The Lion Tamer

Chapter VII

in which for some mysterious reason, Remus cares

I have a routine when I dance. First, I practice my steps alone until they become muscle memory, then I practice them with the crew—that's where the problems come in. I have a problem with remembering what's left and what's right. I wear my father's watch on my left hand when I dance, but I'm still able to mess it up sometimes, and then I knock into others and ruin the whole formation. Thanks, dyscalculia. That's why I usually stay after class. I put something down where the other dancers should be, and I move around it, so the next class goes better. By now everybody knows I have this routine; even Terry has stopped inviting me out to eat after practice. Although I wouldn't mind eating with him and getting on with my plan of seduction, but, with two children breathing down my neck, I can't really do anything.

Emil's got a new job surprisingly fast at an out-of-town gas station where he has alternating afternoon and evening shifts, so his sisters are usually with me during dance practice. It's not the most convenient, but at least I can't get fired for carrying around two little girls. The crew loves them anyway, and Zula is fascinated with dancing. What's more useful, she helps me practice. She uses one of my books to flag up left or right; sometimes she stands in for other dancers, too, so I can practice getting around without having to use chairs or my bag like some kind of idiot.

'Right!' she shrieks in delight as she moves that way. 'Now left!'

'Are you messing with me?' I pant out as I try to follow her speedy instructions. Of course, she's messing with me—sometimes the power corrupts her like emotional attachments corrupt a Jedi. I drop down on one knee and swivel before springing into a wide stance. I'm trying to keep the hip-rolling and crotch touches to the minimum to protect their innocence, but Dianne really went for sexiness with this choreography and it shows. I'm also supposed to have a backflip at the end of it that ends in a split, but I'm still not sure I'd survive that. I can't afford to be incapacitated when I'm with the girls since I'm the one who should be taking care of them. I don't want to scare them to death by fracturing my hips. So I just do a backflip because I've practiced that enough, and I land safely, slightly teetering but safe.

I flinch at the slow clapping coming from the doorway, but it's just Emil in his stupid leather jacket and his gas station uniform. His ears are red with cold.

'You look sleazy, you know that?' I sigh as I sit down, running a hand through my sweaty scalp. 'I thought you'd never come.'

Lidia glances up from her book.

'You sound relieved. Are you saying you don't like us anymore?'

Now I understand why Emil always tells her to shut up; her starting puberty really gets on everyone's nerves around her.

I say, 'No, sweetheart, I just need another person to practice on.'

Emil startles. 'To practice on?'

'Yeah, I need a girl... there's a part where I dip a girl, but Zuzanna's too small...'

'I'm not small,' she protests, rummaging around in Emil's bag for snacks. Since he's got an employee's discount at the gas station, he has loosened his no snack rule to a snack twice a week rule.

'...and Lidia's threatened to beat me to death with her book if I ever make her dance,' I go on, ignoring her. 'So that leaves you.'

He's not the right height either, too tall for my measly hundred and seventy centimetres, but it's still better than nothing.

'Can't you beat him to death on my behalf?' Emil asks Lidia who shakes her head.

'I like watching you suffer.'