with Rachelle. I love Rachelle so much. Her smile, her youth and her touch mean more than I can say. It’s like that one favorite song of mine by REAL LIFE called ”Send Me An Angel” keeps ringing in my ears. Well, in Rachelle…God has sent me an angel. The lyrics in that song make me think of her so much.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6zBjYIyz-0

Both Rachelle and I apologized for our actions last Friday night. It made our love for each other grow a bit more. Making up over silly fights or arguments is fun. The making up part always feels so good. I love making love to Rachelle.

After the show we drove—or rather Rachelle drove---by Castro Valley Boulevard and saw Rachelle’s friend, Danee. Danee is a blond, braced-tooth sixteen year old who seemed very nice; however she was out on this night at some corner of a Quality Tune-Up shop with a number of other fella’s. According to Rachelle, only one (Matt) is supposedly her beau.

Rachelle and I went for a shared omelet and coffee at a nearby SEASONS Restaurant. Rachelle was bleeding a whole lot.
“It’s making me worry,” Rachelle said.
I wasn’t sure what to make of it. It made me worry, too.

We parked nearby the front of her house in Castro Valley and talked and got ‘lovey-dovey’. We reminisced about how we met and other good times. We spoke of the sensitivity of her clitoris and how we’ll have to do more exploration there. We laughed. When she was about to go inside her house she said, “You know, after the wedding today I thought I should have a baby now…if I was pregnant.”
I smiled, thinking, “What an indecisive girl.”
Oh well, she may be on her period now. Who knows? Or it could be nerves or it could be due to more than usual “extra-sexicular” activities.

When I picked up that rock outside her house I pretended it was a frog. She made a tiny screech that turned me on. It made me want to hug her. I wanted to let her know it was all right. She went inside her house after a last kiss of the night. I drove home and could not wait to sleep after the long day. It was one of the most fun and non-threatening (and loving) days I’ve ever had…with Rachelle.


I felt like I was hanging on a cliff. I didn't know where we'd go next.
-James Kirkwood
"Good Times, Bad Times", a novel