MYSTERY OF THE TEXAS TWOSTEP

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SEVEN:

KARMIC DEBT

Written by Rick Archer 

LIMBO MONTH TWENTY NINE
November 1981

LADY IN WAITING
 

I spent the first week of November dealing with scathing criticism.  Then came the Halloween pictures.  Now I was besieged with glowing compliments.  The compliments were nice, but I was still pretty hard on myself for my reckless behavior. 

During a long talk I had with Jann back in September, we discussed dating.  After careful thought, I told Jann I was not ready.  I preferred not to date until Victoria set me free, then added that Jann would be first on my list.  Throughout October Jann asked for updates on Victoria.  This 'Girlfriend in Waiting' was just as exasperating for Jann as Captivity was for me.  Fed up with Victoria's glacial progress reuniting with Michael, rumors of my flirtation with Liz put an end to her patience.  One night at Texas Jann stayed late for a showdown. 

Jann wasted no time.

"I've been thinking about what you told me about Victoria back in September.  While I appreciate that you are concerned about Victoria's well-being, there is something about the strength of your dedication to her that makes no sense.  I feel like you are leaving something out, something you haven't told me."

"What are you referring to?" I replied.  "Could you be more specific?"

"Your continued loyalty to Victoria is admirable, but my gut tells me something is missing.  It is one thing to play nursemaid to the woman, but why do you insist on postponing your own love life when Victoria is fixated on regaining her former husband?  Why do you hold on to her and hold me off?  That is what I don't get.  Fill me in, tell me what I am missing."

Based on the determined look in her eye, Jann wanted to get to the bottom of this. 

"I don't hold on to Victoria, she holds on to me."

"Fine.  Then let me rephrase the question.  Why do you allow her to continue to cling to you when at the same time she is moving in another direction?"

I sighed deeply.  "What I wouldn't give to be rid of Victoria right now."

"Then what's stopping you?  Tell me why you don't have the freedom to do just that.  Something doesn't make sense.  What exactly is preventing you from seeing other women while you are helping her get back to Michael?"

"Victoria is very unstable.  In the past, the slightest hint that I am interested in another woman has always provoked her to overreact.  The history of Victoria is that she always wants the guy she can't have.  The woman thrives on competition with other females in pursuit of the cutest guy.  That is what turns her on.  Right now her challenge is getting Michael back, but the arrow could easily flip back to me if I were to make a move to see other women." 

"Why don't you ask permission to date?"

"I have on several occasions.  She always says no."

"Then why don't you simply fool around behind her back?  She'll never know.  From where I stand, Victoria doesn't keep tabs on you.  For example, if you were my boyfriend, I would never dream of letting you go to a Halloween party alone.  Why invite trouble?  For that matter, you could probably go home with some woman you meet here at Texas and she would never know."

"That's where you're wrong, Jann.  Victoria is very perceptive.  About this time two years ago I had a secret girlfriend I called Madame X.  No one at the studio had the slightest idea I was seeing her.  Same for Victoria.  She never met the woman nor heard a word about her.  Nevertheless Victoria sniffed her existence out of thin air.  The problems I deal with today are the direct result of Victoria flipping out over Madame X.  I have learned the hard way I cannot hide what I am doing from her.  Victoria has the instincts of a witch, so I behave for fear of upsetting her again.  Maintaining Victoria's trust allows her to take me for granted while she concentrates on her pursuit of Michael."

Jann rolled her eyes and scoffed. 

"That is absurd!  So what if Victoria finds out?  Big deal, what can she do about it?  Okay, so you made a mistake, but that was TWO YEARS AGO!  Two years is a long time.  Assuming you have told me the truth, the two of you are not even having sex.  Nor does she pay any attention to you.  So why must you stay by this woman's side?  You must be leaving something out."

"Of course I am leaving stuff out.  To tell the whole story would take all night.  But the long and short of it is that I feel an obligation to Victoria that is difficult to explain."

"So tell me.  I am convinced you are deliberately avoiding telling me the real reason."

"My true explanation is very complicated.  It will take all night."

"Don't worry, I'll listen.  Besides, it's too late for me to pick up any men tonight.  So tell me your reason." 

I hesitated.  Do I dare tell Jann about my unusual belief system?  I found myself curious to see how Jann would react.  During our previous conversation a month earlier, I realized why so many people shared their secrets to this woman.  Jann was a born listener as well as discrete.  Furthermore, Jann was right.  'Realistically' my behavior did not make a bit of sense.  The only way Jann would ever understand why I refused to walk away from Victoria would be to explain my belief in Karma.  Should I or shouldn't I?

I had only bared my soul once before.  I had regretted it ever since.  Shortly before Christmas in 1978 I had a bitter argument with my girlfriend during the Christmas Holidays.  At the time, Patricia berated me over what she considered my squandered education.  She demanded I quit teaching dance and go to law school instead.  Sad to say, Patricia's argument was very persuasive.  It was early in my dance career and I was struggling just to keep my job.  How exactly was I ever going to help her raise a family making $15 an hour as a Disco teacher?  Considering Patricia's salary as a hospital administrator was three times larger than mine, she had trouble maintaining her respect for me.  Unable to defend my position 'Realistically', I decided to share my 'Mystical' reason instead.  I explained my belief that God was in the process of moving a mountain to hand me a dance career. 

Needless to say, my counterpoint went over like a lead balloon.  Patricia was not just skeptical, she was openly scornful.  Her words still stung even to this day. 

"You have to be kidding, Rick.  Do you really think that God is telling you what to do?  Seriously, when was the last time you saw a burning bush or parting sea?  Until you see someone dancing on water, I think you need to admit that pretending God has some big plan for you is little more than a fanciful excuse to indulge your Rock Star fantasies."

Patricia had been so dismissive, I had been reluctant to tell another person about my strange ideas ever since.  I had shared glimpses of my belief in Fate with Victoria when three dance accidents in a row led to her suggestion that I suffered under a Dance Curse.  However, I drew the line about how much to share.  Given her unfortunate descent into vindictive behavior, I feared she would twist whatever I said to suit her own purposes.  By keeping my beliefs a secret, Victoria had no idea I considered her my 'Karmic Cross' to bear.  I still felt the same way.  I would not dream of telling Victoria the real reasons I cooperated with Limbo Captivity.  Lost in her own world, to this day Victoria thought I was so infatuated with her I would stick around no matter what, Vincent and Michael notwithstanding. 

Three years had passed since Patricia had humiliated me.  Amazing what a difference three years can make.  Back in the days of Patricia, I was a struggling dance teacher dating a high-born woman who expected to marry a man with money and a respectable career.  Then came the 1981 'Western Synchronicity'.  Thanks to a series of stunning developments,  SSQQ was now the largest dance studio in the city.  Considering all the obstacles I had to overcome to get this far, I was flabbergasted at the sheer improbability of it all.  There was a part of me that dearly wished I would run into Patricia again just so I could tell her I had been right to follow my Instinct.  At the moment I was making the same amount of money as Patricia.  That was certain to get her attention.  Even more important, my Synchronicity had convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt that this dance career was indeed my Destiny.   And if this studio was my Destiny, then so was Victoria.  I was convinced I could not have gotten this far without her help. With Jann staring at me expectantly, do I dare risk further embarrassment?  Maybe I should tell Jann the truth and see what she thought.  I was curious to test her reaction.  After all, I was the only person who knew about the strange events that had transpired to create this meteoric rise.  Would Jann agree with the conclusions I had reached about Fate?  If anyone would give me a fair chance to make my case, it would be Jann.  And with that, I decided to introduce Jann to the story of my Magic Carpet Ride.  "Okay, Jann, I am going to lay it on the line.  Based on events in my life, I have developed a strong belief in Fate.  I may not be able to convince you that Fate exists, but I can at least help you understand how I arrived at my conclusion.  To begin with, I agree with you.  On the surface, my behavior regarding Victoria makes little sense.  I can date any woman I want to and there is little she can do to stop me.  I get that.  However, we have reached the end game in Victoria's journey.  Now that she is trying to reconcile with Michael, she has just as much to lose as I do.  If she discovered my decision to date and made a public spectacle, Michael would be out the door.  Since I am rooting for her to succeed, I refuse to do something that might cause her to make that mistake."

Jann's eyes grew wide.  She stared at me slightly dumb-founded.  "Are you saying you think God or Fate or some strange instinct is your reason to stand by Victoria even though she doesn't seem to care for you?"

I nodded.  "Yes.  I want you to understand why I feel I have a spiritual obligation to Victoria.  I believe it is my duty to help Victoria patch things up with Michael.  I would absolutely die if I did something stupid to disrupt the process.  That is why I keep you at arm's length."

Jann shook her head in consternation.  "When you said your answer was far out, you weren't kidding."

When I saw the perplexed look on her face, I felt a pang of sympathy.  Who could blame her?  Sometimes I had just as much trouble accepting the reasons for my decision to stay with Victoria.  Back in the early stages when Victoria was at her most desperate, I was willing to be a pretend boyfriend for a month or two.  However, now that Limbo had entered its third year, I was ready to say this waiting game had gone too far.  Which I why I tried to rebel during the Halloween Party, aka Rick Unchained. 

You want to know something?  I was a strange mood.  There was something about that Halloween Party that had me spooked.  It was just so weird that at the exact moment I thought I was finally free Victoria, I had passed out.  How incredibly convenient for Victoria.  If Liz had returned 30 seconds earlier, things would be different now.  But here I was with the chains still intact.

So now I was suspicious that Fate had stepped in.  It seemed like every time I was ready to break away from Victoria, something stopped me.  Blackmail, Doorstep Night, Michael moves out of the house, Kramer versus Kramer, Jennifer moves to Dallas, Michael sues for Divorce, Charlotte, my hospital stay, Victoria's decision to reactivate me as a boyfriend, her divorce becomes final only to be rudely interrupted by Michael's Madame X.  And now the Reconciliation Project. 

Why didn't Liz try to wake me up?  Realizing I had come within a whisker of success,  I suddenly recalled my Two Mountains proverb. 

If it is meant to be,
God will move two mountains to make it happen.

If it is not meant to be,
you will never taste it even if it is placed between your lips.

Liz had been placed between my lips.  And now she was gone.  Nor was this the first time I had lost a woman who had been placed between my two lips.  I could think of 20 near-misses just as abrupt and just as strange as my latest failure. 

Shortly before Christmas 1981, Victoria gave me a phone call. 

"Rick, I have a heavy heart right now.  That is because I have to say something that will hurt you.  I have decided to spend the Holidays with Michael.   That includes New Year's Eve.  I hope you will forgive me, but this is the direction I am drawn to."

'Hurt?'  Quite the opposite.  I was thrilled!  Although I was trembling inside with excitement, I kept my voice intact.  In a calm voice I told Victoria I understood completely.  I said I had seen this coming and had prepared for the moment, adding that I was very pleased.  Then I wished her luck. 

When I hung up the phone, I screamed with delight at the top of my lungs!  Poor Emily and Sissy were startled.  My dogs jumped off the bed and ran out the doggie door in terror.  I laughed.  They had just seen me go stark raving mad with ecstasy and euphoria.  I was certain my freedom was imminent. 

I did not have a possessive bone in my body where Victoria was concerned.  I truly wanted her to go back to her husband.  This meant of course I would have my fourth lonely New Year's Eve in a row.  Nevertheless, the thought that perhaps my freedom was at hand cheered me immensely.

To my surprise, shortly before Midnight on New Year's Eve, my home phone rang.  Out of curiosity, I picked up the phone.  As I guessed, it was Victoria.

"I just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year.  Things are going well for me.  Michael has agreed to move home next week."

"That's wonderful!  Congratulations!"

"Yes, but Michael also insists I quit the studio.  I am not happy about that.  Uh oh, here he comes, I have to go.  I'll talk to you next week."

NEW YEAR'S EVE, DECEMBER 1981

THE MAGIC YEAR

At Midnight, I raised a toast to SSQQ.  The dance studio was no longer an up and comer. This was the year my program emerged as Houston's undisputed leader.  The studio was a well-oiled, lean mean fighting machine.  We had far more students than any other studio.  The reputation of SSQQ as a fun place to take classes plus the well-known rumor for romance was so potent, the future success of the studio was no longer in doubt.  I never had to pay for advertising.  From this point on, all I had to do was mail out the schedule and our classes filled up automatically.  It had been a long climb, but here I was.  I had made it to the top.

Without a doubt, every possible break had gone my way all year long.  Thanks to the new location at Dance Arts and the boost from the nearby Winchester Club, the dance studio had gotten off to a fast start in January.  TGIS continued to send student after student our way and the addition of Leisure Learning brought many new faces to our door.  Word of mouth endorsements from former students did the rest. 

Back in November 1980, Bob Job and I had put the finishing touches on a new form of C&W dancing we named Western Swing.  Combining the movement of Western dancing with complex double turn patterns drawn from my years as a Disco instructor, Western Swing was the best of two worlds.  This new dance was immensely popular because it made Western dancing much more fun.  In addition, for people who wrapped their lives around dancing, they loved having a challenge.  Western Swing was the answer to my prayers because it gave the Nifty Fifty, my group of veteran dancers, a reason to stick around the studio and never get bored.  At this point, I had caught on to the secret.  I knew full well the main reason people continued to take lessons at the studio was the chance to see their friends on a weekly basis. 

To reward the loyalty of 'The Gang', Bob and I got together frequently to cook up new Western Swing patterns.  Due to our ability to invent an endless variety of patterns, I offered completely new material every month from January to December.  This was important because it gave my students a way to improve their dancing while continuing their relentless pursuit of Romance.  Every month our veteran students returned for more classes without any need for persuasion on my part.  SSQQ was in their blood.  This is where their friends were, so of course they were coming back.  If they could improve as dancers in the process, all the better.  Not only were these people my best friends in the world, their support of my leadership formed the backbone of the studio.  In many ways, my regulars such as Jann, Bob and Judy became leaders in their own right.

If there was one intangible to our success, it was the studio's well-deserved reputation as a romantic hotbed.  SSQQ was no longer just a dance studio, it had become a well-known Happy Hunting Ground for singles.  Through the grapevine, rumors spread that SSQQ was one of the premier places in Houston to find a boyfriend or girlfriend.  With friends telling friends that Dancing at SSQQ was the perfect way to find Romance, word of mouth became so powerful that SSQQ had no need to advertise.  Once the Legend of Slow Dance and Romance was firmly established, the continued success of the studio was guaranteed for life. 

This had been the year when everything I touched turned to gold.  Even when things went wrong, they went right.  That is how I knew this year had to be my Brightest Day. 

For example, I am convinced my fractured relationship with Crazy Jane had somehow inspired her to produce the catchy name for my studio.  However the best example of Dumb Luck had to be how my stupid Halloween mistakes ultimately worked in my favor.  Let's start with Bob's Wicked Wizard Punch.  We can all agree Bob made the punch stronger than it needed to be.  However, at the same time, Bob's punch livened up the party to a fever pitch just as he had predicted.  People were talking to each other, making friends, dancing up a storm.  The Wicked Wizard Punch was the catalyst.

Thanks to Bob, people were laughing, smiling, flirting, cavorting, dancing, carrying on.  They were having the best time of their lives!

Meanwhile, Fogo's photographs captured that merriment to perfection.  The glee on everyone's face was easy to see as they admired the Halloween poster.

Yes, due to Bob's Everclear mistake things got totally out of control, but not until practically everyone was gone.

Why did everyone up and leave me?  My dumb decision to invite the naked dancing girls chased the respectable women and their woebegone men out of the studio long before Bob poisoned the remaining 25 derelicts.  By eliminating Fogo's Orgy pictures from the eventual poster, that particular black eye was permanently erased from memory. 

At the same time, I took a chance and let the Jungle Fever pictures remain.  Those with a prudish bent disapproved, but the vast majority (especially the men) could not take their eyes off these attractive women.  What had been poor judgment on my part fueled the fantasies of many red-blooded young men.  They each made a mental note to attend next year's Halloween Party. 

In other words, my mistake with the dancing girls and drinking too much did not cost me a thing.  Rather than pay a high price for my stupidity, I accidentally stumbled onto the ultimate secret of my success... the use of Party Photography for advertising.  I cannot emphasize enough how effective these posters were in capturing people's imagination.  You have no idea the lengths people went to in order to to come up with original costumes.  The competition to be the most clever was fierce indeed.  After people went to great trouble to look their best, they were extremely satisfied to see their friends had gone to the same lengths.  Once the tradition of costume excellence was set, it worked like a charm every year.  This is how the Halloween Poster courtesy of Jim Fogo became the final piece of the puzzle in the evolution of the studio's enduring Halloween reputation.  Indeed, the worst night of my life transformed into the event that launched the studio to future 'Halloween Stardom'.  This remarkable turn of fortune provided the finishing touch in SSQQ's meteoric rise to fame during 1981. 

And now the greatest year of my life had reached its conclusion.  During my Midnight trip down Memory Lane, I took a moment to raise a toast to Michael and Victoria.  I was pleased they closed out the year on a high note.  Then I raised a bittersweet toast to Jennifer, Jann, Jane, Taylor, Lynette, Ammonia, Liz and several others I had reluctantly avoided in hopes of gluing Michael and Victoria back together.  Truthfully, when it came to women, I felt like a blindfolded midget trying to hit a piņata high above my head.  No matter how hard I kept swinging, I could not seem to connect.  However, in a weird way, I also sensed that the lonelier I got, the more the studio seemed to grow.  I suppose if this was the price I had to pay for success, then so be it.

This was the year my Magic Carpet Ride soared higher than I could have ever imagined.  What would next year hold?  I had a hunch I knew the answer to that.  Certain members of the Nifty Fifty had the Look of Love in their eyes.  And you know what that means.  On that pleasant note, I closed the door on 1981, my Magic Year of Synchronicity.