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The Call - Fourteen rowdy, and Ted was in need of a good dose of laughter. Ralph and Ted had been regulars at The Chucker up until the time of Ted’s illness, which in fact had led to one of those incidents for which the place was famous. After Ted’s hepati- tis was diagnosed and he was hospitalized, Ralph informed the bar’s patrons that they had all been exposed to the highly contagious disease. They loudly complained about the gamma globulin injections they would have to receive, none more loudly than Dr. Eugene Thorn, a professor at the uni- versity. He railed at the absent Ted for a while, and then he railed at the doctors, nurses, and medicine in general, declaring he would never go to the hospital. But the gang at The Chucker loaded him up with them and took off, with Dr. Thorn pro- testing the entire way. When they arrived, the others insisted that the good pro- fessor should be first, if only to shut him up, so he was escorted into the exam room by a nurse who told him to drop his shorts and bend over the table. While she was preparing the hypodermic, a doctor suddenly threw open the door, and Dr. Thorn, fully exposed, mooned the crowd in the waiting room. This display was met with resounding applause, and thereafter Dr. Thorn’s invectives against Ted turned threaten- ing. “He’s had it!” the professor roared, “and I’m going to give it to him! When Ted Rice recovers, he’s mine. He’s cost me twenty dollars for this damned shot, and he’s made me show my ass to everyone in town!” And the story grew more outrageous and embellished every time it was recounted down at The Chucker. So when Ted showed up that Saturday night, he was a renowned fig- ure. He walked in the door, and all the action and noise stopped as the crowd stared at him in ominous silence. At a far table, someone suddenly jumped up and pointed in alarm at Ted, yelling, “Run, everybody, it’s Typhoid Teddy!” The place exploded in laughter, and Ted made his way over to Dr. Thorn’s table, ordered a beer, and sat down, look- ing around at the crowd. It was a typical mix of ditch diggers and students, CPAs and professors, coeds and a couple of Masquerade of Angels 128 The Call - Fourteen surreptitious hookers, and plenty of Ted’s old buddies. A few black faces stood out in the crowd, and the Hippies added a touch of eccentric color to the mix. Even Regina Cook, a notorious ex-ballerina now weighing in at three hundred pounds, showed up for a one-time performance on roller The doors flew open, and there stood Regina, resplendent in an oversized tutu. She leapt into a swan dive arabesque and wheeled off through the crowd, scattering chairs and patrons as Dr. Thorn yelled out, “Gangway! Regina’s rolling!” The screams eventually subsided, and things returned to order, aside from two fights that everyone else ignored until the boxers gave up and ordered another round together. It was a boisterous night at The Chucker, and before the cus- tomers knew it, midnight sneaked up on them and they were ordered out. But the revelers weren’t ready to call it a night. Someone shouted, “Hey, there’s a party over at Joe’s house! You all follow me!” And the people responded, spilling out of The Chucker and into a caravan of cars rolling off down the street. “Well, you’re not going to turn into a pumpkin at the stroke of midnight,” Dr. Thorn told Ted. “So come on, you’re going, too. You’re the only one who’s sober, you’ ve got to drive.” And Ted found himself shanghaied off with a crew of cra- zies piling into his car. All the passengers, who had been drinking to excess, shouted directions incoherently, with Dr. Thorn thundering loud above everyone else. Soon Ted pulled into the correct driveway and followed the crowd into the party, which had been underway for hours. People crammed into every room, and by this time of night they were a very friendly crowd. Ted wandered through the large old house, waving and talking and listening to music that was unlike any he’d ever heard, full of strange rhythms and strange instruments. Sometime later, he came across a small group gathered around a low table in one room, and Ted didn’t recognize the Masquerade of Angels 129