THURSDAY, JULY 19, 1979, the disco years
ROUND FOUR:
SIEGE MENTALITY
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During our
furious Husband List argument, I told Victoria she
didn't need to come to the studio that same night. In
other words, get lost. To my profound regret, she did
appear because she had two classes. So much for my
futile
attempt to get rid of her. However, when Victoria
drove straight home rather than resume Car Talk after class,
I assumed she had decided to put this Romantic nonsense to
rest. Wrong. The
Husband List
should have put an end to it. But it didn't.
Victoria was just getting warmed up.
Two
nights later, Thursday, July 19, Victoria picked up right where
she left off.
When she snapped her fingers after class, I was expected to
jump. Victoria's car was parked one hundred yards from the
studio. As I morbidly followed her to the car, I had
the exact same feeling a small boy might have being
taken to the woodshed. This was not my idea of
fun.
I wanted to tell Victoria this was hopeless
and to leave me alone. But it wasn't that
easy. In this sad tale of Ricky and Vicky, the
balance of power was decidedly in Victoria's favor.
She controlled me due to her importance to my
business. With her octopus tentacles
controlling every
part of my operation, I would be forced to pay a
stiff price to demand my freedom. Vindictive Victoria was sure to punish me if I dared to defy
her.
I had
seen her eliminate Joanne and Patricia. I had
no desire to suffer a similar fate. I had a
job to protect, a reputation to protect. If I used
force to break my shackles, I was fairly certain
Victoria would get on the phone and start a new
whisper campaign. Thanks to Urban Cowboy, my
career was shaky enough as it was. I certainly
did not want Victoria as my enemy, so I played
along. Surely she would tire of this
eventually. Famous last words.
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Victoria understood my dilemma quite
well. Realizing the trap I was in, she
used her leverage to force me to continue The
Negotiations pretty much against my will.
The
moment the car door closed, Victoria fired the
opening shot.
"Rick, I have an apology to make. I can
understand why my List upset you. That
probably wasn't a very sensitive thing to do."
No
kidding. What was your first clue? "Then
why did you do it? If you think insulting me
is going to bring us closer, you've got the wrong
guy. I respond a lot better to respect."
"I
know, I know, I made a mistake. But I am
so worried! How will you ever support me?
That's all I can think about."
"Victoria, I can't just snap my fingers and acquire a new
profession. I am what I am and you might as
well accept that. At some point you have to choose what is most
important. You married your husband because he
is a rock, a pillar of society. Michael is Mr. Dependable,
Boy Scout Extraordinaire, the kind of man people admire. You
knew Michael was brilliant and that he would have a
fabulous career. You chose well. Michael
is a responsible man and a great father. Your
husband is a sure thing, a solid guy.
Then you were attracted to me because
maybe I have an exciting job which suited your
desire to teach and interact with people. However, when it
comes to putting bread and butter on the table, I am nowhere
near a match for your husband. If money is your goal, there
are no guarantees I can parlay this Disco Dancing into
serious money over the long haul. I am at a different
stage of life than you are. Family and
Marriage are not priorities. Right now I am
committed to
see where my path will take me. You will
have to accept I cannot
match your husband's financial superiority in any
way, shape or form. The only way we could ever
make this work is for you to use your skills on a
full-time basis to help us get our own dance
studio. That is what I told you last week, but
you dismissed me."
"You
are asking too much, Rick. I read the
newspapers. I watch TV. I hear the
rumors about all the Discos that are closing. It
seems like Urban Cowboy is about
to wipe Disco off the map. Our only hope
is that Disco will find a niche and hang around once the movie
appears. But in my heart, I cannot believe
that will happen. My intuition suggests there isn't room for
both dance fads at once. By the way, do
you know that radio
station that plays Disco music all the time?
It just switched to Country-Western music!
Talk about a bad omen. You know how much I hate Country-Western
music. I can't stand it!!"
"That
makes two of us. I
can't stand the music either. Listen, Victoria, I agree
there is a good chance that Disco will be gone at
this time next year."
"Then how can you talk about opening up a dance
studio?"
"It
doesn't seem like a very good idea anymore. I
am just as worried as you are. If you were to say, 'Okay, Rick, let's rent a
building and start a
dance studio', I would say let's wait till next year and see how things pan out."
"Where does that leave me?"
"You
have your husband's job security, I have nothing.
I don't have anywhere near the confidence I did when
I offered to make you a partner. Since then,
two more Discos have closed. This doesn't look
good.
Fortunately, no one depends on me. I am in a position to see how things
play out. I have enough money
saved to pay my house note for a
year. This gives me enough cushion to continue
what I am doing. But I won't dare risk my savings on
expansion. This doesn't feel like the right
business climate for taking chances with a Disco
studio."
"But
how will you support me without a dance studio?"
When she
said that, I felt exasperated. Raising my
voice, I hollered, "Victoria, are
you nuts? Or are you deaf? The
answer is that I cannot support you!"
Seeing
her face turn pale in the moonlight, I wrestled to
regain control.
"Look, Victoria, you came
to the wrong guy. Why can't you see that?
It infuriates me when you demand I pull some sort of
rabbit out of a hat and magically become rich for you.
Damn it, I've been down that road with Patricia. You will have to
support yourself, Victoria. That is what I
was trying to explain to you back at the start
of July, but you turned the partnership idea
down."
"I
have a child, Rick! I'm not in the same
position as you. You have two dogs to
feed, virtually no bills, and a house note
that is one-quarter of what we pay. You can
gamble, I can't. I am not going bet my
security and my daughter's security on Disco
music, especially not with John Travolta
preparing to send Disco into extinction."
"Then
don't do it!! No one
is asking you to give up your security, Victoria.
There is no reason why you can't just keep working
at the studio part-time and take a wait and see attitude
like me. What is the rush?"
"You
don't understand, Rick. Michael is telling
me to either quit my job at the studio or leave the house. He is
so bitter he makes me miserable. He hates
dancing with a purple passion. All he ever
says is 'For Christ sake, Victoria, make up your mind, just
make up your goddamn mind!' I would rather sit
here in the dark talking to you than go home and
listen to him chew me out. I can't take
much more of this."
"I'm
sorry, Victoria, but you got yourself into this
mess. I never asked you to leave your
marriage. I
wish you would have given these factors more thought
before professing your undying love."
Victoria retorted, "What
do you think I'm doing now? I am
analyzing your potential. Any sensible woman
would do the same thing. If you ever intend to have kids and support a
family, maybe you should think long and hard and see if this career
path you are on can be exchanged for something more solid."
I
groaned. Please don't start the Rock Star Rick lecture again. How many times
do I have to hear this??
Perhaps Victoria and Patricia should sing a
Country-Western duet about men who don't
make enough money to afford Divas.
They certainly harmonized. Not only that, their
singing couldn't be any worse than the twang currently
being played on my former Disco radio station.
"Victoria,
I have no intention of giving up on dance, so why are you giving up?
Forget about a romantic relationship with me and
concentrate on business. I could have sworn
the original plan was for the two of us to work together.
With your talent combined with mine, someday I think the two of us could
open our own dance studio and create something
pretty fabulous. What is wrong with taking a
wait and see attitude? If things break right,
maybe Urban Cowboy won't be so
horrible."
"You
cannot be serious. Urban Cowboy will ruin everything.
It looks like Disco will be gone
at the end of the year. Then what? Like you said, this is worst time to be opening a studio. One Disco after another is closing. The bottom
line is I can't make the kind of commitment you are asking
for based on your lifestyle choice. You should start
looking for another job so we can be together."
Huh?
Since when did I ask Victoria to commit to being
together?
"First of all, when did I ask you to make a
commitment? This was your idea. And who
do you think you are to tell me what to do? You want me to go get my law degree or my MBA?
Go
sell insurance? Look,
Victoria, I am barely a year and a
half into this job. I don't know where my job is going, but
if you
know me at all, I am going to follow this Dance
Path as far as it will take me.
Therefore, if financial security is
high on your list, I recommend you jump off this looming train
wreck
before it's too late. Go home to Michael, tell him you
have come to your senses, tell him you are going to
quit your Disco job and promise him you will try to make
the marriage work. Your problems would be
solved in a flash and you wouldn't have to sit in
this car night after night singing the blues.
When Disco bites the dust, you will be
comforted by the thought that you did the sensible
thing."
"I
won't do that, Rick! I love you too much.
I love teaching too much. I love dancing
too much. I can't bear the
thought of not seeing you. I have to find
a way. Just give me more time."
Oh,
please. Why can't she just disappear? I was
sick in my stomach. Victoria had a lot of
nerve. It wasn't my fault her husband was
pressuring her to put an end to this merry-go-round.
I wanted to scream and tell Victoria that her
problems were not my problems. There was no
wedding ring on my finger nor had I made any
promises. Speaking of promises, what about her
wedding vows? But I could not scream at her to
leave me along. This damn woman owned me
through her control of my business.
She claimed it was 'our business', but last
time I checked I was the one paying her to teach. I knew damn well if I tried to extricate myself from
her tentacles by force, she could shut down the entire dance
program with a snap of her fingers. I also knew
that Victoria was mean enough to do so if I
defied her. She had not threatened me so far,
but based on Joanne and Patricia's ousters, I knew she would if necessary.
I was
trapped. And I was lonely too. I cursed
my decision not to look for a new girlfriend when I
had my opportunity on July 4th. Instead I decided to meet Victoria half-way and
explore the relationship she had asked for. Talk about a decision
that backfired!! Her father's Playboy comment,
The Husband List, these stupid Car Talks and Victoria's endless nagging about how I
would support her were driving me crazy.
Whatever happened to Victoria Sunshine? This had once been a confident, dynamic woman.
Now look at her. Who would want to marry this
shrew? There was no way in hell I would
ever marry Victoria, but for the life of me I could
not figure out how to extricate myself from her
grip and keep my dance program intact in the
process. I felt like I had no choice but to
wait her out. At the same time, I was
completely fed up.
She went over the same complaint night after night.
"How will you ever support me?"
Round
and round we went with no sign of progress. I
wasn't giving in and apparently neither was she.
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Following
Victoria's European
Arrangement talk at the end of June, I had assumed this had been a first step
to lure me into an Affair. I was wrong. Her
sweet talk was just a
smoke screen to keep me from straying to other women while she was gone.
Not once during July was there even the slightest hint about fooling
around. Instead she kept me occupied with terrifying
threats of marrying me.
In Hindsight,
Victoria's most brilliant move was her European Arrangement
idea. It was a master stroke that dramatically
changed the course of our relationship. By making me
think she was serious about pursuing a romance, I had
foolishly passed on my best chance to seek a replacement for
Patricia. Upon Victoria's return, she had me
stuck in some sort of strange holding pattern that made little sense
to me.
So what exactly
did Victoria want? Based on her Husband List, there
was no rational reason to
leave Michael for me. And if she was lining me up
to be her lover, she was doing a lousy job of it.
Perhaps it was just as well that she had Cold Feet.
I
did not trust myself to maintain my willpower to resist
Victoria's considerable feminine wiles.
Need I remind everyone of the Dangerous Liaison?
Thanks to Joanne, I had learned the hard way that when
passion is involved, Conscience has a terrible way of
disappearing when I need it most.
The crazy part
was her dogged insistence that I find some way to support
her. What made her think I had even the slightest
desire to do such a thing?
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Something had to be terribly wrong in Victoria's
marriage for her to be so desperate. Unfortunately, I was left in the
dark. Victoria was less than candid about
details. All I knew was they were arguing a
lot. But what were they arguing about?
Were they arguing about me? I'm sure my name
came up. I have no idea what Michael knew about
Victoria's romantic overtures. What he did
know was that he was sick and tired of
Disco. For the past 11 months, his wife had
been gone three nights a week chasing her Disco
Dreams. Enough already! And who could
blame him? Victoria had turned into a major
pain in the ass and Michael was fighting back. I
assumed he demanded she give up Disco
and try staying home at night for a change. My guess is Michael was making
Victoria so miserable that she began to wonder if there was
a realistic way she could swap men. However, once
Victoria realized she would be an idiot to trade
Michael for me, she was having second thoughts.
Only one problem. I wanted to get rid of
her too. Poor Victoria. She was in the
unenviable position where neither man wanted her.
One man was pushing her out the door
and the other man was pushing her back in.
The
entire month of July was spent 'Negotiating'.
Thankfully, Victoria and I had reached an impasse. My biggest advantage was my decrepit house.
The thought of living in my house was so repugnant there was
no way Victoria could force herself to dream of moving in
with me. Consequently, no matter how long this
lasted, as long as I refused to touch Victoria, time was on
my side. Since I could not find a face-saving way to
get rid of her, I crossed my fingers and hoped she would
give up eventually.
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In
the long run, I felt my best hope was to wait Victoria out
and pray she came to her senses. All I had to do was listen to this crap every
night and remember to keep my hands off her fabulous body.
To be honest, as long as Victoria kept up this nagging, it was not difficult to resist her.
Her constant whining had turned my heart to stone.
Victoria's only chance
was to find a way to get me to touch her when we were alone.
That was what I feared the most. Otherwise I was invulnerable.
Better
still, time was on
my side. Ultimately I was certain Michael would talk
sense into her. And so the
Negotiations dragged on. Back and forth, back and
forth. The situation reminded me of a Medieval Siege.
I was surrounded, but I wasn't conquered.
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JULY 1979, the disco years
THE SEESAW EFFECT
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In case you are curious,
my Disco Business was doing well.
Despite my worries about the Western Invasion, so far there
were enough Discos still open to keep the Fever alive. Lance
Stevens and I barely talked, so that was fine with me.
However, there was one disturbing development.
Ted Weisgal had left the Class Factory in
May. I was very worried his departure might affect
their business. Craving reassurance, I wanted to ask Deborah Gordon what had
happened between them. However, I decided it was not a
good idea to ask since Deborah clearly had a thin skin where this
guy was concerned.
I had a funny feeling I had not
heard the last of this guy. It turned out I was right.
In July, out of the blue Ted phoned me at home. I was unnerved the moment I
heard his voice. Since Ted had never contacted me
before, I could only assume his call meant trouble.
Sure enough, just like Victoria, he was coming for me. At the time, it is unlikely Ted knew I secretly held
a high opinion of him. How could he? Truthfully,
we had never spoken beyond a lengthy discussion of his theories on catalogue
distribution. That said, I
was in awe of his work ethic.
So why was he calling me? Maybe because my dance classes were a top performer at the
Class Factory.
As I suspected, he wanted me to jump
ship. Ted began
the call by informing me he left the Class Factory in order to form
Leisure
Learning, his new Adult
Education program. Would I
like to join him? I
was taken aback by the boldness of his approach. And
bluntness. No sales pitch, no promises, not even any reason
why working for him would be better than working for
Deborah. It was take it or leave it. Needing
time to think, I asked Ted a couple random questions like
when the classes would start, how much would I be paid, etc.
What I was really doing was wracking my brain for insight.
Should I take his offer?
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Due to my strong suspicion that Ted was responsible for a
mysterious Seesaw Effect, I was very tempted to say yes. Recalling the
rapid collapse of Courses a la Carte
and Sundry School following Ted's departure,
there was a part of me that wondered if this same thing could happen
to the very successful Class Factory. Was
the rise and fall of Ted's two previous programs related to
Ted or was it my imagination?
I knew
Ted had the work ethic and know-how to become a real threat to Deborah's highly
successful program. However, I was unsure if Ted's comings and goings
were as significant as my gut suspected. Was I willing
to gamble leaving Deborah strictly on intuition? Given
how little I knew, this was a tough choice.
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Ted was definitely a controversial guy. He had
aggravated his bosses at three programs in a row.
That was probably because Ted was not born to be a team
player. He was better cut out to be the boss. I
had a hunch that once Ted started calling the shots, he struck me as a force to be reckoned
with.
It was this unknown factor that made my decision so
difficult. Should I stay with Deborah, the
established winner, or should I go with the promising new kid
on the block? Unwilling to make up my mind just yet, I
asked Ted why he had left Class Factory.
Ted said he preferred not to get into it, but let on that
Deborah had reneged on her ownership agreement.
Before I could continue with my questions, Ted cut to the chase.
"What do you think, Rick? Do
you want to join my new program?"
I
took a deep breath, the kind one takes right before they have to say
something they don't want to say. Ted was an unknown
commodity. There was a part of me that thought Ted was worth the
gamble. On the other hand, Deborah had given me the
break of a lifetime. As I have said, I am big on loyalty.
I had no desire to betray Deborah. Plus Deborah was fairly brilliant.
Hopefully she would do fine even if Ted competed with her.
Lacking a compelling reason to switch other than a gut
feeling, I decided to turn Ted down.
"Ted, I will be honest with you. I would much rather
have you as an ally than an opponent. However, Deborah
was the person who gave my big chance at the Class
Factory, so I owe her a lot. If this was just
a business decision, I would choose you, but my conscience
will not permit me to leave Deborah." That
was as diplomatic as I could put it. Maybe there was a
place for tact in this world after all.
Ted said he understood and that was that. As I hung up
the phone, I had a sinking feeling. It
was the determination in Ted's voice on the phone that had
me rattled. I
was fairly certain I had backed the wrong horse, but my hands had
been tied by loyalty. Although Ted lacked Deborah's flair, he was the kind of guy who would never give
up. I shuddered at the memory of watching Ted
outwork his boss Nicholas back at Courses a la Carte.
Now I feared Ted would outwork Deborah as well. There
is something very powerful about the chance to work for
oneself. Just ask me. I had thrived ever
since escaping the oppressive dictates of Lance Stevens.
And who had made that possible? Deborah.
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I got a grip and told myself my fears were unfounded.
After all, my respect for Deborah was infinite.
Deborah was the Golden Girl. She truly had it
all. A Vassar graduate, Deborah was educated and
polished. She worked hard at her job and was far more gifted at dealing with people
than Ted. She was also light years more creative. However, I suspected Deborah had an Achilles
Heel.
"Yond Cassius
has a lean and hungry look, He thinks too much; such men are
dangerous."
Ted Weisgal was
indeed "lean and
hungry". I also
suspected Ted was far hungrier than Deborah. I
based this on a fleeting impression. One afternoon I
visited Deborah's home. She had asked for some last-minute
changes on one of my classes before her catalogue could be
printed. Sensing the urgency, I offered to drop by her house where she was
working and deliver the changes.
I was met at the
door by her husband Peter, a handsome,
confident man with a prosperous air about him. After
he
politely took my material at the door, I
lingered long enough to gaze through the door at their
beautiful home
located in
a very fashionable part of the city.
Class
Factory came into being because Deborah had been
somewhat bored.
Her husband Peter had an executive job at Xerox which kept him pretty
busy. Since they had not begun their family
yet, Deborah found herself spending a lot of time at home
with nothing to do. In a way, Deborah was in the same
boat as Victoria had been. Unwilling to waste her considerable talent,
Deborah started her business on a whim.
Deborah was
smart and blessed with a fine education. She was also
well-funded, so it was no surprise Class
Factory flourished from the start. Deborah had considerable artistic talent.
The appearance of her catalogue was so far superior to Sundry School
and Courses a la Carte there was no
comparison. Her clever illustrations, stylish layout and witty descriptions of
the various
classes made leafing through the pages fun.
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In early August
I noticed Ted's new catalogue at the entrance to my
favorite coffee shop. It was the September
issue of his new Leisure
Learning magazine. I took the
catalogue home and compared it to Class
Factory. To me, the
Class Factory layout was more
attractive with its superior artwork. However
the Leisure Learning catalogue contained an amazing
number of classes. Considering this was the
first issue, I was surprised to find Ted's catalogue
had more pages than Class Factory. Since LLU was
new and Class Factory was established, why did the LLU catalogue have more classes?
Upon closer
inspection, I found my answer. Recalling how
Ted had tried to recruit me, a guy he barely knew,
I assumed he just went right down the list of
Deborah's top-earning
instructors. Sure enough, I was right. I
was alarmed to see over a dozen teachers had
transferred from the Class Factory
catalogue to the Leisure Learning
catalogue. Here was the Seesaw Effect I
feared. Ted's raid on the Class Factory had
fattened his program while simultaneously weakening
Deborah's. Realizing Ted was serious about competing with Deborah, I concluded
she was in for the greatest test of her life.
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Saturday, JULY 28, 1979, the disco years
THE LIGHTHOUSE PERFORMANCE
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Amidst the July Negotiations, Victoria and I continued
our weekly private lessons with Glen. Seven months
of continuous lessons had turned us into a sensational
dance couple. Every Friday night, Victoria persuaded me to show off
at least once. As usual, Victoria's business instincts
were right on the money. Showing off for our Camelot dance students was good
for business. To the oohs and
aahs of our appreciative students, this weekly demonstration of our
dance ability was well-received.
In
July, Victoria and I began teaching lessons at Annabelle's,
a posh Disco in the Galleria area. We held our class on Sunday evenings.
The manager had learned that the loyal group of dancers who came
to his club every Sunday were all students of mine. This,
of course, was the same group who had chased Joanne away back in
June. The manager contacted me and asked if I would like
to teach lessons on Sunday evening and maybe put on a little
show afterwards. He said he would pay extra if I would
bring a partner. Friday Camelot and Sunday Annabelle's
gave us a chance to show off twice a week. The
frequent practice paid off. Victoria was a spotlight dancer
by nature. As for me, I was learning to relax and smile.
Victoria was in rapture over our progress. She
relished these chances to dance our best with people
watching.
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Shortly after we started at Annabelle's, I received a call from a woman named Holly.
She asked if we would perform at
the Lighthouse. The Lighthouse
was a fancy new Disco opening up in the Clear Lake area.
I was incredulous to discover a new Disco was opening.
This was a bold
move considering the trend was towards Western clubs.
Holly said she wanted Victoria and me to highlight the grand opening.
I asked how Holly had heard of us. Apparently
she had run into Tommy and Hazel, my star couple, over at Spats. After seeing
Tommy and Hazel dance,
Holly
approached them and asked them to perform at the
opening of her new club. Tommy and Hazel said they were flattered, but
they knew someone better qualified. They gave
Holly my
phone number and told her to call me.
I had
received requests to perform in the past, but Patricia had
always exercised veto power over Victoria. Why let
Victoria have her chance to shine? One might ask why I
would allow
Patricia to exercise control over my dance career. The simplest
answer would be that I was a spineless toad.
Standing up to powerful women was a work in progress. But
Patricia was gone, so at least that obstacle was removed. When
I told Victoria about this opportunity, her eyes lit up.
Yes! This was exactly what Victoria had been waiting for.
"This is so wonderful, Rick. A brand new Disco!
This proves that Disco is
not dying after all. I cannot wait!!"
And
so I
informed Holly we would be
honored to perform on the opening night of the Lighthouse
at the end of July.
Victoria was elated. After a
tidal wave of negativity due to the Negotiation Impasse, this
opportunity breathed fresh air into our friendship. We trained
every spare moment we could get. Of course I was nervous
about performing thanks to two miserable experiences. The Ritz 'Turn
out the Lights' fiasco dated back to June 1978 while Patricia's gashed lip at
Spats was only a month old.
I told myself those were freak accidents caused by mistakes out
of my control. Lightning might strike twice, but surely
not three times. If we prepared properly, hopefully my
two-event run of bad luck would be
over. Consequently I became hyper-vigilant
to prevent further problems. I insisted we practice over and over. The extra practice paid off. We were honed, toned and
ready to go.
Victoria was not
only person who was excited. My
seven Clear Lake couples were over the moon with anticipation. On
the night of the Lighthouse performance,
Victoria and I arrived at the
club an
hour and a half prior to opening the doors. We wanted
to practice our routine and warm up for the show. We
went through our impressive acrobatics-filled routine two
times without the slightest hitch. We were full of smiles and
feeling very confident. This would be our moment to
shine.
As we
practiced, one by one the Clear Lake couples arrived to
cheer us on. I had given them each special passes which
got them through the door early. Tommy and Hazel already
knew Victoria well. Bruce and
Margaret had joined them to visit the Pistachio Club
several
times to participate in our Friday Camelot activity. In
the process
Hazel and Victoria had become friends. Although the other five
couples had never met Victoria,
they warmed up to her quickly. They had liked Patricia,
but they liked Victoria even more. Which made sense.
Who wouldn't like Victoria? When she was in her element,
Sunshine Victoria was the consummate people person. Victoria's warmth and enthusiasm made her
an instant hit wherever she went.
Victoria and I were
in a great mood. We
could not wait to show off.
Victoria
told the Clear Lake couples several details about our routine.
Victoria made them laugh when she said we were really good,
then
promised to knock their socks off.
I smiled. It
isn't bragging if you can deliver. We
were both very confident.
As one would expect
for an opening night,
there was a big crowd. The energy in the place was
terrific. As we walked onto the main dance floor, there was huge support
for us. People were smiling, clapping, wishing us well.
Someone yelled break a leg. I replied, "Thanks, I think",
and got a round of laughter. However, I wasn't laughing.
'Break a leg' was show
business slang, but give my superstitious nature, I wasn't happy to
hear the slogan. To me it was the same thing
as referring to the Titanic as ship even God could not sink.
Don't tempt Fate, that was the way I looked at it, especially
since I already had two strikes against me.
Victoria had a theory that accidents happen in threes.
Hmm. Thanks for the cheerful words, Vic.
It was time to perform,
so
I dismissed the
negativity from my mind.
The music started, we danced and the crowd
immediately started clapping. The enthusiasm
was very high; they liked us
from the get-go. We could hear our friends
cheering encouragement.
Victoria
and I were excited. It was
time to show the world what we were capable of.
Indeed, our
training paid off.
We were
smoking hot! I do not
exaggerate when I say the crowd was going wild.
People gasped when I led the Slingshot where I slid Victoria
through my legs, untwisted her 360 degrees behind my
back,
then pulled her back through. They were even more
impressed when they realized the move was not done yet. Using the momentum, Victoria
went high in the air, slammed her feet against my chest to use as a way
to
flip in mid-air before finishing. I
realize my description makes little sense, so just accept that
this was an extremely difficult maneuver that required great
skill. Well aware we were equal to any couple they had
ever
seen on TV, the crowd's appreciative cheering was intense.
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Midway through our performance
Victoria began a
dangerous
aerial
known as Jackknife.
The Jackknife was the last stage of an elaborate acrobatic
move that began with Sidecars.
Sidecars and
Jackknife were the first acrobatic moves I ever
learned. Back in 1975, my line dance instructor
Becky had taught these moves to me. To my delight,
Becky and I had performed
this risky move
flawlessly on our first try. Since then, I had
practiced it with Victoria many times.
Although this was a
dangerous move, Victoria had no fear because I was
very experienced.
After the
man swings the woman to the ceiling, the woman attempts to
freeze in the Jackknife
position. With her face touching the man cheek to
cheek, the woman
stops in mid-air for a dramatic three second pause with her toes
pointed to the ceiling. Then the man
brings her down in front of him to dismount. The danger comes
if
the woman's legs have too much momentum, thereby
preventing her from achieving equilibrium. If the
man is unable to overcome to excess momentum, this risks having
the woman topple over behind
the man's back. This problem had never come close to
happening, so I was not worried.
Victoria
jumped onto my waist and straddled me. From there I used both hands to
swing her hips high up above my shoulders. As usual, we nailed
the move. Victoria hit the Jackknife pose
without a problem. Victoria was completely under control
in her upside-down position with her
face pressed against mine. My hands
stayed on Victoria's hipbones to balance and steady her.
Without
warning, Victoria lost her balance and began to
topple over behind my back!
This was incredibly dangerous
because I had no way to control Victoria as she went
past the balance point. People screamed in
horror as Victoria began to plummet head-first to the ground behind my back. Victoria
could easily break her neck!!
Since Victoria was
falling behind me, I could not see her. However
I felt
Victoria's unexpected topple and reacted quickly. Knowing
she was falling to the floor, I had a split second to
act. I spun 180 degrees and wrapped my arms around her thighs an
instant before her face smashed against the floor.
Thank God for my
speed. My rapid reaction had stopped Victoria's
face an inch from the floor, thereby sparing her a
broken neck or a broken nose (or both).
However there was more danger. In my haste to catch Victoria, I
lost my balance and began to fall.
Sensing I was about to land on top
of Victoria's head,
I jumped and twisted my body cat-like in the air. By
landing on my side I allowed Victoria to land
on top of me as opposed to underneath me. By deliberately taking the brunt of the fall, I prevented her face from taking a direct blow.
It was remarkable she escaped serious injury.
Without my violent twist, paralysis was a real possibility.
After the fall, the two of us
laid there crumpled and tangled
together on the
floor. This had been a very frightening accident.
People were screaming in horror as well they should. The
commotion was unbelievable. I was not hurt, but
decided not to move until I was sure Victoria was hurt. Since neither of us moved, people feared one or both of us was
badly hurt, perhaps even paralyzed.
Tommy
got there first. He asked if everyone was okay and we
both answered yes. Don't ask me how, but our legs were
somehow wrapped awkwardly together and one of her arms was pinned
under me. Tommy gingerly tried to pry
our limbs apart. Since Victoria was on top, Tommy
gently freed her arms and legs first. Hearing Victoria
sob as Tommy worked, I was worried. Fortunately, as I lay on the floor
awaiting my turn,
Tommy whispered that Victoria was safe.
I am not sure I have adequately described how close a
call this was. Tommy later told me Victoria's face had
been one, maybe two inches from the floor when I caught her
legs and began
twisting.
Tommy said
my
twisting move
was extraordinary, easily the most athletic
thing he had ever witnessed.
"The speed
of your reaction was incredible. How did you know
what to do?"
"Instinct, Tommy,
pure instinct. I had to get my
hands free of her hips and I knew I had to turn around. I
bent my knees as I spun, then deliberately jumped up to fall sideways
after I caught her.
You can't practice for something like that. I really
have no idea how I pulled that off."
Pandemonium
raged. Although our
performance was ruined, no one cared. The important
thing was seeing Victoria
narrowly escape what could have been a serious tragedy.
Although grateful that Victoria was okay, at the
same time I was bitterly disappointed. Amidst
all the commotion, I was obsessed to know what had gone wrong.
We had done this move dozens of times before without the
slightest problem. It made no sense. Victoria
had been under complete control at the motionless part of
the Jackknife. What happened to make
her suddenly lose her balance? I would not rest till I
knew the answer. However Victoria had to calm down
before the questioning,
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Tommy helped
Victoria to a nearby chair and I followed them over. "Are you okay, Victoria?"
Victoria rubbed
the side of her forehead. Between sobs, she could barely speak above
a whisper.
"I'm okay
other than a very painful bump on the side of my forehead. I saw
the floor coming fast and I was helpless. I have
no idea what you did to save me, but thank you."
Between sobs and
sniffles, Victoria lifted her head to get a better look at me. "So
what did
you do?"
"Once I caught
you, I twisted my shoulders sharply to whip your
body on top of mine."
"That twist
probably saved my life.
My
forehead
glanced
off the floor,
but my head escaped absorbing my full
weight. I think I would have broken my
neck. You're not going to believe this, but my
nose brushed the
floor.
I was eyeball to eyeball with the floor when you broke
my fall. It
was horrible falling like that with no chance of rescue.
I thought I was going to die. Thank
you for saving me."
Victoria wrapped
her arms around me and started sobbing again. I was dying to
ask her what went wrong, but it wasn't time yet.
"Victoria,
show me where
your head hurts."
Victoria placed
my hand on
a sizeable lump on the side of her
forehead.
"Does it hurt?"
"Yeah,
it hurts a lot, but I
don't care.
It
could have been much much worse. I'll take a bad bruise
over paralysis any day."
"Victoria, did I
do something to cause that problem?"
"Maybe, but
I don't think so. Something hit my foot."
Something hit
her foot? That was odd. I wanted to ask
more, but Victoria's composure fell to pieces.
Understandably terrified,
Victoria had escaped serious injury by
the slimmest of margins. She buried her face in my
chest and cried uncontrollably.
I was grateful when the women in the Clear Lake Seven group intervened.
They took Victoria to a secluded corner and huddled
around her protectively. I could not imagine what was
going through their minds. First Patricia was bloodied
at the Spats contest, now Victoria nearly
broke her neck at the Lighthouse. Talk
about a weird coincidence.
I wondered if my Clear Lake friends thought I was responsible for this.
The area was quiet other than Victoria
who was still crying. Most of the guests were
already gone. Those who stayed were in a deep
hush. They were in no mood to dance
after witnessing a scary close call.
On the way out, several people made
sure to ask if Victoria was okay. She smiled wanly and
thanked them for their concern. The guests were relieved to see she was not
hurt. Noting the funeral atmosphere,
I could not believe we had ruined the Grand Opening of the
Lighthouse. How utterly humiliating!
Maybe it was time for us to leave too, so
I handed Tommy the keys to Victoria's car and asked
him to go get it for us and bring it to the door.
While I stayed with Victoria,
Hazel comforted her.
Victoria finally
calmed down enough to give me
the chance to figure out what happened. I did not
think I had
anything wrong and Victoria agreed. Victoria had been under control
in the Jackknife position with her toes to the ceiling just like always. Then for no reason
she began to
topple.
Why would a completely balanced person suddenly lose
control? And why so fast? This was quite a mystery.
Forgive my
lack of modesty, but I was good at this move. In fact, we had done it right
two times this same afternoon
in the exact same spot during rehearsal. We had
practiced the
Jackknife many times
without a single mishap, so why did we fail tonight?
I did
not want to leave without an answer, so I asked a
question.
"Victoria, can
you explain why you fell? What did you mean when you
said something hit your foot?"
Between sniffles
she said she felt something brush her toe while her feet were pointed
to the ceiling.
"I was up in
the air, I had stopped moving and I was balanced.
It felt like
something hit my shoe. Once I lost my balance, I couldn't help
myself from toppling over backwards."
What??
That made no sense at all. How could something hit her
toe? We
were sitting at a table near the dance floor so
my eyes looked up at
the ceiling. Suddenly I had my answer.
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I
locked on to the
four
whirring ceiling fans above. That had to be it.
Those
fans were the only thing that made any sense. One of the whirring
blades must have barely clipped her
pointed toe in her incredibly precarious
position.
It was enough to knock her off balance.
However I wasn't completely satisfied with that
explanation. Those ceiling fans had not
presented any problem when we practiced that afternoon.
"Victoria, do
you remember if those ceiling fans were on or off when we
practiced earlier this afternoon?"
"They were
definitely turned off.
In fact, while we rehearsed, you asked me
to wiggle my toes to see if I could touch a
blade. I did not succeed."
Victoria was right. We
were well aware that the fans were there, but
they were not a threat when they were still. That
is when it dawned on me. Those blades
were 'curved'. Someone must have
turned the fans on shortly before the
performance and nobody guessed the danger
this action presented. The downward curve in the blades
had made up the missing distance.
I was certain the curved
blades had clipped Victoria's toes when the fan was
moving. That is what caused the freak
accident.
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Now
my mind turned to the consequences. I was
sick to realize our near-fatal accident had
ruined the club opening.
Shaken by the incident,
people had left the
club in
droves. So much for the Grand Opening.
I was sure the
Lighthouse owners were appalled at their extreme bad fortune to hire us.
As omens go on opening night, it was impossible
to imagine a worse omen than this. 'Break a leg'
took on a menacing new meaning. I was crestfallen.
We were supposed to
entertain,
not terrify. Hired as
dance professionals,
we had given the audience a shocking
near-miss at serious injury instead. This had been a life and death close call. I
do not
exaggerate.
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