Boom, Boom - Out Go The Lights!  − 1 June, 1986

Lady In Red? Yeah, that was her alright. Even if she had not been the only woman (or person for that matter) on the dance floor, she would have gotten our attention. Early 20s, I would guess, with brown hair which fell in curls just past her shoulders. Definitely a wild child of the sort to be commandeering a dance floor in an empty club. Every so often, she would cast a coy glance in our direction.

It was still fairly early in the evening as the Myrtle Beach club scene went. Steve and I had our choice of tables and we made sure to get a ringside seat for the action. We ordered some watered-down beers and began to wager which of us she wanted to dance with. After a few songs, she wandered over to our table. The moment of truth, at last!

As she settled into a vacant chair, it became obvious that the young lady was just a wee bit dispossessed of her faculties. Her dress somehow snagged on the back of the chair, causing the garment to ride provocatively up her legs. She was oblivious (or perhaps not) to the distress she was causing us. Introducing herself as Jennifer, we returned the favor by lying through our teeth. Steve was now Nick Stokes and I was Jeff Black; names that we had made up ahead of time, just in case we got into any situations in which full disclosure was ill-advised.

Emboldened by alcohol, I struck up a conversation while Steve's attention was diverted to the display of tanned legs afforded by her misplaced attire. The club's DJ played something she really liked and we were off to the dance floor, leaving Steve to ponder the loss of his wager. After a couple of songs we returned to the table. At about the same time, a couple of older (late 20s) guys entered the establishment. She apparently knew them, referring to them as her "brothers". They seemed congenial enough, so it looked like we wouldn't be getting our butts handed to us by jealous boyfriends anytime soon.

Having become bored with dancing (or more likely my pitiful attempts at finding rhythm), she decided that she wanted to have a party back at her hotel room. Now you have to realize that Steve and I were two fairly naive upperclassmen from a Southern Baptist college. Naive enough to join the familial threesome for the trip to the Cadillac Court, a hold-over from the days when motor courts reigned supreme in the Grand Strand.

We climbed in the back of a white four-door BMW with Jennifer, while her siblings took the front. In no time we were flying north on Ocean Boulevard and I do mean flying. In 1986, it was still possible to cruise at speed down that piece of pavement. Matching the pace were the pounding rhythms of Pat Travers' rock anthem, "Boom, Boom - Out Go The Lights" bursting forth from the Beamer's high-end audio system.

Almost as soon as the trip started, the car slowed to a stop and Jennifer climbed out. She apparently changed her mind, yet again, and decided that a visit to the Bowery, a legendary honky-tonk in Myrtle Beach, was in order. Without a word, she walked off and we were left with two guys we didn't know from Adam. One of them asked, "Where are you staying?”

Well thank goodness they didn't plan to kill us before we could check out of our lodgings. Mighty nice of them. Dumbfounded at the whole turn of events, we responded with the name of our hotel and the race was on again. This time, we reached speeds of 80 MPH, Mr. Travers still flailing away with his guitar.

The car came to a quick stop in front of our place and we bid a thankful, but hasty, goodnight to our chauffeurs. The brothers screeched off into the darkness leaving us to wonder what the hell had just transpired. Given our next course of action, I would have liked to say that we were intoxicated. Unfortunately, the whirlwind tour of Ocean Boulevard had all, but driven the beer from our veins - if by sheer g-force alone. Not content to be safe and sound, our line of reasoning went as follows:

1) She said she wanted to have a party at her hotel.
2) Her hotel is the Cadillac Court.
3) We are only a ten minute walk from the Cadillac Court.
4) Ergo, we should walk to the Cadillac Court.

And so we did. In fairly short order we were standing in the parking lot of the motor inn with no idea as to which of the 83 rooms contained a party. Jennifer's frantic voice quickly provided us with a clue. How she had gotten back to the hotel so quickly, we had no idea. She couldn't have been at the Bowery long enough to tip back a shot, much less make it worth her while to stop in the first place. We didn't give it a lot of thought. There was a room on the second floor with the door standing wide open. Jennifer was in said room. We were still expecting a party. 'nuff said.

As we approached her room, it was obvious that she was NOT happy about something. From the light spilling out of the doorway I could see an older gentleman standing just past the door, casually leaning over the railing. Think Willie Nelson-cum-Hell's Angel and you get the general drift. I wasn't sure if he was a member of Jennifer's extended family or just a guest. Meanwhile, the Lady In Red was busy tearing her room apart and cursing her brothers at the same time. "Where in the hell did they put it?” was her mantra as pillows and bed sheets took flight.

Steve bravely stepped into the maelstrom to help her find whatever she had misplaced while I engaged in a bit of nervous banter with Mr. Nelson. Sure enough, he was a biker and had (according to his story) spent some time with the aforementioned Angels. Now he was something of a lone wolf. He cordially shared some tales from the road while Steve tried to get to the bottom of the search. "WHERE IN THE HELL DID THEY PUT THE COCAINE???!!!!", finally came the anguished answer.

Despite our gross excesses in stupidity up to that point, Steve and I arrived at the same thought simultaneously - "Gardner-Webb students involved in Grand Strand drug bust, tonight on the News At Eleven". Yep, that would get us in more brimstone than selling condoms during weekly convocation.

I don't think that BMW could have gotten us back to our hotel any faster.

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