Twilight Time

Prologue

Paul Newman was only 21 years old. He'd lived in New Haven, Connecticut while attending Yale. While at Yale, he found himself up to the normal shenanigans a college boy would find himself in. Partying with his friends, chasing after girls, and most of all, starting a ruckus with his frat brothers.

The fraternity house of Sigma Pi was on the outskirts of the university, and some would say it was one of the best houses. Dating back to the 19th century, for over fifty years the Sigma Pi boys resided in that house. And on one particular day, Paul found it was a very special day for him.

The Sigma Pi boys would be throwing one of the first parties of the fall semester. Standing in the kitchen, Paul wore a knitted sweater vest over his linen button up, along with beige slacks and brown loafers. Lazily he allowed his hand to rest in his pocket, and his blue eyes stared at the small calendar on the wall.

"The date's wrong." Paul announced to his brothers.

"Well why don't you fix it, nitwit?" Marlon Brando, the president of the fraternity scoffed at Paul. Marlon was one of Paul's closest friends, and so his jester barely scathed or surprised him. Paul lifted his hand and tugged at the paper, removing it to reveal the proper date. September 2nd, 1965. Paul would not know it then, but this would be the date that he died.

"We've got the beer, boys!" James Dean bursted through the front door and his voice rang throughout the house. Along with him was Sal Mineo, who helped James carry in the large keg. They both laughed as they settled it in the living room.

"Can you keep it down, I'm trying to study here!" Nat King Cole called out from the couch.

"And you are still just an interest." Sal reminded Nat with a smile.

"So you have to keep doing as we say until you finally get into our brotherhood." James joked as he playfully took the textbook out of Nat's hands. Then Sal and James both gallantly made their way into the kitchen.

Paul sat at the island of the kitchen eating an apple and flipping through Time magazine. He tried to drown out his brother's discussions.

"Are you seeing her tonight?" Sal asked Marlon, who stood much taller than him and whose shoulders spanned far wider than he.

"Who?" Marlon lifted a chin as he crossed his strong arms over his chest.

"Rita Moreno, you know who." Sal reminded him.

"I don't know about her." Marlon leaned against the island where Paul sat. "I kind of had my eyes set on Natalie."

"Natalie Wood?" Asked James. "I don't know, Marlon, I heard Warren Beatty had his eyes on her."

"Of Beta Omicron? Who cares what he thinks?" Marlon screwed up his face. James kicked his feet while hearing Marlon speak about the girls he was interested in, holding his hands behind his back.

"Yeah, B.O." Sal laughed. "Guess they really stink, huh?"

"I was also thinking about making my moves on Joanne Woodward." Marlon bit down on his full bottom lip. That is when Paul perked up from his magazine.

"Joanne?" Paul swerved around in his stool. "She's off limits, that's gonna be my girl."

"You've been going after her for months and you've yet to make a move." Marlon rose a brow at Paul. "All bets are off for you as far as I'm concerned."

"You can't just step in on my girl!" Paul hopped onto the floor and got aggressively close to Marlon. These two boys usually were as thick as thieves, but now Paul looked like he wanted to cut Marlon's throat out.

"Hey, hey, boys." James came between them. Neither Paul or Marlon broke eye contact with each other. "Marlon, you've always got a new broad on your mind. Maybe leave this one alone."

"James, you're always trying to get in the way of me getting pussy." Marlon said in a low growl, still while staring at Paul.

"Marlon, why do you need Joanne? Don't you go both ways of the street?" Paul questioned, which caused Marlon to lunge at him. Almost all of the boys had to jump in to stop them.

Nat, who still sat in the living room, came into the kitchen to see what all of the noise was. He adjusted his round, metal rimmed glasses at the sight of the boys fighting.

James and Sal were able to finally break it up. "Hey, we don't need to go on about any fag business here." James joked, which caused Sal to shoot him a look. "How about this. Tonight, we're having our big party, right? If Paul bags Joanne by midnight, then she's Paul's. If he fails, or if she rejects him, then Marlon can take a shot at her. Yeah?"

Marlon chewed on the gum in his mouth slowly, a crooked grin spreading across his face as he looked Paul up and down. "Alright. I guess that means Paul's gonna have to grow balls all within a few hours."

Marlon backed away from Paul, then slyly left the kitchen. James and Nat followed behind. Sal took one last glimpse at Paul, then walked off.

That evening, Paul got dressed for the party. He wore his best attire, a tweed blazer over a solid colored button up, which was tucked into dark grey slacks and black loafers. As he looked in the mirror, he combed back his greased hair. He tried to amp himself up for talking to Joanne.

"Hey Joanne, I know you've got a lot of guys after you, but I was wondering if— no." He cursed under his breath. Then he tilted his posture a bit and put on a cool air. "Joanne? Oh you're here? Well you look snappy tonight."

He let out a breath and leaned over the sink. "Snappy?"

He jumped up at the sound of the bathroom door swinging open. When he looked up in the reflection of the mirror, he could see Marlon in the mirror.

"The sorority girls are here." Marlon announced. "Hey, how about you hurry up and get rejected by Joanne? I don't got all night."

"I bet you do, because the girl's gonna be mine." Paul pointed at himself. Marlon laughed and walked out of the bathroom, and Paul let out a chuckle too. Then he picked up his cologne and sprayed his neck.

In just a few short hours, Paul would find himself face down a lake. He would not be noticed by the attendees of the party until 30 minutes after his drowning. Upon the discovery of his body, the entire party disbursed. Authorities would not arrive on scene until an hour later.

And no, Paul did not get to Joanne. But that is a story to be told later.