In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Smith Alexander Mccall

Author:Smith, Alexander Mccall [Smith, Alexander Mccall]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0375423575
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2004-03-22T04:00:00+00:00

MMA MAKUTSI was late in arriving at the dancing class that evening, and as she walked along the corridor at the President Hotel she could hear the band in full flow and the sound of numerous feet on the wooden floor. She appeared at the entrance and made her way to a seat at the side, only to be intercepted by Phuti Radiphuti, who had been waiting for her. Her heart sank. She did not wish to be unkind, but she had hoped that perhaps he would not be there and that she might have the chance to dance with somebody else. Now she was trapped, and there would be more stumbling and tripping while everybody else made progress and moved with greater and greater ease.

Phuti Radiphuti beamed with pleasure as he led her onto the floor. The band, which had been augmented by another guitarist, was playing more loudly than the last time, with the result that it was difficult for her to hear what anybody was saying, let alone to understand those with a speech impediment. So Mma Makutsi had to strain to make out her partner’s words, and even when she thought she could do so, she was puzzled by their apparent lack of sense.

“This is a waltz,” he tried to say, as they started to dance. But Mma Makutsi heard: This is all false. She wondered why he would say such a thing. Did he sense that she was only dancing with him out of pity, or a sense of duty? Or did he mean something quite different?

So she decided to seek clarification. “Why?” she asked.

Phuti Radiphuti looked puzzled. Waltzes were waltzes, of course; that was just what they were. He could not answer her question, and instead concentrated on doing the steps correctly, which was difficult for him. One, two, together is what Mr Fanope had said; or had he said that they should count three before they did the side-step?

Sensing her partner’s confusion, Mma Makutsi took control. Drawing him to the side of the floor, she showed him how the steps were to be executed and made him repeat them himself while she watched. From the corner of her eye she noticed that the woman she had seen at the first lesson, the one whose name she had forgotten, was watching her in a bemused fashion from the other side of the room. That woman was dancing with the same elegant man who had partnered her before, and she waved at Mma Makutsi over her shoulder as she spun round in his expert arms.

Mma Makutsi pursed her lips. She was determined not to feel put down by this woman with her showy dress and her condescending manner. She knew what she would think of her, that she would be thinking: there’s poor Grace Makutsi, who never managed to get any man to pay attention to her, and look what she’s landed herself with now! Life has passed her by, of course, in spite of the fact that she graduated top of our class.

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