Page 58 - Philly Girl

42 Janice Shapiro

glasses. He was weird and awkward. He had a stutter. We
found the stutter kind of charming. Reeva considered Danny
her “project,” but he liked me. Soon, he grew out his curly
black hair into a white-boy Afro. He lost the saddles and the
horn-rimmed glasses. For a while, he followed me around
campus. We giggled in English class, and he finally asked
me to a Joni Mitchell concert. Reeva was furious.
Williams Hall had a rule in those days: “three feet on the
floor.” This was to ensure there would be no full-on make-
out sessions in our boy-restricted rooms. One night, Danny
and I were caught in the act and put before a student tribu-
nal. Reeva gloated, and hoped that I would be thrown out
of Williams Hall. That didn’t happen.
Here’s what did happen: About a month after the Joni
Mitchell concert, Danny told me that he was in love with
his roommate, Tom. Soon after that surprise, Reeva and I
became the best of friends—and remained so for years. She
turned me on to John Barth, The Oresteian Trilogy, and Tim
Buckley. We loved Tim with a passion, and would quote
lyrics from his songs all evening long.
Danny stayed friends with both of us. Much later, he
would fall in love with yet another Tom—and they’ve been
together for decades.
Reeva died of a brain tumor in 2008. May she rest in
peace.