MARCH 1979, the disco years
Victoria's deceit exposed
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I was angry following the
March 10th Pistachio Party. Joanne skipped Camelot on the 16th.
She skipped again on the 23rd. As expected, she skipped the 30th
as well.
I asked her about it. Apparently Joanne was the new Sweetheart of
the Rodeo at this strange Cactus Club that was her new hangout.
All I could do was shake my head with regret. I missed dancing with Joanne on Fridays. I missed watching
Victoria frown every time I danced with Joanne. Now that the
Joanne the Cat was gone, the bear had come down from the tree. Now
that Victoria had inherited Joanne's mantle of best female dancer, she
was insufferable. Victoria resumed trying to push me
around at Camelot. Tired of her demands to do this and do that, I
decided to get to the bottom of things. What had Victoria done to
eliminate Joanne? So I began to snoop around. I did not dare
speak to the Roundtable wives for fear Victoria would know I was
checking on her. Instead I asked some of the other Camelot
regulars if they knew anything about Joanne. This got me nowhere
on 16th or 23rd. The women I asked either drew a blank or played
dumb. However, on the final Friday of March I got the scoop from a
girl named Tiffany. She was a co-worker and friend of Lydia, one
of Victoria's Circle of Wives. Lydia had persuaded Tiffany to
start taking classes back in January. Noticing Tiffany, I wondered
if the two women ever talked at work about dancing and Camelot.
"Hey, Tiffany, have
you heard anything about Joanne? I've been wondering what happened
to her."
"Lydia told
me Joanne wore out her welcome. The way I heard it, Joanne
tried to get hot and heavy with you at the dance party, so Victoria put her
foot down. Victoria passed the word that she didn't want to see her
friend Patricia hurt by some cheap flirt. Then Lydia
told me not to tell Patricia. I asked why not and
Lydia just frowned. That's all I know."
I wanted to kiss
Tiffany for spilling the beans, but managed to keep my
cool. "Okay, that makes sense. I guess Victoria was trying to do
Patricia a favor by sticking up for her. Thank you for
your help."
Putting two and two
together, I was pretty sure Victoria had organized a smear campaign
behind my back. I was incredulous. Of all the nasty stunts
to pull. There were times when I despised Victoria.
This was one of them. Joanne's Cold
Shoulder treatment at the Spring Dance Party was a real eye-opener
because it revealed the full degree of Victoria's viciousness. It spoke
to character. Victoria
was more than willing to hurt people if that is what it took.
Based on what Tiffany had said, I concluded Victoria
had
gone after Joanne's scalp. It was hard to imagine someone cared
enough about Disco to willingly humiliate another person, but
I guess it was that important to Victoria.
Victoria scared me.
Lately her possessiveness was off the charts. She
complained about certain women I danced with. If the lady was pretty, Victoria objected. If
the lady could really dance, Victoria objected. Leaving
Michael alone with Patricia and the Round Table husbands, Victoria
followed me around the club lest I show interest in someone.
Whenever Michael was out of sight, she
acted as if she owned me. Now that
I think about it, maybe she did. Without Joanne, I grew
more concerned about Victoria's dark side. Would
she be content to stop at being the Disco Queen or would she take things further? What if her mean streak got worse?
Would Victoria turn on me if I defied her? I was in a real
quandary. The person I admired
the most was also the person I feared the most.
Now that Victoria had used a
dagger on Joanne, I prayed her dagger would never be
turned on me. As long as Victoria stuck to business, we would be okay.
The sensible thing to do was let
Victoria continue to build the business and take my chances.
However, I knew I was taking an incredible chance with my
appeasement strategy. If
Victoria lost control of her emotions, my business could
go up in flames. I decided this was a risk I had
to take. As long as I did nothing wrong, I
could probably contain Victoria's temper. I also gambled that Patricia's presence and Victoria's marriage would
keep her under control. However, without Joanne, there were no guarantees. Victoria
was scaring me. My Risky Business had
become much Riskier.
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MARCH 1979, the disco years
THIN ICE
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As March drew to
an end,
I
should have been on
top of the world. My business was doing really well.
Money was pouring in and the energy at the studio was sky
high. But I was worried sick.
I felt threats
everywhere. Gloomy Lance Stevens
continued to glower at me. He was still trying to figure out what I
had done to generate all these students. Standing
beside Stevens was Cliann, the scary Queen of the Dark. She was
still looking for any excuse to get rid of me.
Alicia, the third member of the Three Grouchos, continued to
shake her head in disgust.
Then there was this
nagging Western development to worry about. In late
February several Discos had closed their doors. That was ominous
enough. Even stranger was seeing these same
clubs reopen in late March as Country-Western dance halls. If
more Discos
closed, I was certain big trouble was just around the corner.
How was Disco going to remain popular if all the venues closed?
Meanwhile the Diva Triangle
generated more drama than a daytime soap opera.
Joanne had boxed herself into a corner
at the Pistachio. Still bitter at being shunned, so far Joanne
had decided to stick
to
her decision to avoid Camelot. Unless she changed her
mind, all she and I had left was our Monday private lesson plus
the Advanced Disco class later the same night.
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Patricia continued
to make a fool of herself by flirting with the
Round Table husbands. Every Friday night
Patricia sat next to a group of wives who obviously did not like
her. It was just a matter of time before one of the wives lost
her temper.
Thanks to Tiffany, I
now had confirmation that Victoria was orchestrating
developments behind my back. I was skating on thin ice
here. I did not
know what exactly what Victoria was up to, but I was terrified
the secret of the Dangerous Liaison was about to be revealed. In her campaign to
isolate Joanne, I assumed Victoria had revealed to the wives that she
had seen Joanne make a strong move on me back in early
January, the night of the Tirade.
There was always a danger Victoria's gossip could
rupture the paper thin margin
that separated Patricia from learning the truth.
The fact that the women never talked to
Patricia was the only
thing preventing
the subject of Joanne's aggressive behavior on
Tirade Saturday
from migrating to the Princess.
There's
an old joke. "I'm just one drink from telling you what
I really think!"
What if one
of the wives
got angry at Patricia for flirting with her
husband and blurted out the Tirade gossip to upset her?
If any of the wives
lost their temper and snapped at Patricia,
no doubt she would turn to me for further explanation. Or she would turn to Victoria, an extinction level event
for sure. Speaking of
Patricia, I worried that Victoria might put the knife in her back as well. Now
that Joanne
was eliminated by the whisper campaign, Patricia had outlived her usefulness
to Victoria.
This meant there was
no longer any real reason for Victoria or the other five wives to
avoid speaking candidly to Patricia.
Furthermore, now
that Victoria had figured Joanne out, would she see through my
Mountain of Bullshit? The fastest way to learn the hidden truth
would be for Victoria to compare notes with Patricia. If
Victoria shared even the slightest hint of her suspicions with Patricia,
the revelations very well could
unlock the Gates of Hell.
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Too many people...
Stevens, Cliann, Victoria, Joanne, Patricia... held power over me.
One wrong move and it could go up in smoke. Or
maybe the emerging Country-Western threat would kill all the
Discos and pull the curtain on the constant drama.
Here in the
Year of Living Dangerously, Victoria was by far the greatest
threat.
I regretted
how deeply Victoria
had gotten her hooks into my business. Her alliance
with Patricia coupled with her decision to hurt Joanne
had cost me an all-important corner of the Triangle. By ostracizing
Joanne, Victoria neutralized the one surefire weapon I had used to
keep Queen Vic in check. Thus the loss of Joanne allowed Victoria to
regain the Upper Hand.
Now that she was calling the shots again, if
Victoria turned on me, she could jeopardize my entire dance program.
Unable to see any way to extricate myself from Victoria's grip,
I
felt I had no choice but to appease her.
This messy
business with Joanne had opened my eyes. By hurting
Joanne, Victoria had given me an ominous preview of
how she would treat me if I ever crossed her.
Now that she had turned dark, her vindictiveness
had me more worried than any
time previously. In my nightmare, Victoria was hurtling towards me faster
than an
end-of-life asteroid.
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April 1979, the disco years
AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE
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What was
Victoria's problem? Why was winning the Trophy so darn
important? I tried to look at things from Victoria's
point of view. She had organized the Halloween Party,
the Christmas Party and now Camelot. Victoria had
created the mailing list, spent countless hours on the
phone, made countless trips to volunteer at the studio.
Not once had she asked for a dime in return. Sad to
say, in the process, the dance program was perceived more as
belonging to Victoria than me. Thanks to her talent
and hard work, her social prowess at Camelot was talk of the
town. Victoria loved ruling over her Kingdom because she
thrived on attention, celebrity and popularity. Victoria dreamed of being
the dance star. So far Joanne had barred the door.
Given Victoria's penchant for ruthlessness, maybe Joanne
should feel fortunate not to get kneecapped. However,
Victoria had done the next best thing by turning public
opinion against her rival. Joanne
already had one foot out the door following her visit to
Gilley's in early March. Following
her humiliation at the Spring Dance Party,
Joanne's self-esteem could not take another round of abuse.
In addition, she had lost respect for the Disco crowd in
general. Since Camelot no longer held any appeal, I feared Joanne was a
lost cause.
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Victoria's
days as my assistant were over. Business was so
good,
Victoria became a paid instructor on Tuesdays
and Thursdays. Victoria taught her class in one room while I taught
my class in another
room. Victoria was
ready. She was funny, charming,
full of enthusiasm.
Promoting my
classes had never been a strength of mine.
Victoria was just
the opposite. She was amazing at persuading students to
continue onto the next level of classes.
Her students loved
her and would do anything she asked.
A born cheerleader, Victoria Sunshine was a force to behold.
Once she got through with the pep talk, the students
could not wait to sign up for the next class. Victoria worked
small miracles time and again.
By Christmas time last year, Victoria
had doubled the number of students in my program. By the time
April rolled around, in just three months, Victoria
had nearly doubled the program again. Nor was there any end in
sight.
The March
Pistachio Party
was a huge
success. In stark contrast to the Mystery of the Western Transformation,
Victoria's Spring Party indicated Disco was alive and well. With the
Class
Factory sending us a steady supply of new students to go with the ones
we already had, April was sure to bring another bonanza.
Victoria was a dictator, but so far she had been a
benevolent one. I crossed my fingers and hoped for the
best.
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Amidst this good
fortune, there was a disturbing development. On Friday,
April 6, Victoria called me at home to announce
March had been the last
hurrah for her private Friday class. This
group had started in October-November, continued through
December-January, then February-March. However, the group
did not want to continue into April-May. It had been a good
ride, but
six months of dance classes was enough for the
people in that class. At least that is what Victoria
told me. She was curiously uncommunicative about it,
so I did not pry.
That same night, April 6th,
I got some more bad news.
In addition to discontinuing their Friday night lessons, I was surprised to
discover that none of the group had come to Camelot. Instead there were six people
I had never met sitting in the spot reserved for
the Roundtable. Where did these people come from? Apparently
Victoria had invited them.
I thought it was
odd that the five Roundtable couples had
disappeared from the scene overnight. Michael was
missing as well. It was one thing
to stop taking dance classes, but why stop dancing altogether? Why would these avid dancers
drop Camelot cold turkey?
My intuition told me Michael
was the key. Perhaps Michael was
tired of Disco.
More likely, I wondered if
something tense was going on behind closed doors. Maybe Michael
wasn't so thrilled about his wife being gone all the time, three
nights a week. Victoria wasn't saying, but I suspected that might be the
reason. The men of the Roundtable were loyal
to Michael. If Michael refused to come on Friday night,
without their leader, the other husbands had a strong reason to stop. This
was just a guess, but it made sense.
I was worried that Camelot
would suffer from the absence of the Round Table. However, at the
same time I was glad to see Victoria's Circle of Wives leave.
Those women did not like Patricia. They did not like Joanne.
In fact they were not very nice to me either, at least not since the
Pistachio Party. If
Victoria's marriage was in trouble, maybe I was being blamed. And
of course they blamed me for Patricia. Looking
on the bright side, perhaps the loss of these women would strip Victoria of
their invaluable support. If so, it would easier to control Victoria.
One could only hope.
Alas, nothing could stop Victoria.
Although the Roundtable Dance Superstars were gone, Victoria simply
reloaded. Victoria was like a successful basketball coach who
recruits an entire new team to replace graduating seniors.
Victoria replaced her Circle virtually overnight with three brand new
girlfriends from the Thursday class she taught. Nor did she miss
Michael. In fact, to my dismay, her husband's absence strengthened her.
In a sense, Michael had been an anchor. His presence obligated his
wife to hang close to the Round Table. Now that she attended
Camelot alone, Victoria was free to roam around. She could talk to anyone
she wished, dance with whomever she wished, tell me what to do at will. Unencumbered by
Joanne, Michael or her group of friends, she was even more effective as
a crowd pleaser than before. Best of all, without any fear of
comparison to Joanne, Victoria gained the confidence to show off more
when we danced. With
Victoria unchained, Camelot actually picked up energy in April.
It was our best month to date.
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MARCH-April 1979, the disco years
THE MEYERLAND
CLUB
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Even though
Joanne had disappeared from Camelot, Victoria continued to be a royal pain in the ass.
Fearing the arrival of another Joanne, Victoria never relaxed her vigilance. Victoria went
after female threats the same way Knights of the Round
Table once pursued dragons... off with their heads!
Apparently
Joanne's listing on Victoria's Threat Radar was
permanent.
On a March Saturday morning
following our
private dance lesson with Glen, Victoria
insisted I find someone to replace Joanne as my Monday
assistant. Victoria did not bother to offer a reason.
This meant my chance to see Joanne on Mondays would be gone.
I was seriously angry, especially when Victoria said she had a
spy to make sure I cooperated.
The nerve of Victoria! Who did
she think she was to dictate to me? Joanne was a
decent woman. In fact, Joanne had managed to
handle herself with far more dignity than this
temperamental Diva with her outlandish sense of
privilege. So I put my foot down and said enough
was enough... Joanne stays. I told Victoria that
unless Joanne crossed a line, she was welcome to
continue as my assistant. I added that Joanne was
at the studio one lousy night a week. Leave her
alone!
Alarmed by my insistence, Victoria backed
off. However she was not happy about it. Tough. I was sick and tired of letting
Victoria call the shots.
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In late
March, I got a call from a woman named
Sandy. Sandy was the social director at the Meyerland Club,
a private social group for Jewish people. The Meyerland Club was located close to
the Jewish Community Center a few blocks away.
Since the club members all lived in the wealthy Meyerland section of town,
I assumed this was a prosperous group.
Sandy asked
if I would be interested in teaching Disco lessons to her group.
Of course I would.
Sandy suggested Sunday evenings starting in mid-April. That was fine with me.
Sunday was a free evening.
Since Victoria was Jewish,
I considered asking her. However, this was an insane
idea. Why give Victoria another reason for me
to depend on her? What about Joanne? I missed her. I saw her on
Mondays, but that was it. Joanne refused to
return to Camelot and I wanted to mend fences. So I invited Joanne to help me. I
did not need Joanne's help at Meyerland, but why tell
her that?
What I wanted was a way to regain Joanne's trust. Spending more time together
might repair our friendship
and mitigate Victoria's damage. I offered Joanne
a share of the proceeds to sweeten the pot. Joanne said she would enjoy helping,
then added I did not need to pay her.
Nonsense, I insisted.
When I told her to use the money for a new pair of
boots, she laughed. "Okay, Rick, you win.
You can pay me if
you want to. I'll see you Sunday."
I was glad
she said okay. As well she should. Money was
always a problem for Joanne.
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APRIL
1979
QUEEN KONG TURNS ON Godzilla
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Patricia's
George Bombshell had caused me intense
pain. In fact, my anger towards Patricia was so
intense I had been provoked into the Dangerous Liaison.
This turned into one
of the worst mistakes of my life. If Victoria ever
discovered I had slept with Joanne, I would never hear the
end of it. To my surprise,
Patricia had been contrite upon her return to Houston.
Although I could not undo the mistake I had made with
Joanne, Patricia's reappearance had given me a way to
neutralize the fallout from Victoria's Tirade.
To my great
relief, over the past three months Patricia had helped keep
both Joanne and Victoria in their corner of the Temptation
Triangle. Although I am not the
forgiving type, as long as Patricia kept her rivals at bay, I was
willing to extend her stay. I was in for another surprise.
During these three months our relationship had
dramatically improved. Gone were the anger-filled
arguments over law school and my inability to ensure a
future of economic bliss.
One reason for
the improvement was Patricia's willingness to try to fit into my
life. Patricia was in her element at Camelot. Her beauty guaranteed
smiles of appreciation all night long, always a source of
satisfaction.
In particular Patricia got along famously with the husbands in Victoria's
Circle. Patricia
did not have a clue how to make friends with women, but she
hit a real groove with the six Round Table husbands. These guys
really doted on her. Enjoying the attention, Patricia
hung out with them all night long. She made sure to
dance with each husband once per night and held court with conversations
about medical issues.
Patricia was well aware the wives
resented her prowess, but didn't really care one way
or the other.
I had mixed feelings about Patricia.
Deep down I knew Patricia was more bad than good.
However,
to my bafflement I
actually continued to care for her more than I should
have.
For one thing, Patricia was so smart we never ran out of things to talk about.
Our mental connection was strong. Even better, now that we weren't arguing about my dance career, she had
become much warmer towards me. Fortunately, whenever I
felt myself falling for her again, Patricia
would find a way to remind me to keep my
heart under control. At least once a
night at Camelot, Patricia would branch out on her own. She would walk around the club
collecting smiles.
She would
flirt with the various men who showed interest. As
long as he was cute, it did
not matter whether the man was with our group or not. Recalling how
Patricia had sneaked her phone
number to me, I wondered who else she sneaked her number
to. Due to my jealous streak, I would
tense up. But then the name 'George' would pop
into my head and I would remember my cynical decision to
hitch a ride until Patricia no longer suited my
needs. I assumed Patricia was doing the same thing.
She was just sticking around until someone better came
along. I envied Patricia. She was
free to look for her next lover. Not me. If I
was caught smiling at a pretty girl, I would hear about it from
Victoria. Here in March every day in every way Victoria seemed to forget
she was married.
Thanks to the
Camelot
detente between the two Divas,
comparisons were easy to make. Victoria
was the consummate Hostess who spoke warmly to everyone
while Patricia was invariably cold towards women and men she
deemed beneath her. Patricia
saved her energy for the highly educated Round Table husbands and her select group of handsome
regulars. I decided
Patricia's
social weakness was rooted in her family's
military upbringing. Her father was extremely aloof.
He had not lifted a finger to make me feel welcome when I
had visited over Thanksgiving.
He never gave me a chance. In addition, her parents did not seem the type who enjoyed
entertaining guests. Consequently I assumed Patricia was not
given many opportunities to learn social niceties such as making polite small talk. Nor
did anyone bother to teach her the value of making friends
with women. I noticed Patricia became superficial and
evasive whenever
a woman would ask her a question. Patricia's reserved nature took me aback. I
had assumed with her education she would fit
Victoria's group like a glove, but I was mistaken.
Although she did just fine with the men, the women could not
stand her.
Now that Friday had
turned into Patricia's favorite event of the
week, she was in for a nasty surprise on the first Camelot
of April. Given that Victoria had warned me at the
last minute about the demise of the Roundtable group, I did
not have the chance to warn Patricia in advance. When
she showed up, there were six new people sitting in the spot
reserved for the Roundtable. I wasn't there nor was
Victoria. We were on the floor dancing together. Patricia
was crestfallen to find her Roundtable friends had deserted her without a word. Surely
there was a reason. Why no warning, why no goodbye?
Upset, Patricia found a seat to herself and began to pout.
When I returned,
Patricia and I talked it over. We agreed problems with
Victoria's marriage was the likely cause. I had
another theory as well. I think the six wives were so
sick of Patricia they pulled the plug. When Patricia
asked about the strangers, I explained that Victoria
replaced her five previous girlfriends with three new
girlfriends cultivated from her Thursday Disco class.
At this point I introduced Patricia to the new crowd.
In addition to the women, there were two husbands and a boyfriend.
Just then
Victoria appeared. Oddly enough, Victoria
did not bother to introduce Patricia to the group. She
glanced at Patrica, then walked
over to three women. After a brief conversation,
Victoria returned
to the dance floor. Victoria's discourtesy was my
first clue that something was up, so I followed her into the
crowd. Curious, I asked Victoria how she had become so
close to these women in such a short time.
"Oh, we
made friends in dance class. I've
known them for over a month. We talk on the phone practically every day."
I hated
Victoria's knack for the telephone. Her
use of the phone was a powerful way to
maintain the Upper Hand over me. So why not fight
fire with fire? Are you kidding? I
hated talking on the phone! I rarely spoke to anyone
on the phone unless someone called for information about
dance classes. Advantage Victoria. She was far better at
molding people's perceptions than me.
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I could tell Patricia was unimpressed with the three new men. Not one rich
man among them. Nor were
they anywhere near as interesting as the medical guys
in the previous group. Oh well, they would have to do.
And so Patricia went to work charming
the new men. It didn't take long before
they were eating out of her hand.
Patricia knew the recipe. She made sure to ask each man to dance.
They were all beginners, but Patricia was nice to them. Pretty
soon the new guys were grinning from head to toe. I was impressed. Patricia really had a way with
men. Patricia was a born snake charmer, probably
because she was a snake herself.
I studied
the women. I could tell they had the same negative reaction towards
Patricia as the previous administration. Who could
blame them? Patricia had shown them no respect while
monopolizing
their men all night long. Noticing the alarm written
on the faces of the new girlfriends, I believed Victoria had
warned them in advance what to look for. Predictably, Patricia's
command over the newcomers had validated
Victoria's warning.
Please note I have no proof. However, since the same thing happened to Patricia
that had happened to Joanne, I do not think this was a
coincidence. I
suspect Victoria had called Patricia a 'Manhunter'. Since
it happened to be true, this
was hardly a difficult rumor to sell.
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Friday, April 13, 1979
BACKGAMMON BACKSTAB
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Friday the
Thirteenth is traditionally associated with Bad
Luck. I can certainly vouch for that.
Off to a lousy start in April, Patricia received a
dose of unwelcome Karma the following Friday.
Unfortunately it was Joanne who suffered the most.
Although Patricia
remained unaware of my Dangerous Liaison back in January,
lately she had
become ultra-suspicious of Joanne. Perhaps some of the Vicious Rumors about Joanne had drifted her way.
More likely it was Joanne's blatant hug after our
dance at the March Pistachio Party.
A month had
passed since the problems at the March
Party.
Joanne's disappearance following the party helped calm
Patricia's suspicions. In fact, Patricia had not said a word about Joanne in
weeks. So when Victoria informed me she
and Michael would be out of town this coming Friday, I let Joanne know the coast was clear if she wanted to
drop by the Pistachio Club and dance with
me.
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To my dismay, Patricia took up the
vigilance in Victoria's absence. When
Joanne began to follow me around like a puppy dog
hungry for affection,
Patricia watched with increasing irritation. Her anger grew
stronger
when Joanne and I danced together several times. Princess
Patricia's emerald green eyes
glistened with jealousy.
Meanwhile
Victoria's new friends did not help. For reasons
Patricia did not understand, the same men who had been her
friends last week were much cooler. That forced
Patricia out in the crowd to look for some of her alternate
admirers.
When some guy
asked asked Patricia to dance, Joanne used the
distraction to invite me to
play a game of backgammon. After the dance was
over, Patricia came looking. When Patricia
found
me playing backgammon with Joanne, she froze. Patricia had been in a bad mood all night, so now she threw
a fit.
"Rick, we
need to talk. Now! Over here!"
Ah, Shades
of Tirade! When Patricia pointed to the same
dark corner that Victoria had used for her Tirade,
I had a flash of déjà vu. Same spot, same problem,
same anger, different woman. Patricia
proceeded to chew
me out upside and down.
"Listen,
Rick, I've had enough of this Joanne woman. It is a question of
your respect for me. If you think you can
spend the entire night flirting with your mousy dance
assistant, think again. I've had as
much as I can take watching Joanne bat her
eyelashes at you."
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Patricia pointed her finger at Joanne
who stood watching
20 feet away. Patricia did not bother to look
her way, but raised her voice loud enough for Joanne to
hear some of what she said over the music.
"I
suggest you tell Joanne to leave you alone and start paying
attention to me instead."
I lost my
temper.
"For crying out loud, Patricia,
it's BACKGAMMON!! What the hell is your
problem?? What are you so upset about?
Joanne is a friend of mine! We
are playing a board game and I intend to finish.
If you will show me the courtesy of not interfering till
we are done, I
will
spend the rest of the night at your side."
Patricia had
been spoiling for a fight, so she was glad to give it
back as fast I could deliver. "Nope,
that's not going to cut it. She's your
assistant, you're the boss. Remind
your little assistant that you came to dance with
your girlfriend, not her." Glancing at the
nearby dance
floor, Patricia seized my arm and barked, "I want you to
dance with me now."
Here we go again.
Suddenly I was boiling mad. I did not appreciate being
accused of paying too much attention to
Joanne. Since when did I need Patricia's permission? I could not
believe I was getting criticized for playing Backgammon
of all things. You know what? I wasn't going to stand for this! Patricia
lacked the one thing Victoria had in abundance... Tentacles. I could not care less
if Patricia got her nose bent out of shape. If she wanted
to walk out of my life over a stupid game of Backgammon, let me
point to the nearest exit.
"I am
getting
tired of this, Patricia. Very tired. Joanne is my friend,
nothing more. Right now, you are being rude to
her. You have no reason to be jealous.
Jealousy is never a pretty thing,
especially when it is uncalled for."
"I'm not
jealous, I'm disgusted. I am disgusted
watching you pay more attention to your groupie
than your girlfriend.
Watching you defend the woman is all the proof I
need to know the rumors are true."
Uh oh.
What rumors? Preferring not to take the bait, I
lowered my voice and forced Patricia to defend her
behavior.
"How much pettier is
this going to get?? What is it about Joanne that
bothers you so much? You spend enough time staring in
the mirror. Have you noticed there is a
considerable difference between your
looks and Joanne?
I would assume you would have enough self-confidence to realize
that
Joanne is no threat. Can we try acting like a big girl
tonight?"
"Oh, go
fuck yourself. I am sick of watching that woman follow you around.
Stray dogs hang around when you feed them, so obviously
Joanne's getting something. Maybe you
should tell me what goes on in those practice
sessions you have with her. That might explain her unusual
preoccupation."
I did not
like the direction Patricia was headed.
Patricia's Threat Radar was picking
up the same vibrations that had led to Victoria's
Tirade. Nor did I like the look on Joanne's face.
Joanne was watching us argue with an angry expression of
her own.
Joanne was just as fed up as I was. Joanne had seen Patricia point a contemptuous finger at her.
Knowing Joanne was a loose cannon, I worried what she
would do if she lost her temper. Would she say
something in a fit of anger? We could not have
that.
Seriously, if Joanne said a few choice words of
her own to Patricia, I could be in bad trouble.
With Patricia
on the verge of learning the Liaison Secret,
a vision of the Recurring Nightmare
floated past my eyes. "Do not under any
circumstances allow these women to talk to one another."
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Noticing
several students watching us fight, this gave me the excuse I needed to stop the fight
pronto.
"Look
around, Patricia, people are starting to stare. We are
done here. If you wish, we can
continue this discussion later."
"I don't
give a shit. Let them watch."
"I
don't agree. You've made your point, so this
argument is over. In fact, I think it's time for
us to leave. You have your own car. Do you
want me to walk you out?"
"No, I
think I will stick around and find someone to dance
with."
"Suit
yourself."
I
turned to apologize to Joanne, but she had
already
left. No doubt Joanne was upset. I raced to
the garage hoping to catch up to her, but Joanne drove
right past me. I got the message. Between
Victoria and Patricia, I was sick and tired of their
constant complaints about Joanne. I was also mad
at Joanne for provoking yet another fight with her
ever-present Cow
Eyes. I knew Joanne was lonely, but why did she
have to let it show?
Patricia had
given me a key, so I had a choice
between Patricia's apartment and my house. My house
won. If Patricia wanted to call it quits, that was
fine with me. These women made me miserable. All
three of them.
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April 1979
BAD MOON RISING
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As I figured, there
were repercussions with Joanne from the Backgammon Backstab.
On Sunday, April 15, Joanne and I began teaching our new Disco class
at Meyerland Club. The class went well,
but I could tell Joanne was still upset over Friday the
13th. Afterwards
Joanne stopped me in the parking lot. The moment I
saw the look on her face, I knew this was not good.
"Rick, I
am fed up with those two women and their nasty games.
Why you hang around them is your own business, but I
can't stand either one. Watching
Patricia throw her tantrum on Friday made me sick in my
stomach. I am tired of the hostility and I
don't deserve to be treated like this. You
know how much I love to
dance Disco, but their meanness has taken all
the fun out it. I have decided to make some changes in my life. For
starters, I have decided to start going out with
Fred."
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Fred was one of the men in Joanne's
Advanced Monday class. Fred had asked
Joanne out
several times, but so far she had put him off.
"Fred
called me at work
Friday afternoon to ask again. I said I was interested,
but that I would think about it over the weekend.
I was going to talk to you on Friday night, but I
didn't get the chance. After Patricia's tantrum, I made my mind up. I think this time
I am going to
accept Fred's offer."
I saw that as good news. With a
boyfriend, maybe Joanne would escape her loneliness and
cheer up for a change. And maybe Fred could
persuade her to return to the Disco World.
"Good for you, Joanne!
I hope it works out."
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This was a big step
for Joanne. Ever since the January
Liaison, Joanne had been holding out for me.
Joanne had her suitors as well she should.
When Joanne
remembered to smile, she was a very attractive woman.
Besides, whether she smiled or not, she had an awesome figure.
Now that her
dancing had made her a celebrity, Joanne had no trouble
getting noticed.
From what I
gathered,
Joanne had turned down several offers. My guess is Joanne had kept
her suitors at a distance due to her feelings for me.
Unfortunately, sooner or later the waiting game gets old.
Joanne's
patience ran out on
Friday night. Thanks to
Patricia's nasty snit fit, Joanne could finally see how hopeless
the situation was. With Victoria and Patricia lined up
against her, Joanne did not stand a chance. Joanne was
third in line for the Throne. Even if one woman
dropped away, the other woman would block her path.
Joanne could see with her own eyes there was no sense in
carrying the torch any longer. Maybe, I thought, it
was for the best.
One reason for
Joanne's decision to move on was her loss of respect
for me. Joanne did not understand how precarious my
situation was regarding the Liaison Secret (and I wasn't going
to tell her). The way she saw it, I had failed to
stand up forcefully on her behalf. Watching me
repeatedly kowtow
to her nasty opponents had been tough to
swallow. That made it much easier to let
go. Dating Fred was
Joanne's way of saying she had
given up waiting for me. I was grateful for this development, partly for
Joanne and
partly because it would reduce the heat on me. I deeply
cared for Joanne, but at the same time her presence had been
a serious thorn due to her
inability (or unwillingness) to hide her feelings.
Joanne was not
finished. Now came the bad
news.
"Rick,
if you don't mind, I am going to stop helping you with
the
Monday Night Disco class. If Fred and I are
going to date, I really don't feel comfortable being
near you and Fred at the same time. He knows I
like you a lot and I don't want
to give Fred any reason to be reminded."
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I took a
deep breath. I had a hunch this was coming and I
was not happy about it.
Joanne was my Rock on Monday nights. She had been a fixture in my
Advanced class for the past seven months. Each
week
Joanne had been
responsible for helping me stay one step ahead of
his
class. Given that I often taught new patterns
I did not fully understand, Joanne and I had shared many
close calls. Joanne always managed to save the day by covering up
the Great Imposter's
mistakes.
Lately, however, Joanne's role had diminished. Once I began
full-time lessons with Glen in January, Joanne didn't need
to cover for me any more. With Glen's help, these days I mastered the new moves well ahead of
time. In other words, practicing with Joanne on
Mondays had become a welcome luxury, but not a necessity.
Since Joanne
knew she was no longer indispensible,
she did not feel guilty cutting ties to that class. Joanne's
only reason to continue helping had been her
feelings for me. Now, however, thanks to Patricia's
Backgammon temper tantrum, Joanne realized hanging
around was pointless. Right now I wanted to strangle
Patricia.
"It's okay,
Joanne, I understand. I just want you to know how
much your help has meant to me. I know it sounds
trite, but please believe me when I say I could not have done it
without you. I have lost count of the times you
rescued me from a jam. Plus you are my friend. I am really going to miss you."
Joanne could
see that I was sad. "Hey, Rick, I am
still going to see you on Sunday evenings here at the
Meyerland Club."
I smiled.
Thank goodness for that. I was suddenly very glad
I had thought of asking her to join me here on Sundays.
And pay her too! If anyone deserved to be paid, it
was Joanne. I also liked that Patricia nor Victoria
did not have the slightest idea she
was helping me. Happy we would
be working together through April, May and part of June,
Joanne was a form of rebellion.
Hopefully the Meyerland Club would ask for a follow-up class.
If so, this would extend my chances to see my friend further into the
summer.
"Rick,
one more thing. I will never
come to
the Pistachio Club again. I have a panic attack
every time I think about that place. I am positive those women
will find more ways to make
people dislike me. Any time I dance with you,
I feel like I am risking my life. The rest the time I sit by
myself. I don't even like Disco dancing anymore.
Those women have ruined it for me. I
don't like your Disco crowd either. Too many phonies and too many
back stabbers. I'm better off somewhere else."
I felt sick.
I could not believe that Victoria and Patricia had combined
forces to eliminate my favorite dance partner. Joanne
was the best dancer I had ever met. We were awesome together. I
also hating losing the one woman who could put Victoria in
her place.
"Joanne,
what do you mean when you say you don't like Disco
dancing any more? It's one thing to skip Pistachio. I get it.
But there are other Discos.
Dancing is the love of your life. Where will you
go to dance? Maybe I could meet you at a
different club
after class sometime. How about Annabelle's
some night? Or we could go over to élan. Victoria can't track you there."
Joanne gave me a
half-smile.
"Okay,
I won't say never, but I am definitely going to take a break from Disco
for a while. I want to hang out with Fred and I want to try Country-Western
dancing. I had
fun at Gilley's and people keep saying
Country dancing is the next big thing. Some fresh faces might do me some good.
I told you about the country-western place on Westheimer
the other day. The Cactus Club
is
way out on the city limits. I've been there
several times and the people treat me well. In fact, maybe I will visit the club on the way home
tonight and start the next phase of my life. That will
help me close out the Disco chapter. It's time to
move on."
Joanne
hesitated, then started to cry.
"Rick, I'm
sorry to do this to you, but I can't take all this
meanness any more. I hate like hell giving up dancing
with you. When we dance, it is the most fun I have ever had.
But I can't let those
women make me feel worthless all the time just because I
smile at you when we dance."
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And with that,
Joanne gave me a lingering tear-filled hug. Then she
left and raced to her
car before she completely lost her composure. As I
watched Joanne drive away, I stood there in the moonlit
parking lot feeling extremely depressed. I had never
regretted the Dangerous Liaison more than I did now.
If I could have avoided that senseless mistake, Joanne's
feelings would not have become so out of control. Furthermore,
I would not need to tiptoe around Victoria or
Patricia in a desperate attempt to conceal the truth.
It upset me that
Patricia and Victoria had succeeded in isolating Joanne from
something that meant so much to her.
I had no one to blame but myself. Due to my policy of appeasement
and secrecy, I had
given the nasty Divas license to attack Joanne.
Without the threat of exposure
hanging over my head, I would have been a lot more
assertive in speaking up against Joanne's discrimination. Instead I was always forced to
pretend to Victoria or Patricia that Joanne didn't mean anything to me.
I guess that's what hurt the most. I would never be
able to show Joanne just how much I cared for her. Joanne's withdrawal from my life
felt like a
very Bad
Omen.
I was certain there
was trouble ahead.
How
would I keep Patricia and Victoria in check without her? I looked skyward and frowned.
There was a Bad Moon on the Rise.
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