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Gertrude entered the dance studio and scampered over to where Sandra was stretching. “Have you learned anything?”
“No,” Sandra said grudgingly. It wasn’t for lack of trying. Joyelle hadn’t been available for coffee since Sandra had found Ivan’s body. She wondered if Joyelle was avoiding her. She’d gotten to dance early to try to talk to her, but Joyelle had been swarmed by moms trying to order tights. Apparently, there was a big tights sale going on. “Have you?”
“Have I what?”
“Learned anything?”
“If I had, I wouldn’t tell you.” Gertrude spun and went across the room to a vacant spot. Then she stopped and waited, silently studying each of the adult dancers.
Tap class was uneventful but then it was time for jazz, and Joyelle pleasantly insisted that Gertrude participate. Sandra could understand her motivation. The others were probably getting suspicious as to why Gertrude was in class if she was just going to stand around. Or maybe they had already figured it out.
Gertrude didn’t seem pleased with the directive, but she did start to move her feet a little. Joyelle arranged them in staggered lines. Sandra ended up behind Gertrude, who was between Jess and April, whom Sandra still thought of as Barbie.
They learned four counts of simple steps, and Sandra was impressed that Gertrude was sort of doing them. Then Joyelle asked them to do three turns in a row. Sandra was too focused on her own spinning to pay much attention to the others, and the whole affair made her feel a bit ill.
But the others must have done better than her because Joyelle praised them all. Then as an afterthought, she added, “Don’t forget to spot! We don’t want you getting dizzy!”
Sandra didn’t know what spotting was but she was determined to try it next time because she was indeed dizzy.
Jess turned and smiled broadly at Gertrude. “Spotting means to pick one spot on the wall and keep looking at it so that when you spin, you have a spot to focus on.”
“I know what spotting is,” Gertrude snapped.
The smile fell off Jess’s face.
Joyelle counted them off and again they went through the four-count and into the spins. This time, Sandra kept her eyes on a spot inches above the mirror. This did make spinning easier, and because she was looking up, she was able to see that Gertrude had picked up her walker and was spinning around as fast as she could with her walker held out straight in front of her.
The mother in Sandra sprang to life. “Gertrude! That might be a bit danger—”
As Sandra spoke, Gertrude lost her balance and staggered sideways, still spinning. With a mighty momentum, she clobbered April in her lower back and sent her sprawling face-first onto the floor.
In a bit of a panic, Joyelle stopped the class and rushed to April’s side.
Gertrude was still spinning.
Joyelle knelt on one knee. “Are you all right?”
April got up slowly and then smiled sweetly at her assailant, who had finally come to a wobbly halt.
April’s reaction was not the one Sandra had been expecting. “Yes, I’m fine.” The tears in her eyes suggested that the encounter had hurt—it had to have hurt—but she obviously was trying to hide that fact.
Joyelle looked at Gertrude nervously.
“I’m dizzy!” Gertrude said. “Why doesn’t anyone care about me?”
Joyelle gave Sandra a bewildered look as if asking for help.
Sandra didn’t know what help she could give and so offered none.
Joyelle looked at Gertrude. “I’m going to have to insist that you be more careful, or you won’t be able to dance with us.”
“You’re the one making me dance!”
Joyelle took a deep breath. “You won’t be allowed in the studio at all, Gertrude.” She returned to the front of the room. “Feel free to take a break, April, if you need to. All right, everyone, let’s move on to the next four counts. First, we’re going to hold for a full count, give us a chance to gather ourselves. Then, let your legs slide apart as if you’re going into a split, but don’t panic! We are not really going into a split. As you get lower, put your hands out and lower your stomach to the floor. As you do that, slide your legs back so they lie straight out behind you.”
“We’re going to lie down in dance class?” Gertrude exclaimed.
A few of the dancers give Gertrude a dirty look. She was wearing on them.
“This is part of the dance, Gertrude,” Joyelle said as if she were talking to one of her kindergarten students. “Here. I’ll show you.” Gracefully, Joyelle lowered herself to the floor. It looked beautiful. Sandra couldn’t imagine what it was about to look like for Gertrude and her.
Joyelle bounced back to her feet and said, “All right, let’s try it. Don’t worry about how it goes your first time.”
Sandra had intended to participate in this part of class, but she was quickly distracted by Gertrude, whose feet—Sandra noted that today she was wearing two socks—rapidly slid apart, sending her sprawling into a split. Gertrude cried out in pain as the top half of her hurtled toward the hardwood. Trying to hang on to her walker, she didn’t put her hands out to break her fall. But the force of the impact caused her to let go of the walker after all, and it skittered away from her as if trying to escape the calamity.
Several of the women in the class started laughing, and Joyelle gave them a scalding look. “That’s a great try, Gertrude! You just went down a little too quickly.”
Way too quickly. How worn out were the bottoms of her sneakers to allow a spill like that? Sandra considered getting Gertrude some new tennis shoes from the clothing closet at church.
Gertrude rolled over onto her back, her face twisted in pain. She tried to sit up but then fell back again. “I’m stuck!” She held both hands up in the air as if expecting someone to grab them and hoist her back to her feet. Sandra wondered if she should go find Calvin. Was he sitting in the parking lot? He should be here for this.
“Is someone going to help me?” Gertrude demanded and shook her hands furiously in the air. Jazz hands, Sandra thought and then bit her lip to keep from smiling.
April went to her then, grabbed hold of her hands, and tried to pull her to her feet, but still, Gertrude didn’t move. Jess went to help too, and Sandra felt guilty that she hadn’t volunteered. Jess took one arm, and April took the other, and together, looking like they were trying to pull a wagon out of deep mud, they managed to pull Gertrude to her feet.
Beyond flustered, Joyelle announced that it was time for a drink break. It was the first time Sandra had ever heard her give a drink break in the middle of class. People broke into small clusters, and only a few of them went for hydration. The rest of them sneaked furtive glances at Gertrude and snickered to each other.
Looking regretful, Joyelle called them back and said, “Now, I don’t want to try this part right now, but the next four counts we’re going to push up with our arms and do a little jump to bring our feet underneath us. Then we’re going to jump to our feet and put our arms in the air. Then, slowly bring your arms down as you merge the two lines into one.
“Next, on the one-two count, put your right arm around the shoulders of the dancer to your right. Then on the three-four count, put your left arm around the shoulders of the person on your left. All right.” She looked terrified. “Let’s just try that part. Merge yourselves into one line.” She started to count, and most of the women put their right arms over the shoulders to the right, as they were supposed to.
“I can’t do this!” Gertrude cried. “I can’t let go of my walker!”
It seemed Joyelle had been anticipating this reaction. “That’s okay, Gertrude. The people on either side of you will put their arms around your shoulders.”
The women linked together. “Now, small step with your right foot and then, turning your body slightly to the right, kick up with your left. Follow the beat and you’ll stay together. Then a small step forward with your left and kick up with your right, while turning your body a little bit to the left.” Most of the women followed the instructions as she spoke them. “Great! Perfect, that’s it. For those of you who haven’t done this before, just watch Jess and April. Follow them. All right, let’s try it from the top. Here we go, 5 ... 6 ... 7 ... 8 ...” All the women turned slightly to the right and brought their left legs into the air almost in unison.
Gertrude grunted and lifted her left foot approximately six inches off the ground. Her foot smashed into her walker, and she let out a small cry of pain. Then she pushed her walker forward a foot, turned her body to the left, and kicked her right leg, again six inches into the air. Again she kicked the walker, and again she cried out in pain. Another foot forward, turned her body to the right, brought her left foot up again, and kicked the walker again.
“Stop!” Joyelle nearly screamed. “That’s all for today. Take another break, and then we’ll come back for ballet.”
Sandra didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
The women filed out of the room to change their shoes, and Gertrude came straight for her. There was no need for Gertrude to change her shoes because she did everything in her sneakers. “What do you think about Mandi?” Gertrude asked her as if none of the preceding incidents had taken place.
“Mandi? What about her?”
“She is suspicious.”
“How so?”
“Are you blind? She’s been crying all class!”
She has? Sandra hadn’t noticed. She’d been too busy watching Gertrude try to dance. “I don’t know, but women cry for lots of reasons. Doesn’t mean it has anything to do with Jazmyn’s death.”
“Everything has to do with everything, Sandra,” Gertrude said and then turned and left the room.
Sandra looked at Joyelle. “We have to figure this out. Soon.”
