Dressing the House, Paid Off in the Dark

Chapter II

She reached down to the stage floor and retrieved her hoop, and when she rose, she made the mistake of meeting the eyes of the man she assumed they must call Lobster Boy.  He had been watching her muscular, pale legs from mid-thigh down, exposed in her short robe, rife with anticipation of seeing what she might be wearing underneath.  And he wasn’t disappointed when she revealed her costume.  The top layer of her leotard was white silk, but it was difficult for anyone to have known such, bedecked as it was with intricate, glamorous beading and sequins in white, clear, silver, and the occasional, strategically placed gold. Strapless, the leotard ended in discreet shorts that carefully covered anything not meant to be seen in public, yet at the same time showed off all that was acceptably displayed in a carnival performance setting.  Jimmy’s mouth hung slightly open as he sat in his chair slack jawed, his expressive brown eyes roving over Adeline with an innocent wonder that embodied both lust and admiration.  He smiled, his lips drawing outward in a lazy grin, governed by the intoxication of genuine attraction.  Adeline couldn’t help but give a brief, fleeting smile in return, turning around once again, posing with her left hand raised above her head at her side, elbow bent, hoop balanced towards the audience, left hand down by her waist, artfully posed.

She nodded to the woman at the piano, and as her music began, she rose onto the pad of her right foot, spinning around gracefully, lifting her left leg horizontally beside her as she spun. This particular performance she improvised, inspired by whichever tricks she was moved to exhibit, having not performed before an audience in many months, showcasing only a miniscule selection of all she was capable of demonstrating.  She dipped her hoop downwards towards the floor in a diagonal direction, following with her opposite leg, landing on her opposite forearm to flip over onto her leading knee and land with her other foot flat on the ground, down on one knee.  She rose up again, skipping forward a few steps, and began to spin around on her right foot, raising her hoop high into the air above her, lifting her left leg up to arch it towards her head, using the momentum of her arms as they spun the hoop to keep her body spinning. Between tricks, she peppered in elegant balletic transitions, pointing her toes every moment either her feet were off the floor, using elegant movements to transition from display to display. She proceeded with artful hops and intricate stepping through and about the hoop, and then swung her leg up, dropping the hoop onto her ankle and beginning a spin while she bent forward into a handstand, using gentle rotations of her hip to keep the spin going as she spread elegantly into a horizontal split.  She held her pose momentarily, then stepped all the way through, walking over. She began then to exhibit her spinning ability, starting first on her wrist held high in the air, and using her muscles to work the hoop gradually down to her knees, spinning it on various points.  She rolled the hoop from one hand across her chest to the other.  She spun on one foot in a vertical split, spinning the hoop around her wrist, all the while, whenever possible, holding her hands open to display her webbing.  She leapt gracefully in the air, then tossed the hoop towards the peak of the tent, rolling forward in an elegant somersault to catch the hoop on an extended ankle where she continued to spin it around, switching to a wrist as she raised herself back up on her feet, propelling herself powerfully across the stage, leaping up into a split as she passed the hoop beneath herself from one hand to another. For her finish, in a standing position, she rolled the hoop backwards behind her and snatched it up with her left foot, spinning it around her ankle as she rose her leg slowly higher and higher, ending in another vertical split as she leaned forward, pushing her arms back behind her, her fingers spread so her arms appeared like a swan’s wings, hoop spinning around her ankle above her.  She tossed the hoop off her foot and forward, bending her knee to form an attractive arc as the hoop flew in front of her. She caught it with her hand and spun around gracefully once more, her leg out beside her.  Then, as her music stopped, she held the hoop out beside her in one hand, and took her bow.