Certain Requirements by Elinor Zimmerman

Author:Elinor Zimmerman [Zimmerman, Elinor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781635551969
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2018-03-24T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

I hadn’t expected my dynamic with Kris to stay with me when I went to New Mexico, but I spent the whole visit connected to her. As soon as I got off the plane in Albuquerque, I scrolled through the messages Kris had sent me, detailing what I could do to myself, and when, and with what. I texted back a quick, Thank you, tried to shake off the thrill it gave me, and went to greet my mom at the gate.

My mother wrapped me in her arms as soon as I stepped out of security. “Welcome home,” she said. Right away, she started catching me up on the latest developments in her department, with my extended family, and about my hometown generally. We were halfway home before she paused for breath and asked, “How are you?”

“I’m really good. I’ve been booking some shows, and I’m teaching a lot of classes.”

This piqued her interest. “Who are you teaching?”

“Adults who want to get fit or are curious. Some kids’ classes.”

“Could this be a career?”

Of course. I knew as soon as I said it where my mom would go with this information, but I couldn’t stop myself. “I don’t know if it’s sustainable long-term. I’m running around between studios all over the place. If I could teach in one place, maybe, but there isn’t really a studio that wants me to teach that many classes.”

“Well, you’re just starting out. Are there people who teach this as a profession?”

I held back my annoyance. “Sure, but mostly people who also perform or made a name performing already. Or people who own a studio and have been teaching freelance for years.”

“We all have to pay our dues,” she said.

“Mom, I like performing. I want performing to be a big part of my career. The teaching is fine, but it’s not why I’m doing this.”

“I never said anything against your shows,” she said.

I pressed my lips together tightly. I knew what she wasn’t saying but was implying: that bodies gave out quicker than minds, and I should not make my livelihood dependent on things as fallible as my muscles or my hands. She’d said tiny variations of these things a hundred times over the years.

Once we were home, we were greeted by the chaos that was my two-year-old nephew, Joaquin. Joaquin was using a metal pot and wooden spoon as a drum kit, shrieking with laughter. When he saw me, he threw these to the floor and ran at me at full toddler speed, head-butting me in the stomach in an attempted hug. “Tia Phe!” he screamed with delight.

“Hi, buddy.” I lifted him up and spun him around. “Want to be upside down?”

“Yes!” he screamed again.

I flipped him and hung him upside down by the feet, quieting him immediately. It was our thing, something his parents didn’t do. Connie walked across the living room to greet me. “Relative silence? I’m impressed, Phoenix.” She hugged me with her upside down son between us. “How are you?”

“Good. Strong, as you can see.

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