The Adventures Of Bette Porter and Sissee Gardner After Yale (Part 6, Chapter 6)

PART SIX: TIJUANA, MEXICO

Chapter 6

All six of us went to the bullfights at El Toreo de Tijuana on Sunday. My newspaper had secured box seats for me, right under the Presidente’s box but Patty had an inside contact who came up with six reserved barrea seats in the front row.

Patty also brought three bota bags full of wine. It was only noon when we took our seats but we were curious about the bags and how they worked. They were made of soft leather, kidney shaped with a screw top on the neck. Each bag had a red braided cord so we could carry them over our shoulders. Then, when we were ready for a drink, we simply brought the top to our lips, squeezed the bag and a stream of wine came out.

Patty was really good at it. She would start at her mouth and raise the bag as high as she could with a steady stream, coming down, straight into her mouth, every time.

Bette loved it! She caught on fast, while the rest of us missed a few times, coloring up our clothes with wine stains. But who cared! It was Mexico! It was a special day of fiesta at the corridos de toros! We were surrounded by aficionados. There was the loud music with trumpets dominating and we were ready for the promenade to begin! Ole!

Bette looked exceptionally radiant. She had bought herself several leather outfits, one of which she had on. I had trouble trying to figure out what color I liked best on her and decided it was what ever color she was wearing.

For the corrida she wore an appropriate red. From the bottom up she had red boots on with a one inch heel; her leather britches were hip huggers over which she had a matching jacket with fringes on the arms and chest, under which she wore a cashmere, short-sleeved sweater with a low v-neck that certainly accentuated her breasts.

With her auburn hair curled in tiny ringlets, she was a knock-out. Each of us paled compared to her in our designer jeans and assorted blouses but all together we stood out in the crowd with Bette as the focal attraction. She was the perfect beautiful woman, the senorita that bullfighters looked for in the crowd to dedicate their bulls to.