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Rick Archer's Note:
Which hand would deliver
the death blow to my dance career, the Dancing Cowboy or Victoria
Vicious? I doubted seriously the
dance program could survive if she carried out her threat. Nor
was she bluffing. Victoria was more
than willing to destroy me for defying her, especially if she lost
her marriage.
No one
at the studio had the slightest idea that Victoria had turned Evil.
Let me explain. By canceling Annabelle's and skipping Camelot, Victoria remained out of the public eye during her
September descent to
madness. Even though she taught twice a week, her classes
involved a small handful of people who were relatively new
to the studio. The important people, i.e. the studio
regulars, had no idea what was going on.
Unfortunately, Victoria was far more popular with these
people, especially with
her female friends. If the ladies thought
I was treating Victoria unfairly, she was bound to win a public relations war.
Playing Dirty was child's play for her.
Dance lessons can be set aside at the
drop of the hat. The whole game is based on 'Fun'. When
it isn't fun anymore, people will simply head to the Exit
Door and find something else to amuse them. If
Victoria destroyed my reputation and things got ugly, any student
who wished to avoid the controversy would simply quit taking lessons.
After Victoria's
Blackmail Threat, I had two choices. Fight fire with
fire or resume pretending to be her romantic parachute.
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Victoria thought she had
the Upper Hand, but she was wrong. I had an evil option of my
own. All I had to do was whisper one word:
Stephanie. If Victoria wanted to threaten my
child, I could just as easily threaten her child.
"Guess what,
Victoria, I also know how to use a phone. All I need to do is
call Michael. I will promise to say whatever is necessary to
help him get full custody of Stephanie."
Let's see how
tough Victoria would talk then. Underneath her cold Medusa exterior beat the heart of the Helpless Sniveling
Whining Woman. Victoria would have gone out of her
mind at the thought of losing her daughter!! One good counter-threat and I bet Victoria would
have folded
like a rag.
I gave playing dirty some
serious
thought, but ultimately I did not have the heart to
turn evil. That was not my nature.
To be honest, my Mystical
beliefs played a major role in my decision. Without my
Mystical belief that this Dance Path was my Destiny, I would have
told Victoria to go to hell, let Disco run its course, gotten a job
as a computer programmer, married Jennifer and led a normal, happy life.
But that is not what I did. I chose
to appease Victoria. Why?
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Throughout my Year of Living Dangerously,
I made sure every difficult decision included my
Mystical point of view. Call me crazy, but
I
sincerely believed Heaven had moved a Mountain to get me this far. This Magic Carpet Ride was no
accident, I was sure of that. Since I believed this dance program was my Destiny, I also believed Victoria was part of
that Destiny. I was certain Victoria
had been sent by the Universe to help me build my Disco program.
For that matter, I was starting to feel the same way about
Joanne regarding her help with Western dancing.
Looking at Victoria's
lunacy from a Mystical point of view, I intended to exhaust other
options first. Realistically I could have lashed
back. However, I decided retaliation would only make things
worse. In life, there is a right way and a wrong
way. Deep down, I very much wanted to part with Victoria on
good terms. My Quaker upbringing had taught me that if at all
possible, 'Peace' was the best answer. Considering my
program was built on a legacy of good will and kindness, I believed using violence
to acquire custody would ultimately harm the studio in
some way. That meant playing dirty was out of the question.
Hopefully I
could find a way to bring Victoria back to her senses.
If so, I believed the day would come when Victoria would
give me the studio willingly.
Given my Mystical belief
that teaching dance was what I was meant to do, I made several risky
decisions based on my Faith. First, I had to protect my
program.
Victoria was threatening my 'child'. If I wanted to
protect my dance career, I could not risk giving Victoria
sufficient reason to take the nuclear option.
That meant my best path
was further appeasement. Given how angry I was, this was not a
popular choice. However, with an eye on my ultimate goal,
appeasement was the wisest path. Or maybe not. When
dealing with a monster, appeasement had a way of backfiring.
Witness Adolf Hitler.
There
were no guarantees I was taking the right path, but I
had decided to pursue
Country whether I liked it or not. I had no idea if Country
dancing could take the place of Disco, but it was my
only chance. My Instinct insisted something
bizarre was going on. For example, it bothered
me greatly that this strange Meyerland class had
been handed to
me out of thin air. Why me? I had no business being
asked to teach this class. Of course there were realistic reasons to explain Sandy's
phone call. I believed Sandy when she said others had been
contacted and they all said no. The
Meyerland women wanted an instructor, so no doubt
after other people turned them down, they would
eventually think of asking me.
Another thing that bothered me was the similarity between the start
of my Disco career where a series of lucky breaks allowed me to
succeed despite so many handicaps. The unexpected
opportunity to teach this class plus Joanne's
reluctant willingness to help struck me as VERY
FORTUNATE indeed. Or should I say "Suspiciously
Fortunate"?
The
weirdest part was Joanne.
I thought it was rather eerie
that Joanne of all people had mysteriously come back
into my life to provide a lifeline to a possible
future to my dance career. Her tip about 'Slow Slow
Quick Quick' unsettled me due to its perfect timing. Some random guy in a
club just happened to whisper the 'Four Magic Words' into Joanne's ear.
The timing was incredible. Joanne passed this message on to me at the exact time I was on the
verge of quitting. This was pure Déjà Vu.
First Victoria had been sent to teach me how to build a Disco
program, now it felt like Joanne had been sent to teach me how to build a
Western program. It was so eerie, I felt like Joanne was
fulfilling a Destiny of her own. However, if Victoria attacked
the studio at such a
vulnerable stage, I did not think I could salvage my dance
program. Since
I did not want to see my hard
work go down the drain, my only choice was to knuckle under and
continue to
kowtow to Victoria's dictates.
My third
decision was very serious. No, I did not want
to marry Victoria, at least not "the Medusa
version".
Nevertheless, I could not justify abandoning her.
Why not? Deep down I believed we were linked in a
profound way. Who can say, perhaps we were
soul mates from a previous lifetime. Due to my
belief in Reincarnation, maybe we had been married
once before. For that reason I had a "for better or worse"
inclination about me. If Dance was my Destiny, then Victoria's presence was Karma.
I could never have gotten this far without her. Therefore,
like it or not, I felt Victoria was my responsibility. That
meant I had no choice
but to take the bad with the good. No matter how big a pain
in the ass she was, deep down
I thought Victoria deserved my continued loyalty. Victoria had advanced my career, now I hoped to save her
marriage and save my career in the process. Fighting
back would never accomplish these goals.
Victoria's furious backlash at the coffee shop
forced me to change my mind about something else.
Prior to the attack, I was going to tell her to
leave the studio. However, Victoria had made
the point that the program was just as much hers as
it was mine. Now that I thought about it, I
agreed. Victoria
had turned me into Houston's best known dance
teacher. Now, based
on the laws of Karma, I owed a debt to
Victoria. Rather than attack her and lash
back, I decided Victoria had every right to be here. In other words, I
agreed the studio was her Child too. I may
have gotten the program started, but she had adopted
it and helped it thrive. I decided Victoria's
year of hard work gave her every right to keep her
job.
My non-violent approach was a
gamble, I knew that. I had
briefly thought
about taking the studio from her by force, but
changed my mind. If that meant guaranteeing her job for life,
so be it. Too bad it had to be the Evil
Victoria and not the Good Victoria. However, I had made my
Devil's bargain, so now I had to deal with the consequences.
Having
concluded my complicated relationship with Victoria was Karmic,
I decided I was stuck with her whether I liked it or not.
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1979
SURVEILLANCE
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Perhaps a
warning to my Readers is warranted. Some very
strange things are about to happen. As you
evaluate my decisions, just remember one thing:
I had
already reached the conclusion that I was 'karmically' stuck with
Victoria whether I liked it or not.It was
Thursday morning, September 27. When I returned
home after spending Wednesday night at Jennifer's
apartment, I was upset
to find Victoria had left three answering machine
messages last night, each one increasingly ugly.
Unbeknownst to me, Victoria had been calling me at home
while I spent Wednesday night with Jennifer.
Clever move. In Hindsight, I suppose my absence
on Wednesday night triggered Victoria's suspicion that I had
spent the night elsewhere. This was a serious
mistake on my part.
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I had not
anticipated Victoria would begin checking on me at
night. I am sure she could tell I was angry over
her Blackmail Threat. Who wouldn't be? I
suppose there was something about my air of defiance
that set Victoria to thinking. Let's face
it, Victoria was smarter than me, at least in certain
ways such as cunning. I considered myself bright
enough, but a woman's intuition gave her an edge I could
never hope to equal.
What should
I do? I decided not to call Victoria back. I
knew she would confront me during Thursday Car Talk, but
at the moment I was in no mood to cooperate. A lot
of good it did me. Victoria called me on my
business phone that morning. These were the days
before Caller ID, so I answered every call
automatically. I said I had work to do and we
could talk about it tonight. Victoria started to
argue, but I stood my ground.
"Save it for
later, Victoria. Goodbye."
I was tiptoeing a dangerous line
by standing up to her. I had spent July, August, and
September dealing with this sad, whining jellyfish. Now to my dismay
Victoria had turned into a
Snarling Tiger Woman who controlled me through vicious threats.
There's an old saying, "Marry in haste, Repent at
leisure." Why had
I ever entertained thoughts of a romance with this maniac?
Because Victoria's dark side had remained hidden at the
start. She was the perfect example for why long
courtships made a lot of sense.
Following Victoria's
Blackmail Threat to destroy my studio if I did anything
to anger her, I had decided to comply. From here
on out,
I would behave like a French citizen in a town subjugated by occupying Germans.
My plan was to cooperate in
Victoria's presence, then turn around and see Jennifer
at night after class.
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However, now
that Victoria was checking up on me, any thought of spending
the night with Jennifer was out of the question. Now
that Victoria had established a higher degree of control, my
hopes for an immediate end to our neverending impasse seemed
remote. I glumly resigned myself to further rounds of
the waiting game. On the other hand, I could always see
Jennifer for a while, then head home to check my answering
machine. As long as I had Jennifer, I could tolerate
this unfortunate turn of events. Vive la
résistance!
Trapped under
Victoria's thumb, I had a lot to lose. I was keeping
three major secrets from Victoria. I did not want
Victoria to know about Jennifer. I did not want
Victoria to know her ancient nemesis Joanne was back in the
picture. I did not want Victoria to know I was digging
a secret tunnel under Stalag 17 known as 'Country-Western
dancing'. More and more, I was looking to Western
dancing as my potential escape route. I was still very
unhappy about my unwelcome decision to pursue C&W, but if it
helped me extricate myself from Victoria's tentacles, I was ready to try anything.
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1979
C&W
CIRCLE TURNS
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On
Thursday
afternoon,
September 27, it was back
to the drawing board to prepare for Meyerland Week Four.
Joanne
immediately noticed how upset I was. I still had
not recovered from my discovery that Victoria had been calling me at
home last night.
My anxiety over this latest development made it difficult to concentrate. Nevertheless, now
that I had decided C&W dancing might be
the only solution to my problems, I did the best I could.
During
Meyerland class
last Sunday I had noticed how quickly my students
improved once I explained that Polka footwork was 'step
together step'. It
had taken them two short minutes of practice to see how this
simple idea made learning to
dance the Polka so much easier. 'Step
together step'
was a
useful hint that saved these people a lot of trial and
error. Although I was pleased to simplify the
Polka for my students, I also felt aggravated. It
had taken six hours of my time with Joanne to figure out
Polka footwork
was based on 'step
together step' footwork.
My
students had learned this same
thing in two minutes because I told
them the secret. I was
astonished at how much easier it is to learn how to dance
when there is
someone around to explain how it works.
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Two thoughts
raced through my mind, one negative, one positive. The negative
thought was to curse being forced
to learn how to dance Country without a teacher.
Who has the patience to invest six hours in learning
the Polka the hard way? On the other hand, my hard
work allowed me to justify the trust these people
had placed in me. Besides, if I actually did carry
this Western project to Stage Two, I realized this knowledge
might come
in very handy someday. As a teacher, it was my job
to show these people these shortcuts. The faster they learned, the
more valuable my role as teacher became.
That said,
it was difficult developing a Western dance system from
scratch. Who teaches
the teacher when there aren't any Western teachers?
With that, a funny thought crossed my mind. As a
boy, whenever I tried to help my mother do one of
her
jigsaw puzzles, the first thing I did
was turn the box over to look at the picture. My
mother would snatch the box away, then lecture me.
"Richard,
don't do that. If you
ever want to learn how to solve puzzles, don't peek
at the answer first!"
There was a
solid argument to be made that using the jigsaw picture
would save time, but I
saw my mother's point. She was suggesting I
develop a sense of perseverance. Right now I was being
forced to solve the 'Riddle of the Polka and the
Twostep' without
the benefit of looking
at the picture.
I was flying
blind, but at least Joanne was willing
to fly beside me. Ah, Joanne. Where would I
be without her? Joanne was a trooper. These
Helen Keller dance lessons were just as hard on her as
they were on me.
Good
grief, at our first practice it
took me three hours just to figure out there were
six footsteps in a unit of Polka.
More recently it had taken me another
three hours just to figure out the 'step-together-step'
trick.
Although working with Joanne had been
something of a nightmare,
I recognized that she was my angel. Without Joanne, I could have never
gotten anything done.
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Last week
Joanne and I had perfected our 'Transition Turns'
to Polka, i.e. 180 degree transitions from forward to back and back to
forward. Yesterday we had figured out the same
thing to Twostep. Our system allowed the woman to dance forward
once in a while, something Joanne said the ladies
would appreciate. Today we
concentrated on a different pattern, the 360 degree Polka
Circle Turn. A Circle Turn typically starts with
the man passing the lady, then immediately swinging her
past him in one continuous process. In other
words, if the woman was going backwards when the move
started, six Polka steps later she was back in the same spot.
Round and round they go. Joanne
explained a Polka Circle Turn was the most popular
move in Western dancing. Unfortunately, I
had no idea what it looked like, so I told Joanne to lead me as best she could in a Circle Turn.
Joanne
barely moved me. Grunting loudly, she exclaimed. "Rick, you weigh a
ton!"
"I
already know that, Joanne, but don't
give up. Try again."
Joanne wrapped her arms around
me and threw me around some more while I tried to figure
it out what she was doing. One
time we both lost our balance and fell down. As it
turned out, our mistake was trying the move from a
standstill position. Lacking any momentum, of
course Joanne had trouble moving me. So why
weren't we dancing to music? Since I couldn't
stand to listen to the music, I insisted we practice
without the music. However
Joanne could not dance without music. Weren't
we a pair?
One reason I
liked Disco so much was my love for the music.
Disco
music made me want to dance. With Western music,
just the opposite. The more I listened to Joanne's Country music, the
more I wanted to quit. If I did not have this
growing Mystical
sense that God wanted me to do this, I WOULD HAVE QUIT!!
Finally we
came up with a solution. Joanne would play her
song, but I would refuse to listen to it.
That helped a lot.
By tuning out the music, it was easier to pay attention to
Joanne's feet. As for my
decision to not
listen to this music, oh gee, what
a loss.
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We
caught a break when Joanne
accidentally discovered the secret of 'Momentum'.
Our mistake had been Joanne's inability to throw me around from a dead
stop. Once we began to travel ahead of time, Joanne was able to move me
better.
That discovery
led to a Light Bulb moment, better known as the magic of 'Corners'.
By starting near a corner, Joanne was able
to successfully swing me in front of her, then
immediately pass me on the next set of three steps.
I did not know it at the time, but a 360 degree Circle Turn
becomes a 270 degree Circle Turn in a corner. The corner made things
easier. We were getting
closer. Now we had to figure out how to make the
same move work on a straightaway.
Our progress
was glacier, but fortunately I had the gift of persistence. Every time
Joanne and I screwed up, I would bitch and moan to myself.
I did not dare complain out loud because Joanne was easily discouraged.
Instead I would think of Thomas Edison,
the patron saint of Try, Try Again.
Groaning inwardly, I would insist we start over. No matter how bad the frustration, I had too
much invested in this to quit now.
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I kept
losing my balance until I
remembered my
'step together
step' strategy. Why
not give that a try?
No
matter what Joanne did, I whispered
"step together
step, step together
step" to myself.
We still stumbled
at times, but something
started to click. Joanne's eyes
grew larger as she sensed my
balance improve.
"That's it!!"
Joanne cried. "You're
getting close. I have an idea. I think you are
too far away from me. The guys in the club always get close.
Sometimes they practically hug me. Start
dancing the Polka on the straightaway, then get close when you pass me
in the corner."
To my
distinct satisfaction, the four-way combination of Momentum,
getting closer and saying 'step
together
step' did the trick on
the straightaway as well as the corners.
Joanne stepped
away and clapped her hands. "You
have it!! That's the Polka Circle
Turn!"
I was very
pleased. Thomas Edison would have been proud. The mystery of the Circle Turns was solved, at least for Polka. Twostep Circle Turns
would have to wait.
"Joanne, it
seems to me in the Circle Turn, I pass you, then you pass me in consecutive steps. Am I right?
Do the man and the woman simply take turns
passing each other?"
Joanne gave it
some thought. "I think you're right. I
wonder why I didn't think of that."
Probably because
Joanne had no reason to think of it. Joanne could just follow while
I
had to spend hours figuring it out. Well, we almost
had it now.
Boy Pass Girl, Girl Pass Boy, round and
round we go.
The
more we practiced, the better it felt. However,
Joanne stopped me.
"Uh, Rick, there's
another problem."
"Now what?"
"You are
still nowhere near the beat of the music."
"What music?
Is there music playing?"
Joanne rolled
her eyes. Sometimes my unabated sarcasm regarding
C&W was tough for her to bear.
"Very funny.
You aren't dancing to the beat
of the music at all."
"How far
off am I?"
"You're not
hitting a single beat, not
even by accident."
Joanne was
right. Joanne's music was so fast, it was easier to
move at the speed I was comfortable with. I thought of my
friend Charles, the one who always insisted I play the Disco
song 'Rough Diamond'. He was never near the
beat because he was too busy thinking all the time.
Or perhaps he had not yet acquired the skill necessary to
keep up with a song that fast. I had no
trouble hitting the beat to Disco music, but Western
music was
a different story. The only way I was
ever going to get on the beat
to the Polka would be
to actually listen to the song. Nope, forget it, that was not going to
happen.
Hating
country music
with a purple passion, I
reminded Joanne that she was in charge of making sure I was on the beat
during Meyerland class.
It was her
job to
whisper 'speed up' or 'slow down'.
When we demonstrated to music, she would count '123, 123' under her
breath while I matched my speed to her voice.
That way I
could avoid hearing the music. The entire
time, one
overwhelming thought occupied my mind.
Why did Disco
have to die young?
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1979
BLACK MAGIC WOMAN
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My next showdown
with Victoria took place on Thursday
night, September 27.
As usual, she demanded I follow to her car after dance class.
Victoria wasted no time. In the darkness, she asked a question that paralyzed me with fear.
"Rick, are
you seeing someone behind my back?"
I was shocked!!
This woman was uncanny!! Was it intuition or was it an
educated guess? Either Victoria had the dark powers of a witch or
she
possessed an overabundance of woman's intuition.
Fortunately I kept my wits about me and said no.
However Victoria was not
convinced. She sensed something was going on.
"Rick, I don't believe you. I
think you are seeing someone. Who is
she?"
Choosing to lie, I replied.
"You're wrong, Victoria, totally wrong. You have nothing to
worry about."
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Victoria's eyes narrowed. Unable to
control her suspicion, Victoria began to probe.
"As I said when we talked this morning, I called you three times
Wednesday night and you did not answer.
If you are hiding something
from me, I swear I will ruin the studio.
And maybe I will kill you for good measure."
No, Victoria wasn't going to kill me.
Then she wouldn't have me around to torture anymore.
Her real fun was making my life a living hell. I
had hoped the issue of phone surveillance would not come up
again, but I
should have known better. Fortunately, I had spend the
day conjuring up a better alibi just in
case.
"Look, Victoria, I don't
answer your calls because I don't appreciate
your threats. This is beneath you. I
have not answered the phone because I resent
how you treat me. I am not your slave, I am not your property
and I refuse to be placed under house arrest.
I am not obligated to answer your calls.
You are a married woman, so what right do you
have to call me at 1 am to check on me? Go ahead,
Victoria. I dare you to tell every one
of your girlfriends that I am the world's
worst person because I refuse to answer
surveillance calls at 1 am. See
how far that gets you."
I
was taking a real chance, but I guessed
right. Although Victoria resented my impertinence, this transgression
was insufficient reason to go scorched earth. Victoria realized her Blackmail Threat required
more evidence.
Victoria frowned and furrowed her brow. So
what was Rick up to?
In the dark, I could
see Victoria focus her evil eye on me.
This was my introduction to Black Magic
Woman, a frightening addition to Victoria's growing
collection of split personalities. Thanks to her
uncanny guess about Jennifer's presence,
Victoria was starting to give me the creeps.
Fortunately, Victoria was
still not sure. Either my defiance was a
well-thought out strategy to deceive her or maybe I was telling the truth.
However, more
than likely, she figured I was fibbing. Fearful of
being fooled, Victoria decided
to read me the riot act.
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"Look, Rick, there will be no more Joannes,
there will be no more Patricias.
There will be no more women PERIOD!
I will be VERY UPSET if I discover there is
another woman. Do you understand me?"
"Where do you get your nerve, Victoria?
You are a
married woman and I am not your lover. What gives you the right to tell a single man that
he belongs to you? You seem to think that
just because you have threatened my dance
program, that entitles you to assume we are in a
committed relationship. I promise not to seek a new companion, but I
also refuse to answer your phone calls at night."
Since Victoria had no evidence beyond my
unanswered phone calls, I figured I could
protect Jennifer.
No doubt Victoria felt insecure. Victoria knew
from experience there were women
who smiled at me. Since the Class Factory
was always sending new students who had
no idea who she was, Victoria was certain there
were always going to be threats. Now that she was not around to patrol Friday Camelot, Victoria's
ancient fears had to be working overtime. She assumed
on the nights she
was not around, the women at the studio would see me as
available. As it turned out, Victoria had a right to be
paranoid. Her inability to maintain full
vigilance had allowed
Jennifer to enter my life.
Victoria anticipated there was some hussy ready
to flirt with me, so best lay down
the law before I got any ideas. It
was just her bad luck that her worst fear had
already come to pass. So we now had a
cat and mouse guessing game.
Victoria's
parental duties and marital problems prevented
her from maintaining blanket coverage of my
comings and goings. Victoria simply could
not patrol the studio or house 24/7 to keep an eye on me.
For one thing, there
were no cell phones in those days to tether me. Nor could she drive
an hourlong round-trip to my house at night to spy on me. Keep
in mind the woman was MARRIED. What do you suppose Michael
would say if she got up and began dressing in the middle of the night?
"Gosh, Victoria, where are you going
at 1 am? Are you going to go check on that disloyal Playboy again?
That sneaky bastard better not be cheating on
you. Be
sure to drive
safely, darling!"
Thinking about Michael made me wish I could call
him and compare notes. I was never quite
sure what the truth was between Michael and
Victoria. No doubt the past three months
of bickering had poured toxic acid on their
marriage. It did not help that Victoria changed her story on the status of her
relationship with Michael practically every time I inquired. I
monitored things as best I could, but there was great uncertainty
on what to believe. However, the
thought of facing Michael's understandable bitterness
acted as strong deterrent to my desire to
contact him. Seriously, if I could just work up the courage to
talk to the guy, maybe together we could figure
out a way to reel Victoria back to Reality.
However, I was too young and too stupid to attempt
such an obvious solution. What a
shame.
Here in the car, while I was thinking about Michael, Victoria
was thinking about me. She peered at me through the darkness. No
doubt she was conducting a Vulcan mind probe of
some sort. Could Victoria read minds?
I wouldn't be surprised. No doubt at least
one of her Sybil-like personalities had that ability.
"I
have very strong instincts, Rick. You are
hiding something, I am sure of it. You
might as well tell me who she is."
I
turned so white I feared I glowed in the dark. Given
how close Victoria was to pinning the tail on
the donkey, it was time to bluff. "Yes,
of course I am hiding something.
I am doing my best to conceal this anger I feel.
I accept the terms of your threat, but that
doesn't mean I appreciate the way you are
pushing me around.
By the way, I have a question. Where do
you and Michael stand?"
Victoria noticed I had deliberately changed the subject, but
decided to answer the question anyway.
"After we talked on Tuesday at the coffee house, Michael
and I really got into it. He
wants me to move in with you and give him
some peace [I had no way to know if this
was the truth or not]. I told him he had no right to push me out of
my own house. I said if he didn't like the
way things were going, then he could leave.
After informing him that no
one could push me out of my own house, Michael
screamed at me for my constant indecision.
He told me if I didn't make up my mind soon,
he would file for
divorce. He said he wasn't going to
put up with this nonsense any longer.
I said that was fine with me. I
suppose with child support, I will make ends
meet. So cheer up, Rick, I've changed my
mind about moving in with you.
Besides, I never
did want to live in your dumpy old house
anyway."
"That's good to know. Thank you for
sharing."
"Don't get too comfortable. I will be calling you
later tonight
and I
expect you to answer the phone."
"Call
me anytime you want. The answering machine
loves hearing from you. Not only that, I
intend to unplug the phone so I don't have to
hear it ring."
"Like hell you are! You are going to
leave the phone plugged in and you are going
to answer it. Do you hear me?"
"Let
me ask you a question. Do you have sex
with Michael?"
"Are you out of your mind? Hell no! I
can't stand him!"
"How
am I supposed to know that? Why should I
trust you? Maybe I will start
calling you at night. What would be a good
time? Maybe I will talk to Michael if
he answers. Do you have a problem with
that?"
"Drop dead, asshole. I hate
you just as much as I hate him."
"Gee, what a surprise. Will I see you
at Camelot
tomorrow night?"
"I doubt it. I don't see the point
anymore."
"You're probably right. Well, have fun arguing with
Michael. See you later."
"Go to hell!"
As I got
into my own car, I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Despite being dominated by the Black Magic Woman, at
least I didn't have to worry about her moving in with me
anymore. Shortly after I got home, the phone rang.
Unbelievable. I picked up the phone, said "Leave
me the hell alone!", then slammed it down and
prayed it had not been Jennifer.
Sure
enough, the phone went ring ring ring again.
This time I didn't answer it. Instead, I asked myself a question.
How many women have the nerve to demand a man be
in love with her? How many women demand to
get married in the face of obvious
hostility? Was it possible to be
blackmailed into marrying a woman? Appeasement
was one thing, but my Mystical
Beliefs did not stretch as far as marriage. I had never met a more
aggressive woman in my life. Were
there other women like Victoria or was she one
of a kind? I thanked my lucky stars for
having the sense to avoid crossing the Forbidden
Threshold during Moonlight Madness. Otherwise I would
never be able to get rid of her.
|
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1979
JENNIFER'S FEAR
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After
tonight's Car Talk, I wanted to call Jennifer.
I had two phones, business and private. Since
Victoria always called me on my private phone, I figured Victoria would not anticipate my use of the
business line late at night. So I used that number instead of my
private home phone.
Jennifer listened carefully as
I explained that Victoria was convinced I was seeing
someone.
"How
certain do you think Victoria is about my existence?"
"It is hard
to tell. She is experiencing tremendous anxiety, so she must be on hyper-alert. Her
husband is applying strong pressure on her to choose
between him and me. I try very hard to put myself
in her shoes, but I have never been able to figure out
why it is so hard for her to make up her mind. You
want to know something funny? Back in the days of
Camelot, whenever someone asked Victoria about Michael, she
would always sing her praise for him.
As for her opinion of me, all she can do is insult me
over my inability to match Michael's paycheck.
Why do you think her choice between me and Michael is such a riddle for her?"
"Maybe
Victoria is in love with you."
"No, I
don't agree with that. I think 'Obsession'
is the better word. If you love someone, you don't
bully them around all the time. You treat them
with respect and show thoughtfulness. That is
hardly Victoria's style. She thinks she can
force me to love her, but she should know better.
Victoria is the
craziest human being I have ever met."
I decided to
omit how Victoria kept bringing up the possibility
of moving in with me. That was the last thing
Jennifer needed to hear.
"If
Victoria previously praised her husband, then he
must have done something to alienate her."
"I think
Michael was guilty of taking Victoria for
granted during the pursuit of his career."
"Lots of
men do that. My mother spent several nights a
week
alone with us kids while Dad was at the office.
Mom wasn't happy about it, but she understood that
sometimes a man has to put in extra work to become
successful in his career. This is a sacrifice
normal women have no trouble making."
"Maybe so,
but Victoria decided to rebel. I think she wanted
to prove to Michael that she is just as talented as he
is. She forced her husband to take dance classes
as a way to get him to pay more attention to her.
That worked for six months, but in April Michael
withdrew from dance classes and Friday Night Camelot.
Victoria has never explained what happened, but that is
when the real trouble started. I think Michael got
tired of seeing his wife gone all the time and told her
to quit teaching only to have her defy
him. So he retaliated by quitting dance lessons
and Camelot.
She once told me that during a screaming
match, she reminded Michael how many times he had been
missing at night to work overtime at the lab. Why
was it okay for him to
be gone at night for work purposes, but it wasn't okay for
her to be gone two nights a week? What right did he have
to chew her out for being gone? What's fit for the goose
should be fit for the gander.
They didn't speak for a week after that. Ever since, I believe the two of them
have been locked in a gigantic power struggle. Michael is full of rage and
bitterness at her frequent absence.
Maybe it is impossible for him to find a
way past his hurt feelings to mend the rift.
That's my take."
"That
makes sense, but where do you fit in?"
"I am just a
pawn, Jennifer. I don't think deep down Victoria
really wants me. I believe she keeps me around to gain an
advantage over Michael in their arguments. If I
were to guess, Victoria uses me to rub salt into his
wounds. Based
on my experience with Triangles, Victoria has the Upper
Hand because she can play two men against each other.
Meanwhile neither Michael nor I have the sense to work
together."
"That's
a good idea. Why don't you call Michael?"
"It takes a
lot of courage to call a man who hates my guts.
Victoria says he blames me for ruining their marriage. I don't expect him to
be receptive to hearing me out."
"So why you don't just walk away
from Victoria?"
"Because
Victoria is vindictive.
She may be bluffing about destroying the dance program,
but that is not a chance I am willing to take. My
approach is to be patient and non-violent like Mahatma Ghandi. As long
as I keep her at arm's length, time is on my side.
The only danger is if she finds out about you or if I do
something to put her back on the warpath again."
"I don't
know if I agree with you. Victoria sounds like
the kind of woman who will never let go.
She gets too much pleasure from bossing you around."
"You sound
discouraged."
"I guess
I probably am. Things seemed so bright between
us and now I realize I have walked into a horrible
firestorm. If I do something to cost you your
dreams, I would hate myself."
My heart
sank. "My gosh,
Jennifer, you sound like you are pulling back. Is
something wrong here?"
"Oh, I
don't know, I just have a lot on my mind. I'm
sorry, but I just can't talk anymore about this
right now. Let's call it a night."
|
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1979
BLACK MAGIC WOMAN STRIKES AGAIN
|
|
I was deeply worried
as I hung up the phone.
I hated it when
Jennifer spoke like she did tonight. Her
pessimism was really getting to me. I felt like she did
not think I had the guts to stand up to Victoria.
This is what I mean about 'Soothsayer Mode'. It
frightened me that Jennifer was so convinced we were doomed.
"Beware
the Ides of Victoria!"
Whenever I
asked Jennifer to knock it off, she never
wavered in her fatalistic assessment of Victoria's
power over me. Insisting I belonged to
Victoria whether I liked it or not, Jennifer
spoke like there was no hope for us. Sad to
say, Jennifer might
be right. My life was
moving so fast I could barely cope. Jennifer was
upset, I had Victoria's blackmail threat
hanging over me, Victoria was a train wreck waiting to happen,
Disco was on its deathbed, and I had my unwanted
Meyerland class to deal with. Moving
from crisis to crisis, I felt
totally out of control. Just then my home phone rang. I looked at the
clock. It was nearly 1 am. The answering
machine picked up; it was Victoria. I listened to her
talk as she left a message.
"Pick
up, damn it! Rick, I'm warning you, pick up
the goddamn phone or I will make your life a living
hell. I want to know who you've been talking
to! Now pick up the damn phone!"
Unbelievable.
Victoria must have played a hunch and called my business line while I spoke with
Jennifer. The busy signal would be tough to
explain. Now she was even more certain I was
seeing someone. I shook my head in frustration.
Clever move, Victoria.
|
Before she could
hang up, I impulsively picked up the phone.
"What is your problem, Victoria?"
"I want to
know who you were just talking to."
"Victoria, I was
talking to my mother, do you mind?"
"You are so
full of shit. No one talks to their mother this
late at night. Who is she?"
"My
mother's name is Mary. Victoria, it's
late. Goodnight."
Moments after I
hung up the phone, the phone rang again. This time I
did not answer. After ten rings, the phone went
silent.
Previously I did
not think I could ever hate a woman more than I hated
Vanessa. Move over, Vanessa. I had never hated anyone
quite like
I hated Victoria at this moment. How did she manage to outsmart me
at every turn? The woman was a witch, the
Black Magic Woman. There was no other possible answer.
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