Meeting Mary Jane
Who: Donna Vopecelli (surname changed), 23 year old OU Graduate Art Student from Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City
When: February 10, 1965, between sundown and 10:00 pm,
Where: Ranchero Drive-in Theater at 24th & Alameda in Norman, Oklahoma (progress has since eliminated)
Why: The devil caught me unaware.
How: Meeting Mary Jane.
Yes, I had met this "older woman" in the University of Oklahoma library while completing an assignment for a Library Science class. If one had any hopes of graduate school, one must know the library. Anyway, she was very sexy in an Italian sort of way, but not really pretty…if you know what I mean. Oh…she was slim and kinda tallish and had long gorgeous legs. She had mops of glossy, wavy black hair that fell on her shoulders...and beautiful black eyes. She lived above Across the Street, a campus corner restaurant, in a nice little one bedroom apartment. Since one of the art professors owned the restaurant and the apartment above, I’ve since wondered if she was a “kept woman”. She said she wanted to see the movie that was on at the Ranchero and it was a very nice evening for the middle of January…about 50* or so; so that is where we went. We arrived just as it was getting dark. The western sky was still a little red when she asked, “You wanna get high?"
Now, in those days, “high” was also how people supposedly felt when intoxicated on booze or some pills…not plastered (reference the song “Scotch & Soda” by the Kingston Trio); so, completely unaware of the drug scene, I naively responded, “I’m sorry. I wasn’t able to get a bottle. I tried.” She smiled a knowing smile that comforted me as she said, “I said high, silly…not drunk.” From her purse appeared the first marijuana seen by these eyes. It was not really a joint as I came to know them later, for it was not wrapped in paper; but a small cigarillo, wrapped in leaf. Its aroma, even unlit, was overpowering, almost a chocolaty fragrance with a hint of skunk. She reached across me and rolled down the window, making sure to introduce my normal chest to her rather voluptuous one. On the way back, she kissed me on the mouth and openly rubbed her boobs on me. Things were looking very good. People were settling into their cars as the concession stand ads began on the big screen.
She put the cigarillo to her lips and lit it, inhaling deeply and holding it for quite a while. God, she was soooo sexy. She nodded to me as she held her breath and offered the joint to me. I was quite apprehensive, knowing this was taboo; but what could it hurt….after all. I inhaled the first little bit and tried to hold it it just as she had. Suddenly, I was hacking and gagging. She blew her smoke out the window and started laughing. “Take another.” She urged, so I did….and another before handing it back. She took another large drag on the joint and handed it to me again. I inhaled much more this time and managed not to cough, although I was wheezing a bit. We both blew it out the windows and sat back for a couple of minutes. “Want some more?” she giggled. I laughed and said, “Sure. Why not?” She took my right hand and put it on her left boob, holding it there while she took another huge drag from the cigarillo. Not to be too much a ‘rookie’, I took in all I could and held it. Keep in mind that in those days, I was a water safety instructor with huge lung capacity, capable of 2.75 to 3 full minutes of sub-surface activity...not just sitting there, a little under the surface. Whatever in that stuff that works, was gonna work on me.
All I can say is, "That musta been some good stuff." The next thing I remember is crawling over the back of the front seat from the back seat. I guess I had forgotten the seats reclined. I looked back and saw her there, just lighting a cigarette….absolutely naked. She was sooo very sexy, with that long black hair falling over her. Wow. What a vision. Anyway, trying to be as cool as could be having just ‘come to’ and suddenly realizing that I just had sex and didn’t even remember it, I said “I’m going to the concession stand. Want something?”
Whatever we had done had taken the entire first feature to do. I heard her mumble, “Wow…that was superb.” Then she said, ”What?....Wait. I’ll have a large Dr. Pepper and some buttered popcorn.” As I opened the door, I was very careful not to bang it against the speaker post. The speaker was hung on my rear side window. I started walking to the concession stand; but, in those very few seconds while still rapt in attempts to remember any part of what she called “superb” and before I realized what I was doing, horns started honking and lights started flashing. A guy walking to the concession stand saw me and started laughing. Oh, s**t! Oh, s**t! I was naked as a jay bird…au natural. I raced back to the car, crushed the door against the post getting in, then tore away without replacing the speaker. It tore out my rear side window as the speaker tore loose from the post.
I went to a small city park close by and let her get it all together. I was still stoned, but stark reality has a way of straightening a person up quickly. Strangely enough, she found great humor in it all. I took her home, apologized and was leaving, when she said, “Don’t freak out. Call me.” I turned and looked at her for a moment. She was still soooo sexy. She stepped over and kissed me hard on the mouth, whispering, “Call me.”
I never saw her again. Two weeks later, two Federal agents came to the dorm, then took me to the Federal Building in Oklahoma City to give a deposition to Federal and State authorities. They had been working in conjunction during an undercover drug sting. I related our single date, this story, and that I had never been inside her apartment. They laughed their butts off and gave me a ride back to the dorm. Apparently, she was considered a major link for much more than marijuana. They had found pounds of pills, heroin, cocaine and pot stashed in the walls of her apartment. One of the agents was nice enough to call me several months later to relate that she had been sentenced to 20 years + a year by a conservative Federal judge, saying that according to the letter of the law, she would have to serve that added year BEFORE any consideration for parole. Too bad. She'd be 45 and 'hard' by the time she got out. Probably not too sexy.
Just to complete the story, I paid the Ranchero Drive-in $28 to repair the speaker AND I paid $138 for damages incurred to my car.
I still wish I could remember more of whatever happened in the back seat. She was soooo sexy. I think part of it was that Brooklyn accent. I was an absolute fool for Mona Lisa Vito in My Cousin Vinny.
And what an initiation to the pot experience! I won the “Strangest Date Contest” on KRXO in the ‘92 with this tale; and, in 2003, won another contest re pot experiences on XM Radio, the Sixties Channel. They donated $1000 in my name to some current cause. Both sent me some goodies. The goodies are either used up, thrown away or in a thrift store in OKC.
And so it happens…..LIFE.
Comments