When dad said that Craig had potential, I at least expected him to
have rhythm. But he is so uncoordinated he almost fell over when we were
doing jumping jacks. We were going to meet that Saturday from 8am to 9pm.
But he is a nice guy. I got to know him a little bit and it turns out that
he's going to college to become a special education teacher, because his
father was abusive and an alcoholic when he was young, he wanted to help
children as much as possible. I finally made it home at around 2am. As I
got in the door I yelled, "Daddy!"
"What?" he grumbled back down to me.
"I need to speak to you."
"Can it wait?" he asked.
"No!"
He slowly stumbled down the stairs cursing under his breathe and trying to put a shirt on. "What are you thinking waking an old man at this hour?" he asked when he got down to the kitchen where I was waiting for him.
"What are you thinking setting me up with a partner like that? He can't dance! When you said potential I thought he might be able to but he can't at all!" He stared at his feet for a minute trying to collect his thoughts, which was hard at 2 in the morning, which I felt bad for, even though he deserved it.
"Do you remember that time that you went to dance camp for school and you came back and told me that you played this game called trust, and it was were you would stand on a high bleacher and fall back on a bunch of people with their hands underneath you waiting to catch you, and you said when it was your turn, you wouldn't do it? No matter how many times they said that they loved you and would catch you, you wouldn't do it. You ended up leaving early because of it. I've always remembered that. I guess I remember that because I remember thinking you were too independent. Wouldn't depend on other people to catch you. You were in charge of your fate, not them. Then as you got older I realized you just didn't trust them. I'm afraid you never will. Don't be afraid Jennifer. Let someone catch you. No matter how scary. It can be worth it. I guess I was hoping you would learn to trust this guy. Plus, their something about him, that just...I don't know, he reminds me of your mom."
Latter that night I thought about my dad's words of wisdom, which didn't happen often so we had to savor what we could. He was so right. I never have trusted anyone, but I was afraid. What if I was hurt, what if someone dropped me? Would it being hurt forever be worth a moment of pleasure? Or would I hurt myself by not opening up? I didn't sleep at all that night thinking about it. So that morning I was not very happy. I had decided, though, to open up and speak to Craig. I was able to tell him things I hadn't told anyone else. Like that I wanted to be a Broadway dancer, and that I had a weakness for redheads. It was nice to tell someone this. I felt alive. Amazingly Craig did improve. He was still not ready, but he was so much better. At around noon, we went to lunch at a neighboring burger place.
"So what got you into dancing?" he asked for what seemed like the 50th question since they had sat down.
"I guess it was my parent's. They met dancing. It was really cool. They're story is so romantic. Yu see my dad was a dance instructor at a summer resort and my mom was a guest. Back then my mom couldn't dance to save her life!"
"Sounds like we have a lot in common." He joked.
"No she is good now. Well anyway, my dad's best friend, Penny, got pregnant and wanted an abortion. But the night that the doctor could see her, her and my dad were supposed to perform. My mom volunteered to take her place and my dad taught her everything. My mom said that she had a crush on him the moment she first saw him, but fell in love with him the first time she danced with him. The night they preformed she didn't do the lift, but she did okay. They came back to the resort and Penny's abortion had gone to plan. So mom got her dad and he took care of her. Mom was forbidden to see dad again, but she still saw him. Then eventually she was forced to say and dad was fired. But my parents are so stubborn, dad came back and they danced together on stage in front of the whole resort." I finished just as they brought our food to the table.
"Yes, their story is nice but what about you? Why do you like to dance?"
"I guess I want what they had, have." I answered back after stuffing a french fry in my mouth. "Now, I need to ask you some things. Tell me about your fiancé."
He was quiet for a while and then he answered. "She was my high school sweat heart. When we went to college we really missed each other, so when I got home, I wanted her to know I loved her, so. Well, to make a long story short, she's pregnant. I was obligated to marry her. I love her, I do. But their is something that I didn't like about our not being able to choose whether we where married or not. I wanted my proposal to be romantic. But instead it was forced upon me and I really didn't ask. Her family and my family are really old fashion. But I do love her, but some times I wonder what I would be doing if we hadn't have done what we did. If we would be together or separated. I guess we'll never know."
We were quiet for a while, but when it wasn't bearable anymore, I spoke up.
"Wow, we are some dramatic people huh?"
He smiled, but he seemed unfazed.
"Do you want to leave. We could go back to the studio."
"No, I want to stay. I just needed to tell someone. I barely know you and I'm telling you what I haven't told my closest friends. Thank you for listening."
"No problem, thank you for listening to what I've told you. It means a lot."
He laughed as he tried to hold back tears. "No problem."
"What?" he grumbled back down to me.
"I need to speak to you."
"Can it wait?" he asked.
"No!"
He slowly stumbled down the stairs cursing under his breathe and trying to put a shirt on. "What are you thinking waking an old man at this hour?" he asked when he got down to the kitchen where I was waiting for him.
"What are you thinking setting me up with a partner like that? He can't dance! When you said potential I thought he might be able to but he can't at all!" He stared at his feet for a minute trying to collect his thoughts, which was hard at 2 in the morning, which I felt bad for, even though he deserved it.
"Do you remember that time that you went to dance camp for school and you came back and told me that you played this game called trust, and it was were you would stand on a high bleacher and fall back on a bunch of people with their hands underneath you waiting to catch you, and you said when it was your turn, you wouldn't do it? No matter how many times they said that they loved you and would catch you, you wouldn't do it. You ended up leaving early because of it. I've always remembered that. I guess I remember that because I remember thinking you were too independent. Wouldn't depend on other people to catch you. You were in charge of your fate, not them. Then as you got older I realized you just didn't trust them. I'm afraid you never will. Don't be afraid Jennifer. Let someone catch you. No matter how scary. It can be worth it. I guess I was hoping you would learn to trust this guy. Plus, their something about him, that just...I don't know, he reminds me of your mom."
Latter that night I thought about my dad's words of wisdom, which didn't happen often so we had to savor what we could. He was so right. I never have trusted anyone, but I was afraid. What if I was hurt, what if someone dropped me? Would it being hurt forever be worth a moment of pleasure? Or would I hurt myself by not opening up? I didn't sleep at all that night thinking about it. So that morning I was not very happy. I had decided, though, to open up and speak to Craig. I was able to tell him things I hadn't told anyone else. Like that I wanted to be a Broadway dancer, and that I had a weakness for redheads. It was nice to tell someone this. I felt alive. Amazingly Craig did improve. He was still not ready, but he was so much better. At around noon, we went to lunch at a neighboring burger place.
"So what got you into dancing?" he asked for what seemed like the 50th question since they had sat down.
"I guess it was my parent's. They met dancing. It was really cool. They're story is so romantic. Yu see my dad was a dance instructor at a summer resort and my mom was a guest. Back then my mom couldn't dance to save her life!"
"Sounds like we have a lot in common." He joked.
"No she is good now. Well anyway, my dad's best friend, Penny, got pregnant and wanted an abortion. But the night that the doctor could see her, her and my dad were supposed to perform. My mom volunteered to take her place and my dad taught her everything. My mom said that she had a crush on him the moment she first saw him, but fell in love with him the first time she danced with him. The night they preformed she didn't do the lift, but she did okay. They came back to the resort and Penny's abortion had gone to plan. So mom got her dad and he took care of her. Mom was forbidden to see dad again, but she still saw him. Then eventually she was forced to say and dad was fired. But my parents are so stubborn, dad came back and they danced together on stage in front of the whole resort." I finished just as they brought our food to the table.
"Yes, their story is nice but what about you? Why do you like to dance?"
"I guess I want what they had, have." I answered back after stuffing a french fry in my mouth. "Now, I need to ask you some things. Tell me about your fiancé."
He was quiet for a while and then he answered. "She was my high school sweat heart. When we went to college we really missed each other, so when I got home, I wanted her to know I loved her, so. Well, to make a long story short, she's pregnant. I was obligated to marry her. I love her, I do. But their is something that I didn't like about our not being able to choose whether we where married or not. I wanted my proposal to be romantic. But instead it was forced upon me and I really didn't ask. Her family and my family are really old fashion. But I do love her, but some times I wonder what I would be doing if we hadn't have done what we did. If we would be together or separated. I guess we'll never know."
We were quiet for a while, but when it wasn't bearable anymore, I spoke up.
"Wow, we are some dramatic people huh?"
He smiled, but he seemed unfazed.
"Do you want to leave. We could go back to the studio."
"No, I want to stay. I just needed to tell someone. I barely know you and I'm telling you what I haven't told my closest friends. Thank you for listening."
"No problem, thank you for listening to what I've told you. It means a lot."
He laughed as he tried to hold back tears. "No problem."