Chapter 4 - Northern Europe - sex for Niki (almost)

There’s an outdoor antique market with dozens of stalls selling everything from candlesticks to paintings to porcelain. Even though the sky spilled warm rain and some of the furniture seemed really good quality stuff, no one seemed to mind that it was getting rained on. The streets are a mix of old Flemish buildings and modern skyscrapers – not the most successful blend in my opinion, but we blocked out the ugliness and enjoyed window shopping along narrow lanes with all the little shops brightly lit and stuffed with gorgeous things. I have to be careful not to buy too much at the beginning of the trip or I won’t be able to carry it all at the end. I limited myself to one small book and some lace napkins for Mom. She’d like to know I got her something before I got anyone else something.

Niki and I talk a lot about our mothers and what infuriates us about them, which is something we both share. I think Niki’s mother is wonderful and worthy, being a doctor and all, and she thinks mine is ingenious. She’s always going on about how creative Mom’s job is, how daring her clothes are, how original the jewelry she makes herself is and how famous her cocktail creations are. Those things are just embarrassments to me. Especially when she showed up at one of my band concerts wearing silver lame from head to toe. She was like a walking roasting pan! We often wish we could trade mothers. We talk a lot about money, too. No one would enjoy being rich more than Niki. She’d wear her fake nails long and her designer dresses short. I see frosted hair, big jewellry, even a fur coat. She’d take her friends for elaborate lunches and never let them forget it.

What would I do if I had a lot of money? I never seem to have any. As soon as I get my paychecks I see something I just have to buy, usually things in the bookstore where I work. My money practically never even gets to see the outside world! I tried to save for this trip but ended up spending practically everything on guidebooks and maps and stuff. Thankfully Dad gave me his credit card in case I need extra cash. I know he told me it was only for emergencies but I’ve already put a hundred and forty dollars on it. Mostly food and train tickets and sensible things like that, but I did buy five metres of Belgian lace. I don’t know what I’ll do with it, but it was so beautiful I couldn’t resist. And the hankies and table linens don’t take up much room. The maps I put into a cardboard roll and it’s not heavy. I especially like the one of 17th century Belgium. I can’t read the language but it will look great on my wall. Oh and I also bought a little figure made of bronze. Now that might have been a mistake; I had no idea bronze was so heavy. But what can you do when you see something you can’t live without?

I had to buy a hair dryer too because the one I brought from home is useless. The plugs are different here. It’s a pain but I really need one, without a dryer I can’t style at all. I try to smooth out the frizz and flip my ends under like Toni Tennille's hair, but the back and the sides don’t seem to work and they flip out instead which is really nerdy. Niki’s hair is gorgeous and curly and black, and dries quickly even though it’s thick. Is there anything worse than frizzy brown hair? I don’t think so.

I wonder what Sidney would think of this place: all she wants these days is to find a husband so she can have a house. Not for love, but for a house! I sent her a postcard of Victor Horta’s art nouveau house. I sent another one of the flower market to Mom and Dad, one that pictured a beer stein to Babby, and one of a fountain called ‘Manneken Pis’ to Sam. It’s a statue of a naked little boy peeing into a pool. It will get Sam laughing, particularly as Mom will be totally unimpressed, something that never fails in its appeal to Sam.

Niki and I had lunch in a neat little café that used to be some sort of shop in a former life. Niki thinks it was a bookstore because there are lots of shelves and a long ladder on wheels, but there are so many little drawers all the way up to the ceiling that I think it must have been something like a hardware store. The best bit was dessert. Apricot pastries, a type of raisin bread called ‘cramique’ and some butter waffle cookies that just melted in our mouths. Niki worries about packing on the pounds but I don't have that worry - the opposite - I've love to be a bit more voluptuous.

The hostel curfew is really early and we decided to ask if we could get a late pass, using a concert as an excuse and if they ask to see our tickets we’ll say we’re picking them up at the door. We had our story all straight before going to the office, and Niki made me do the asking because she says I look less guilty and rowdy, but right away the manager said “No problem. Do you want one or two keys?” Ye gods! We celebrated by going to a pub and trying some of the local beers of which there seem to be hundreds and all with interesting names like Gueuze, Kriek, and Duvel. The pub was cobweb old with huge wooden ceiling beams and rusty tools around the fireplace, but there was pop music playing. Abba again.

After three beers in three different pubs Niki got confident and started checking out the guys. She pointed out which ones would be good kissers and which might be ‘better in the sack’. I blushed just to hear her. I can never talk about what guys attract me without feeling stupid when I hear the words come out. Of course I’m sure no one is really interested in my fantasies anyway. That’s one of the reasons I really like being with Niki. She talks about guys all the time. Although she obviously wants sex and I’m more interested in falling in love. Niki says love is too scary and sex is easier. I still want to fall in love.

She reminds me of a lion. Maybe it’s partly because of her golden skin and golden-green eyes, curved and slanted so gracefully like almonds with their skins on. She shakes her curls back all the time, then teases one over an eye so she can observe. That eye a beacon, sparkling, watching, assessing, registering. She even walks like a lion, slowly, leaning forward, her eyes focussed straight ahead. She sure got the best from both her parents’ heritage, occidental and oriental. I wish I was exotic like Niki. All the guys look at her as we pass in the street. I wouldn’t know what to do if a bunch of guys stared at me. Or talked to me. I know I’d get flustered and say something really stupid. Niki is good at talking to guys so I can stay quiet. I sort of put on a half smile to make it look like I know what I am doing and let her do the talking.

She started to flirt with a couple of English guys at the next table. They were kind of cute and Niki asked them to join us for a drink, which put me in an absolute panic. Anyway, they said they had a car and would drive us back to our hostel after a bit, so that’s all right. James and Charlie, that’s their names, were handsome, although kind of show-offy. Niki adopted James, but I didn’t really feel comfortable hanging on to some guy I didn’t know. Besides, Charlie didn’t seem that keen, so we just sat and chatted about soccer, something neither Niki nor I know much about, and drank our beers. The guys made a few jokes about how good it was that girls had breasts otherwise guys wouldn’t be interested in them because they don’t know anything about sports. The only sport they seemed to know anything about was soccer, so I thought that was a limited assessment on their part . Then the three of them all ordered scotch. I don’t like scotch so I stuck to beer. After awhile James and Charlie got blurry eyes and took drags on a joint, saying “Hey mannn” in a long drawn out way. Niki tried it but I was too shy. I don’t really understand men. What are they thinking about? It can’t only be sports and girls surely. I feel so inexperienced.

I now know what her older brother meant when he told me it was funny to watch Niki drunk. She was so goofy, giggling hysterically, talking way too loudly, yelling out “Ye Gods!” at odd times, and draping herself over James and feeding him peanuts one by one. It was getting really late and I was wondering if peanuts would become our breakfast. Finally they were ready to go and we left the pub to find the boys’ car. James had his arm around Niki. Charlie tried to do that to me, but I felt awkward so walked behind a bit and he didn’t try it again, thank goodness. He probably wasn’t feeling well, because he ducked behind a building and threw up. I just kept walking and hoping he was able to drive. By this time Niki was singing. She’s got a really good voice and was belting out ‘Fever’, kind of a suggestive song. She was singing it with gusto too and I hoped she wouldn’t get us in trouble.

James asked if we could all go to a park, but Charlie said it was too cold for him to sit there on his own which I knew was a comment directed at me but I pretended I didn’t hear it. Then James asked if he was ok to drive because he looked kind of green but Charlie said he got rid of all the alcohol when he got sick. Did it really work that way I wondered? I hope so. Thankfully there wasn’t much traffic on the road, because it felt like he was going way too fast and every time he turned the corner he was in the wrong lane, like he was driving in England.

I was just so relieved when he pulled up with a screech in front of the hostel. I thanked him hurriedly and got out, but Niki was smooching James in the back and I didn’t know what to do, so I just waited by the car. Charlie yelled at her to get out, and then James yelled back and then Niki started singing ‘Fever’ again. Eventually she got out and just fell onto the curb, curled up and went fast asleep. Just like that, fast asleep! The guys took off really fast, screeching around the corner while I tried to get Niki awake. Finally I got her roused only to have her barf all over some rose bushes by the side of the road.

I grabbed her arm and helped her up the pathway to the door telling her for goodness sake to stop singing or we’d be arrested. She told me I was the best friend she’d ever had and no one ever cared about her like this and she wished she was as good a person as me, which despite knowing it was just the drink talking made me feel rather good. Just as I got her to the door she barfed again on the steps of the hostel.

Finally inside and up the stairs. I can’t believe no one heard us, especially as I kept the lights off and tried to make it up the stairs in the dark. Bad idea. We kept missing the top stair of each flight before turning the corner to the next one so we’d go step, step, step, BANG. After a couple of those I decided to turn on the light after all, but it was a really weird switch. The light stayed on only a few seconds before turning itself off, usually in the middle of the next set of stairs and then it was step, step, step, BANG again. It seemed to take an eternity to get to the top.
I dropped Niki on the bed, yanked off her shoes and put the covers over her. She was out like a light. Nothing would wake her now. I quickly got undressed and then got the hiccups. Perfect! Someone once told me the best cure for hiccups is drinking out of the wrong side of the glass, so I went to the bathroom to get some water but I kept spilling it all over the floor, so just went back and lay in bed, holding my breath.