TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 1979
DANCING ON MY OWN WITH GLEN
|
|
It was
Tuesday morning, August 28. Today marked my
first-ever solo private lesson with Glen
Hunsucker.
Thanks to the Karate Chop and the Dance Curse, my
Year of
Living Dangerously had entered a serious
new dimension. With three accidents in the
space of a month, I was becoming seriously
paranoid about someone else getting hurt. However, my accidents were not
the fault of my dance teacher Glen. His
excellent training had been one
of the few bright spots in an otherwise miserable
year. I
had met Glen at the Pistachio Club
back in November 1978 and we had one lesson in
December. Starting in January 1979,
Victoria and I
took a private lesson from Glen once a week.
These Tuesday morning lessons had given birth to
Victoria's dreams of performing. They also flamed the fires
of our
smoldering yet unconsummated love
affair.
The
Karate Chop changed
everything. After injuring Benita on
Sunday, Victoria
flipped her lid. Yesterday Victoria had
informed me she no longer wished to participate
in private lessons for fear of being hurt.
This posed a huge problem for me. 98% of
my female students worked for a living during
the day. It would be hard enough to find a
woman who was available on a Tuesday morning.
But even if I did, there was no one who could
even remotely approach Victoria's skill level. Angry at Victoria for leaving me in the lurch, I called her at home
early Tuesday morning.
"Look, Victoria, I want you to reconsider
yesterday's decision. There is no way I can find another dance
partner during the day who is anywhere near your equal."
Victoria
responded, "Well, too bad. My mind is made
up. I cannot take any more pressure of wondering what's
going to go wrong next. It's my neck on the
line, not yours."
"All
right, have it your way, but can't you at least
go with me today till I find someone else?"
"I
have already told you my decision.
I canceled daycare and Stephanie is here at
home with me. Why don't you go dance
with Glen by yourself?"
"Victoria,
he's... uh... you know, gay. I don't want to be
alone with some gay guy in my arms. What
if he makes a move on me?"
"Oh,
good grief, get over yourself. Glen isn't going to bite.
Besides, you're big enough to stand up for yourself."
I
had not told Victoria the truth. I wasn't afraid of Glen, I
was afraid of myself. Dancing with Glen
meant I would have to confront my fears that
maybe I was secretly gay. Let me be clear
on this issue.
I did not think it was 'wrong' to be gay.
Nor did I think I was gay. However, if you
listen Freud and his theories of the
unconscious, who knows what demons lurked there?
If I had my druthers, I preferred to be
straight. However, I had never put it to
the test. Given there was there was an
outside chance I might be aroused by a man, did
I dare confront my fears? I knew for a
fact that touching Victoria's bare legs during
acrobatics turned me on against my will.
Would the same thing happen with Glen? I
did not think I was gay, but then I had never
danced close to a handsome man before.
Would I get aroused from dancing intimately in
Glen's arms??
Desperation has a way of overcoming fears.
I decided if I was ever going to make a career
as a dance teacher, I needed all the training I
could get. For that reason, I decided to
take a risk.
After I hung up with
Victoria, I called Glen on the
phone and explained
Victoria's decision to quit. Would he mind if I
came alone? Glen
said he didn't mind at all. He added this would
help because now I would be
forced to dance the 'Follow' part occasionally,
something I had deliberately avoided so far.
His encouragement helped.
Recalling my recent dance lesson with Charles, I
probably could use more experience at dancing
the girl's part. And so, despite my
great reluctance, I decided to give it a try.
I
was very uncomfortable dancing with Glen at the
start of our lesson. Fortunately,
once I found I was not overwhelmed with
sexual desire, I began to relax. In fact, my body did
not
respond to him at all, so eventually I got used
to it. Pretty soon I couldn't care less.
Considering I
had spent my entire life avoiding the fear of being gay, I was
pleased to learn that facing my fears had paid off
this time.
|
 |
Glen and I could have been
twins. Victoria often
teased me that Glen was my
separated-at-birth brother.
Victoria had a point. I had
broad shoulders from basketball while
Glen had an equally muscular physique
from dance training. We looked alike, same age, same height,
same hair color, same
build, matching beards.
When we danced together, from a distance you could not tell us
apart.
Glen might be gay, but
he was not
effeminate. On the
contrary, Glen was a
powerful, confident man who barked at
his dance team like a lion
tamer. However, Glen was
gentle with me. I think he
sensed that I did not take criticism
well, so he took great pain not to step on my
tender feelings.
The irony is
that I missed a simple way to solve my problems. I
should have fibbed to Victoria how I discovered I was gay while dancing with Glen.
"Glen
and I are dating now. Au revoir, Victoria,
we're through."
|
 |
| |
As Silver
Linings go, dancing
alone with Glen turned out to be a real blessing.
For one thing, we became friends. Previously Glen had been
rather formal with me. Glen was
very fond of Victoria and interacted
with her far more than me. The feeling
was mutual; Victoria adored Glen.
However, now that Victoria was gone, things changed. We
continued to be formal at first, but eventually
Glen started to tease me
about my myriad problems learning to dance. Trust
me, he had plenty to tease me about.
Due to my hyper-analytical tendency to
think too much while I danced, I was a
very slow learner. One time I was
so bad Glen refused to dance with me.
This happened on the day I tried to learn Waltz. There is a distinct
fall and rise to
Waltz that I had great trouble with.
It had to do with 'Compression'
on the first step needed to create a
lengthy stride. This required
lowering my body on the supporting leg
while reaching forward with the free
leg. In other words, two things to
think about at the same time. I
could do one or the other, but not both
together. I was so awful that Glen refused to dance
with me after I stepped on him one time
too many.
"I'm sorry,
Rick, but I'm not risking getting
stepped on any longer. Go practice by
yourself till you get the hang of it."
Glen was serious.
For the rest of the hour Glen sat in a
chair smoking a cigarette while I danced
by myself around the room. True
story. At the end of the lesson, I
asked if I could dance with him. "No,"
he said, "you are not worthy yet." Glen
was sarcastic, but unlike
Lance Stevens who liked to put me down,
Glen was
not biting in his comments.
Realizing that Glen was on my side, I
laughed at his wisecrack. From
that point on, the tension was broken.
So what did we
cover during my first solo lesson? Sad to say,
despite the fact that Urban Cowboy
was on the horizon,
I
insisted on learning more Disco. This was a
prime example of my tendency to avoid facing my fears.
Western was coming, but I still
pretended Disco would last
forever. Silly me. Fortunately,
learning more Disco today was not a complete waste of time. Once I learned a move
as a 'Lead',
Glen recommended I
try learning it again as a 'Follow'.
I groaned, but I knew he was right.
Victoria's absence forced me to start learning the woman's
role in earnest. Of course I was terrible. My friend Charles had
complimented me on my
improvement as a woman, but when I
danced with Glen, I realized I had barely
scratched the surface. It was
embarrassing to discover how bad I was.
Awkward, clumsy, impatient, resentful,
think too much.
What's new? Plus I was slow. I could not keep
up with the music, so Glen had to find
a slower song. It took a
while, but eventually I improved enough to gain a
working knowledge of how it feels to
dance the woman's part. That led
to useful insights on better ways to teach
my lady students to follow. It
also
helped to feel how Glen led me
through the patterns. Feeling how
he
tugged me in this direction or nudged me in
that direction helped
me improve my own leads. In
addition I sensed how exact the timing
had to be for a lead
to work. What a difference the
timing makes.
Now I had a much better idea how to lead when
it was my turn to be the boy again. It was
odd to discover that learning to be a
better woman dancer made me a better man.
This is why I say that losing Victoria
turned out to be a Silver Lining in the
long run.
One day Glen said I was dancing the
woman's part much better. Proud to
receive a compliment for a change, then he
asked if I was ready to begin dancing in
heels. You
should have seen my look of horror!
I nearly choked to death because I
thought Glen was serious. But then he smiled.
Gotcha.
Glen got a huge chuckle out of that. To my pleasant
surprise, I could see my one-on-one
training with Glen was making me a much
better dancer. How pathetic...
just when my dance career was almost over, I
was finally learning my craft.
Sometimes my life really sucked.
|
TUESDAY, AUGUST 28
RICK'S 'STAY WITH MICHAEL' SPEECH
|
|
Following my lesson with Glen, I did two things.
First I dropped by the nearby Class Factory office
to say hello. To my surprise,
Deborah asked if I knew how to teach
Country-Western dancing. No. Then she
asked if I was willing to learn. No.
Why should I? Country-Western had been
prominent in Houston ever since Cowboy
opened six months ago. So far, not one person
had asked me for a lesson. So why bother? Suddenly depressed, I
made an excuse and
left.
I
drove to nearby La Madeleine, home of many
awkward conversations with Victoria. Eating
alone for the first time, I had expected I would miss
Victoria, my former companion at this restaurant.
to my surprise, I did not miss her at
all. In fact, I felt relieved. These past
two months of lunchtime Negotiations and nighttime
Car Talk had convinced me Victoria
was unstable. Now that I knew her better, I
would be out of my mind to consider a
serious relationship. As I ate meal, I wrote
up a list of the reasons that led me to
feel this way.
|
 |
 In May,
Victoria had reached for my hand at La Madeleine and said
she loved me. I referred to this moment as
our 'Dance with the Devil'. We came very close to a
serious conflagration, but I backed off.
In June,
again at La Madeleine, Victoria discussed a European-style
extramarital love affair. When I
said no, Victoria switched tactics. She stated..."But
what if I was separated? Would you be willing to
pursue a relationship then?" Surprised, I
said yes. It was not my idea for Victoria to leave
her husband, but if she left of her own accord, then of
course I was interested. The following day, Victoria
left town for a July 4th vacation with Michael.
This left me hanging in
the process.
Victoria's
admission that Michael did not want her any more signaled
a sincere
desire to pursue a committed
relationship with me. Based on
her vague promise, I avoided
a perfect opportunity to look for a new girlfriend
following my breakup with Patricia at the end of June.
Victoria was out of town, so I could have easily moved
on. Instead I decided to wait for her.
When
Victoria returned from her July 4th trip, I told her I
was willing to explore the idea of a relationship.
My readiness was based on the presumption that Michael
was stepping aside as Victoria had claimed.
However, I discovered Victoria had changed her mind
while she was gone. Feeling misled by Victoria's claim,
I regretted my decision to wait.
Regarding my
declaration of interest, Victoria reversed course
and developed Cold Feet. Curious to know where her love had
gone, I asked what had changed in two weeks from
June to July.
"Things were
different then."
Oh really? That was fast.
Victoria proceeded to say her father
had convinced her that I was using her. I
resented Victoria's revelation that her father
considered me a Playboy who would drop her the moment I
did not need her anymore. This
was not fair. I was not 'using' Victoria. Whatever Victoria had done for me
was out of free will in pursuit of Disco Glory.
Victoria had spent the first six
months of 1979 declaring her undying fascination for me.
However, the moment
I finally took the bait, rather than crawl into my arms, Victoria initiated
her Negotiations.
Analyzing my flaws with a fine-tooth comb, Victoria proceeded to
point out my unsuitability as Serious Relationship
material. I felt like such a chump to have
actually invited her to come live with me. The
combination of the Playboy
Accusation, the Husband List, plus her disdain at the
horror of living at my ramshackle old house was too much
to dear. Her negativity destroyed any
romantic feelings I might have had.
In August,
Victoria switched tactics. Although I lagged far
behind Michael as 'husband material', apparently I qualified as a lover. So
Victoria decided to seduce
me instead. During her Moonlight Madness attack, she came very close to
succeeding.
Following
the Poolside Revelations, I made a sacred vow to never allow an
Affair to take place. Apparently my prayer was
answered. Ever since, all desire had
left my body. Up till now, there had been three things that held us
together... my physical desire for her, our performing
project, and my dependency
on Victoria to help build the business. Well, the
business was facing extinction, Victoria no longer
wished to perform, and my desire was gone.
In the process Victoria's hold on me
had fallen considerably. So what was left?
She still taught for me, but that would end the moment
Disco's demise took place.
Let us not forget the Dance Curse. Sunday's Karate Chop Accident
changed the dynamics of our relationship overnight. Here on
the eve of September, I felt like we had reached the
conclusion
of Victoria's July-August back and forth. During our
phone talk on Monday, August 27th, Victoria mentioned
she and Michael had scheduled a serious talk over the
Labor Day weekend. It was my hope that Victoria's
upcoming talk with Michael would offer ample opportunity
to heal wounds and patch things up. I was certain her Karate Chop decision would close the door on her
Disco Dreams and lead to her back to
Michael. If so, good, that was the right thing to do.
The time had come for me to make a clean break. If she had to leave the studio, I could live with that. There wasn't much
Victoria could do to revive this dying horse anyway, not with
Disco approaching its end game here in Houston. Tonight I
expected Victoria would conduct another round of fruitless
Car Talk. If so, I intended to explain why I thought
we should go our separate ways and why she should return to
Michael.
|
As expected, that night Victoria led me to her car following
our Tuesday classes. Oh boy, another exciting round
of Car Talk! Would this be the night I received my freedom? Or would it be more discouraging
words about my unsuitability as a husband? Or maybe Victoria
would make another desperate lunge. I never knew what
she would do next.
From the
moment I first met Michael and Victoria, I thought they were the
Golden Couple. They were easily the
best-looking pair I had ever met and the
most talented as well. They say outward
appearances can be deceiving, but I swear these two
looked meant for each other. Whatever had pushed
them apart
was a mystery to me. All I had was
Victoria's version. The meanest thing she could say
was that Michael worked too hard and neglected her. Oh gee,
such hardship. Is it time to grow up yet?
I did not blame Victoria for
her reluctance to trade her talented husband for me.
Her preference made perfect sense once Victoria
explained why Michael was 'The Better Man'.
Victoria and her husband had carved out a very
secure life complete with a beautiful home and a wonderful child. Therefore it never made any sense in the first place why
Victoria would dream of leaving
The Better Man
for me, especially with Disco on the ropes.
Adding
to the mystery, Victoria was convinced I was Cursed. More likely we were both cursed. Seriously
spooked by God's wrath, Victoria refused to consider
performing at Camelot or Annabelle's
again.
The Karate Chop
marked the end of an era. If she didn't
want to dance in public any more, her days as
the Supreme Diva of Disco were officially over.
Disco was ending and so was
our futile attempt at a relationship.
We still
had a business relationship, but with enrollments down,
even that would not last much longer.
Perceiving
these recent dance accidents as serious bad omens, I was keenly
reminded me of the lesson I learned from watching The Man Who Would Be King.
When a woman is Forbidden, do not touch her. Victoria's
Cold Feet, the threat of Urban Cowboy
and this weird Dance Curse
were three excellent reasons to call it quits.
It's been fun, but now I'm done. I had
all the evidence necessary to conclude the union of
Rick and Victoria had not received a Divine Blessing.
When God tells me not to do something,
the smart thing to do is
obey!!
|
 |
 |
It was high
time Victoria listened as well. That was the
message of the Karate Chop. Since Victoria's loss of joy
due to the Dance Curse struck me as an insurmountable
setback, I assumed she was just as ready
to end this Drama as me.
In my opinion,
we would remain cursed until we went our separate ways. We
had played this idiotic
Negotiations Game for two months and I was fed up. If ever I needed a face-saving reason to
suggest a clean break, the Karate Chop had powerful
symbolic clout.
Considering the accident had taken place exactly one year
from the moment we first met at the Jewish Community Center,
I felt a sense of closure. The Karate Chop was literally 'The Final
Blow'. This one-year mark was the perfect time to
call it quits.
Due
to Darya's swimming pool revelations about adultery and this third
dance accident, I was more determined than ever to extricate
myself from Victoria's dominance. I was lonely and
tired of this nonsense. I wanted to find a
girlfriend! For this reason I wanted to move things along
sooner
than later.
Earlier today I had prepared a 'Stay With Michael'
speech in anticipation of tonight's Car Talk.
Ordinarily I let Victoria start by telling me what was
on her mind. Not tonight. The moment we
entered Victoria's car, I took the lead.
|
"Victoria,
your Karate Chop decision to withdraw is the final
straw. Without performing and without sharing
private lessons with Glen, we have lost the tie that
binds us. As far as I am concerned, the
writing is on the wall. This Dance Curse,
Urban Cowboy, Sunday's accident at Annabelle's
and your decision to avoid Camelot on this coming
Friday indicates your heart is not in this any
longer. With the end of the Disco Era upon us,
what is the point of continuing to talk about our
future together?
I am in
complete agreement with your Husband List. There
is no way I can ever match what Michael offers you in any
significant way. Therefore, the time
has come for me to step aside. You
are the Golden Wife with the Golden Life. Please give
Michael another chance."
I thought that
was a good speech.
To be honest, I really expected Victoria
would agree with me and back off. However, I was wrong.
To my
surprise, Victoria
exploded in rage.
"Damn
it, Rick, you just don't get it, do you!?! He is sick of me,
you idiot!! Get it through your head that Michael
doesn't want me anymore! How am I supposed to give him another chance when he keeps trying to
shove me out the door? If you're so damn
smart, then you go talk to Michael and tell him to give
me another chance! I am desperate because he
says I have burned my bridges with him."
I stopped
breathing. I did not realize it was that serious.
Right now Michael was so mad at Victoria that he didn't want
her anymore. Well, that was Victoria's problem,
not mine. However, given her rage, I could not say that out loud and
hope to leave this car alive.
"Then
get a divorce, Victoria. That's what people do when they
have unhappy marriages. You have a college
degree and a Texas teaching certificate. Keep the house, get a
job, receive child support. You will do
just fine. After your divorce, come see me if you still
want to. We can talk
about our
relationship then. Together maybe we will have
enough salary to make a go of things [keep in
mind I was not serious. I was merely trying to placate her]. But right now I am looking at
three dance accidents in a row. These accidents
are not
only frightening, they are weird.
And what about Urban Cowboy
killing off all the Discos? Stuff keeps happening beyond our control.
To me, these bad omens suggest any future relationship is
a big mistake. Don't you see? The Universe is telling us we
are star-crossed lovers. The Universe is
telling us to walk away!"
Noting Victoria had calmed down after her
explosion, I
was positive this final argument would bring
Victoria to her senses. First her father had told
Victoria it wouldn't work. Now I was telling her
it wouldn't work. Even God was telling her
this wouldn't work. What more did she need
to see the light?
"Rick,
I see your point, but I don't agree with your
conclusion. Michael says he wants to talk to me over the
upcoming Labor Day weekend. Stephanie is spending the weekend with a friend so we can go somewhere and hash
things out. Please don't force me to come to
any decisions until I have my weekend talk."
I was
incredulous. Why can't this woman see the truth?
Faced with every bad omen known to man, I could not
believe Victoria would stubbornly cling to our pathetic relationship
that was not even remotely romantic.
Frustrated, I spoke from my heart.
"Victoria,
are you out of your mind!?! Leave Michael out of
this! This is about you and me. What makes you think that
our relationship is dependent on what
Michael does? Good lord, look around. The crops
are dying, there is drought, famine, and
plague. Locusts blot out the sun and
strip the grasslands bare. How many times do you
need to break your neck or break Benita's neck in order to see
you are
headed in the wrong direction?"
"But
wait..."
Exasperated,
I interrupted and raised my voice. "No,
you wait! Where do you get the nerve to defy God's Will?"
Victoria
turned beet red. She was angry at my defiance,
so she met it with defiance of her own.
"Rick,
stop pressuring me! I
need more time! I understand what you are
saying about God's Will. But I don't agree
with your interpretation of the signs. I am convinced you are
part of my life. Don't ask me why I feel this
way, but I am certain we are meant to be together.
Yes, right now God is testing me to see how strong I
am. Fortunes fall and fortunes rise. I
am certain there is happiness for us around
the corner. People who love each other can't
just give up every time there are problems!"
"People who love each
other?" I could not
believe what I had just heard. Did Victoria really believe I
loved her? I admit I once had a burning lust for
her, but that was hardly the same thing as Love.
And, yes, I was grateful to Victoria for all her help,
but Loyalty is not the same thing as Love. Victoria's manipulative master-slave tactics had
prevented any serious romantic affection from
developing. As things stood, I did not trust her
enough to love her. Just when I
was about to speak up and hammer the truth into her, Victoria
broke into tears. She put her head down against
the steering wheel and sobbed
violently. I wasn't buying it. Enough
already. Can we turn off the faucet and try acting like an
adult??
Disgusted, I
sat back against the window and took a long, hard look at
Victoria in the darkness. Victoria wasn't doing
very well. She was a nervous wreck. We had
just hit the
one year anniversary of our friendship, but it seemed
like I had spent an eternity with this woman.
The way I felt right now,
Victoria was probably Karmic punishment for my countless
past misdeeds in another lifetime.
Whatever the reason for this neverending nightmare, I
wanted to finish this. Yes, I appreciated
her much-needed help with the dance program, but I had
paid a heavy price in return. To
my surprise, I realized I now had the Upper Hand. The combination of the
Karate Chop Accident, Victoria's superstitious nature,
plus her ongoing soap opera
at home had weakened her terribly. Why wait? Given the utter hopelessness of the
situation, it was time for Puppet Boy to step up and call the shots.
I was just
about to tell Victoria it was over, but hesitated when
a message rolled across my mind's eye. Why part on bad terms? Victoria deserved the
right to talk things over with Michael. Plus it would
be so much better if Victoria was the one to break up with me.
Since all I had to
do was wait for her Labor Day showdown, what's the hurry?
Just wait three days. Now
that my temptation was gone, I was not afraid of her
anymore. The only power she had over me was her
dwindling
involvement in my business. Now, thanks to
Urban Cowboy plus her decision to withdraw from
everything but two small weekly classes, my business
barely had a pulse. In other words, I had little
to lose by giving her a couple more days to talk things
over with Michael.
"Fine,
have it your way. I can understand why you
prefer to have your Labor Day talk with Michael
before making your final decision. I recommend
you stay with Michael, but that is up to you."
And with
that I got out of the car. I was mildly
disappointed over my decision to postpone her execution,
but mostly I was in a good mood as I drove
home. Next week I expected to be free.
|
WEDNESDAY,
AUGUST 29, 1979
SECOND THOUGHTS
|
|
The
following day, Wednesday, I second-guessed myself.
It crossed my mind I should have broken it off last
night. There wasn't a damn thing Victoria could
have done about it. Even though our breakup seemed
imminent and inevitable, I was filled
with regret at the postponement. I had foolishly passed up a
perfect opportunity for a clean split.
Why? I
suppose I wanted to
let her save face. I blamed my weakness on
some sort of 'noble instinct' that clouded
my judgment. For that matter, I could very well have been
the victim of Cosmic Blindness. I swear I
was just
on the verge of telling Victoria it was over when that thought
crossed my mind ordering me to back off. Where did
that last-second idea to back off come from? Was that Fate
forcing me to stick around? In Hindsight, it sure felt
like it. As any
fan of horror movies knows,
do not give Dracula a second chance. Put the stake through the Vampire's
heart at the very first
opportunity and be done with it. Otherwise more
people will die.
|
|
 |
However, when
all was said and done, Victoria was my friend. For
that reason I wanted
her to be the one to break it off with me, not vice versa. That way
there would be no hard feelings, but rather a sad
acceptance that some things are not meant to be.
Oh well, why worry about it? Believing
Victoria was just a breath away from giving up, I spent
the rest of the week confidently expecting she would break
things off following her Labor Day talk with
Michael. Next week I would have my freedom, I was sure
of it. If she didn't leave me, then I would leave
her.
|
|
FRIDAY,
AUGUST 31, 1979
CAMELOT:
BEGINNING OF THE END
|
|
On Friday,
August 31, I went to Camelot after dance class.
Due to Victoria's promise to talk things over with Michael
over the weekend, this was the first time I had ever visited
Camelot by myself. The crowd was small, maybe 20
people. Considering this was the start of Labor
Day Weekend, I had expected better attendance.
Comparing tonight's small group to crowds approaching 100 back in
the heyday of Disco earlier this year, I could not
help but be
appalled. This did not bode well for September's
attendance at the studio.
The first person I
ran into was Gus, a student in my Monday night Acrobatics
class. Gus pulled me aside.
"Where is
Victoria? I heard what you said to our class on
Monday. Is it true that you and she quit Annabelle's on Sundays?
And now she isn't here tonight. What's going on? Is there something wrong?"
What was I
supposed to say? "Oh, gosh, Victoria is afraid that she has a
Dance
Curse and might lose her life if she dances with me ever
again. You wouldn't want to risk seeing Victoria
struck by lightning, would you?"
Smiling lamely,
I tried to reassure Gus. "Victoria went somewhere
with her husband
for the Labor Day Weekend. I'm sure she will be
back next week [basically a fib]."
Gus furrowed his
brow. "Victoria has a husband? I didn't know
that. If she's married, then why is she always hanging
all over you here at the Pistachio Club?"
Since Michael
had not been seen at Camelot since the end of March, there
were a lot of people who had no idea she was married.
It did not help that Victoria had developed a bad habit of
taking her ring off on Fridays. "I don't want to
scratch anyone's face when we're dancing..."
"We're just
friends, Gus...."
Before I could
say more, Gus waved his
hand around the room to call attention to the
sparse crowd.
"Without
Victoria at here to stir things up, the
energy tonight is really low. Most of our group is
talking, not dancing."
"What are they
talking about?" As if I didn't know.
"At first
people wondered why Victoria isn't here, but then the
conversation drifted to the future of Disco.
Did
you hear that Boccaccio recently closed?"
I frowned.
I had never been to this club, but I mourned the loss of
Boccaccio nevertheless. Gus was really getting under my skin
with his comments. "No, I had not heard. That is
bad news."
"You're
telling me. I am really worried that people are getting tired of
Disco. If so, when will you start
teaching Country-Western??"
Teach
Western? Is this guy out of his mind? I did not
see that one coming. I stared
blankly at Gus. What was I supposed to say? The sum total of my
experience with Western dancing was the Cotton Eyed Joe
at the Cactus Club
three months earlier. Based on what I had seen, I doubted seriously there was much to teach.
"Come on,
Gus, don't you
think it is premature to write off Disco? I
mean, Boccaccio is hardly a mainstream Disco club."
"You're
right, Boccaccio is a small place. But it is right next door
to where I live. I go there all the time
because I have become a minor celebrity with my partner dancing. If they are going to put a
Western club in that spot, I want to be ready.
So I asked around. No one seems to know a single
Western teacher. What about you? Can you
teach Western?"
Gus was
really putting me on the spot. The memory
of my June visit to
that awful Cactus Club continued to be my
worst nightmare. Country-Western dancing was not
only ridiculously simple, it was also incredibly boring.
And now Gus expected me to teach him how to Western
dance.
Teach him what? I felt sick in my
stomach. I decided my
only safe choice was to avoid the question.
"Sure, I know a
little Western, but there's no real demand. I'm sure
when the time comes, I'll change my stripes [mucho grande fib].
But right now, I want to dance a little. We can
talk some more later [another fib. I just wanted to get
him off my back]."
The
Pistachio Club was empty. If this continued, I
was sure this place did not have long to live. That was more than enough to put me
in a bad mood, but for some reason this off-hand comment by
Gus about Boccaccio
was the straw that broke the camel's back. I felt the
beginning a giant depression roll in. I could not help but feel this just might be the
long-awaited beginning of the end for my beloved Magic Carpet Ride. If so, that would be
tantamount to the end of the world.
I asked a girl
named Brigitte to dance. After we finished, I followed
her over to the tables where the group was sitting. To my
dismay, one student after another wanted to know where
Victoria was. That's all they could talk about. "Where is
Victoria?" I spent the entire night answering the same
question over and over again. I knew why they were
upset. Without Victoria,
tonight's Camelot event was deader than a doornail. It
was painful to admit, but I had nowhere near the social
skills that had made Victoria the Supreme Diva of Disco.
She made the night light up with her endless
cheerleader-style rah-rah. Prom Queen, model,
cheerleader, prettiest girl, the one who knew all the latest
dances, leader of the pack, Victoria had been the "It"
girl back in high school. That charm had never worn
off. She used that same 'let's go, gang, get out on
the floor and dance' attitude here at Pistachio to great
effect. I wish I could do it, but that just wasn't me.
And it showed. These people looked to me to cheer them
up, but I was more depressed than they were.
I had no
way of knowing whether tonight's problem was related to
Victoria's accident at Annabelle's last Sunday, her absence
tonight, or the imminent Death of Disco in general. Probably
all of the above.
Without Victoria, Camelot seemed doomed. Never had I
been more frustrated. I couldn't live with Victoria
and my dance program couldn't live without her. As
much as I hated to admit it, the dance program needed its
mother. Without Victoria to keep the energy going, I
imagine my program could limp through September, but all
bets were off for October. For lack of
anything better to do, I danced a couple songs, then joined
a different table upon my return. This table was
populated by seven members of my Monday Night
Acrobatics class, the same class Gus was in.
A pretty girl named Lynette greeted
me. "Guess what?"
she said. "We've come up with a new name for our
Monday Night dance class."
"Oh yeah? What's your new name?"
"We've decided
to call ourselves the Die Hards."
Always a fan of
gallows humor, I grinned. "I can probably guess, but
what's your explanation."
Lynette nodded
to the others, then spoke up.
"None of us are happy about this Urban Cowboy
bullshit. As it stands, we are down to three, maybe
four clubs that still play Disco music. Not only that,
things are getting weird. Tingles has
start to play Disco music
on one side of the room and Western on the other. Do
you have any idea how hard it is to try dance Disco with
Willie Nelson bellowing in the background?
If this trend continues, pretty soon we won't
have a single place
left to go Disco dancing.
The worst part is the feeling that
they are shoving Country dancing down our throats."
Lynette paused
to see if everyone agreed with her, then resumed.
"So, as an
act of protest, our group here has pledged to dance
Disco till the last club closes, then we all plan to
drink poison and die a noble death together with our
dance shoes on. We
are the Die Hards."
I smiled
ruefully.
"In that case, count me in. I feel exactly the same
way you do. I fear the end is in sight."
At that moment,
one of my favorite songs came on. I grabbed Linda, the
girl sitting next to me, and hauled her out on the dance
floor. When the song was over, I walked Linda back to
the table, then excused myself to go buy a drink. That
was a fib. I walked right past the bar and kept going out the
door. I could not take another discouraging word
tonight.
As I drove home, I was worried sick about
the future of my dance program. So far, my
entire year had been marked by one crisis after another.
Month after month of
dealing with problems between Victoria, Patricia and
Joanne had sapped my spirit. Not only was I fed up
with a year of dealing with the Dueling Divas of Disco Discord, my
fears about the growing menace of Western
dance clubs had worn me to a frazzle. It seemed like all I ever
did was worry. When I got
home, the only message on my answering machine was from
Victoria. She was crying and upset that I had not
answered my phone all day Friday. She
demanded I call her the moment I got home.
Considering
how depressed I was, I refused to return her call.
|
 |
Instead I decided
to take my dogs Emily and Sissy for a long walk in
the moonlight. I adored my dogs. They were strays I
had adopted. As the three of us walked the neighborhood for an hour,
my mind was consumed with one question...
Why is Disco dying? Disco was going strong in every
other
corner of the
country. The lone exception was here in Houston.
For some strange reason, Disco had been systematically being replaced by one
Western club after another. Here on the eve of
Fall,
there was just a trickle of Discos left.
Why was that?? As always, I
could find no answer. I blamed the problem on some
stupid Wizard of Oz, but that was just a guess. The disappearance of Disco
was a mystery with no solution, so I felt helpless to
know what to do about it. What in the world
was I going to do when Disco was gone? Once
Disco was gone, there was nothing left for me to teach.
Ballroom? Don't be ridiculous. Ballroom was for
people three times my age. Most of them were lucky to still
be walking. Besides, I hated the music and knew next
to nothing about the dancing. Based on my lousy
experience with the Waltz, I just couldn't see this
happening. What about Western? The
more I thought about teaching Western, the more I panicked.
I abhorred the music so much, I couldn't see this happening
either. The future looked bleak. I had
originally pegged Christmas as the
bitter end, but Victoria's withdrawal had accelerated the
demise. November was definitely going to be the last
month. After that I would have to look for a real
job.
I felt
desperate. I wasn't just losing my job, I
was losing my 'reason for being'. For the past five
years my entire identity had been wrapped around Disco.
Three years of learning, two years of teaching. Disco
Dancing had rescued me from the worst
depression of my life following my Colorado State
debacle. Dancing had given me
self-confidence around women plus I discovered a teaching talent I never knew I had. Going out
dancing with friends from the studio had been the most
fun I had enjoyed in my entire life. Furthermore,
at one point
I had nursed a well-kept secret that this Dance Path might
be God's plan for me. If so, God's Plan had
just hit a dead end. Once the Disco
Ball stopped spinning, the party was over.
|
The bad news about
Boccaccio
broke my spirit. Thanks to the Karate Chop, Annabelle's was history
and Camelot had lost its
leader. More than ever before, this was the night I
keenly felt that Disco was going, going, gone. I hurt so much
right now. It was like watching my best
friend in the world shrivel up and die from an incurable disease.
Worst of all, I did not even know what had caused the
illness. Why is Disco dying in Houston
but nowhere else? Looking at the stars in the dark sky, I asked a question.
"Will someone up there please tell me why Disco
has to die?"
No one
answered.
|
|
THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY
|
| |
|
083 |
Suspicious |
Lucky Break |
1979 |
|
|
082 |
Suspicious |
Perfect Timing
Cosmic Blindness |
1979 |
|
| |
Rick
Archer's Note:
Believe
it or not, we have come to end of The
Year of Living Dangerously. No
doubt my Readers will feel supremely cheated.
I promised a year and 1979 still has four months to go.
So why stop now? Because my Magic Carpet
Ride still has a long way to go and this
book is long enough as it is at 70 chapters.
In addition, there is another reason to stop here.
The upcoming Labor Day Weekend will dramatically
alter the direction of my life... and not
necessarily for the better. As we shall see, I
have a looming appointment with Rock Bottom.
Little
did I know, but during the weekend I will face two
Supernatural Events. They will lead to the two greatest gambles
of my entire life. I will get into so much trouble
you won't even be able to tell the difference
between this book and the next.
By the
way, I know what you are thinking.
"C'mon,
Rick, don't tease us. We paid for an
entire year and now you're cheating us out of
four months. You should at least give us
some
hints."
Fair
enough. What do you want to know?
Will Victoria be back?
Unfortunately, yes.
What about Patricia?
She's gone for good.
What about Joanne?
I am
pleased to say Joanne will be back.
What about your Boss from Hell, Lance Stevens?
You haven't said much about him lately.
Unfortunately, he too will be back.
Anyone new?
Yes.
You will finally get to meet the amazing Wizard of
Oz. He's worth the price of admission.
Will there be
more Supernatural Events?
Have no
fear. 22 utterly new, totally
amazing Supernatural Events, two of which take place
over the Labor Day Weekend.
What about the Dance Curse?
Say to
say, the Dance Curse will continue and so will my Epic
Losing Streak.
How
much are we
missing from those four months you stole from
us?
You are
missing a lot. Not only will the next four
months include the worst mistake of my life, I
will be caught in three terrible traps of my own
making. In fact, this upcoming period was
easily the toughest four month stretch of my entire
life.
How could you do this to us? What happens
to Victoria? What about your career?
Will it
help if I say I feel guilty?
Not really.
By the way, what's the name of your next book?
The Last Four Months of the Year of Living
Dangerously.
We hate you.
I don't
blame you.
|
Right now it's a coin flip between calling you a
mercenary cheat or reading your next book.
If you will give us just one more hint, maybe we
will consider forgiving you.
Okay, if
you insist. I begin 1980
wearing a pair of cowboy boots.
Gee, what a surprise. So what is the new
book called?
Mystery of the Texas Twostep
Why is it a Mystery?
Because
I resisted the decision to teach Western dancing
with every fiber of my being. However, it
happened anyway for reasons beyond my control.
Which is another way of saying the Force of Fate
intervened.
Anything else?
Yes.
I would like to thank everyone for
reading The Year of Living Dangerously.
I hope you have enjoyed it.
Rick Archer
July 2025
|
 |
|
|
