Mambo in Chinatown

When we met up with Lisa again, she was bubbling over. “They have an arts club, and a chess club, and band, and so many different newspapers . . .”

“Slow down,” I said, glad to see her so exuberant. “Did you like the school?”

“It’s amazing!” Her eyes shone. “You should see their science rooms, the equipment they have, and they have so many extracurriculars. The best thing was, the other kids talked the way I do.”

Pa asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well, like, I always make sure I don’t use too many big words because the other kids will think I’m weird. But the girl leading us around sounded just like me!”

I said, “Did you make any friends?”

“Yeah! One person said to me, ‘Hey, what’s up?’” She beamed.

I laughed. “Well, that’s a start.”

Lisa said, “We can sign up right now if we want. The forms are by the auditorium. We just need Pa’s signature.”

We both turned to him. He asked Lisa, “Do you want to go here?”

“Yes. Please say yes.”

My heart ached to see the hope in her eyes.

“I should really speak to Uncle about this first,” Pa began. “It’s such a big decision.”

“Uncle said that it was your decision.” I mentally crossed all of my fingers and toes for luck. “He said a parent feels what is right for his child.”

Pa studied Lisa’s glowing face, then smiled. “Let’s go find those forms.”

Fifteen

I floated into the studio and arrived just in time to get changed for Ryan’s lesson. When he saw me, he asked, “What’s happened?”

I couldn’t seem to stop smiling. “My little sister just got into Hunter high school. And my father’s letting her go.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Wow. Congratulations.”

“You know it?”

“Evelyn went there.”

Now I was impressed and curious. “What did she do after that?”

“She went to Princeton. That’s how she met Adrie

At my blank look, he explained, “The owner of your studio. Adrie

“Really?” I hadn’t known Adrie

“Yep, but I guess dance was what she really loved.”

Adrie

He jerked his head back. “Oh no, I don’t think I’m ready for that. Even just the wedding’s enough of a challenge for me.”

I tapped my foot next to him, trying to think. “Look, you wanted to learn to be a better dancer, right?” I parroted Dominic’s words. “There is no better way to improve than to train for a competition, and the prize is seventy-five hundred dollars per person.”

“Umm, that’s really nice but . . .”

I’d known the money wouldn’t sway him. “It’s all right. I understand.” I pressed my lips together and walked back into the ballroom. I didn’t know what had gotten into me, anyway. I was just so happy about Lisa and the possibility that she could achieve her dreams, I wanted to give mine a chance too.

Ryan was walking beside me, studying me. “You’re upset.”

My eyes suddenly felt hot. I looked at the floor so he wouldn’t notice. “Do you know why your rough hands never bother me?”

I could feel him shaking his head.

I made myself continue. “Because I worked as a dishwasher for years, before I came here. You should have felt my skin. I was clumsy, and bad at school, and not talented at anything.”

He laid his hand upon my shoulder, silencing me. “What would I have to do?”

Startled, I looked up at him. “We’d need to get a dance choreographed. It has to be Latin. We’d have to train hard, really hard, because we’d be up against the best couples from every Avery Studio in New York City and we can’t embarrass ourselves.”

“So who else is competing from our studio?”

A smile began to cross my face as I said, “Keith and Simone.”

Something sparked in his eyes. “You’d teach me to be better than that guy?”

“I would try, yes.”

He sighed. “I hate it when people watch me. Especially when I’m dancing.”

“I know. Me too.”

He chuckled. “Some professional dancer you are.”

I forced myself to try to make him understand. “But I’m learning to hone my body. I love using it to express myself, being strong and in control, and yet free at the same time.”

He nodded. “Yes, I know that feeling.”

He was on the verge of saying yes, but I wanted to be honest. It came out in a rush. “I have to tell you something, which is that since we’re both new, we don’t really have any chance of wi

When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. “This means something to you, doesn’t it?”

I was just realizing this myself. All my life, I’d been trying to fulfill other people’s ideas of who I was supposed to be and failing, and this was my chance to try to become who I was meant to be. I fixed my gaze on the floor again. “I want to do it.”

“All right, then.”

When I met his eyes, I knew mine were full. I blinked and a tear overflowed down my cheek. He reached out with his broad hand and wiped it away. “Hey.”

I took a deep breath. “Come on, we’d better get started.”

—

As I was walking with Ryan to the mirror, he said, “Can I ask you for a favor?”

“Of course.”

“I’ve realized that there is a particular dance I’d really like to learn. It’d be perfect if we chose it for the competition.”

“Which one?”

“I don’t know what it’s called. They do it to that very fast music.”

I had no idea what he meant. “Come on.” I led him into the small ballroom and went up to the stereo system. I put on a CD with a compilation of Latin music. Then I played the different songs while he listened. He kept shaking his head until a complicated number came on.

“That’s it.”

I tried not to sigh. “Mambo. You do realize that mambo is absolutely the hardest Latin dance, don’t you?”

“Umm, actually, no.”

“It is, because the music wants you to step on the first beat. Your entire body will want to step on the one, but you have to hold it in and step on the two. All of the time. And do you know what’s going to be the only thing stopping you from stepping on the one?”

“I’ll bite. What?”

“Me. I am going to be hanging onto your arm, holding you back until the two beat every single time. That’s going to be like trying to stop a rampaging bull. Couldn’t we do rumba or merengue?”

“Sure, you’re the dance teacher.” He was downcast for a moment, then looked determined. “Though if there’s one thing I learned from boxing, it’s that you need to push yourself sometimes. Reach beyond what you know you can do.”

I thought about this for a moment. I didn’t want him to be unhappy, especially when he was mainly doing this to help me. “Why do you want mambo?” Then I remembered. “Is it that friend of yours who said white guys can’t do Latin?”

There was a long pause before he spoke. “His name is Felipe. He’s my best buddy and was my biggest competitor when I was boxing. He lived uptown and I was in Brooklyn, but the best boxing gym’s in Brooklyn so we met there. We had the same coach, used to spar together all the time. We’re like brothers. He’s part Cuban, part Dominican and he’s ribbed me my whole life about how I’ll never able to dance. And when I stopped boxing, he continued.”

“How did he do?”

“Won so many titles.” Ryan’s smile was sad. “He’s pretty famous now in the boxing world. Anyway, I’d like to watch his jaw drop. Just once.”