Dancer/Visionary "Follies of Youth" Quickly Approaching Maxi-Series #...oh, let’s say 15: “Nothin’ makes you celebrate like the hair of the dog what bit ya.”

“Really? You want to do it here?” Visionary asked, surprised and more than a little scared.

“Why not?” Sarah replied with a somewhat wicked grin. “Don’t tell me you’ve never done this before…”

“No…no...” Visionary lied, as young men are wont to do when pretty girls ask them that. “I do it all the time. I did it yesterday. Or, um… a decade or two ago. Or something.” Visionary looked dubiously at the run-down bar (or “pub” as she called it) that Sarah had picked out as the place to try out their real fake IDs. “I’m really quite the drinker.”

“It would explain the coat.”

“This?” he asked, plucking the lapels of the school-bus yellow overcoat he was currently wearing. “I don’t know where this came from. Your sister dressed me in it. I don’t even like yellow. Me, I usually wear a varsity coat. Or, um… a black leather jacket. Or maybe… a dark, full length trench coat?” This last one seemed to get her attention. “Yeah, usually the trench coat when I go bar-hopping.”

“So… My sister dressed you, did she?”

“It’s not like that…” Visionary quickly explained. “It’s just that I was in my underwear, and she tied me up, and then called over that other girl, and…” He realized what he was saying and sighed. “I could really use a drink” he decided, opening the door for her.

The ‘Purgatory Lounge’ somehow managed to look worse on the inside than it did on the outside. Sarah had argued that it had to be perfectly safe, what with being just down the street from the courthouse. More to the point, it was one of the few bars open for business at this still relatively early mid-day hour. Visionary had to admit, it didn’t seem like a place that was likely to be too finicky about the law in regards to serving minors. Which made it just what they were looking for. He happily took Sarah’s hand to help her onto a barstool and seated himself beside her. Aside from the two of them, the morning crowd consisted of a dark form sprawled across a table in a dim corner, snoring loadly.

“Um… Barkeep!” Visionary called, trying to get the attention of the burly man washing glasses with his back to them. The man looked over his shoulder, sized them up, and shook his head to himself.

“Barkeep?” Sarah asked with a little smile.

“Its… what we call them here in the states.” Visionary assured her. “Really.”

“What’dya want, kid?” the man asked, finishing up the glasses and turning to lean over the bar in front of them. “We ain’t go no milk and cookies here.”

“I’m not a kid” Visionary replied hotly. “I’m… um… well into my thirties by now. I have a driver’s license that says so.” He produced the laminated document proudly.

“Uh-huh.” The bartender replied, not even glancing at it. “And your girlie here… She’s, what… an octogenarian?”

Before Vizh could ask if that was a kind of marine biologist, Sarah replied. “No, of course not... I’m just a young, innocent girl easily lead astray by a wicked older man.” She put an affectionate hand on the teen’s arm. “As sugar-daddies go, he’s not half bad on the eyes though.”

The man snorted, and a grin broke across his ugly face. “Now you I like. Name’s Tony.” He held out his hand, which Sarah shook happily. (He didn’t offer it to Visionary). Leaning back to a more accommodating posture, he wiped down the bar in front of them. “So long as he can pay, I gots no problem with your junior Mr. Money-bags. So what’ll it be?”

“Um, right…” Visionary replied, forcing his attention back from Sarah’s other hand, which was still resting familiarly on his arm. Realizing that asking for a drink menu at a bar would probably blow his whole suave cover, he opted for another plan. “Well, if you were celebrating a special day, what would you go for?”

Tony thought on it. “There’s this hooker down on the corner of Bendis and Austen…”

“To drink” the flustered teen qualified hurriedly. “What would you recommend to drink?”

“Oh. Whiskey.” He pulled out two shot glasses and dark brown bottle. “Nothin’ makes you celebrate like the hair of the dog what bit ya.”

“I, uh… don’t have a hangover yet.” Visionary pointed out.

“Yeah, but you was asking about me.”

“Ah. Right.” Visionary looked at the amber liquid dubiously. He wasn’t entirely sure all this dog hair talk was figurative, judging by the rest of the bar. Sarah, however, picked up her glass without hesitation. “What should we drink to?” she inquired.

He shrugged. “I don’t know… we’ve missed a bunch of birthdays, holidays, new years, graduations, parties, weddings… hell, even the millennium apparently.” The thought, now that it occurred to him, was rather intimidating.

“Sounds like we have some catching up to do” she grinned. “Or that you’re simply planning on toasting all that to get me drunk and have your way with me.”

“What? No! I would never…”

“Really?” she asked. “Shame. It probably would have worked.” Raising the glass before her she winked at him. “To innocence lost.”

Visionary blinked, then quickly returned the toast and knocked back the shot. His first reaction was that it wasn’t anything special. His second was to wheeze uncontrollably until Sarah had to begin pounding him on the back.

“Yeah…” Tony said with a chuckle. “That’s the good stuff… Make a man outta ya.”

The sixteen year old Regular looked up with watering vision from the amused bartender to the beautiful girl watching him with dancing eyes. “Leave the bottle” he decided.

“Hey, kid… are youse deaf ‘er somethin’?” the huge man crammed into a cheap suit at the end of the bar called out. “Where’s my beer? I gotta be in court in ten minutes.”

Visionary guessed from his eloquence that he wasn’t on the prosecution’s side. He quickly dumped the latest glasses into the sink and grabbed a vaguely clean one to put under the tap. “Coming right up!” he assured the goon.

The pre-noon emptiness had been quickly replaced with the afternoon rush, which seemed to be peopled almost exclusively with defendants from various legal cases awaiting trial. At least, Visionary assumed this based on their dress, demeanor, small talk, and (in more than one notable case) the broken ankle restraints hanging from them. They were also, he was quickly learning, especially bad tippers. Normally, this wouldn’t have been his concern had it not been for the fact that, in 2004, nine dollars apparently didn’t really cover the cost of much whiskey at all.

For as scary as the man could appear, Tony was actually fairly understanding about the whole thing… He had given them the rest of the day to come up with the money they owed him, and was willing to let them work until they could earn it themselves. (There may have been something about the breaking of legs if they couldn’t manage it, but Visionary was trying hard not to dwell on that part). Sarah reasoned that they might have better luck if one of them worked, while the other left to try to find some more cash. She also reasoned that Visionary was the one best suited to waiting tables, although her logic on that one was a bit fuzzy at best. But it had all seemed like a good idea when she had smiled so brilliantly at him and then left two and a half hours ago… it really had.

“Aw, don’t take it so hard, kid…” Tony called to him as he came out from the back room with a box full of tequila bottles. “You’re hardly the first rube to be played by a pretty face in this city.”

“Hey! Sarah’s not like that!” Visionary retorted angrily, though not choosing to argue the ‘rube’ part. “She’ll be here. She will.”

“Yeah, right kid.” The bartender laughed. “Riding in on the Easter Bunny no doubt. She had you pegged the moment she met you… You’re a mark, kid. Easiest one I ever laid eyes on. You look like you’d buy into every tramp, bum, loser and reject with a sob story who crossed your path. Better wise up now, kid, or you’ll spend the rest of your life being manipulated and used with nothing to show for it… Not even that loss o’ innocence you was lookin’ for.”

Visionary slapped the full beer down on the counter and slid it the length of the bar with a quick flick of the wrist, causing the bruiser in the suit to have to lunge to catch it. He turned to face Tony. “I may literally be young for my age, and I may not be a city boy, but I can size people up too” he said levelly. “The angry girl with the lamp wasn’t really angry… just scared and shaken, as her world was turned as upside down as mine was. The older one, despite her age, was a follower not a leader, and she wanted to hand things off to somebody else as soon as possible. But her friend needed her, and she was trying her best to be the level head in the group, no matter how uncomfortable it made her. And Sarah… She’s nothing like what you say… cynically taking advantage of others. You didn’t see her smiling at everyone we passed on our way here, or helping that homeless lady with her shopping cart. You didn’t see the way she delighted in the people or the sights, sounds and smells of this new city. She sees nothing but possibilities in everyone and everything.”

Tony sneered. “So does a con artist.”

“She’ll be here.” Visionary repeated with a scowl. “She will.”

“She is” Sarah noted from the doorway, looking at him with her head cocked slightly to one side. She grinned and tossed a wad of cash to Tony. “I’ll take the little one in the apron to go. Wrap him up for me.”

“So what took you?” Visionary asked pointedly as they left the dingy confines of the Purgatory Lounge. “I had to learn how to make a Manhattan. And this burly guy kept asking for Sex On The Beach, which hope to god is some drink they’ve invented in the last couple decades.”

“Hey, it takes a gal a while to make that kind of money in the big city while still retaining her purity.”

“So how’d you do it?”

“Three card Monty.”

Visionary blinked. “Seriously? I thought those games were rigged.”

“Yeah, me too… but if so, they’re pretty bad at it. I won every time.”

“And then you came straight back to get me?”

“Absolutely. Straight back.”

“Are those new shoes?”

“Almost directly straight back” she said, beaming a smile at him. “Anyway, while I was wandering the city trying to figure out a way to pay the tab, I meet this cute boy named Raoul, who…”

“Raoul?”

“…Who took me to lunch and told me all about this festival they’re having over on Shooter Avenue… that’s about six blocks west of here…”

“You had lunch with an attractive guy named Raoul?”

“And seeing how the whole whiskey thing didn’t turn into a celebration so much as a part time job for you…”

“Why won’t you tell me about Raoul?”

“… I thought maybe we could check out that party instead” she finished. “Ooh, hey… a bus! Let’s run for it.”

Visionary quickly realized he should get used to scrambling to keep up with young Sarah Shepherdson.

“What do you think?” Sarah asked, having to yell to be heard over the sounds of the music, singers and cheering crowds.

“Festive” Visionary allowed in admiration, trying to take it all in. There were people everywhere, dressed in all manners of costumes and outfits, and carrying decorations and adornments of all kinds. The music seemed to echo off the confines of the brownstones on either side of the street, making it seem like the entire city must be vibrating with the energy of the crowd. Lights, colors and crowd all merged into a swirling sensory overload. And the slight remaining buzz from the whiskey probably didn’t hurt. It was definitely the way to celebrate… whatever it was they were celebrating, Visionary decided.

“There’s Raoul!” Sarah cried, jumping up and down and waving to a boy on a nearby building stoop. He was, Visionary noted, sickeningly handsome… even at 17 or so. He detached himself from his friends and made his way over to them.

“Ah, my little Sarah…” he said, wrapping his arms around her in an extremely friendly greeting. “I was hoping you’d come. Let me introduce you to my friends…”

She playfully disengaged herself from the hug, but kept her own hand on the small of his back. “Sounds great…” she said happily, then gestured to Visionary. “Raoul, this is Vizh… the one I was telling you about.”

His eyes flickered over the teenage Regular briefly. “Ah yes… your sister’s friend. Nice of you to bring him along.” He nodded briefly, then turned back to Sarah, draping his arm over her shoulders and leading her away through the crowd.

“Right” Visionary noted dryly, and then followed after them.

“She’s really something” the old woman sitting next to Visionary noted, nodding towards the dance floor that had been set up in front of the band stage.

“Yeah” Visionary agreed with a sigh, stirring the ice in his pop with a straw. “She definitely is.” Sarah and Raoul hadn’t missed a song since they had gotten there, and even Vizh had to admit that they made great dance partners… they were a perfectly matched pair. Sarah looked over his way in the midst of the dance, and Visionary found himself flashing an encouraging smile her way, before sighing once more when Raoul swept her up again.

“Are you her brother?” the woman asked curiously.

Visionary shook his head ruefully. “I’m apparently her… well, really her sister’s legal… uh… I’m not sure what I am, actually.”

“Hmmmm…” the woman noted. “I see... Then are you gay, or just massively clueless?”

He stopped stirring his drink. “Um… what?”

“Boy, when a girl shows interest in you, you don’t wait around for her to hit you over the head with it. You’ll miss out on some mighty good things that way.” She lightly rapped him on the leg with her cane for good measure. “One thing you should never go around wondering about is love. Take the time to find out for sure…” she advised him with a smile, “…because life’s far too short to miss out on the good stuff. And that girl…” she nodded towards the floor where Sarah was twirling in time to the music with uncommon grace, “…You’re thick in the head if you think she isn’t the good stuff personified.”

“Um… Sarah?” Visionary asked, pushing his way through the crowd of dancers and up to the slowly swaying pair near the center.

“Oh, Vizh…” she said in surprise. “Do we need to get going?”

“Nonsense! Let your sister come and get him” Raoul suggested dismissively. “The party is just getting started.”

“No, no… nothing like that” Visionary replied, with a quick glare at the handsome older boy. “I just… well, I just wondered… If… you wanted to dance.” It seemed, perhaps, a stupid question to ask somebody who was actually dancing at the time… but then, maybe it was time to open his mouth and remove all doubt after all. “With me, I mean.”

Before Raoul could answer, Sarah slipped from his grasp and took Vizh by the hand. “I’m sure I can be spared for a song or two” she beamed.

The irritation on the older boy’s face was quickly masked with indifference. “I’ll get us some drinks” he announced stiffly as he passed by them, bumping shoulders with Visionary with faux casualness.

With Raoul removed from the picture, Vizh had time to realize the fatal flaw in his plan of action. “Yeah… There’s just one problem…” he noted as they faced each other on the floor. “I… um… can’t dance.”

“Sure you can” Sarah told him.

“No, really… I never have… I just… don’t dance.”

“Everbody dances” she explained to him, waving off his protestations as nonsense. “It’s the most basic form of human expression, practiced in every culture in every era on Earth. Long before poetry, or writing, or painting… People danced.” She was swaying to the gentle down-tempo rhythms of the band, and Visionary was following her lead almost without realizing it. “They danced for ceremonies. They danced for sheer joy. They danced to display their worthiness to mate to the opposite sex.”

He gulped. “You know, now that Raoul mentions it, I am a bit parched…”

“The point is…” she continued, ignoring him “…It’s a part of being healthy and alive. It’s the expression of being alive.” She stepped close to him and looked up into his eyes, her lips crooked in a tight smile at the corners. “So the question is… how alive do you feel right now?”

With the way his heart was hammering in his chest, he was damn sure he wasn’t dead. Suddenly he realized it wasn’t just his internal organs… The music had picked up the pace dramatically, and a driving drum beat was going a mile a minute, it seemed.

Sarah noticed his expression change with the music. “Don’t worry about it… I’ll help you. We’ll start easy… Just do what I do.” She backed up a step so he could see her feet and winked at him. And then she was dancing, and if there was any effort or even conscious thought to it, it was completely masked by her grace and body movements. She flowed with the music, and Visionary couldn’t help but feel like a lumbering Frankenstein’s Monster beside her. However, he did his best to move in step to her, and surprisingly he seemed to manage without any major catastrophe. “Good! See… you just need to let yourself go a bit. I told you so.”

Her attention on him, the air around them turned electric as she danced, and Visionary felt the hairs on his arms standing up. They moved in unison around the center of the dance floor, and as his confidence grew, Sarah kept upping the complexity of her movements. He was managing to keep up with her, first haltingly, then adequately, and then, against all odds, their steps began to flow in harmony, forward and back and around each other.

There was no doubt he was feeling alive now, and the music surrounding them and crowd spinning about them was exhilarating. Sarah caught on to his enthusiasm, and let loose as the tempo shifted upwards yet again. The band was playing especially for her now, and the two of them were the center of attention on the floor. Her movements were positively dizzying, and her feet seemed to hardly brush the hardwood at all. It was impossible for Visionary to match her natural grace, and yet, improbably, every move he made was just right to compliment and emphasize her instead. He couldn’t have fallen out of step if he had tried, and he had the distinct impression that he was constantly plummeting helplessly, yet the ground itself was rushing to reassert itself beneath him, all to keep him from flinging wildly out of control and into the buffet tables. It was the most incredible, heady experience of his entire life, and he was grinning madly with the excitement of it all as his feet tripped lightly over the floor with a borrowed grace.

Sarah took his hand and it was like a physical jolt passed through them both. The band found their fingers flying over their instruments with unimagined dexterity as the two of them swirled around each other and spun and wove through the now cleared floor. Their feet ricocheted off the hardwood and interwove amongst each other in impossible combinations without the slightest misstep, and Visionary swung the beautiful, exciting, intoxicating young woman into the air and around him as if she were as weightless as her movements indicated. The music built to a frenzied crescendo and the two of them spun insanely along in time, laughing in delight until the final note sounded and they stopped on a dime, Visionary bending to catch the arched form of Sarah beneath him.

The crowd exploded into applause as the two teens remained there, grinning and gasping for breath, with their shining eyes locked on each other.

“…Wow” they breathed in unison, just before their lips met.

Post By Visionary Tue Oct 19, 2004 at 09:13:22 pm EDT	Subject Dancer/Visionary "Follies of Youth" Quickly Approaching Maxi-Series #...oh, let’s say 15: “Nothin’ makes you celebrate like the hair of the dog what bit ya.”

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