It didn’t take long for me to become one of the most loyal members of the Survivors’ Club. I might not have been as bawdy as Jolene or Audrey, but I certainly knew how to have a good time. And while Solomon didn’t take my attention at every monthly gathering, I certainly turned his head more times than most of the women there.
Still the only rule of the Survivors’ Club was no commitments and I wasn’t sure that was something I could hold on to forever. I always saw myself as a wife and mother and even though I was far older than any other new mother or wife I might know, I still thought someone was out there waiting for me. I was probably just a dreamer, but I always imagined I would find the right guy someday down the line. The Club was just a way of filling my time in the meanwhile, a fun diversion from everyday life at my job.
By the summer of fifty-nine, I had been with the Survivor’s Club for a year and a half. I still was no closer to finding ‘true love,’ if such a thing actually exists. So I continued my journeys to the Club events. This time we would meet at a new apartment complex to celebrate Midsummer’s Eve.
I was raised Catholic, so I knew about St. John’s Day, but the Survivor’s Club believed in the more traditional summer solstice date for their meeting. At the meetings leading up to it, Solomon and Audrey talked about it with revelry I found strange. No such meeting had occurred on that day the previous year, but now as it approached it seemed like neither of my closest friends in the club could contain their excitement.
It was strange for me to walk into the front door of an unfinished apartment building. Though towering over every building nearby, the inside sat under an eerie silence. It felt like a place that should overflow with life, but the lack of any residents gave the affair a strange air. It left me with a bit of trepidation as I walked up the stairs to the second floor, where Audrey had planned the event.
As soon as I stepped out of the stairwell, I realized she went all out. The apartments were all open and ready for our use, but before we reached that I could see a full bar and streamers everywhere. Audrey ran up to me and gave me a hug in greeting.
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