If- Nina G. Jones Page 0,59
body moved like it was trudging in mud. Alana was middle-aged and elegant, her posture and physique still undeniably that of a dancer. Her salt and pepper hair was fiercely straight and shoulder length, and she wore an enormous cream sweater that should have been bulky, but magically fell in all the right places.
When I made it to the table, she motioned for me to come closer. I bent over and she squished my cheeks in her hand, which was covered in several large rings, turning my face sharply from one side to the other.
“You don’t get much work because of your face, no?” she said in the faintest French accent. Alana released her grip and I stood up sharply. My eyes bounced over at Jordan and the other guy, but their expressions seemed as uncomfortable as mine. I should have been insulted, and maybe stormed out, but Jordan had warned me that she was unusual, and there was something in her directness, in an industry full of phonies, that was comforting.
So, I just barely shook my head.
“Well, most people are stupid cunts who wouldn’t know true beauty if it jeté’d all over their face,” she said in disgust. “If those assholes spent less time looking at a few scars, and more time focusing on your technique and spirit, they would see what a fine dancer you are.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Jordan’s big white smile light up. He knew she was going to compliment me.
That evening I received a phone call. I would be in all three acts of Danse Nocturne, not just Jordan’s.
BIRD
THAT NIGHT, ASH and I celebrated with pizza on the roof. It had become our regular secret hangout spot. While he was sick, I had taken all of his work and stashed it in my storage locker downstairs with his permission. Now, we were just surrounded by black tar covered in splashes of vivid color.
Occasionally, especially at night, Ash would get antsy about being cooped up. He didn’t like walls, which I took for him being somewhat claustrophobic. The roof was a place we could go to get some space and air. On a few perfect nights, when sleep tried to evade him, we even made a makeshift bed and slept up there.
It was on this particular night that Ash first told me he loved me.
“Eat up, skinny!” I said, opening the pizza box.
“You should talk, bird legs.”
“Low blow!” I playfully sneered at him.
“Oh I love your legs,” he said, pulling one towards him, and kissing the inside of my shin softly. “Long, toned, creamy . . .”
I giggled.
“Your feet on the other hand. No one warns you when you date a hot dancer that you should check those first.” He grabbed my foot in his hand as I tried to flail out of his grip.
“These feet are going to be all over the stage of Danse Nocturne,” I said, tauntingly flexing and extending my toes. I was so happy that Ash was feeling better.
“I’m thinking I’m ready to paint again.”
“That’s great. But please, take it easy this time. You can’t just wear yourself out like that.”
“I know. I will.”
“Because I need you healthy and I don’t ever want to see you back out there. You can’t leave me like that again. Things are finally starting to look up.”
“I won’t.”
He looked and me with a mischievous smirk.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. I was just thinking.” Ash grinned. “You’re a ballsy little bird.”
“Ballsy?”
“Yeah, and feisty.”
“Where’s all this coming from?
“You moving out here, supporting yourself when your parents would just pay for you to do what they want. The way you pour your soul out at auditions where people judge you and you keep doing it. Most of all . . . the way you jumped in the night we met. I was dick about it. I never thanked you. That was incredibly brave. You are a brave person. One of the bravest people I know. It’s a rare quality. My dad would like you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He always talked about the people in the military, the things he had seen. The acts where people put themselves at risk for someone else. And you didn’t even know me, Bird. Like I said. Brave.”
“Or incredibly stupid.”
He picked at his pizza. “Meh. Bravery can look that way to some. Especially cowards.”
“That was deep. Did you make that up?”
“I want to say I did, but it sounded a little too good.”
“Well, thank you. I’m glad one person doesn’t think