Pignati would have wanted us to have a few friends over. Of course, he would have liked to be there so he wouldn’t feel he was missing anything. I knew how much he’d enjoy hearing about a party when he came home. He’d want to know every little detail, just like he asked about everything we did in school. Dennis came over first around seven thirty because I told him to steal a bottle of 80 proofer out of his father’s whiskey cabinet. His father’s a building inspector, and everybody who doesn’t want to be inspected too much slips him a bottle and a few bucks each month. Dennis also brought some soda mixers and two dozen glasses he got from his mother by telling her I was having a birthday party and they were needed for the lemonade. I told Dennis not to invite Norton because if there was one thing this little cocktail party didn’t need, it was Norton Kelly. Norton has a reputation for going especially berserk at parties. Even when we used to have kiddie parties and play spin the bottle, the girls were terrified when it was his turn because he’d bite.
