(no subject)
The Zoot Suit
She watched her friend stumble to the table. The other girl was winded, but smiling. The music was blaring.
“You should get out on the floor, Rose!” Annie yelled. “Its really not my style, but its still fun!”
“I don’t dance.” She replied. The dancers were all jiving and swinging in time with the music. A man popped out of the crowd, watching the three drinks he held in his hands. His fedora was at a jaunty angle, and its yellow band matched the yellow of his suit perfectly. He placed on in front of Annie, the second he slid in front of Rose and the third he held in his hand. Liam was the man’s name, and Rose found him particularly uninteresting as humanity goes. Liam on the other hand, found Rose to be strangely beautiful, and mysteriously seductive in her long silences. They had met several times, and all Rose really knew was that Annie had some sort of affinity for Liam.
“Liam, she says she doesn’t dance.” Annie said. The man looked Rose over as he gulped down his soda. He shook his head.
“Everybody dances. Your lying to yourself if you say you don’t. You seem like a hep cat, Rose. Don’t you just dig this jive? How can you not want to get out there and boogie woogie?” Liam smiled, Rose thought he looked like some sort of jungle cat that lived in a zoo. Technically still wild, but always easily getting what it wants.
The crowed slowed and paused. Some couples left the floor while others loitered around, waiting for the band to strike up another tune. Rose smiled. She saw one couple that especially grabbed her attention. The man was showing the woman some intricate step, some sort of transition. The went back to their beginning positions, bobbed a little, counting together and then slowly ran their steps. When they were done the woman nodded to the man and he smiled. They looked very used to one another.
“That’s called the Lindy Hop.” Liam said, leaning into the table. He matched the style of everyone in the room. But on close examination of the details, his suspenders were clip-ons, and his shoes had seen the wear and tear of the outside world.
“I can do that!” Annie giggled, flipping her long hair. She leaned closer to Liam, showing him the benefits of her low cut blouse. But Liam’s green eyes were intent upon Rose, and not on the woman he came with.
“Its beautiful to watch.” Rose said, not looking away from the dancing couple. Her eyes locked onto their feet. With each step the woman would swivel her ankle, giving flair to the footwork of the dance. “The Lindy Hop?”
“I could teach you how, if you want…” Annie shot him a pouting look. Liam looked down at his glass, swirling the ice in it.
“Liam, you said you would show me how to do the Charleston!” Annie’s pleas seemed lost in the noise of the room.
“Oh, no. I can’t dance. It would be a waste of your time…” She paused, watching the couples for another moment, “I think I’ve kind of figured it out. You’re really dependent on your partner. You need them to balance yourself.” She smiled, “It’s the perfect relationship. Your totally dependent, and yet independent at the same time.” Rose finally looked over at Liam, “Anyhow, I don’t dance.”
They had to raise their voices now; the band started a new song. This time a woman shared the microphone with the man. They complimented each other just as easily as each of the dancers complimented their partners. Their crooning made Rose shiver.
“Liam, if we aren’t going to dance here, can we at least go somewhere else? You promised I would be able to teach you my style if you could teach me swing. Come on Liam, it would be fun!” Annie looked hopeful, but Liam rolled his eyes. She was much more of a fan of raving and partying than learning the kinds of dances you had to be sober to perform. Liam was determined to stay in his place.
“Rose…Hey, Rose!” He waited until she was looking at him, “It’ll be fun. Come frisk the whiskers with me. Don’t be such a wallflower.”
Rose gave him a confused look, but when he mimed dancing she politely shook her head no. She looked out at the dancers again. Her eyes had a far off gleam.
“The next song then, okay? Okay.” Liam said. Rose didn’t respond, her eyes on the dancers feet. He didn’t need a reply. “Come on Annie. Lets get back out on that floor before I forget how to jive.” He could lead Annie with ease. She followed him like a lost puppy. It wasn’t as if Annie could actually dance, but she could follow like only a beginner can follow. The floor was bouncing to the syncopated beats. It took Annie several long moments before she caught the groove and began to move with Liam. He started coaching her footwork even though it was unsolicited.
Annie shrugged as best she could when she realized he had asked her a question. Her mind was set to counting out the steps. Over and over and over again she counted from one to eight. She wished she could leave and go to the clubs, her buzz was wearing off and this wasn’t much fun anymore. Too much thinking was involved. She just wanted the dirty beats pounding; forcing her to dance on a primal level, not some wannabe swing band trying to make her ‘jive’. The things she did for Liam so that he could pretend to live in another era.
Annie lost her count. She miss-stepped, tripped over Liam’s feet so completely that she collapsed to the floor.
“God Damn it Annie!” He stormed off the floor, leaving someone else to help her up. She ran the other direction, her hand over her mouth. He slammed himself into the seat next to Rose. Rose jumped, as if she had totally forgotten there were other people there. She was starting to get antsy.
“That was a quick one, Liam. Did Annie go to powder her nose?” Liam looked at her like she was insane.
“I’m sure she left. She’s probably lighting up some tea right now, or going to that club or something.” Rose avoided his eyes, instead choosing to look at the cloth on the table.
“Lighting up tea? Don’t you normally drink tea?”
“Its slang for weed.”
“Oh.” Rose turned her eyes back to the floor, watching the dancers feet again. “It’s not fair that she left without saying anything. I wanted to head out as well. Its getting a little late for me.”
“Damn it, Rose!” Liam smashed his fist into the table, sending an empty glass fling. Rose jumped, looking at him with wide eyes. Heads from nearby tables turned to watch him as well.
“What?” She started to fiddle with her napkin on the table, ripping it to shreds, and then into confetti. She finally dropped all the pieces when her shaking fingers couldn’t tear them anymore. Liam grabbed her forearm, shaking her until she began to pay attention to him.
“All you want to do is talk about puppy dogs and ice cream! Have you even been here tonight? What’s the point of going out if….” He paused, freeing her arm “If your going to do the same thing you would if you were back home.”
Rose slowly finished her drink, placing the empty glass on the table. She sprinkled the napkin bits into the glass and looked into Liam’s eyes, then away again. All with a sort of nervous twitter like that of a small bird that expects its unavoidable demise. She wiggled herself into her sweater, and then grabbed her purse from under the chair.
“Because….” She winced, struggling. “Because its not the same…” She checked to see if she forgot anything around the table. “You better go find Annie. She doesn’t do well on her own.”
When the doors of the bus finally shut, she relaxed into her seat. Expecting that wave of calm that comes with being alone. But it didn’t come. All she wanted to do was cry.
This is a story I wrote for my creative writing studio workshop. I'm not sure who all will see this, but I hope you enjoy it.