Dead Man Dancing

Seventeen

On Thursday night, Hutch called a summit.

It was well past midnight, and we were still gathered around my dining-room table, in the center of which sat a straw placemat and a box of day-old donuts from Carlson’s. Day-olds from Carlson’s were better than oven-fresh from just about anywhere else.

‘I haven’t been up this late since college,’ I said, stifling a yawn. ‘One semester I pulled two all-nighters in a row, and ended up falling asleep in the stairwell of my dorm.’

‘Exams or papers?’ Melanie wanted to know. At what – mid-twenties? – she wasn’t that far removed from her own college days.

‘Papers,’ I said. ‘Scrambled my brain. As I recall, there was a treatise grandly entitled La Vie de Stendhal dans ses oeuvres and a cultural anthropology paper on the Jibaro Indians of Eastern Ecuador. The Jibaro were headhunters,’ I explained. ‘You can imagine the nightmares.’

At that moment, Paul appeared from the kitchen carrying a fresh pot of coffee, which he set down on the placemat in front of me. ‘Nightmares? What did I miss?’

‘We’re just going over the schedule,’ I said. ‘Hutch and Melanie are leaving…’ I checked my watch. ‘They’re leaving in an hour.’

Hutch kneaded his eyes with his fingers. ‘Jay thinks if we’re standing in line by two a.m., we’ll be among the first group to get in.’

‘Coats, hats, gloves, and long underwear?’ I asked.

Hutch shot me a withering, sleep-deprived look, and I raised an apologetic hand. ‘Sorry. Once a mother, always a mother.’

Melanie smiled sweetly. ‘I’m wearing so many layers I can barely walk.’

‘OK, then,’ Hutch said, consulting his notes. ‘We’re taking Melanie’s car. Paul, tomorrow morning you’re taking Ruth, Chloe, Hannah and Hannah’s friend Eva, and driving my car.’

‘Why not use my car?’ Paul asked.

‘Because I’m an Inner Circle subscriber, so I’ve got a prepaid parking pass for the Hippodrome Atrium Garage.’ He tapped a map I’d printed out from the Shall We Dance? website. ‘You go in here, on Eutaw Street.’ He looked up. ‘It’ll be easier to navigate to the theater from there with Ruth in her wheelchair.’

‘Agreed. But where will you park?’

‘In one of the Inner Harbor hotel garages.’ Hutch flapped a hand. ‘Don’t worry about us.’

He patted the breast pocket of his sports jacket, stuck his hand inside and pulled out a small, yellow envelope. ‘Here are your tickets.’ He opened the envelope and dealt out each of the tickets like playing cards. ‘You’re supposed to enter on Baltimore Street, that’s the south side of the theater near the ticket office. Even with tickets, I’d advise you to arrive early so you’ll get the best seats.’

‘Where will you and Melanie be?’ Ruth asked.

‘According to Jay, contestants are required to line up out front, under the marquee. It’ll be clearly marked.’

‘It’s going to be so C-O-L-D!’ Melanie rubbed her hands together rapidly. ‘I hope Jay and Kay don’t have to stand outside very long. He’s been feeling achy lately. Thinks he may be coming down with the flu.’

Paul raised an eyebrow. ‘Are the Giannottis competing?’

‘Not exactly. One of the producers thought it’d be a brilliant idea to have dance exhibitions during the taping breaks. So they’ve tapped a few of the local professionals for the honor. Jay and Kay are brushing up the paso doble they took to the Internationals last year. I was there,’ continued Melanie. ‘They are amazing!’

I cringed as Hutch tipped my grandmother’s antique walnut dining-room chair back on its two hind legs. ‘I think it would be easier to plan a military invasion of a Third World country.’ He ran a hand through his thinning hair. ‘Sometimes I wonder why the hell I’m doing this.’

Ruth laid a hand on his arm. ‘Because you could have in college, but didn’t. Now there will be no regrets.’ Using both hands, she wheeled her chair back a few inches from the table, angling it slightly to face me. ‘I’ll always regret I stayed home that Easter instead of coming over to visit you in France, Hannah.’ She laughed bitterly. ‘I missed La Sorbonne, can you imagine? In Paris! But what did I know? I thought I’d die if I couldn’t spend that vacation break with Eric. What a mistake that turned out to be!’ Tears welled in her eyes.

Hutch picked up Ruth’s hand, brought it to his lips and held it there. ‘I love you, Ruth.’

At that, Ruth began to cry in earnest, tears trickling down both cheeks, leaving dark spots on her pink cashmere sweater. She banged on her cast with her fist. ‘Oh, hell! With this stupid cast on my leg I can’t even be a drama queen and race out of the room in tears!’

At that point, everyone started to cackle, even Ruth.

When he got himself under control, Hutch stood up, clasped his hands together. ‘Is everyone clear?’ When we all nodded, he said, ‘Ready, Melanie?’

‘As I’ll ever be.’

‘Costumes?’

‘Already in the car.’

Hutch took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘Well, that’s it, then. Wish us luck.’

Ruth, who had been dabbing at the corners of her eyes with a paper napkin, looked up. ‘Break a leg!’ Then erupted in a fresh episode of giggling.

Hutch leaned over, put a hand behind her head, and kissed his fiancé firmly on the mouth. ‘There! That should shut you up, you silly girl.’

As we stood on the stoop and watched Hutch and Melanie drive away, I said to Paul. ‘How are they going to dance without any sleep?’

Paul’s arm snaked around my shoulder. ‘Probably the same way you aced that paper on Stendhal.’

‘How’s that?’ His face looked ghostly in the light from the porch light.

He pulled me close, his chin resting lightly on top of my head. ‘Adrenalin.’