Page 129 of Dancing Fools and All That Jazz
Fay stares studiously out of the window as Ruby continues reading.
‘“In a day of disasters, DECK dancer and local librarian, Fay Langridge, then broke her leg on stage at the start of their Bollywood entry. The drama kept giving when Ms Langridge, who was estranged from her two daughters for many years, was to discover her eldest daughter, Edith was also a competitor.”…’
Ruby looks up at Fay who rubs her forehead and continues to stare at the distant French countryside flashing past. Ruby coughs and carries on.
‘“Edith Langridge was dancing in a balletic Frenchquartet, Body and Soul – the group which went on to win the show with their rendition of “Fix You” by Coldplay. The tense reunion between Fay and Edith resulted in the daughter taking the mother’s place in the aptly named finals dance, “Dancin’ Fool”, which took second place, narrowly beating Bold as Brass.”…’
‘Narrowly my arse…’ Cath starts before Bonnie slaps the table and roars with laughter.
‘Very funny, Cath.’
‘“Sheila Bold eventually acknowledged her group’s entry was in fact choreographed by Clarissa Kirkland, the head of the DECKs, and with this admission, they were allowed to proceed to the final where they achieved third place. Our reporter watched the finals show in the packed main theatre of theOpéra Bastille. ‘A showcase of exciting, fast-paced dance enthralled the Paris audience. Expression, the formerly little-known competition, is now set to gain an unprecedented following.’ The show’s director, Frédéric Montrer, was delighted the initially unwelcome incidents gave way to some extremely welcome publicity. ‘Vive lacompétition!’ were his final words.”’
‘You bet Frédéric was pleased. And I bet it was him who gave them lots of juicy titbits.’ Ruby hands the phone back to Max.
Asha then speaks up. ‘Hey, I hope they do not connect the former dancer they mentioned at the beginning with Janine and find out about Janine’s mum.’
‘You’re right, Asha,’ Cath agrees. ‘They’ll have a right field day with that.’
Ruby turns to Max to explain what we have heard about Janine’s mother.
I think about Janine, and I realise my problems, they are not so big. Whatever Neil has to tell me, even if Kazimieras make big threats, we can sort it out. I just want to be home to see him and the children.
*
After many hours, we finally make the train from London to Manchester, and I help Fay into one of the few seats not pre-booked where Cath and Bonnie agree to sit in the aisle to look after her. Max folds her wheelchair and places it in the nearby luggage area. There are no other seats, so we squeeze our way through to the buffet car where I stand with Asha, Ruby, and Max.
Ruby and Max talk quietly to each other all the way and Asha and I have a conversation about what it is like being a mama.
Asha’s phone rings and as she sees who is calling, she points at the screen frantically, answering in a loud voice, ‘Janine. How are you?’
She waves for me to come closer and puts the phone between us so I can hear Janine’s voice.
‘Asha, I…’ Janine’s voice stops.
‘It is OK, Janine. It is good to hear from you. We missed you in Paris. We are sorry to hear about your mother.’
When Janine says nothing, Asha tries again.
‘We came second. In the competition. We beat Sheila’s group. They came third. Janine, are you OK?’
‘Yes. I am now. It’s been a bad few weeks.’
Again, Janine goes very quiet.
‘Janine, here’s Ingrida.’
Asha pushes the phone to me and makes a big face for me to say something. She leans right into me to listen.
‘Hello, Janine. I am also very sorry to hear about your mama. It is very sad news. I remember when my mama passed away only a few years back.’
‘Really?’
‘Ja. It was very sad.’
‘Oh, you know how I feel then… I mean, I know my mum was not well, but it all happened so quickly…’ She goes quiet again.
‘Do you have anyone stay at home with you?’ I ask.
