‘Let’s see who’s free?’ she said. ‘Make a proper night of it.’
‘Okay. I’ll go and do a ring round. Anyone got a phonecard?’
Maggie rolled her eyes, got the newly purchased phonecard out of her purse and handed it to Angie. ‘Try not to use it all up,’ she said. ‘It’s still got ￡2.40 on it.’
‘Thanks,’ said Angie, slipping the card into her hair and heading for the door.
‘Aren’t you going to get dressed first?’ asked Maggie, but Angie just shrugged.
By the end of the day, they had mustered about ten guests who had all promised to bring their own drinks. Leon offered to make a chilli, his signature dish, and Maggie bought some plastic plates, forks and cups from Woolworths. Angie made a bowl of her world-famous punch, and they moved Leon’s sound system downstairs so that they could have some music. Maggie knew that it would have made more sense to use hers as her room was on the ground floor, and was immensely grateful to Leon for not suggesting it. Finally, Angie threw scarves over all the lights to create more of an intimate mood and they were ready to party.
The four of them gathered in the lounge and Angie filled plastic cups with punch, handing them round proudly.
‘Best punch you’ll ever drink,’ she said.
Maggie took a sip and recoiled involuntarily. It had quite a kick.
‘What did you put in it?’ she asked through her coughing.
‘Oh, you know,’ replied Angie vaguely. ‘Bit of this, bit of that.’
‘A lot of that,’ laughed Maggie, ‘going by how it tastes.’ But she took another mouthful.
By nine o’clock, no one had arrived.
‘What time did you tell everyone to come?’ asked Leon.
‘I didn’t really. Just said we were having a house party.’
‘So, they might not show up until after the pubs shut, then?’ asked Maggie.
She tried not to let her irritation show, but this was so typically Angie. Maggie didn’t want loads of people she didn’t know arriving at the house at midnight. That wasn’t what she wanted at all, but as the evening wore on and the guests were still conspicuous by their absence, it looked as if she would get her way. No one came.
‘We don’t need anyone else, anyway,’ said Angie, her voice slurring a little as the clock ticked past ten. ‘We’re a party all by ourselves.’
She turned up the volume and ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’ filled the room.
‘The perfect tune,’ she said, sashaying over to where Tiger was sitting on the sagging sofa. ‘I can’t believe you’re abandoning me again,’ she added as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet, almost losing her balance in the process.
‘You could always come with me,’ replied Tiger, immediately finding the beat and moving smoothly into a bouncing movement. He looked as if dancing came as naturally to him as walking. Maggie’s dance style was more step than dance, with a bit of jumping up and down if she’d had too much to drink. She’d like to dance with Tiger, she thought, but having seen him move, her confidence deserted her. She reached for her plastic cup instead and took a deep slug of the eye-watering punch.
‘I can’t,’ shouted Angie, having turned the music up to its maximum. ‘I like it here and I’ve got a degree to get.’
Tiger took her hand and spun her in and out whilst Maggie watched. Part of her longed for it to be her that Tiger was dancing with like that and part of her was relieved that it wasn’t. She had another drink.
‘I’ve got an idea,’ said Leon, disappearing into the kitchen and emerging seconds later with the cornflakes box. He set it on the floor. ‘So, you have to pick the box up in your teeth, but you’re only allowed to have your feet on the floor.’
Maggie wasn’t keen on drinking games as a rule, but this one sounded innocuous enough.
‘Okay,’ said Angie, still dancing with Tiger. ‘Show us how it’s done.’
Leon bent over and easily took the box between his teeth and stood up. He grinned like the cat that had got the cream.
‘I’m not being funny, mate,’ said Tiger, ‘but that’s the crappest game I’ve ever seen.’
Leon raised an eyebrow, unfazed by the criticism. ‘Go on then, Tiger. Be my guest.’ He gestured at the box.
Tiger took a step towards it, looked at it and then began to bend down. It quickly became apparent that he didn’t have the flexibility that Leon had. He straightened up and tried again, this time bending one knee rather than both, and managed to get his face closer to the box but not close enough to pick it up.