The Devil of DiRisio by DuBois Leslie

Author:DuBois, Leslie [DuBois, Leslie]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Little Prince Publishing
Published: 2011-09-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Dancing with the Devil

It was three minutes before curtain and Pierre was nowhere to be found. At thirty minutes before curtain, I was excited that he wasn’t around. I thought I could do the routine better without him. At twenty minutes before curtain, I wasn’t as certain. I started to get a little nervous, but I was sure he would show up.

At ten minutes before curtain, I started asking God to forgive me for the bus I prayed for to run over Pierre. At five minutes before curtain, I started freaking out. There was no back up. There weren’t enough dancers to rehearse an understudy. It was very unprofessional to not have backups for each part, but hey, that was the DiRisio Ballet Company for you.

Alejandro never even considered the possibility that his talent challenged boyfriend wouldn’t be able to perform. And for that matter, where was Alejandro? I thought for sure he would be around somewhere finding one way or another to blame this on me.

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, Cynthia sauntered over to me and said, “Are you okay, cherie?” in a sickeningly sweet voice.

“Does it look like I’m okay? The show is about to start and my partner is nowhere to be found. Would you be okay in this situation?” In no mood for her little games or insults, I looked her straight in the eye waiting for her next move. I wanted her to provoke me into punching her in the face. Maybe if a fight broke out backstage, they would have to cancel the show.

But Cynthia didn’t get angry and go into her usual racial slurs. Instead, the corners of her mouth curved into a purely wicked smirk. She kind of reminded me of the Cheshire Cat, that is, if the Cheshire Cat were painfully thin and pale as an albino drenched in flour.

“Before I was only suspicious, but now I know for sure it wasn’t you who took the Chemistry test this morning. Just wait till Alejandro finds out.” Then she turned around and practically skipped away.

I didn’t know what she meant. How did my partner’s absence prove that I didn’t take the Chemistry test? I just shrugged it off. Maybe she was just as dumb as Pierre. Pierre. Where the hell was he?

The orchestra began to play the overture and still no Pierre. My only choice was to go out and do my part and improvise through the lifts just like I had practiced. My solo was first. I went out and played the part of Claudette, the shy demure village girl, even better than I expected. My anxiety caused by Pierre’s absence actually helped me portray the insecurity of my character. I finished my solo and left the stage. Still no Pierre. While I was in the wings watching the corps dance, the reality of the situation set in. I thought I would start hyperventilating. Our first duet was coming in a matter of seconds. I didn’t know how I would pull it off.

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