Here you'll find

 

Into the Light

 

 

 

 

21. Sweet Talking Guy

"Okay, enough for today!"

Geill's hands cease their hypnotic rhythm on the drum and I can again hear the harsh panting, not just the beat and the thump and squeak of feet on the floor.

All eight youngsters stand still, nostrils flaring as they try to breathe silently enough to hear Rith pick their performance apart. Nothing escapes her eye. Not an incompletely straightened ankle, not a sloppily carried arm, not an almost missed beat.

"What've I said about the arms, Beny?"

The tall boy grimaces and shows how the offending limb should have moved in that one swift turn. I'm rather proud of myself, because I too noticed that... "And you, Meia, looked roughly as graceful as a doped crane in that slower passage."

The doped crane gives a shamed grin but Rith has already turned to the next victim. "Thesh, there's no need to imitate a rubber ball all the time."

Thesh blushes, even though he's already red with exertion, and looks down.

"Rashim, pose less. Even if Toni is here. Don't leave the actual spin till the absolutely last moment just because you can."

I can't hold back my smirk as Rashim bites his lip and nods. That's another thing I noticed...

"All right, that's enough." Rith flashes a smile. "I'm very happy with you all. Now, stretches! Thanks, Geill, you're free for the night."

"Yes, boss!" The bearded drummer begins to pack his things away, whistling quietly through his feet, and Rith curls up in a chair to write in her notebook. The dancers sink into seemingly boneless heaps on the floor, wailing and groaning with exaggerated glee. They are a delightful bunch.

"Come on, Toni!" Rashim gestures to me. "Stretch!"

"Yes, sir..." Actually I've been waiting for this. I kick off my shoes once more and crawl to sit next to Rashim. I've already taken part in the warm-ups, and stretching will feel really good now. The dancers give me welcoming grins as I settle down among them and sprawl on the floor.

My insides have been sizzling with agitation ever since yesterday, it's a miracle that I haven't exploded already. Rashim noticed it, he asked me this morning why I'm in such a particularly bubbly mood, but I managed to evade the topic. I didn't want to ruin this training session, but now there's no need to wait much longer. I can drop the bomb as soon as I get a good opening....

"Anyone going out tonight?" Aidee the strawberry blonde asks. "I heard there's a new band playing in, oh, I think it was 'Three Deuces'."

"It's the 'King of Diamonds', not the 'Deuces'," Thesh corrects. "Really, Aidee, I know that you can't tell one deck of cards from two decks, but..." He ducks to avoid a swat.

"Hey, kid, I didn't know you can count that far!" Aidee retorts. "And how do you know? Can you even get inside either of those places?"

"Ha ha!" Thesh pouts a little, undeniably cute, as the others giggle.

"New band?" Darel has perked up. "Any idea what kind of music they play? I've promised to take Tyn out tonight."

"Who's Tyn?" I ask.

"My girlfriend," Darel speaks at the same time as Dionn says: "His current girlfriend."

My eyebrows jerk up. "Your girlfriend?"

"Yeah." Darel grins winsomely. "What, don't you think I'm handsome enough to catch a girl?"

"I've just thought that the two of you are - well, together." I nod towards Dionn. "I mean, don't you live together?"

Dionn looks at me, he and Darel frown at each other, then understanding dawns.

"Oh, right, I see!" Darel chuckles. "Well, can't blame you really - we have the same address. But neither of us is gay, and we don't exactly live together."

"No, it's a commune," Dionn adds. "There are a lot of those here. Meaning that a group of people rent or buy a larger apartment and live there. Such as our place. There's altogether five of us there, we each have our own rooms and share the big living room, kitchen and two bathrooms."

"Oh." I feel rather silly, but Rashim pulls himself closer to me and kisses me softly.

"You can't know all the Dirna specialties yet," he says with a smile. I can't help pulling him in for another kiss, never mind that the others are watching and cooing.

"Awwww, aren't you cute!" Meia says, eyes sparkling, and Aidee nods energetically next to her.

"Rashim is the cute one, not me." I wink to them.

"No, the two of you together," Aidee insists. "Hey, couldn't we all go out together, one of these nights? Have dinner, go dancing, have a good time? You too, Rith."

"You just figure out the day between yourselves," Rith says from her chair, nibbling on a large cookie. "My timetable is full of slots."

I bite hard on my tongue in order to keep my expression under control. It hurts, but at least it stops this shit-eating grin from appearing... I can only hope that my lips aren't twitching too badly.

"You'd better enjoy your free slots while you still can, Rith," I tell her. "I think you're going to be a lot busier pretty soon."

She stares at me over her cookie, nonplussed. "What are you talking about?"

The dancers stare as well, curious and uncomprehending. I can see Thesh glowering.

"What was that?" Leni asks Rashim, who shakes his head.

"I haven't got a clue," he says slowly.

Okay, Mr. Mystery, that's enough preening. "The Dirna Dance Theater is about to be born soon." I nod to Rith. "It's my very big pleasure to tell you - now, are you sitting properly? - that it already has a house."

"A... house?" Rith repeats weakly. "Are you crazy, Toni?"

"Very probably," I admit. "But listen anyway. There's an old school building in the corner of Harbor Street and Elm Avenue. It's been standing empty for quite a while and is in pretty bad repair, but it's basically a good, solid, well-constructed house. And since yesterday, it belongs to the Dirna Dance Theater Trust."

"The what?" Rith squeaks and I smirk to her. Good gods but I'm enjoying myself.

"Dance Theater Trust," I repeat. "Sorry, we had to create it pretty quickly in order to be able to buy the house on behalf of it, and I didn't know where to reach you at such a short notice. You see, if we'd bought it for ourselves and then transferred it to the trust later, there'd be such gift taxes that..."

"Who is 'we'?" Rith inquires, even more breathless than a while ago.

"Myself and DelChaim. I hope you don't mind - that we've taken some liberties and acted on your behalf like this."

The dancers have burst into an agitated babble. Rith leans forward, leaning elbows on knees, and looks at me intently.

"Would you please explain this once more, in such a way that even I understand what you're saying?" she asks. "Please?"

"Very well!" I smile to her. "As of yesterday, there exists a trust that will begin to finance the operation of Dirna Dance Theater. The trust currently owns a house that it will repair so that all operations can be concentrated there. Since a trust is not legally acceptable unless it has enough people behind it, it will soon be possible for people interested in free dance to become Trust Members. The trust can also arrange events and such to raise money. The goal is that it will gradually become self-supporting. And that's the limit of my expertise, if you want to hear more you'll have to talk to Chaim. He's the mastermind here, the brains, I'm just happily going along and..."

Rith is swallowing hard but I don't see anything more, nor can I say a word, because this mountain of flesh just rolls over me. All eight dancers attack me at the same time, there's hooting and talking and incredulous swearing and slapping on the back and hugging and kissing, delirious thanks, and I hear very many times, in very many different words, what an absolutely fantastic guy I am. If I let myself believe every word, I'm pretty sure that I'd burst apart at the seams for sheer self-satisfaction. But the truth is, all of a sudden I'm totally overwhelmed by this.

I think we're all somewhat teary-eyed by the time we pull apart enough to catch our breath. I observe that Rith has joined the heap, she grabs my hand tight and hugs me.

"I don't know what to say," she mumbles. "I really don't, because thanking you and your friend is definitely not enough. This means such a lot to us all."

"I know," I assure her. "You're all so damn dedicated and so damn hard-working, and getting started with something like this in a new place is not easy. We just thought that since we at least have the money, why couldn't we do something to smooth the way?"

I hug Rith properly, ignoring the way Thesh bites his lip - heavens, the kid has got it bad... "And don't thank me too much, anyway. There's going to be a hell of a lot to do from now on. If you don't believe me, I think I'll arrange you in the same room with Chaim for an hour or so. I guarantee that after that you'll be wondering if you should've been so happy about this after all."

"Oh, shut up!" Rith mock-slaps me. "For your information, mister, I'm not afraid of hard work!"

"I know." I nod and let go of her; if I don't, I'm afraid that Thesh will start contemplating violence. "But now, do you think that we could all go out tonight? I for one would like to celebrate!"

The suggestion meets with thunderous approval, even before I add that the whole evening will be on me and that currently absent girlfriends and boyfriends are included. Everyone agrees in unison that tomorrow they will definitely tell possibly complaining employers, family members or other non-sympathetic persons exactly where they can shove it, and to hell with consequences.

I hope they still remember that resolution if and when the moment comes... but right now we must hurry. It won't do to barge into a restaurant wearing our sweaty training gear. That would hardly guarantee us proper service in any establishment.

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