During my late teen years, my best friend was Toots. I met her right after she moved there, when my younger sister, who knew everyone in our small town in Broward County, Florida, even if they were just visiting for a day or week, introduced us. Our family had moved there nearly a year earlier from Dade County. Toots and I instantly bonded. We were both thin and blondish, the same height, both from Michigan, born in the same month of the same year. In the same grade and even had some classes together. I would never have met her at school. I was too shy and quiet, especially in grade 11, to meet anyone at school. I was a different person at home. Still nothing like my extroverted sister, Marie.
Toots was a good girl. You could tell that right off the bat and that fact never changed as long as I knew her. You could tell by her manner, her words, her smile, everything about her advertised good, innocent, pure of heart, mind, and body. It was too late for me as I had already been date-raped as soon as I moved to that town. Before that I was as pure and innocent as Toots. I felt damaged now. And unbeknown to me, the whole town knew because my perpetrator bragged far and wide what he had accomplished. I did not find out about this for years.
Toots' goodness did not prevent the two of us from getting wild and crazy. We bought and wore outlandish clothes. We colored our blond hair in red, yellow, blue, and green and went to school like that. (We used food coloring or crepe paper so it was permanent.) This was a totally unusual thing to do in our town or maybe anywhere during that time period, early fifties. Our parents never said a word about it. Parents were smarter in those days, as we soon tired of it on our own. We were not thrown out of school, though one teacher called us the Bobbsey Twins. Otherwise little attention was paid to us.
We skipped school a couple days every week. We would meet in front of the Principal's office, and then walk out. We would hang out all day at home or in a booth drinking cokes with a bookie we knew at Bill and Dale's Drugstore. The booth was the bookie's office and he was doing business as we sat there. Taking bets, telling us his life story of how he ran away from home for good in Puerto Rico at age 10, or ordering his guys to break the man's leg if he did not pay up NOW. We never ever got into trouble for skipping school nor were we reprimanded by anyone. It was amazing. We didn't really believe anyone's leg got broken. We were that naive.
At night we would dress in anything outlandish that we could think of: maybe short shorts, one of our father's long sleeved white dress shirts that covered our shorts, knee length socks. We would stick a cigarette into a long cigarette holder or sometimes we sucked on small unlit lady-like pipes. We would do our multicolored hair in ponytails sticking out on either side of our head with huge colorful bows. We would do anything for attention. We would walk the mile to the park where everyone hung out every night. This park was large, well-lit, had the usual playground equipment, lots of picnic tables for gathering, a small building with three guys who sold snacks, patrolled, handed out footballs, basketballs, and watched us all very carefully. Everyone behaved.
We hung out with anyone and everyone. Including the son of a junk dealer (who later was eliminated as our friend because Toots' dad met him and decided that she should watch who her friends were. This was much later though.) She and I sometimes hung out with a young guy from Puerto Rico who did not speak much English. He and the junk dealer's son took us to dimly lit Roadhouses where we drank whatever they ordered for us. We had lots of fun, but other than drinking, it was clean fun. Of course, we were lucky we were not assaulted or hurt in any way. I cannot think of one instance of feeling we were ever in danger.
If a carload of guys came along while we were walking at night and I knew at least one of them, we got right in. Our lives were reckless and probably dangerous by today's standards and clearly wild by early 50's standards but we remained safe and unmolested for some strange reason. I think it was Toots' sweetness. She was just a nice girl and everyone could tell and respected that. I was already damaged but her reputation protected me somehow.
One thing I remember her telling me, that made her face red to even tell it. She had gone on a date with one of the guys we knew. Probably a movie. When he drove her home, she was in a hurry to get out of the car and into the house but she did not want him to come in. She did want to be polite. So what she said was, do you want to come in.....there is nothing to do but go to bed. Luckily he got the right message and just said good-night.
You may get the idea that Toots was a ditsy blond. You would be wrong. She made straight A's and interned for a legal secretary position when she was in high school. After graduation she accepted a full-time position. She would have done well in college but we did not even know anyone who went to college. The goal was to be married by age 21 and not to be an old maid. Not only ours, but every other teenage girl we knew. Some married as young as 14. Well, there were other reasons for that but they also did not want to be old maids. Problem solved.
I don't even remember who instigated most of our antics as we both had daring personalities. Regardless, we were simply girls trying to have fun (nothing like Girls Gone Wild of today.)
We accumulated some other girlfriends to make up a group, which we called the Keeny Klub. We all hung out for awhile and had silly fun. Toots was Ginger Keen and I was Rosy Keen. There was a Peachy Keen and a Velvet Keen. (She named herself. Not sure what that was about). Others slip my mind. Whatever! This is about Toots. In my autograph book Toots wrote in 1953: "Remember the Keeny Klub and our wonderful times together. Especially Friday the 13th at the Blvd." I remember the wonderful times but that particular night slips my mind. I wish she had elaborated. I would bet that would be a great memory.
I had more laughs with Toots than anyone else in my lifetime. We would be walking home from the drive-in or a football game and both of us laughing until we cried. What was so funny? I have no idea but whatever it was should be bottled and sold.
After we were out of school and hanging out nights at Eddie's Drive-in Restaurant, Toots met her future husband. We were inside with a bunch of friends while packed cars were parked around the perimeter of the building. The place was crowded every single night. A male friend of ours came in and asked me to step outside to meet someone. I followed him out to a new Ford Fairlane. Behind the wheel was a handsome guy I had never seen before. I was introduced and chatted for a minute. Then I excused myself and went back inside. Then Toots was called out and she was introduced to her future husband.
I never knew if she was aware of the circumstances or not. I never thought to ask her. I found out later. The guy I will call E had driven over that night from a neighboring town. He told some guys that were hanging outside that he was ready to get married and looking for a virgin. A mistake was made when I was called out but quickly rectified with Toots. They married shortly after that and I always assumed they lived happily ever after.
When I moved back to Dade County a couple years later and met my own husband, we still kept in touch and saw each other on occasion. She had three boys and I had a boy and a girl. When she called in 1971 to say they were moving to Colorado, I said good bye, so long, because I figured I would never see her again. I did not tell her to write or ask for her new address. I could never have imagined I would travel in later years and spend a lot of time in Colorado. One just can't fathom what the future holds.
I lost touch with Toots but never forgot her. Then along came the computer many years later and the possibility of actually locating long lost friends. I began to search as soon as I knew there was such a thing. I could never locate her though. Of course my search centered on Colorado. Then two years ago I discovered the Social Security Death Index. I decided to look there. Sadly I found that she had died just 6 months earlier. More searching brought information that she had divorced E in Colorado and moved back to Florida years ago. If I had only known, I would have made sure to travel down there to see her and spend time with her again. But too late. My dear friend Toots is gone forever. RIP Tootsie (as my daddy loved to call you.)
