Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6 (13 page)

“
I have a lot of
experience with that,” Anjelika smiled at Tanesha. “Hurts like hell
and feels wonderful.”

Tanesha’s head jerked toward the woman.
She’d always thought of Anjelika as the spoiled, Russian princess
mother of her friend Jill. They shared a long, assessing look
before Tanesha gave a slight nod and looked away.

“
Mack is such a beautiful
baby,” Anjelika said. “May I?”

She held her arms out. Heather placed the
sleeping baby in her arms.

“
It’s such a joy to hold
babies,” Anjelika said. “When we travel through Central America, I
go to the orphanages to hold the babies. They are so sweet and
lost. It’s a real joy.”

The women watched Anjelika soothe Mack and
shift him to her shoulder.

“
I’m looking forward to
seeing Rachel tomorrow,” Anjelika said. “I’m going to be in the
nursery this week to help with the transition.”

“
You are?” Sandy
asked.

“
Of course,” Anjelika
laughed at Sandy’s surprise. ”You sound relieved.”

“
Relieved? At the very
least,” Sandy said. “You’ll let me know if anything’s
wrong?”

“
Of course,” Anjelika
said. “But there won’t be. Rachel’s going to be fine. Soon, she’ll
be making friends. Mack here has already romanced all the six month
olds and is working his way through the one year olds.”

The women laughed.

“
I wanted to talk to you
about Sissy,” Anjelika said.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and
SIXTY-
FOUR

Talent

Sandy, Heather and Tanesha stopped laughing.
Their entire focus shifted to Anjelika.

“
Oh,” Anjelika smiled.
“It’s nothing bad.”

“
What did you want to say
about Sissy?” Sandy asked.

“
She wanted to dance this
afternoon,” Anjelika said. “I went with her so that she wouldn’t be
alone. I studied dance for many years. We had a great time
stretching and playing. I wanted to see her dance so I put on some
music. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“
Sorry Anjelika,” Tanesha
said. “We’re kind of freaked out about Sissy and
Charlie.”

“
It would be easier for us
if you just told us,” Heather said.

“
I understand,” Anjelika
said. “Sissy danced for a while. Just for fun, nothing serious.
And… Well, you probably know this, she’s very good, like prima
ballerina good.”

Trying to figure out what she was saying,
Sandy, Heather and Tanesha stared at Anjelika.

“
My family has supported
the ballet in St. Petersburg since the time of Peter the Great,”
Anjelika said. “My father was a huge benefactor. In fact, it is how
he met my mother, how they fell in love. She was a soloist… a prima
ballerina.”

The women nodded in unison.

“
Sissy is better than any
I’ve ever seen,” Anjelika said. “And she’s only…”

“
Fourteen,” Sandy
said.

“
And she doesn’t have a
company yet?” Anjelika’s voice echoed with horror.

“
We don’t know what you
mean,” Heather said.

“
Girls enter ballet
companies when they are young, usually very young and usually
younger than Sissy. Ulyana was ten when she entered
Kirov.”

“
Ulyana?” Sandy
asked.

“
Kirov?” Heather
asked.

“
Russian ballet company,
maybe the best in the world,” Anjelika said. “I think Sissy is
better than Ulyana Lopatkina or at least as good. She will be tall
but Ulyana is tall as well.”

“
Sissy’s already been to
New York,” Sandy said. “She went when she was ten but she hasn’t
had lessons for a couple of years.”

“
Because of her family
problems,” Anjelika nodded.

“
They asked her back this
summer,” Sandy said.

“
Why didn’t she go?”
Anjelika asked. “She wants to dance, yes?”

“
Sissy?” Sandy asked. “She
came out of the womb wanting to be a ballerina.”

“
Why did she not go to New
York?” Anjelika asked.

Sandy flushed with rage. Feeling her
mother’s anger, Rachel squirmed. Sandy looked down to comfort
her.

“
Her mother,” Heather
said.

“
She told Sissy that they
would live together,” Tanesha said. “Sissy didn’t want to miss the
chance for her family to be together.”

“
And now?” Anjelika
asked.

“
They gave her spot to
another girl,” Sandy said.

“
Surely, they will take
her back,” Anjelika said.

“
I…” Sandy shook her head.
“I can’t do that to Sissy. I’m sorry.”

“
Well, my father is coming
to Denver to see Valerie and Mikhail before the baby is born,”
Anjelika said. “I’d like him to see Sissy dance.”

“
She’s at dance every
afternoon,” Sandy said. “She’s with Ivan in the evenings three
times a week.”

“
She had to agree to see
Ivan in order to get back in the Denver Ballet,” Heather said.
“They said she was too rusty.”

“
I think you misunderstood
them,” Anjelika said. “I believe they want Sissy to see Ivan
because she’s too good for their school. Ivan is Russian trained.
He is what she needs. The rest is mindless exercise for a talent
like Sissy.”

Sandy, Heather and Tanesha were so surprised
they could only blink at Anjelika. Sandy recovered first.

“
Are you sure?” Sandy
asked.

“
Oh yes,” Anjelika said.
“She needs more practice. The good thing is that she knows
it.”

“
I don’t know how she
could fit it in,” Sandy said.

“
I’d be happy to run
drills with her on the nights she’s not with Ivan,” Anjelika said.
“She needs to practice every day.”

“
She’s had such a hard
time,” Sandy said. “She needs to heal and be a kid for a
while.”

“
Yes,” Anjelika said. “I
gave this lecture over my children. You have heard my Jillian’s
version?”

Sandy, Heather and Tanesha nodded.

“
We have to be crafty,”
Anjelika said. “Give Sissy enough practice to perfect her talent
and also give her a life. I bet between us, we can make that
happen. Does Charlie dance?”

“
No,” Sandy said. “Too
girlie for him.”

“
I’ll speak to Ivan,”
Anjelika said. “I am confident we can find an exercise program for
all the kids that will help Sissy and still be fun.”

“
Sure,” Sandy said. “And
I’ll talk to Aden about the rest of it. Have you met
Ward?”

“
He likes Sissy,” Heather
said.

“
Sissy likes him,” Tanesha
said.

“
Is he a dancer?” Anjelika
asked.

“
Ivan said he has the
lines,” Sandy said. “But I don’t think he’s ever
trained.”

“
Why don’t we get him
involved in our program?” Anjelika asked.

“
I’m seeing his mother
this week. I’ll ask,” Sandy said. “I know I could use more
exercise.”

“
Me too,” Heather
said.

“
Good,” Anjelika said.
“We’ll set something up for the rest of the summer.”

“
The next four weeks,”
Sandy smiled at Sissy’s oft repeated words.

“
Yes,” Anjelika said. “And
I’ll see if we can get some real ballet talent here to watch Sissy.
In the meantime, my father will be here next weekend and stay for a
week or so.”

“
How can he…?” Tanesha
blurted out.

“
That’s a very long
story,” Anjelika said. “Let’s just say, if everything works out,
he’s coming to Denver to look at properties.”

Not sure what she meant, the women
nodded.

“
Would you mind if he
watches Sissy dance?” Anjelika asked.

“
I’ll talk to Aden,” Sandy
said. “But I don’t see why not.”

“
I need to collect Charlie
for our work,” Anjelika passed Mack back to Heather with a smile.
“It’s such a pleasure to know such smart, beautiful and confident
women.”

Too surprised to respond, Sandy, Heather and
Tanesha watched Anjelika move across the plane before laughing.

“
It’s going to be a big
four weeks,” Sandy said.

“
For me too!” Tanesha
said.

“
Then what?” Heather
asked.

“
Exactly,” Sandy
said.

~~~~~~~~

Sunday night – 11:05 P.M. MDT

Sitting in a wheelchair, Seth glanced across
the bed at Ava’s sleeping form and listened. The house was silent.
After their marathon detox, they’d had more juice, long showers and
slept.

Blane and his wife Heather had come straight
from the airport. Working as a team, Blane had given Ava, Dale and
Seth acupuncture. Heather had taken out the needles and given them
their herbs. Blane, Heather, and Bumpy had worked together to come
up with what they hoped was an effective treatment for Seth.

He felt a lot better than he’d felt when he
woke up that morning. He could move most of his limbs without mind
searing pain. His terrible pain lingered in his small joints
including the bones of his feet and ankles, his wrists and even his
ears. Every once in a while, he felt a jolt of pain from what Bumpy
called his coccyx. Blane told him the small joints of his body
would take more time because they had the least chi and blood
flow.

Whatever that meant.

To Seth, it meant that he needed this
wheelchair to get around. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he
wheeled out of the playroom that served as their bedroom. He
stopped in the hallway to listen again. Dale was asleep upstairs
and Maresol had gone home. He was doing so well they had dismissed
the night nurse. He glanced down the hall.

He was alone.

He wheeled down the hall to the elevator
he’d installed for his father. He had to wait a moment as it made a
journey from the second floor. It made a ‘plunk’ sound and the
doors scraped open. He looked behind him to see if anyone had heard
him.

Silence.

He wheeled in and pushed the button to the
basement. The doors were just closing when he heard the scramble of
little feet on the wood floors. He held the door for Clara, his new
brown Labrador puppy. She scratched at his leg and he lifted her on
his lap. He pressed the button again and they took the jerky trip
to the basement. He groaned with pain when the elevator slammed at
the bottom. He wheeled out of the elevator to his piano room.

Seth was shocked to find the door open a
crack. His heart raced. Who could have been in this room? His mind
flipped through the list of people who had the key – Maresol and
Sandy. Only. Pushing the door open, he leaned into the room.

By the light of the hallway, he saw that his
piano room was still and silent. Outside of a thorough cleaning,
the room was untouched. A fire was built in the fireplace. There
was a piece of paper taped to his piano bench.

Wheeling into the room, he bent to light the
fire and went to his piano. He lifted the note from the bench.
Maresol’s open scrawl handwriting. He held it at the end of his arm
to be able to read it.

You were in the hospital (again). And I
missed you. That’s how your room got cleaned. Don’t yell too much,
okay?

Please survive Seth. I want more babies to
play with. I want your face to light up with joy again. Mine too.
our home has been drenched in sorrow for too long. Let’s live for a
while more.

I hope the next time I see this note is at
the end of your hand and not because you’re gone.

M

He wanted to be angry but Maresol’s sweet
note brought tears to his eyes. He tucked the note into the pocket
of his robe. He looked down at Clara. She hopped off his lap and
jumped onto the leather couch. She wandered around on the couch for
a moment until she found the perfect spot and settled in. Seth
slipped onto the piano bench and closed his eyes.

He was home. For the next few minutes, he
sat absorbing the sense of safety and joy he felt at this piano. As
if moving on its own, his right hand began to touch the keys. Not
to be excluded, his left hand began to caress the keys as well.
Opening his eyes, he let out a breath.

He was lost in the music.

The next time he looked up, Maresol was
standing in the doorway holding a cup of coffee.

“
Thank you,” he
said.

She gave him a soft smile. Lifting Clara off
the couch, she left the room.

~~~~~~~~

Monday afternoon – 1:17 P.M. MDT

Lizzie and Sandy sat in the waiting area at
Catholic Charities waiting for their counselor, Lee. In a few
minutes, they would meet the three families Lizzie had picked out
as possible parents for the baby.

“
I feel really confused,”
Lizzie said.

“
I’m not quite sure why
you’re confused,” Sandy said. “You picked a family and…”

“
I talked to Lee and…”
Lizzie shrugged. “She was so… confident. She said I should pick
three families. The two families she added are ‘perfect’ she said.
I told her that my Dad was an alcoholic. But I guess these families
are more perfect.”

“
I guess we’ll meet them
and see how perfect they are,” Sandy said.