The Be-Boppingest Girl In Town-With Lucy Larkin In Mind

 

By Fritz Taylor

 

Back in the “Acre” section, the working poor section, of Riverdale a town about fifty miles outside of Boston it mattered, mattered a lot in the late 1950s about who the be-boppingest girl in town. Mattered to guys like Cy Dolan, Jumbo Callahan(not Johnny but his cousin), Sax McGee, Jimmy Cline and an assortment of other passing through characters who spent time, hanging out time in front of Sully’s Variety Store (although it is not germane to the serious question of who was the be-boppingest girl in town Sully’s Variety was merely a front for Johnny Sulllivan’s bookie operation which was so publicly known as such that one could see the cop cars lined up in front on occasion trying to lay down some last minute bet at Aqueduct or some such place). Maybe a generation before, the generation who hung around Sully’s during the Great Depression and World War II and then moved on such a question was not a subject of intense conversation and controversy come girl-less, dough-less Friday and Saturday nights among the brethren but just then no subject was hotter. Reason: in the age of rock and roll, the age of the music of those who came of age in the post-World War II period who, or what girl had that certain style, those certain moves on the dance floor and was a fox to boot was on the tip of the al the guys at Sully’s tongues. Probably in other corners as well but we shall only draw a bee-line for the “Acre” and let others speak for themselves.        

This be-boppingest question was uppermost on the mind of one Cy Dolan, the eldest son of the Dolan clan (and who cousins were the notorious Johnson brothers, four all told, who as part of the Jimmy Clanton gang robbed the Granite National Bank of a pretty penny but don’t mention those boys around Grandmother Dolan not unless you want spitfire and damnation) and probably the best football player who every graced the halls of Riverdale High. So a guy who was the toast of the athletic world, one of the few worlds that counted most in the “Acre” had to be very conscious of that eternal girl question because he might very likely have to decide for real who was, and was not, the real be-bop thing since a legendary football hero in old time working class Riverdale was expected to have the best looking girl in school. But given the nature of those times, the time of free-wheeling rock and roll, mere looks and showing great curves from breast to ankles was only one factor in deciding who be-bopped best.

There were certainly plenty of girls around who had shapes to die for and pretty faces Sarah Goodwin, Cherry Dale, and Christie McNamara were certainly in that league. But see Sarah was some kind of evangelical Protestant whose parents refused to permit to her to go to school dances, to hang around Johnny’s bowling alleys and certainly not the secluded lovers’ lane part of Riverdale Park along the Talbot River. (Sarah later would break from her parents, her parents religion and their strictures eventually becoming a successful model in New York City and even have her photograph for all the world to see in Playboy magazine and would under those circumstances been a serious candidate but she blossomed just a little too late.) Cherry Dale was rumored to have some college Joe from State U  on her ass and never did show up for the high school dances to strut her stuff except once for the sophomore mixer but that was before she filled out a bit (she would eventually marry that Joe and as far as anybody knew stayed with him forever). Christie McNamara had been attached to Johnny Callahan (remember not Jumbo) since about sixth grade. (They would eventually marry and stay married as Johnny became Mr. Toyota of Eastern Massachusetts and Christie Mrs. Toyota.)  So even if all three could have danced the dance of the seven veils and done a strip tease in the middle of the school gym to boot they were not contenders (Cy had noticed that Cherry when she had obliged him with a dance or two at the Spring Frolics that sophomore year before wasn’t that good a dancer and Christie danced so close to Johnny that nobody could righteously tell if she could dance or not).            

Who was Cy kidding in any case. Lucy Larkin was the only girl who could make guys thing evil (or as the case may be good) thoughts about getting her alone along that deserted stretch of Riverdale Park. She had looks, no question, brownish blonde hair, blue eyes, a bright smile, a great shape and long white legs that guys, even guys with ball and chain girlfriends, would wake up in the middle of the night with cold sweats about. Not only that but she filled out that shape with tight-fitting cashmere sweaters that showed her breasts to great effect and with tight skirts that showed her great ass. So she sent a flamed out look just short of a “bad” girl but no question just short because Lucy was one of the smartest girls in her class. But as Cy thought about the matter she was perhaps a half notch above those other beauties and the brains didn’t hurt either. But what made her bop was when she got out on that dance floor and let the world see that form making some very provocative moves without being that “bad” girl that a lot of girls were striving to look like after having seen too many grade B-films where the bad girls got all the attention and all the dates (although nobody asked about how many had to go see “Aunt Emma” for several months and as a result not finish high school).     

Cy had on the night after the Autumn Leaves dance that started off the school dance season awakened in a cold sweat thinking about Lucy dancing on the top of tables on the side of the gym when the DJ played Warren Smith’s Rock and Roll Ruby. Thought about how she arched that back of hers, how she let her dress slide up just so to give every guy in the place an eyeful, how those firm breasts tilted just so. Maybe he should have taken a cold shower right then. But right then he resolved that, yeah, Lucy Larkin was the be-boppingest girl in town and he better get to her fast.