TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1979
VICTORIA WANTS TO MOVE IN
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It was Tuesday
night, September 11. After surviving my first
Country-Western dance class and being reunited with Jennifer
on Sunday, I was in a pretty good mood. Unfortunately
now it was Tuesday and that meant facing Victoria again.
I was not looking forward to it.
Why was Victoria
even here? Two weeks ago I had delivered my 'Stay
with Michael' speech.
"Victoria,
this Dance Curse is the final straw. Between
Urban Cowboy, Sunday's accident at Annabelle's
and your decision to quit Camelot, the writing is
on the wall. Without performing and sharing private
lessons, you and I have lost the tie that binds
us. With the end of the Disco Era upon us,
what is the point of continuing? Besides that,
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."
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Following the Karate Chop incident, Victoria was
so spooked by the Dance Curse that she quit
performing and taking private lessons. In
addition, she had refused to return to Friday
Camelot-Pistachio or Sunday Annabelle's.
What was left? Not much. Back in
July, Victoria taught 4 classes per week, two on
Tuesday, two on Thursday, to a total of 100-120
students. In September she was down to one
class on Tuesday, 10 people, and one class on
Thursday, 6 people. That is how much the
Dancing Cowboy had diminished our once proud
dance program. Given such severe attrition,
I was at a loss to explain why this crazy woman
was still here.
Last
Tuesday I lost my temper during Thursday Car
Talk and exited the vehicle without
permission.
Thanks to Jennifer, I had lost all interest in
Negotiating. Tonight I tried to sneak
out after dance class, but Victoria was not to
be denied. Just as I was getting in my car
following dance class, Victoria came up from
behind and scared me to death by tapping on the
window from my blind left side.
Victoria
barked at me, "Where do you think you're going?"
Then she pointed to her car. "Over there.
Now!"
Given that
Victoria was hopping mad, I reluctantly switched to her spacious car. Victoria
wasted no time.
"Rick, I am so angry at you I could spit.
First you barely spoke to me last week.
You brushed me off like I mean nothing
to you. You don't answer the phone and
tonight I catch you trying to
escape. I demand an
explanation!!"
The
explanation was Jennifer. I
thought it prudent to avoid mentioning her.
"I'll tell you why I've been avoiding you.
I am still upset that you you canceled
Annabelle's and quit taking private lessons with
me. I am angry that you failed to
discuss your marriage with Michael over Labor
Day like you promised. The last straw came
Thursday when you informed me you were ditching Camelot
for the second Friday in a
row. The energy at Pistachio
was at an all-time
low without you. I am sick and
tired of people asking where you are. I can't do
this alone. We used to be a team, but not
anymore."
"You know damn well that I am having marital
problems. Plus I haven't felt like dancing after nearly killing that woman
at Annabelle's."
"Tell me again how old you are... 30, 35, 40?
Right now you are acting like a
spoiled teenager. How you noticed how
small your classes are in September?
It is the same for me. There are virtually no new students and the
old-timers are dropping like flies. Now I
see that you are using a
freak accident as an excuse to avoid your
role in the dance program. Your absence at the
Pistachio Club for the past two
Fridays has crippled our program at
a time when people are already worried that Disco is
going to be knocked off the map by
Country-Western dancing. Here I am
fighting to keep the few students I have left
interested in Disco and you are nowhere to be seen.
Quit
babbling about this stupid Dance Curse and get
back to work."
"Poor baby, do you need Mommy to
do your diapers at the scary dance club?
Too bad you can't cut it when I am not
around. Maybe you should think about
that. In the meantime, I don't appreciate
having you avoid me.
You don't return my calls, you walked away from
me two times last week, and tonight you tried to
ditch me again.
What is with this cold shoulder?"
Victoria was right; I was avoiding her. Do I tell her about Jennifer? No, bad idea. Do I tell her
about Joanne? No, bad
idea. Do I tell her about the
Meyerland Club? No, bad
idea. The Meyerland Club was
a long-shot gamble, but if it paid off, it might
be my only hope. I needed to steer her away from my clandestine
activities. Otherwise she was sure to
meddle.
"Victoria,
you think you have problems, well, so do I. I have been really depressed
to see Disco dying before my eyes.
Attendance in classes is down this month, another Disco
called Boccaccio
just closed, and you're not helping things with
your Dance Curse paranoia. Camelot
has fallen off dramatically in your absence.
If you aren't willing to
contribute, why should I bother talking to you?"
Victoria
did not like
my answer. She asked several probing
questions, but I
simply repeated my excuses over and over like a
broken record.
Tiring of her interrogation, I decided to change the subject. "How
are things going for you, Victoria?"
"They suck!" With that,
Victoria began to cry. When she finished,
Victoria explained why she was so upset.
"Michael and I really got into it
last night.
We are arguing almost every night now."
I frowned. This reminded me of
my own childhood tears. My parents had quarreled
constantly in the days leading up to their
divorce. Their daughter must be
going out of her mind with fear. I felt
so sorry for the kid. "How
is Stephanie handling it when you argue?"
"Oh, Jesus, Stephanie is crying in her room
practically
every time I walk past. I am sick
about this. Michael is just as
upset. He says he can't take much more of
this. Michael is at his wit's end with me.
He wants me to quit the studio or leave the
house. He says if I don't quit, he'll
divorce me and sue for custody. But I
think he's bluffing. I don't believe
Michael
would dream of following through on his
threats."
This
was no surprise. I had heard her tell me
this before. The advent of September
marked the one year anniversary of my friendship
with Victoria. At this time last
year, Victoria had lit up my dance
program like a bonfire. Now she was busy
tearing her marriage to pieces. What a
difference a year makes. My
biggest fear is that she would tear down my dance
program as well. I didn't blame
Michael for being fed up. A year is a long
time to put up with an intolerable
situation. Victoria's
infatuation with me and her fascination with the
Disco program had sorely tried Michael's patience.
I imagined he spent every waking moment sick with worry over Victoria's
weird obsession with Disco and her unwillingness
to fix their marriage.
As
we spoke in the dark, Victoria was riddled with fear. With Michael threatening
to leave, Victoria was terrified of losing him.
She would not admit it, but Michael was her
anchor. Now with me not returning her
phone calls and walking away from her, Victoria
felt threatened by my new-found independence.
Well, tough, Victoria should have thought about
that back when she and Darya laughed over the
joys of infidelity. Now that Victoria had alienated
Michael and me, she was fearful
of losing us both at once.
Thanks to my relationship with Jennifer, for
the first time in ages I was able to watch
Victoria with a certain amount of detachment. I
found myself mesmerized by Victoria's endless litany of woes. I
had never seen a woman chase her own tail quite like
Victoria. And yet surely
this had to be a terrible ordeal for Michael.
I felt so sorry for him. The poor
guy had to live with this maniac and die inside
knowing his
daughter was adversely affected by the turmoil. I
also felt sorry for Victoria. Although one side of me detested
the woman, another side remembered the
gratitude I had long felt towards her. If
only there was a way to recapture the glory days
of yesteryear.
In
the darkness, the
words to It's Too Late Now, a Carole King song, passed through my
mind.
"You were light and breezy and I knew
just what to do. Now you look so unhappy
and I feel like a fool."
Half-listening and half-reminiscing about the
good times, I heard
Victoria say that she had recently proposed
the idea of her moving out of their house to
Michael. What did she say? In that instant, I
stopped breathing. As my
heart raced with panic, I said,
"Just where do you intend to move to?"
"I
would move in with you, of course. That is
what you suggested at the studio on
Tuesday."
Dying a million deaths, I said,
"Um, remind me what I said last Tuesday."
"You said, 'When you decide to leave your
husband and move in with me, we can talk.'
So I brought it up to Michael. He's
all for it. So let's talk about it."
Thank God we were talking
in the dark because I
had just turned white as a ghost.
It was true, I had really said that. But I didn't
mean it. Full of panic, I replied,
"Victoria, you can stop right there. I was being sarcastic."
My
heart was pounding. Was Victoria serious? This
was really ironic. Victoria's neverending
harassment had goaded me into saying something
stupid just to get her off my back. I could not believe Victoria was using my
flippant remark against me.
"Like hell you were! You've been
asking me to move in with you ever since you
broke up with Patricia. Where else am
I supposed to go?
I'm supposed to be your girlfriend,
remember?"
Girlfriend? Since when?
Sidestepping the girlfriend comment, I asked,
"What
exactly did Michael say?"
"Michael said, 'Help
yourself to happiness. If he can
afford you, there's the
door.' You want to know something
interesting? I don't think Michael was
kidding. I bet Michael would be thrilled if I moved out.
He would find some day care center for
Stephanie and move on from me in a flash. Maybe moving in
with you is the best thing for all us."
I
needed to put a swift end to this very bad idea.
"Just
to set the record straight, I
did not officially invite you to move in with me.
What I said was
we would talk about it. So if you want to talk,
then let's talk. I'll go first. Back
when our Negotiations began in July, I asked you why you were hot to trot in June,
but got cold feet in July. You answered
that 'Things were different then.' I am going to say the same thing to
you. Victoria, things are different now.
There are a lot of issues, what you intend to do
about your daughter
for example. We would need to address my
reservations
before I consider letting you move in with me.
For one thing, I would want to speak with
Michael. I need to know EXACTLY where Michael
stands before I interfere with his family any more
than I already have."
Victoria blew a gasket. "God damn
it! Leave Michael out of this!"
she screamed. "This
is between you and me!"
Victoria paused to regain control, then
continued.
"Goddamn you anyway. You know
what, Rick, you are exactly what my
father said you were. You are a
Playboy. You make promises, you lead
me on, and then you pull back at the exact
moment I need you. My
father has never met you, but he has
you pegged. He said you were using me
to create your career, but the moment I was
of no value, you would shut the door.
My father saw this coming three months ago.
I told him no, you were a stand-up guy.
Now I know better."
I
winced at her excellent use of guilt. Victoria definitely had a way with words.
But I had no sympathy. I had given her two
months to make up her mind, more than enough
time. She could run all the guilt trips she
wanted, but nothing would change my mind.
It would be a cold day in hell before I allowed
this crazy woman
into my house. Now that Jennifer had entered my
life, all I wanted to do was head for the exit
door ASAP.
"Those are bitter words, Victoria. By
the way, you have a very convenient memory. You
recall what is helpful to recall and forget the
rest. Let me give you an example. Back
in late June prior to your two-week
vacation, we had lunch at La Madeleine.
First you brought up the suggestion of a
European-style relationship. When I didn't
go for that, you changed your tune and said
Michael had given you permission to pursue
a relationship with me. I said if that was
true, then come live with me and let's see how
things would work out. In fact, I remember
my exact words. 'If you decide to
leave Michael, then you can move in with me and we can see
if our relationship is real or not. We can see how
things click between us. However, as long as you live
with Michael, I am not willing to fool around.'
You were all for
that idea and said we would talk about it when
you returned from your trip.
The subject of moving in was discussed a couple
of times in July, but you just scoffed.
Instead you handed me the Husband List to
explain why I was unsuitable. In
addition, ever since you saw what
my house looks like, the subject of moving in never came up
again until now. What gives you the right to think the offer is still valid?"
"Because you made a promise to me. If you have any sense of honor, you
would acknowledge that I have jeopardized my marriage
based on your offer. You said if I
left my husband, you would be there for me.
I expect you to live up to your word."
Victoria froze me with that argument. Yes,
those were my words, but I
made that offer prior to Victoria's unanticipated
deterioration. The woman I
invited to join me in my home was a far cry from
this nutcase
sitting with me in the car. Isn't
that the purpose of courtship? Rather than
rush into things, aren't people supposed to get
to know each before making a dramatic move?
In my case, the past two months persuaded me to change my mind about a
committed relationship. So
now she wants to move in with me. Hmm. I
asked myself what had caused this dramatic
shift.
There's an old phrase, 'Don't burn your
bridges'. Victoria was cornered. Michael had watched his wife openly
pursue me for the past two months. Imagine
the horror he felt when his wife returned home as
late as 11:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, maybe
even midnight depending on how long Car Talk
lasted.
How many husbands would allow his wife to talk
alone with
another man late at night? Victoria said all we
did was talk, but did he believe her? Good
grief, we were alone in the dark, no one around
to supervise, a wife who is blatantly out of
control. And this guy is going to trust
me? These
late-night conversations were bad enough, but
surely her husband suspected something
far worse was taking place. If
Michael ever
found out about Victoria's Moonlight Madness, he would be filing for divorce right
now.
Michael had given his wife
tremendous leeway over the past year. Lately, however, I
assumed his
resolve had stiffened. Victoria was in
real trouble. She had pushed Michael too
far and he was threatening to shove her out
of his life. I assumed this pressure
explained why Victoria was seriously considering
living with
me.
If so, it would be a terrible mistake. In my opinion,
moving out of her house was the worst possible
thing she could do, not just for me, but for her
too. But try telling
Victoria that! This was the most
stubborn woman I had ever met.
What Victoria wants, Victoria gets.
"Listen, Victoria, this is a very serious
subject. It is getting late and I need to give
tonight's conversation
more thought. We can talk about this again
the next time I see you."
"No, I want to talk about it right now!"
"Fine. Then talk to your hands. I'm
outta here."
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1979
JENNIFER IS UNHAPPY
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I was seething with
anger as I drove home. The absolute nerve of Victoria
to suggest she would move in with me whenever it suited her.
If Victoria thought I would let her through my door, she had
an ugly surprise awaiting her. It was late when I
got home, 11:30 pm, but I was feeling sorry for myself so I called
Jennifer. She did not sound happy.
Jennifer wasted no time getting right to the subject.
"Rick, who
is Victoria?"
Hearing the fire
in her voice, I stopped breathing. Trying to stay as
calm as possible, I replied, "Victoria is a woman who
teaches at the studio. Until recently she was my dance
partner, but those days appear to be over."
"From what I
gather, Victoria is also your girlfriend. When did
you expect to get around to mentioning that small
detail?"
Good lord, first
Victoria announces she wants to move in, now Jennifer wants
to know why I never told her about Victoria. Based on
the tone of
her voice, Jennifer thought I had to lied to her. They
say when it rains it pours. Tonight was a monsoon.
"Jennifer,
I have nothing to hide. I will tell you whatever you wish
to know. However, first I want you to explain where
you heard about Victoria."
"I had lunch
today with Claudia, a friend of mine here at work.
Claudia is a former student of yours. She is the
person who recommended your dance classes to me.
When I mentioned that you and I have started dating,
Claudia got a dark look on her face and warned me about
you and
Victoria."
"I have no idea
who Claudia is, so why would you take her word on something
that is not true?"
"Claudia
knows what she saw. Last summer
Claudia visited the Pistachio Club on
Friday night several times. She said Victoria
hung all over you and told anyone who asked that she was
your girlfriend."
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"Well, there
is some truth to that. However there are two sides to every
story. I do not doubt that Victoria might have said
something like that
behind my back. And it is true that Victoria has acted
like we are an item ever since her husband stopped coming on
Fridays..."
Jennifer gasped,
then interrupted. "Victoria is married?"
"Yes. But
Victoria has a bad habit of ignoring her wedding ring when
Michael isn't around. However, I have never committed
to Victoria. There is a lot to this story you
don't know about."
Jennifer was
nearly inaudible as she whispered, "Okay, I'm listening."
Over the next
hour, I did my best to explain the whole story.
Jennifer said very little other than ask questions. I
took her silence to mean she was not sure whether to believe
me or not. Finally Jennifer spoke up.
"If there is
one thing I do not like, I do not like men who lie to
me."
"I have not lied
to you."
"Yes, you
have. At the very least, you have committed a
major lie by omission. For that matter, you may be
lying to me right now about your true feelings for this
woman. I don't like lies. I had a steady boyfriend in college who lied to me
and it took me more than a year to get over him. I have
known you for 11 days and not once have you mentioned
this situation to me. Now I feel very threatened by
her. I also feel betrayed by you."
Feeling
desperate, I blurted out, "But, Jennifer, I can explain
everything!"
"Save it for
another time. I have to get some sleep.
Goodnight."
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1979
JENNIFER GETS COLD FEET
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Needless to say,
I barely slept that night. Between Victoria and
Jennifer, I felt sick in my stomach. On Wednesday morning I called Jennifer at
work. Her response was not
encouraging.
"Make it
quick, I have work to do."
"Jennifer, the
reason I did not tell you sooner was that I expect
Victoria to be out of my life very soon. I knew you would be
upset, so I thought I would see what Victoria and Michael
had decided to do before telling you. Besides, I have
been worried sick with this Meyerland Club problem.
You are taking the word of someone who barely knows me and
believing Claudia over me. That isn't fair!"
"Rick, this
is not a good time. Save it for later. If
you wish, we can talk tonight."
"Can I come
over?"
"No, that is
not a good idea, not the way I feel right now. But
I do want you to call me when you get home."
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1979
THE POLKA LABORATORY
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Thanks to this strange Meyerland class, I
suppose I was now a Country-Western teacher.
However I could hardly be called 'qualified'.
Considering I was teaching against my will, this was an extremely weird
development I hated everything to do with
the word 'Country' in it, yet here I was
faking my way through my first class. I
once told myself I would do ANYTHING to
make my dance career work, but I never imagined
my sacrifice would include doing something I
was dead set against.
Considering my revulsion towards Country,
how was this bizarre turn of events even
possible? I only accepted the job because
I assumed I could find a competent teacher. So the
joke was on me. If there was another
Western teacher out there, they stayed off my
radar. Why were there no teachers?
One reason was lack of tradition. There
were countless Country music fans in Houston,
but as far as I could tell there was no existing
tradition of Country dancing. Back in the
Sixties, teenagers growing up in Houston danced
to what they saw on TV. That meant Soul
Train, American Bandstand, Hullabaloo,
Where the Action Is, etc. Why were
there no Country Dance TV shows?
Because there
was nothing to look at, nothing to capture
people's imagination. As far as I could
tell, there was no
demand for C&W dance lessons within Houston's
City Limits. 'Country Dancing'
was only popular in the Country.
The
main reason why no teachers existed was the
utter simplicity of the material. When I
say the material was easy enough to learn during
a person's first trip to the dance floor, I mean
it. Given
the lack of tradition and lack of interest,
there was no reason for Western dancing to catch
on here in Houston. I assumed I
got the Meyerland job probably because they
could not find anyone else.
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Wednesday, September 12,
had gotten off to a lousy start thanks to Jennifer's
Cold Feet. In addition, I was still rattled by Victoria's insistence
that she had the right to move into my house based
on vague promises made months ago. Thoroughly
depressed, the last thing I wanted was
another round of Helen Keller C&W lessons with
Joanne. But what choice did I have?
On
Wednesday afternoon I drove to
Stevens of Hollywood for my second Western lesson
with Joanne. Three short days ago I had
impersonated a Country-Western instructor.
Thank goodness my Meyerland students
could care less about dancing. These lessons
were an elaborate excuse to socialize and enjoy their fashion
spectacle. Thanks to their party mood, no one
took me to task for wasting vast amounts of time
with blather and bluffing. However I had a
hunch my Meyerland students expected me to get down
to business in Week Two.
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I was
relieved that last Sunday's class went as
well as it did, but I felt ashamed
for fooling them.
It was ridiculous to think I had
taught these people how to dance the Polka when I did not even
know how to Polka myself. I did not even know what
the
Polka looked like.
Back in the days of Disco 'Fake it till I Make it',
I had bitten my fingernails to shreds due to my fear of
being exposed. At the time, I vowed I would never
allow myself to endure such gut-wrenching anxiety again.
Never say Never. Now I was tormented by the same dread
as yesteryear. However, I suppose if I could do it
once, I could do it again. Due to a truly weird
Twist of Fate, I was forced to resurrect my 'One Step
Ahead' strategy. I had learned back in my
Disco days that it was not necessary to know everything
in advance. All I needed to know was enough to get
through my next class. If it worked for Disco, it
would probably work for Western as well. I
expected to learn enough from Joanne to eke my way
through eight classes one week at a time.
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Joanne was
nowhere near as brave as me. Stunned that I was
willing to teach something I knew nothing about, Joanne was
a bundle of nerves over this enormous gamble we were taking.
"Rick, I was
really worried about what someone might say.
I don't know how you can pull this deception off for two
months unless you are willing to go dancing with me at a
Kicker Club and see what is going on."
Haunted by dark
memories of the Cactus Club, I shook my head
in disgust.
"I'm sorry,
Joanne, but I can't make myself do it. As far as I'm
concerned, I never want to set foot in another honky-tonk as
long as I live. That includes
Gilley's, Cactus Club, and
Cowboy
too. Just teach me enough to get me through this
two-month ordeal. After that I intend to forget all about it.
When Disco dies, I intend to get a real job next year."
Filled with
disgust at my bad attitude, Joanne shrugged her shoulders.
"All right, have it your way. I was amazed how you
bluffed your way through last Sunday's class, but what will
you do when you run out of jokes? We need to be better
prepared for next week."
"I agree, it would not hurt
to learn the Polka better in case my sense of humor
fails me. So I have a question. Does the man
always go forward in the Polka or does the guy ever go
backwards?"
"It depends
on where I go dancing. Some guys go backwards, but
most guys don't like to go backwards. At the
Cactus Club, the men never go backwards.
Men seem to lose their balance a lot. So to answer
your question, guys can go backwards if they want to,
but I don't see it very often."
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I was
impressed. As opposed to her clueless answers last
week, this was helpful. "Okay, Joanne, I am
going to see why the Polka is so difficult by going
backwards while you go forwards."
Joanne was
right; going backwards was difficult. I lost my
balance several times and stumbled. Embarrassed at
how bad I was, I could see why most men avoided going
backwards. Given that it was tricky and since the
women didn't seem to object, the attitude of most men was
why bother to learning to dance backwards. Still, if the women could go
backwards, it stood to reason that men should be able to
do it too. Maybe with practice, this was a hurdle
the men could master.
Joanne suggested we dance the Polka with me going
backwards.
"Don't
forget the flow of the dancing goes in a circle
counter-clockwise around the floor."
I gave her a wan
smile. "Just like deadly hurricanes, right?"
Joanne got a
blank look in her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"Never mind.
But, yes, you are right, I need to practice going backwards
in a circle."
As we
danced, when we reached a corner of the room, Joanne's
momentum accidentally carried her in front of my body.
Before I knew it, suddenly I had switched from backwards
to forwards.
"How
did you do that, Joanne?"
"I don't
know. It just happened. In fact, it
sometimes happens in a club. Whenever we reach
a corner in the dance clubs, the good dancers
automatically trade places with me."
"Really?
I thought the women went backwards all the time."
"Most of the
time, but not always. It depends on the skill
level of the man. If he's a beginner or an
old-timer, I go backwards the whole song. But the
younger guys take turns going forwards and backwards.
I like doing it that way."
"What do you
mean?"
"I like to
alternate."
"Are you saying
the man and the woman take turns going forward and back?"
"Yes.
To me, there's like two styles of Country. I call
it Old-style and New-style. Most guys just make me
go backwards the entire time. That's the Old
Style. However, the
best dancers alternate. That's the New Style."
"Huh.
That's interesting. What are you teaching me?"
"I suggest
you learn the New Style. Girls will like it more.
But maybe not. The old style is easier to learn.
Maybe you should start with the Old Style."
"In my
experience, whatever style women like more has a better
chance of catching on. If we can figure out how
your New Style is done, we might have more material to
teach."
Following
Joanne's accidental forwards-to-backwards transition, I
assumed it could be done again. I danced backwards
and Joanne repeated her trick of switching herself from
forwards to backwards when we reached the corner.
Joanne could not explain how she did it. However,
by repeating the trick several times I was able to I
analyze her footwork. After doing this several
times, I noticed she always passed me starting with her
left foot and it worked best when she did it near a
corner. Now I tried it. I went forwards and
found if I waited for the corner and used my left foot,
it was not that difficult to pass Joanne. This
helped me
get the idea how to make the
transition work. I called it 'Cutting the
Corner'.
I noticed
something else.
The fact that this 'Cutting the Corner' move used
the same foot for both the man and the woman gave me my
next clue.
That gave me an idea. "Hey, Joanne, are the man's
footwork and the woman's footwork in the Polka the same?"
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Joanne
stared at me like a deer in the headlights. "I
don't know, I just..."
That is when
Joanne saw that look in my eye and decided not to finish
the sentence for fear of her life. Joanne began to
stare at her feet as if they might talk back to her.
Then she looked back up and shook her head in utter
confusion.
"Rick, why
do you keep asking me questions like this? You
know I don't know what my feet do."
"Just try it
and see what happens."
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So Joanne
danced forwards for a moment, then backwards.
"Yeah, I
guess you're right. I bet the boy's part and the
girl's part are the same but they start on a different
foot."
I smiled.
"All right, that's great. Now we are getting
somewhere. I have another question. When I
watch you dance, you seem to bring your feet together a
lot."
"I've never
given it any thought. I don't know what my feet
do."
"Don't worry
about it. Okay, you dance backwards while I dance
forwards and let me watch how your feet move."
So we did
just that. "Okay, now dance beside me going
forwards."
We danced side
by side to the end of the room. "Okay, let's do the
same thing, but go backwards this time."
When we
finished, I said, "I think your feet move differently than
mine. My triple step begins with a long step and two
short steps, sort of a skipping motion, but your feet go
step-together-step. Your footwork is smoother than
mine."
"Dance with
me again." Joanne
watched her feet to test my theory. Soon she
stopped and smiled. "I think you are right, Rick.
I think that is what my feet do. Dance with me
again and why don't you do step-together-step as
well."
It took me
awhile to figure it out, but by reducing the size of my
first step, my steps matched Joanne's. Joanne
was very pleased when we finished. "Yeah, that's good.
Whatever change you just made, that feels like what the best
Polka dancers do. You're on
to something, Rick. Now try going backwards and take
that same short first step."
To my great
satisfaction, Joanne's idea worked.
I was proud of
myself. I had just
discovered the
genetic code of Polka. It was a series of 'step-together-step'
units. After much trial and error, we decided the
Polka was based on a series of repeating 'step-together-step'
patterns.
This was a major discovery.
For our next
task, we figured out how to make 'Transitions' on
a straightaway as well as a corner. Out of
nowhere, we developed a system. Using
step-together-step as unit of three connected steps, the boy starts by going
forwards. When he s ready, the boy passes the girl, boy goes backwards, girl
passes boy, goes backward, start over. We called it 'Transition
Polka'.
When we were
finished, Joanne grinned. "That was pretty smart.
How did you figure all that out, Rick?"
"Beats me.
Trial and error, I guess. Plus you helped a lot."
"Don't be
modest. Tell me how you did it."
"When I first
started teaching Disco, all I knew how to do was teach
freestyle and line dances. But pretty soon my students
wanted to partner dance like John Travolta in the movie.
Believe it or not, I somehow taught myself how to partner
dance just by watching and experimenting. It was the
hardest thing I ever did in my life. One day I
discovered the lady I was practicing with used the same
footwork as me. Today the memory of that discovery
popped into my head, so I asked you the same question about
the Polka. The moment I realized the man's footwork is
the same as the woman's, things just started to make sense."
"Good for
you, Rick. You seem to have it figured out."
"I don't know
about that, Joanne, but I do enjoy solving puzzles.
Today was a lot easier than last week."
Truth be told, I
didn't feel particularly smart. It had taken me three
hours to figure this out. I had enough to get by, but progress was glacial.
That said, I agreed we were onto something we could
build on. Today we had developed a system of sorts.
It was rudimentary, but it worked, so
that was good enough for me. I was encouraged.
We had enough material to make it through next Sunday's
Meyerland class.
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1979
JENNIFER'S SUSPICIOUS MIND
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After Joanne
left, it was time for my students to arrive. I could not wait to speak to Jennifer
later tonight.
Victoria did not work on Wednesdays, so there was no Car
Talk to delay me. No doubt Victoria was home arguing
with Michael at this very minute. The thought of
Victoria talking to him about moving in with me made me sick
in my stomach. This woman was out of her mind, a loose
cannon to be sure. Meanwhile I had to find some way to
regain Jennifer's confidence. Classes used to end at
10 pm, but due to the diminishing interest, I no longer
taught classes from 9-10. I called Jennifer at 9:30
when I got home. I talked till I was blue in the face,
but Jennifer was ice cold. After an hour or so,
Jennifer decided to wrap things up.
"You
told me my friend
Claudia didn't know what she was talking about, so I
called her today. Claudia complimented your
dancing. She said you and Victoria looked very good on the
dance floor. She also saw Victoria follow you
wherever you went. One time she even put her arm
around you. In Claudia's opinion, you did not
appear to be resisting very hard. You may be
telling the truth or you may be lying to me. Time
will tell. In the meantime, I am very hurt.
I have decided to go home again this weekend. I am
going to talk things over with Dad and try to clear my
mind. I am leaving tomorrow afternoon after work. Once
I calm down, we can resume this discussion when I return
on Sunday."
When Jennifer
hung up, I was devastated. I did not know exactly what
Claudia had told her about Victoria and me, but there was
definitely poison in Jennifer's mind. In my heart, I
had done nothing wrong. Although I should have been
more candid before Jennifer learned things the hard way, I still felt like I deserved the benefit of
the doubt. Not in Jennifer's book. From what I
gathered, she was not the trusting type.
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