 |
Rick Archer's Note:
During our "European
Arrangement" talk I said a lot of things I wished I
could take back. Who is stupid enough to invite a
dangerous woman like Victoria to come live with him without
even a second thought?
I swear Victoria
had the ability to cast a spell over me like no other woman
I had ever met. Most of the time I didn't even like
Victoria. And yet I had never wanted to rip the
clothes off a woman like I did Victoria. This woman was
driving me mad.
I calmed my
fears by telling myself
Victoria had been on a fishing expedition. Victoria would
say anything just to see what my reaction was. It is
one thing for Victoria to want what she could not have. It is another
thing entirely to go out and chase the impossible anyway.
That is what made Victoria different than normal women.
I had a feeling Victoria would refuse to quit until she got what she wanted.
Consequently this conversation left me very upset.
In fact, I was so upset that I
clung to a relationship with Patricia that by
all reason should have ended long ago. Without
Patricia, I was fearful I would yield to Victoria's
indomitable will. When I was alone, my determination
to resist Victoria was strong. But when I touched her
in dance practice, the burn marks on my hands told a
different story.
With Joanne
gone, right now the
only way I could see to solve my dilemma was to make things
work with Patricia. For that reason, I pegged all my
hopes on the upcoming Spats dance contest as a way to
resurrect the warmth between us.
|
|
TUESDAY,
JUNE 26, 1979, the disco years
PERSUADING THE PRINCESS
|
|
It was
Tuesday, June 26. I had two serious problems
on my mind. They say the person who cares less always holds the
Upper Hand. Since I viewed Patricia as my best
defense against Victoria's advances, I needed her
more than she needed me. Now that Victoria was
probing my psyche for weak spots, I did not dare get
rid of Patricia until I found a suitable
replacement. I could not risk a vacuum.
The moment Patricia was gone, I was certain that
Victoria would step in and dominate me. Basically it was in my best
interests to keep Patricia around to hold Victoria at arm's length. That
is the main reason I was willing to try yet again to patch up our differences.
This
morning Victoria had dramatically increased the
pressure on me by introducing
the subject of the European Arrangement. Our conversation was prominent in
my mind as
I drove to Patricia's house after class that same
night. I was especially wary of one
thing Victoria said. "But first I wanted to
make sure of your interest because I expect to be
free soon." I was not sure what Victoria
was driving at, but I felt threatened.
As I
pulled up to Patricia's apartment, I wondered why
she had not given me my walking papers yet.
There had not been a moment of peace between us
since the Sugar Creek Country Club incident ten days
ago. Patricia was keen on finding some way to
get revenge, but so far I had refused to cooperate.
With Country-Western looming, I did not dare
jeopardize my Disco program by offending Victoria.
However, Patricia did not see it that way. She
could care less about my dance career. She
just wanted to get even with Victoria.
Believe
it or not, I think Patricia had feelings for me.
We both agreed we got along pretty well whenever Victoria
left us alone. However, Patricia's disgust towards Victoria
and my unwillingness to put the Supreme Diva in her
place had reached the breaking point.
Considering Patricia blamed me for not standing up
to the woman,
the temptation to call it quits made sense to me.
At the same time, with the temptation
to sin European-style
driving me crazy, at the moment Patricia was the only
thing protecting my virtue.
|
 |
 |
Unless I could
change Patricia's attitude about dancing, she was sure to be
gone soon. What could I do to restore her interest in
dance and repair our relationship at the same time?
The answer was staring me in the face... win a giant Teddy Bear.
It was a long shot, but I had to give it a try.
I had never
entered a dance contest in my life. To begin with,
I was uncomfortable in the spotlight due to my
lifetime concern over my acne scars. For another
thing, until recently I
wasn't good enough. However, after showing off dozens of times at Camelot with Joanne
and my recent performance at the Sugar Creek Country
Club with Victoria, I was ready now. In addition,
I doubted there would much of a challenge at Spats. I could
probably win wearing slippers and pajamas.
Based on
hints dropped during today's European Arrangement
conversation, I had never
needed Patricia more than I did now. With a victory in the dance contest, maybe
I could get Patricia interested in going to Pistachio
again.
If Patricia would return on Fridays to Camelot, her
presence would neutralize Victoria and take so much pressure off me.
I had asked a couple times in May and June without much
luck. Perhaps I could parlay our success at
Spats into persuading Patricia to return to Camelot. In other words, I had a lot
riding on this dance contest gamble. However I did
not dare tell Patricia my hidden agenda. Nor did I
dare reveal that Victoria expected her to be gone any
minute now. Either admission would doom my chances
of getting Patricia to agree to participate in this
contest.
|
The moment I entered Patricia's apartment, I
brought up the
subject of the contest for the second time. Patricia was
still skeptical. When I told
her there was very little competition and that I was
certain we could win without much trouble,
Patricia rolled her eyes. At least this time she
was willing to discuss it without losing her temper.
"What
is wrong with you, Rick? Is your ego so thin
that you need to stoop to this level? Your idea is
so stupid I cannot believe you are even considering
going through with
this contest. Where is the satisfaction in
beating a bunch of local yokels? You are a
professional dancer. You receive professional training.
You practice every night of the week. I
watched you at Sugar Creek. You have
definitely improved since the beginning of the year
and you should be proud of that. You have
nothing to prove, so why is this so important? This is beneath you.
Don't you see that? Do what you want, but I
am going to pass."
"I am not
doing this to prove anything. I am doing this
because the people in Clear Lake have asked me to.
Someone from that group wins every week, so everyone in
the crowd already knows who the winner will be.
The spectators like a good show, so let's give them
one."
"I am
not going to show off. That is contrary to my nature.
I am not some tramp like Victoria who enters Beauty
Contests and risks her marriage to be crowned the Dancing
Queen. If I want attention, I know how to
get it. This idea is totally pointless."
Okay, I
hoped things would not come to this, but it was time to introduce my secret weapon.
"I
understand your sentiments, Patricia. And of
course you're right, it isn't a fair contest. But
these people in Clear Lake are my friends. They asked
me to do this and I promised them I
would enter the contest next Saturday. They want to
see me dance and I don't
plan on letting them down. If you don't want to
do it, then I will have no choice but to ask Victoria."
Here we go
with the lies again. I
conveniently neglected to tell Patricia that Victoria
and Michael were catching a plane tomorrow. They would be gone for
two weeks.
Sure enough, at the mere
mention of her hated rival, Patricia's eyes lit up with
fury.
"No
fucking way!! Goddamn you, you're not going anywhere near
Victoria. I know exactly what you are doing
and I hate your guts. You should be ashamed of
yourself. If you are so determined to win this
stupid contest, then go find Joanne hiding under whatever rock
she calls home. I'll tell you
what, Rick, you have my permission to ask Joanne.
And while you're at it, be sure to tell her I'm
sorry I chased her away.
Just leave me out of this."
I was
surprised at the mention of Joanne. I would love
to take Joanne down there. But that wouldn't solve
my problems.
"Patricia,
ever since you chased Joanne off back in April, I
have not seen her [another lie. She ditched me at
Annabelle's 9 days ago].
Joanne is not an option, but I bet Victoria will jump at the chance
to show off and win a contest."
"Fuck
you, Rick! I am not going to do it! Do you
hear me? I am not going to do it! I know
damn well you are playing me against Victoria and it
isn't going to work. By the way, have I ever
told you that you can be a real asshole
sometimes?"
"Have it
your way, Patricia. If you won't do this, I will
drop the subject. But I
promised my friends I would perform, so I am doing this
with or without you. But I wish you would change
your mind. I would rather spend Saturday
night with you and get away from Victoria for a change.
I will take you to dinner and you will get to meet some
very nice people. C'mon, Patricia, I want you to do this with me."
"No,
goddamnit! N.O. spells No!"
They say
beware the wrath of a woman scorned. However I was
not worried. It was time to play my trump card.
"Patricia, I
did not want to bring this up, but you have been itching
for a way to pay Victoria back for showing you up at the
Sugar Creek dance performance. This is your
chance to inform Victoria that you won a major dance
contest, something she has never accomplished. You can join me at Camelot
this Friday and let her know what you are up to.
Knowing how much she worries about things like this, she will
go crazy. Then after you win, you can return to
Camelot and rub her
nose in it. Victoria will be furious if
you steal her thunder."
Patricia
said nothing. A good sign. Revenge!
One of the most powerful motivations in the Universe. Patricia
mulled it over. First
Patricia gave me her best 'go to hell' look.
That was replaced by a look of sheer exasperation. Patricia
knew she was trapped. She took a long, deep
breath, the kind one takes when they are about to
surrender. Patricia hated giving in, but as
expected she nodded.
"Okay, okay, you win.
For the record, please note that I
hate your guts. I deeply
resent being put in this spot. That said, I
agree it
would be fun to spite Victoria. When do we
practice?"
A giant
sense of glee surged through me. I did
everything in my power to keep a solemn face, but inside
I was very amused by Patricia's
about-face. For the
first time in our entire 10 month relationship, Patricia
decided to seriously work on her dancing.
Wonders never cease. We moved furniture in her
living room and practiced every night that week. As I hoped, the extra
attention snapped Patricia out of her funk. The
young lady even laughed a couple times if you can believe
that. The
practice went a long way towards restoring some of our rapidly fading
affection. On Friday, Patricia decided against going to
Camelot, choosing to stay home and practice instead. If I recall,
she was so pleased with her progress, her clothes fell off. Who knows, a pleasant night of
dancing in Clear Lake plus some warm applause might just get us back on the right track. I certainly
hoped so. If I lost Patricia, I trembled at the
thought of facing Victoria's European strategy on my
own. But it was more than that. Whenever
Victoria was not around to interfere, I could not help
but notice how well we got along.
|
Saturday,
JUNE 30
GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS
|
 |
|
The date was
Saturday, June 30th. When I went to pick up Patricia for the
long drive
down to Clear Lake, to my dismay she had fallen back into her
bad mood. However, I had anticipated this.
Patricia had good reason to be upset. She
still resented being leveraged into doing this.
Plus she probably had a fear of messing up in front of
all those people. After all, dancing was not her
strength. And of course there was the "Fairness"
Issue. Patricia wasted no time bringing that subject
up.
"Rick,
I am going to tell you again I am doing this under
protest. This whole idea is beyond stupid. Who cares whether we beat a bunch
of strangers in a backwoods dance
competition? You are a professional going up against opponents
who have never had a dance
lesson in their life. What exactly are we proving
here?"
Ouch.
Patricia hit a nerve. I felt guilty as well. Our victory was a
foregone conclusion. If my own students were
Gods among Mortals, what did that
make me? A Titan? Speaking of Titans, it
would take a Titanic upset for me not to win. So yes, this adventure clearly violated
my sense of Fair Play. But I was going to do it
anyway as a last-ditch effort to rekindle the
spark between us.
That
said, I was not happy that Patricia had reawakened
my sense of guilt. As we drove down to Clear
Lake, Patricia kept up a running commentary on the
utter idiocy of what we were doing. For
crying out loud, woman, will you shut up for
once? That is what I wanted to say, but chose
to say
nothing. Since I was pretty touchy on this subject to begin with, Patricia's needling
got under my skin. Bristling at practically
everything she said, I grew more tense by the mile. This was
beginning to feel like a very bad idea.
|
Fortunately
my friends had prepared a special welcoming committee
for us. When we walked
into the clubhouse, Patricia and I were greeted by
three giant Teddy Bears standing side by side.
Patricia was so surprised she actually froze for a
moment. Seriously, each giant bear was
the same height as her. After blinking a couple
times, Patricia walked over to inspect. I grinned
when I noticed the big smile on her face.
Staring eye
to eye at the three bears lined in a row,
Patricia was only a few inches taller. Patricia laughed,
then turned to the seven couples to say, "Wow, I'm impressed!"
I was
relieved. This was the first
time Patricia had smiled all afternoon. Indeed,
Patricia was so
tickled by the giant bears, she laughed, always a good
sign. Following the inspection, Patricia turned to
begin the introductions. The moment she saw
seven good-looking, well-to-do husbands, her eyes lit
up. Ah, rich men, her specialty.
Patricia's mood brightened considerably. She was
happy to be back in her element.
|
 |
Patricia turned to me.
"Rick, you forgot to
warn me the Bears are as tall as I am!
Thank
goodness they don't bite." Then she turned to the
group. "Hi
everybody, I'm Patricia. Help me out here. Do these
bears mean your group has won the dance
contest three weeks in a row? If so, you guys must be
pretty good to overcome Rick's teaching mistakes!"
Good quip.
Everybody grinned. Patricia hit a home run with
her teasing. I was impressed. I had
never seen Patricia open up to people like this before.
This must her professional 'Welcome to my Hospital'
side. I had never seen this before, probably
because I had never visited at her job. My group
of friends liked this lady already. That in turn cheered
Patricia considerably. Where had this side of her been
hiding?
I never realized it before, but it was
"average" people her own age Patricia struggled with.
However, Patricia was extremely skilled at dealing with
people older than her. I suppose she had plenty of childhood practice
greeting important people who knew her father.
Patricia was also extremely good at
charming men. From the looks on the faces of the
husbands, they
were immediately smitten. As for the ladies, they
were welcoming as well. Hmm. What a joy to
leave Patricia's manhunter reputation back in Houston.
I introduced the three Bear
winners to Patricia. "This is Tommy and
Hazel. They won the first bear. This is Bruce and Margaret.
They won the second bear. This is Dave and Mona.
They won Teddy Bear Three last Saturday."
Then I named the next four couples. Patricia
smiled and nodded at everyone.
I was glad to see her happy. The evening was off to a
much better start than I had any right to expect.
|
 |
 |
Pointing to
the tree bears, I spoke up.
"Patricia wasn't so sure what she
was getting into,
but when I told her about the three bears, she said it
reminded her of Goldilocks."
Patricia
chimed in. "That's right. With all
those bears running around, I told Rick the
wives better check to see who's sleeping in their bed when they get home
tonight."
Oops.
Did Patricia really just say that? It's a good
thing no one knew about Patricia's fetish for rich husbands
but me.
Seeing the
wives look at each other in confusion, I stepped in. Before
anyone could analyze her quip too deeply, I quickly
added, "Hopefully
there will be a fourth bear in the
family tonight!"
I took Patricia's hand and spun her
into my arms. "We intend to put on our best show for
you tonight!"
My timely intervention defused any awkwardness. Patricia
smiled. I could see she liked those
bears. Or maybe she liked the husbands. Or maybe she liked being rescued from her
stupid Goldilocks quip.
|
We settled
down and got to work. This evening marked an unusual
milestone. Not once... repeat... not once in nine
months had
Patricia helped me teach a dance class. Tonight was
the first. I liked it. With Patricia helping, our
lesson was sharper
than usual.
Part of every lesson involved dance acrobatics. Normally I would
have to figure out a way to explain the woman's part to seven women who had no
idea what the move looked like. Considering I put those women into
some pretty strange positions, thank goodness the women trusted me
not to hurt them. Sometimes my partner would be up
on my
shoulders, sometimes she would be upside down, sometimes she
would do a flip over my back. The hardest part was helping the
ladies
visualize what the move looked like without a demonstrator. Since I had shown Patricia
what to do in
preparation for this class, she was able to demonstrate tonight's
acrobatic move flawlessly. Not only did Patricia save us
time, she looked good doing it. That earned her
the immediate respect of everyone. I was pleasantly
surprised. Patricia had never revealed this flair
for showmanship before.
Patricia and
I suffered from arrested development when it came to
social skills.
Like me,
Patricia had great difficulty dealing with strangers.
I had improved
in a short period of time simply by watching Victoria in
action. There is no reason why Patricia could not
do the same. Patricia would never be a match for
Victoria's outgoing personality, but if she would just
make an effort, she could be a leader
too.
Watching intently as Patricia
smoothly answered a question, I was hit by a sudden pang
of regret.
Teaching dance had helped me make great strides in
overcoming my handicaps. Now I wondered why
Patricia had never offered to help me teach before.
If so, she would have made rapid progress. I could
not help but think it was her pride. Patricia knew
she could not dance a lick. But
if she practiced... I knew exactly
what had gone wrong... Victoria. Patricia could
not stand to have Victoria see that she was a mediocre
dancer, so she avoided dancing whenever her nemesis was
nearby.
Patricia preferred to stick to what she was already good at...
charming husbands at Camelot. It crushed me to
realize "what could have been" if Victoria had
not intimidated her so much.
In life,
everything is relative. At Camelot, Patricia was
a below average dancer. However, she had improved
dramatically thanks to our week of intense practice in
preparation for tonight. The hard work had paid
off. With this group,
only Hazel and Mona were superior. However, since neither
woman elicited Patricia's insecurity like Victoria, she really shined
during class. Patricia was genuinely pleased
when
the seven women showed respect for her dancing.
As a rule, Patricia was not
a warm person.
However, the Clear Lake people were so
lavish with compliments on her
dancing
that the Princess began to beam.
|
Judging by her smile, it
is amazing what praise does to people.
I have a confession to make.
I actually ached for Patricia at this moment. She was such a
guarded woman that it was a shame these moments of genuine warmth came so rarely to
her. Why
had it taken her nine months to figure out she could be just as good at
this as Victoria? All she had to do was try.
After the lesson, we joined the
seven couples at a restaurant. Bless their hearts, they were so excited for us. The contest was all they could talk about. They
couldn't wait to see Patricia and me dance together.
The fact that this was such a treat for them helped soothe my conscience.
Patricia kept staring at me throughout dinner
in puzzlement over their
unabashed enthusiasm. This might have been the first time that
Patricia ever truly understood why I was so committed to
teaching dance lessons. Because she never
participated, this was the first time Patricia had seen the rewards I got from
teaching. Right before my eyes, my
moody girlfriend started to cheer up. I had not seen her soft
kitten side in some time. As I hoped, this plan was working.
Patricia definitely had her
faults. However this was a night when I had a glimpse of the
woman who could be my perfect companion. Due to her keen
intelligence and sharp wit, we got along well during the times she
wasn't in one of her moods. Such sweet potential... there was
always so much
potential.
|
 |
I
was ashamed of myself the moment we entered
Spats. I knew I was
going to be uncomfortable, but not this uncomfortable.
One glance at the dance floor was all it took to see my
ability to partner dance was on a
different plane of existence. We didn't even need
acrobatics to win this contest. The grace and
intricacy of our patterns would be more than sufficient.
Patricia and I
did not dance for a while. We wanted
to see what we were getting ourselves into. Watching my
seven couples
dance, they were light
years better than anyone in the club. It was also
apparent that Patricia and I were better than six of the
couples. Tommy and Hazel were the exception. (As a side note,
later in the year Tommy
and Hazel would win a major dance competition complete
with an all-paid trip to Cancun. They were that good.)
When Tommy asked
why we had not danced yet, I said I was scouting the
competition. Tommy laughed. "I don't think you
have much to worry about."
Tommy was right.
Compared
to the dancing I saw at the Pistachio
Club, there was no competition to speak of. Patricia could see
the difference as well. After a half-dozen 'I told you so' looks,
she spoke up.
"Rick,
tell me
again what
is the point
of this."
"No one in this
club knows I teach for a living. To them, we are just
another part of this celebrated group. My friends want
to see us dance. Since someone from our group always
wins, what difference does it make to the crowd if it is our
turn tonight?"
It was readily apparent why three
of my couples had won.
No one in this crowded
room had
much of a clue when it came to
partner dancing. That made sense. Since there
were no dance studios out here in this suburb, the only people who
remotely had a shot at beating us were my own students.
Fortunately they
preferred to sit this one
out and watch. There was a
firm rule
within the group. No competing with friends, one couple per
contest. Tonight Patricia and I were the Designated Bear
Winners. Speaking of Bears, I caught Patricia staring
in awe at the nearby giant 5 foot bear standing at attention. Thank goodness
Patricia had a soft spot for giant teddy bears. It
helped convince her to go through with this.
"What do you
think, Patricia, will we be able to fit that bear in the
back seat of your car?"
Patricia frowned
at me, then responded in an icy tone. "Don't we have
to win first? Don't go counting your bears before they
hatch."
I nearly lost my
temper. Patricia's
negativity and attempt to make me feel guilty took all the fun out of
this. Now I just wanted to get it over with. Or better yet,
let's skip it and go home. If it hadn't been for my seven couples, that
is exactly what I
would have done. I stayed because I wasn't going to let down my
friends. Considering the kind of
support they had given me, they deserved their reward. But it was
comments like that which made me doubt Patricia was truly
willing to try to fit into my world.
|
Maybe it was just her nerves
talking. Patricia was insecure about her
dancing. For the people here in this room, Patricia was a good dancer.
However she knew Joanne and Victoria were much better
and so were many other Camelot women. Patricia resented being in the back of the line
all the time. However,
things were different tonight. To begin with, Patricia
knew she
was the most beautiful woman in the room. In
addition, she caught on that she was better than the
women in the group. Only Hazel was better.
When the
men in our
group asked her to dance, Patricia
was pleased to oblige. Ah,
husbands to charm, her forte. Without Victoria
around to aggravate her, Patricia was able to put
some of her demons to rest. She danced well
and all kinds of people clapped for her. Pretty soon, she
was having a great time. Now that Patricia was
the unquestioned star of the night, she began to enjoy her popularity.
Hey, it's fun being in
the limelight!
Patricia
and I did not dance together,
preferring not to tip our hand. Instead we
danced with our friends.
I enjoyed dancing with the seven ladies. Not
only did the wives enjoy their chance to show off,
they liked the look of pride on the faces of their
husbands who watched from the table. I could
see why their marriages were so successful.
Since women love to dance, the men were very pleased
at how well their decision to learn to dance had
paid off.
I took note of how
crowded the club was. I marveled at the amazing energy created by
Saturday Night Fever. The movie had changed the
landscape of American Nightlife from coast to coast. Social Dancing used
to be the exclusive domain of Singles. Not any more. This room was 80% couples who all
lived in this same bedroom community. Just because
these people were not great dancers did not mean they did not have fun.
The Disco Era was wonderful. I hoped it would never
end.
|
 |
Move over, Joanne
and Victoria. Tonight Patricia was
the Supreme Diva of Disco. This event was good for her
oft-bruised ego. To my delight, Patricia began having so
much fun she finally put her misgivings aside. In addition to
praise from the seven couples, the other patrons had
admired her dancing all night long. Wherever Patricia went,
people
smiled at her. Normally a reserved, guarded woman, Patricia responded to the
warmth.
Watching from afar, seeing her grin was a real
treat for me. Patricia had been a major grouch earlier in the evening, but now
she was enjoying herself thoroughly. I had never seen
her laugh to this extent before. She was a different
woman. This evening was exactly the
tonic she needed. Or should I say it was the tonic "we needed"?
However, I was
getting impatient. It was past 11 pm and we had been here
for almost three hours. It was taking
forever for this contest to get on the road. Tommy
explained the longer management delayed the contest, the more
drinks they sold. Ah, got it. I was tired
of dancing, so I just sat and watched. This allowed me
to observe an amusing development.
People came up to
our table to ask which
member of our group was going to
enter the big contest tonight. When our friends
pointed to us, everyone got very excited. They had already
figured out we were a couple, but had yet to see us in action.
It did not help that our friends helped ratchet up the curiosity
when people inquired.
"Oh, you
have no idea. Rick and Patricia are going to knock
your socks off!"
As rumors of our
participation made the rounds, our eventual victory seemed to be a
forgone conclusion. While Patricia was out on the floor with
Bruce, an elderly lady came over and told me she loved watching me out
on the floor.
Then she pointed to
the huge Teddy Bear standing over in the corner.
"My
husband and I can't
wait to see you and that pretty lady
win
the Teddy Bear.
Young man, you're such a good
dancer, I bet you
could win dancing with that bear as your partner!"
That
brought a hearty laugh. Every person I met
that night was nice to me. It was uncanny the kind of warmth I
received from total strangers.
As a result of all these
positive vibes, my earlier tension was gone. The couples in my
group had promised me there would be no animosity if I
dominated. To the people in this room, watching members of
the group dance in this contest was entertainment. These people
didn't mind at all if we won, they just wanted a good show. However, I was dealing with
a demon from my past. For some reason, the
Ritz Disaster was on my mind a lot. To be honest, I was
looking for redemption. Exactly one year ago, I had failed miserably at the Ritz
Disco
during a performance. My downfall had been caused by a very nasty 'lights out' surprise.
For some unimaginable reason, the DJ had turned out the lights
in favor of some special light show effects that only worked in the dark.
Rendered blind for ten seconds, my partner Suzy froze up and
forgot our choreography. If I had known how to lead, I could have rescued the
performance. Oh well. That was then, this was now.
Thanks to my work with Glen, I possessed the power to lead any
move effortlessly. Even if something went wrong, I was
confident I could overcome any mistake and still win.
|
Finally the Big
Contest was announced. As we took the floor, the
thought that nothing could prevent us from doing well tonight
brought a big smile to my face. Patricia would dance
beautifully, we would win the Teddy Bear, fall in love again,
tell Victoria to go to hell and live happily ever after.
It was a nice thought.
There
were two rounds. The
Preliminary Round turned
out to be a cattle call. All the contestants would dance at once.
I saw the point... this allowed everyone to participate no
matter what their skill level. However, I thought
this was a very dumb idea since the floor was too crowded. While
the couples danced, the manager
would "tap" the three best couples to
signal they were in the
Finals. The Finals
were different. Each couple would
dance solo to showcase their skill.
It was really
late. 11:30 pm. The place was still packed,
so I realized
these people were willing to wait because the contest was so
popular. As my friends had told me, these people
enjoyed watching a good show. Okay, if
they wanted a good show, then I would be honored to give
them one. Treat
it like a performance, not a contest. That
eased my conscience a bit. Without any realistic competition,
I
didn't see any reason to keep my cards
hidden. This event did not call for gamesmanship.
It was in the bag. So why not dance with my beautiful girlfriend and
show off a little? When
Patricia
gave me the sweetest smile, I was pleased. She was a
very happy girl.
After this contest was over, maybe our fragile relationship had a chance after all.
I certainly hoped so.
As I feared, when
the
Preliminary Round began, the floor was
ridiculously crowded. Apparently the legend of the Clear Lake Seven plus this new
mystery couple from another planet had the club stirred
up. There was no shame in losing to a couple from the
famous dance group, so why not get out
there and duke it out for second place? That's when I got
it. Second Place was equal to a victory to the regular
patrons. Second place offered home town bragging rights.
|
 |
The music
began and
we started dancing. With so many couples
participating, there was barely any room on the floor.
Fearing collisions, I danced half on
the floor, half on the carpet where everyone could see us.
Our friends were clapping and
cheering for us as we danced at the edge.
They were not the only ones. All sorts of people were
shouting encouragement. We
were 'tapped' about
20 seconds into the song.
Considering we were the best couple, no real surprise.
I spun
Patricia round and round.
With her beauty and her lovely
dress floating in mid-air, all eyes were on the Princess.
Patricia loved the applause and the oohs and ahs. She was beaming!
I could not have been happier for her. After all the
abuse at Camelot, this was
Patricia's time
in the sun.
Enjoying myself,
I
led Patricia
into the 'Pistachio Step', my
favorite pattern. In
this lightning-quick move, I would raise my right arm
and pass it over my head with my back to Patricia.
And
then it
happened.
Just as
I raised my
right arm,
the man dancing behind
me lost control of his inebriated partner.
As
the drunk woman stumbled, she put one of her hands against my back to
break her
fall. As consequence, I lost my balance.
|
The hard shove made me stagger just as my
right elbow passed by Patricia's face...
Lurching towards Patricia,
I felt my elbow crush into her mouth. I hit
Patricia so
hard it was like I had punched her in the face. My elbow jammed her bottom lip
up against her lower front teeth. It was a brutal blow that made her head snap back.
In the process her lower teeth cut a deep gash into the soft inside
tissue of her lower lip.
The outside part of her lip was okay, but the inside was cut
to shreds.
Since the wound
was invisible inside her mouth, I did not realize she
was cut. But when she fell to the floor, I feared I had knocked her out.
Falling to her knees, Patricia screamed in pain and
covered her mouth with her hands.
I dropped to one knee as well to protect her.
Choking on blood inside her mouth, Patricia covered her
face. But then she removed her hands
to gasp for
air. The moment she opened her mouth, a stream of blood spewed
out onto
the floor.
It was unbelievably gruesome. Fortunately, we were in the midst of
mass
confusion. With all those dancers looking around
unable to figure out what
happened, I was the only one to witness Patricia's
bloody cough.
However it did not take
long to notice a woman was down on her knees.
Some participants were close enough to spot blood on the floor.
That is when the women began screaming, thereby causing all kinds of pandemonium
in the room. Panic-stricken by the sight of her own
blood, Patricia covered her face to hide her mouth.
However, each time Patricia reopened her mouth to
breathe, more blood escaped. In the process she
got a lot of blood on her hands. Writhing in pain,
each time Patricia covered her face, she unintentionally smeared blood all over
like war paint.
Hazel and Margaret rushed over to see if they
could help. The DJ had no idea what was going on, so he
let the music keep playing. However, the dancing
stopped completely once the throng of participants realized a woman
had fallen. Several couples came over to look closer
while at least a dozen couples stood there
frozen in disbelief. Since their presence kept
Patricia hidden from the audience, fear
gripped the crowd. Clearly something was badly wrong.
Patricia was in shock. She did not yet realize just how badly her lip was cut,
but she definitely felt the pain.
She was stunned to
see her hands covered in blood.
Frightened by the sight of so much blood,
Patricia
screamed like a wounded animal.
"Oh my God, what the hell
has
happened to my face?!?"
|
 |
Finally aware
that something
was wrong, the deejay turned off the music.
As people nearby closed in to see what had happened, the
audience could not see Patricia down on the floor.
Plus my body shielded Patricia, thereby increasing the
mystery. Uncertain what the problem was, there was a lot of confusion. One minute had passed, but no one had any idea what was wrong because
Patricia was invisible
to everyone but me, Margaret and Hazel. The tension in
the room was serious.
At this point,
Tommy began clearing everyone out of the way. Freaked out,
Patricia asked me to help her stand up. This was a
mistake. I had not gotten a good look yet, so I was stunned to
see blood
smeared all over her face.
Unaware
that her hands had accidentally caused
the smear, Patricia looked like a badly
wounded prize fighter. Unfortunately, now that she
stood up, everyone could
see. Everyone gasped. The macabre sight evoked a collective expression of horror from the
audience
the likes of which I had never heard before. This moment was so gruesome, it was darkly
reminiscent of blood-spattered Carrie in
the Stephen King story.
Everyone was
stunned at the hideous sight of a
beautiful woman
with a face smeared with blood.
Hearing the groans
and gasps of the crowd, Patricia became frightened.
She still had no idea that her face was covered with blood.
No one knew the extent of the problem, but I'm sure it
looked a lot more serious than it really was.
Instantly all
sorts of rumors flew around the room
at lightning speed. No one had any idea
what had gone wrong. That included the drunk woman
who caused the accident. I noticed her standing there
looking just as dumbfounded as everyone else.
|
 |
| |
Patricia was so
dazed by the powerful blow, she was barely conscious.
She was too stunned to know what to do,
so
I put my arm around
her waist and
rushed her to the Ladies Room. When we got to
the door, I made a snap decision to go in with her.
Patricia let out
a death wail when she looked in the mirror. Fearing
disfigurement, for a
second there I thought she was going to pass out.
However, Patricia rallied once she realized her face was not
damaged. Since the injury was not serious
in a cosmetic sense, Patricia would not need stitches.
That was the good news. The bad news was that she was
in considerable pain.
Pushing me
aside, Hazel and
Margaret took charge.
Since the
bleeding refused to stop, Patricia had no choice but to
stand at the sink constantly dabbing her mouth with paper towels.
Meanwhile Hazel and Margaret began washing the blood off her
face. After three minutes or so, her face was clean
enough to take a step away from the mirror. As
Patricia stared in
dismay at her puffy lower lip, just then Linda came in to
announce they had delayed restarting the competition just in
case we wanted to return.
Surprised to
find they had held up the contest for us, I wondered if it
was possible to rejoin.
Other than her
swollen lower lip, Patricia was cleaned up and the bleeding
had stopped. Noting how
quickly Patricia had recovered,
I took
complete leave of my senses. I was so
desperate to go back for the Finals that I blurted out
the dumbest thing I have ever said in my life.
"Patricia,
will you be able to dance in the
Finals?"
Astonished
by the utter stupidity of my words, Patricia's eyes
bulged. At first she was
too shocked to reply, so she just glared daggers at me.
Then she screamed at me. Huge mistake. The moment she
screamed, the wound reopened and a gob of blood shot through the air.
It was truly bizarre. When Patricia saw the blood spew out, she watched in horror as it hit the floor.
Unable to contain her fury, that is when the volcano erupted. Spitting blood as she hollered at me, Patricia screamed.
"Are you out of your
fucking mind!?! Are you fucking blind? Do you have eyes? I'm
fucking bleeding, you idiot! What the hell do you want me to
do, bite my lip while we dance?
Wouldn't that be just great!? Let's see you spin
me hard. As my mouth flies open, we can spray the crowd with blood!
Hey, special effects! That would be so awesomely unforgettable! No,
you idiot, we are
not going back out there. And while you're at it,
explain to me what the hell you did to cause this disaster."
I felt instant
regret. How could I have been so stupid?
I should have known better, but winning that Teddy Bear was
so important given the stakes, all I
could think about was saving my relationship. Now
I was full of shame for making such a fool of myself.
Unfortunately,
yelling at me
made her cut resume bleeding badly. That forced Patricia
to alternate between yelling at me, spitting gobs of blood into the sink,
and grabbing
clean tissues to dab her lip.
What a nightmare. Patricia did not care that her harangue made the bleeding
continue. She let me have it with both barrels.
"You and your stupid
goddamn contest! I told you this was a bad
idea. But no, you never listen to a goddamn thing I say.
You say you'll just get Victoria to do it instead. Well,
goddamn it, I
wish you had. I would love to see Victoria get blood smeared all over her face. I swear
to God, you have brought me more
misery than any man I have ever met in my life!"
|
|
