A Five Dollar Pair of Shoes

Carrie stood there looking at herself in the cracked mirror hanging above the sink trying to see as much of herself as she could.  
Mostly she wished she could see if the dress she wore was OK.  Her mom had bought it for her at the Goodwill store - she had 
called it GW Boutique, but it was still just the place to buy cast off second hand clothes.  Carrie had just turned 14 and had 
never owned a dress before and now she had been invited to go to the Junior Prom by a 16 year old boy.  It was her first date.  
Mom had been reluctant to let her go but Carrie had begged for days and she finally gave in.

-Baby, you know how them boys is.  Ain't a one of them any good.  You know that.

-Ain't so, Mama.  Billy's always been nice to me.

-No he ain't been neither - input from Nellie, Carrie's 12 year old half sister, the prettier of the two. 
 
Carrie stood on her tiptoes trying to see the dress, her bare feet feeling the years of ground in dirt on the faded linoleum bathroom 
floor.  `Mama, make her shut up.  She don't know what she's talking about.'

-I do so, Mama.  I done heard Billy talking to Bubba Lee just last week.  He was sayin' they was gonna have some fun with Carrie at the party.

-He was not, Nellie.  He prolly said we was gonna have fun.  And we will.
 
They carried on like that for an hour or more, each girl trying to out convince their mother.  Neither of them had any idea what the plans for 
the night were, not even Billy.  All he knew was that he had a date with a girl he figured might go all the way with him that night.  She was 
young and just a little bit stupid, like most of the younger girls in school.  Carrie was a seventh grader, old for her class but had probably 
been set back a time or two.  At 5'5", she couldn't have weighed more than a hundred pounds soaking wet.  He thought she would be an easy mark 
for him which was why he invited her.  One big problem was trying to find her house to pick her up.  He knew she lived out towards Big Springs 
somewhere but there was nothing but dark country dirt roads out there and he'd never been there before.  It would be easier if she had a phone.

-Papa, you let me know if you see headlights down the road, OK?  I tol' him I'd flash the porch light so he'd know which house it was, OK?  

Papa sat in his faded faux leather chair pretending to read the paper.  His little girl, his pride and joy, was going out on her first date, 
wearing her very first dress, and he had a surprise for her.

-I will, darlin'.  He arose and walked toward the bathroom where his girls were all huddled around.          -Tha's a pretty dress you got on, sugar.  
He smiled at his child, his heart slightly hurting with the thought that someone other than him might actually kiss her tonight.  He had not kissed 
her on the mouth since she was just three years old when that was what she demanded.  His love was a pure fatherly love for her.  Behind his back he 
held his secret.

-Darlin', you cain't go barefoot, now can you?   Carrie dropped down flat foot on the linoleum.  Her face dropped and her coloring changed from pink 
to almost ashen white for a spilt second.

-Mama, we done forgot shoes.  I ain't got no shoes to wear.  I cain't wear them flats a mine, I cain't!   Papa brought his hands out from behind his back.  
In them was a worn shoe box, one that looked as if it had been in the floor of someone's closet for a few years.  Inside was a pair of red high heels.  
Slightly scuffed at one toe but still pretty new.  Carrie threw her arms around her Daddy's neck and hugged him to her.  Tears rolled down her cheeks as 
she held on to her Dad.  She knew he had no money to buy anything, not even enough to buy more than one pack of tobacco a week for himself.

The shoes were just a little tight but they fit well enough.  How Carrie longed for a real mirror so she could see herself.  She felt like a queen.  Her first dress, her first date, and Daddy had bought her shoes!  A car horn honked.

-He's here!  Carrie raced for the door, barely glancing back at her family as they watched her run to Billy's truck.  She yanked open the door and jumped 
up into the passenger seat, slamming it behind her.  They raced off toward town, his tires throwing up a rooster tail of dust as they sped along the dirt road.

-Ain't you looking pretty tonight, girl.  -Thank you, Billy.

-Here, take a big drink a this.  He handed her a half pint of vodka.  She looked at it, wondering what she should do.  Carrie had never tasted alcohol before.  
-Go on, girl.  Drink up. We's all gonna have some fun tonight.  -But I ain't never drunk no alcohol before, Billy.   -That don't matter, Carrie.  We's all 
gonna be drinking tonight.  You, me, ever body at the Prom.  Tha's what people do at Proms, din't you know that?

Carrie hesitantly took a small sip.  Billy reached over and turned the bottle up, spilling half the contents into the girls mouth.  -Go on, swallow it, Carrie.  Gotta get loosed up a bit so we can have us some fun.  Carrie swallowed the liquid which burned all the way down.  She didn't know if she was going to vomit it back up or not but managed to keep it down.  It only took a few moments before her head began to spin.  Billy fishtailed the truck around the final corner as they reached blacktop.  He spun his tires and raced through the nigger section towards Main Street.  Ten minutes later they were parked by the gymnasium, colored lights and streamers making the old brink structure look as festive as possible.  Billy slid over next to her and pulled her face toward his, kissing her full on the mouth.

Carrie struggled a bit, not knowing what to do.  She would probably have let him kiss her but hadn't expected his hand to be reaching down the top of her dress.  
He felt her bra and squeezed her right breast firmly.  She tried pushing his hand away but only halfheartedly.  He reached up above the bra and ran his hand down 
inside it, the first boy ever to touch Carrie's virgin breast.  Her nipple was firm and erect yet her mind was screaming NO, only her mouth was too busy trying to 
keep an invading tongue out of it for it to say anything.  He pressed against her, his other hand reaching for the hem of her dress.  

-Billy, stop that! She yelled at him, forcefully defending the sanctity of her undergarments.  She pushed his hand away.  -Come on, Carrie.  You ain't gonna be 
like that, are ya?  I mean, after all, I done brought you to the Prom.  This is a special night.

-You brung me, all right, but that don't give you the right to feel me up.  Billy laughed.  -Come on, let's go inside and dance.  He acted as if nothing had 
happened as he pushed her door open and followed her out the passenger side of the truck.  They headed inside.  The gym didn't l;ook like itself at all.  The 
basketball backboards had been pullied up, the bright lights had been dimmed and a garage band was still setting up on the stage end.  



FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS TO CARRIE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER, COMING SOON.  
