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“No.”
“Regan, you’ve got to blend in,” Passion pleaded.
“That’s dental floss, not a dress,” I said, pointing at the offending garment.
Passion grabbed my arm and pulled me close to her. “You are putting this on or I am sending you back to your seat. No one will question you if they think you are just one of us.”
I dragged the outfit to the dressing room. I may have lost the battle of wearing the thing, but I refused to change in front of a bunch of strangers. I pinched and squeezed and shoved my way in. By the end, I looked like a fist squeezing silly putty between the fingers. There was no way I would be fooling anyone.
Passion took one look at me and laughed. She began tugging and molding my body to fit into the suit. It was actually very modest but gave the impression of nudity. From my neck to my ankles, my skin was covered in a thick flesh-colored nylon. Over the nylon, a silver, sequined bikini adorned my body.
“This thing is too small,” I said.
“I got the biggest one we had.”
“Thanks.” I infused as much sarcasm as I could into the one word. “You’d have to have two percent body fat to pull this thing off.”
“Don’t exaggerate. I have like eight.” I gaped at her as she snapped the suit into place. Eight whole percent of body fat? What a cow.
“There.” Passion stood back to admire her work. I looked in the full-length mirror next to her. While I still looked too large for the outfit, I looked better than I did. At least my mushy parts weren’t sticking out anymore.
“I guess this will do.”
“You look great. Put this on while I attach your tail.”
I held the hat to my head. The skull cap fit snugly across my brain. Now every part of me was being squeezed. Passion walked around my backside while she attached the other part. I sighed in relief that my exposed dairy-air would be covered. My ‘tail’ actually spread out a foot on either side of me. The frame was covered in sequins and feathers and matched the hat shooting straight up off my head.
“All you have to do is stand on the edge of the stage behind the curtain. You’ll be able to see me the whole time,” Passion said as she handed me a pair of strappy four-inch spiked heels.
“Got it, and no.” I pointed to the shoes. I bent down and retrieved my ballet flats. Passion tossed the heels back into a pile, giving up on making me wear them.
“Regan, you are only to interrupt if there is real danger.” Passion waved her finger in my face imploring the seriousness of her words.
“I got it. Real danger.” I didn’t point out to Passion that our versions of ‘real danger’ may vary. I knew I would stop the show way before she’d actually want it stopped.
I stood back while the dancers organized themselves. I peeked around the edge of the curtain. My parents and Gray sat in the third row. Gray’s parents and Gracie sat one row ahead of them. Thankful I had all of them in my line of sight, I locked in on their positions in case I lost them when the lights dimmed.
“Places, everyone.” A dark-skinned man carrying a clipboard repeated the two words at he worked his way around the stage. I was pushed aside as dancers ran onto the stage. My feathers caught on everything around me. I batted them back down with my hands.
The lights dimmed and the curtain was raised. Dancers whirled and kicked around the stage. I looked around the curtain again. Gray’s eyes scanned the stage, but quickly came back to rest on me. I wasn’t quite as hidden as I’d thought. I eased back a little but continued to watch the audience and the girls, especially Passion.
Silk scarves fell from the sky. Four dancers leapt and grabbed the material. I held my breath as Passion twisted her body while being raised above the other dancers. She used her feet and hands and head to wrap the silk, twisting the material around her as she held different positions in the air.
I scanned the room again. Movement caught the corner of my eye. Michael stood up and walked back up the aisle. He buttoned his coat as he went. Gray quietly exited his seat as well, following Michael. Both of them disappeared through the entrance doors.
My problem was there were too many possibilities, too many likely suspects who’d want to hurt Frank. That was the life of the mob, I guess. I thought we’d narrowed it down to two, Gracie and his parents, but when I thought about it, Gray and I never found out what happened to Milano’s crew. Maybe it was even one of them? Or two?
Two people together would be able to pull this off. Like a tag team. You don’t have one suspect, now you want two? I thought to myself. I mentally slapped myself to pay attention.
Passion continued to twist and fall and climb again on her silk scarves. I shouldn’t call them scarves, they were fifty feet long and four feet wide. Passion wrapped her feet around each one, did the splits and hung upside down while spinning in a slow circle. Her face was frozen in a tense smile. I prayed she knew what she was doing. If she miscalculated and fell, she’d crack her head open.
My eyes followed the silk to the top. Above the stage, a series of catwalks crisscrossed allowing access to lights and equipment. I slowed down and scanned for any movement. The bright lights of the stage offered a little illumination for me to see up there.
A reflection caught my eye. Crouched directly above Passion was a man. He was dressed in all black, but he’d neglected to cover his head. The reflection of the lights on his bald skull gave me the only clue he was up there. I squinted my eyes and looked closer. Light glinted off his knife as he worked it against one of Passion’s silks. With all the moving she was doing, she’d never feel the tug of the knife through the material. Something may feel off to her but she wouldn’t know what.
Passion was still spinning upside down. If baldy managed to slice completely through one of her silks, either she would plummet down or her other foot would get caught, catching her, but possibly injuring her in the process. I couldn’t take that chance. This qualified as real danger.
I didn’t think, I just moved. I put my hands on my waist and kicked my legs like a Rockette. Sadly, my kicks barely cleared my knees. I wouldn’t fool anyone. I twirled and kicked my way past the other dancers. They were all professionals so they never stopped moving, but they shot weird looks my way, clearly knowing something was not right. I looked over my shoulder for a security guard, hoping one was chasing me. No such luck.
I stopped my act under Passion and yelled up to her, “You get down right this minute, young lady! There’s real danger.”
I pointed up above her head. Passion reached out both hands and grabbed each silk. I shook the uncut one. “Grab this one! The other one’s going to rip.”
As I said the words, Passion’s left foot dropped about six inches, her weight pulling down on the weakened silk. Fear crossed her face and she gave out a little yip of shock. She scrambled to grab onto the good side. The other dancers gave up all pretense of a show at this point, standing in a wide arc around us. Audience members stood and pointed toward the stage. The murmur of the crowd grew.
Someone shoved me out of the way. I fell to the stage. The tail of the suit absorbed the impact from my tailbone. My dad stood under Passion with his arms held out, ready to catch her in a basket carry. I stood up, rubbed my rear end and looked around the crowd for Gray. I realized he’d never returned after following his father out of the theater.
“Jump, baby. I’ll catch you!” Dad yelled.
“Passion!” Frank’s voice bellowed above everyone’s murmurs as he bounded to the stage. Frank’s voice cracked from fear and worry. I realized it took him awhile because he was sitting in a box seat in the back while my family was up close. The run down the stairs and up the aisle must’ve felt like an eternity to him.
A round of ‘ahh’s went up from the dancers. The dancers stood in a circle around us. Some had their hands over their mouths, while others covered their hearts. Frank and my dad jockeyed for position to be the hero. Both men were close in age and scrappy. They were close in height. Both men were good-looking and got second glances from the dancers. I didn’t think Passion realized just how similar dad and Frank were. When she did, she may rethink her whole relationship.
Passion untwisted her foot in the damaged silk and swung it over. With one foot straight up in the air next to her head, she slowly slid down the silk. A thunderous applause could be heard from the audience and the stage.
“Thanks, but I got this.” Passion winked at everyone. To the end, she was the ultimate showgirl.