Page 38 of The Paranormal Investigation Bureau
Arden growled and took a menacing step, like he would break Bellatrix’s neck, right then and there. Beyla stopped him.
“You can search my dance bag. I have nothing to hide, though I was the one who was offered cocaine today by a company dancer, one that is close to Bellatrix. All you have to do is take a good look at both of us, and you can tell which one of us is currently high.”
Bellatrix scowled and balled her fists up. Did she seriously convince Julian to waste some of his precious cocaine planting it on Beyla? He didn’t just supply it to Bellatrix and Ivory. Julian sold it at one of the gay clubs for extra money. I’d never personally sold drugs, but I knew there was a supply chain, and someone would expect money from Julian for all that cocaine he wasted trying to frame Beyla.
Nicolai and I were pretty sure Arden kicked his ass after Bevan, but it also could have been a drug dealer. He had a world of shit coming if he didn’t have the money to pay for that cocaine, and Arden looked like he was about to go nuclear.
Bevan stepped forward and smirked. He was a sweet guy. I loved him to death, but he could also be a devious little shit when he wanted to be. I knew that smirk. Bevan was up to something.
“Beyla has been finding things in her dance bag, and broken glass in her pointe shoes. I bought her a lock for her bag because I’ve seen Julian sniffing around it way too often. I’ve been hanging out with Beyla a lot, and I’ve never seen her sniffling or wiping her nose like Bellatrix does all the time. If you’re going to search dance bags, you should search both of them.”
Okay, so whatever my roommate had gotten up to on our lunch break, it'd clearly included getting the drugs out of Beyla’s bag. Bellatrix was high in rehearsal and class pretty much all the time, but Marsden had cut her a break and shipped her off to rehab instead of firing her once… I doubted he would do that a second time. Bellatrix was ballsy with her stunts, but I doubted she carried her drugs on her where Marsden could find them.
But I also wouldn’t put it past Bevan to be pissed about it or to have stuck them in Bellatrix’s bag. She was one of the few dancers in the company without a lock on her bag, because no one would dare to interfere with her bag… she though.
That little shit. If he got Bellatrix booted out of the company by planting the drugs she’d tried to frame Beyla with, then I’d cook him his favorite meal for an entire year, do his laundry, and kiss his ass forever.
Fucking Marsden. Why did Bellatrix have to be a succubus on top of a raging bitch? Bevan put him on the spot, and so did Beyla. Everyone in the room knew Bellatrix was high, and we all outed Julian as her dealer. Marsden could have stepped out and dealt with this. Bellatrix was one of his girlfriends, so hehadto know all the stories about her were true.
“Look, I see how things are. Bellatrix always gets jealous of new understudies, and there’s always someone at her feet, wanting to be the star. This is petty, and I want the drama left out of the rehearsal room. Bella, stop making ridiculous accusations about your understudy. I know for a fact Beyla isn’t dealing drugs. Beyla, I expected better from you. Accusing Bella of being high is not the way to win parts in this company.”
We all just stood there, with our mouths open because Bellatrix was clearly high. The room was totally silent until she started sniffling again. Beyla wasn’t standing there like a dying fish, wondering what it was going to take to snap Marsden out of this succubus spell. She looked like she was about to punch Marsden in the face. I’d even share my popcorn with fucking Arden if she decked him.
Marsden clapped his hands and took his place in front of the mirror.
“Now, I don’t want to hear any more nonsense about drama between the lead and the understudy. We are making art. Bella, I want you to practice the lifts with Bevan. He’s the first warrior Damita dances with. It’s vital you connect with all four men, and that the lifts look effortless… so, go practice!”
Bellatrix crossed her arms and glared at Marsden.
“I’d be getting the lifts just fine with Julian. These are parts for warriors, not drag queens. Bevan is miscast. I demand he be replaced!”
Bevan usually ignored it when someone got homophobic, but it was spectacular when he decided to fight back. He struck just as sassy a pose as Bellatrix was doing and laughed.
“I guess you don’t ask Julian what he does on Thursday nights... he’s a totally shitty Liza. He doesn’t know any of the lyrics and mouthswatermelonandmotherfuckerlike a baby drag queen. The only reason they haven’t fired him is because of his dance background, and because he doesAll That Jazz.I do drag sometimes, at parties and Halloween, not once a week for tips like your boy Julian. But if I did, I’d do itwaybetter than him.”
Bellatrix shrieked. Marsden caught her as she flew at Bevan. Bellatrix was clearly in a very combative mood today. First Madame Lucinda, then Bevan. She must be feeling seriously threatened by Beyla. Had Marsden said something when they were alone to fan the flames? I wouldn’t put it past him, and I got the vibe that even if he was saying he didn’t want drama between the two… he actually did.
“Bella!” Marsden yelled. “I don’t know how many ways I can tell you this. Bevan is dancing this part. My mind is made up. He’s a talented dancer, and he’s perfect for this part. I’m not casting Julian in a part he’s totally wrong for just because he’s your friend. I told you how much this ballet means to me. Stop sabotaging it and do your job! After you left, Beyla pulled it off without a hitch. You’re always paranoid about your understudy taking your roles, and you should be, because that’s going to be your reality if you mess this up for me!”
Any sane dancer would have taken that as a sign to strap their pointe shoes on and get to work, but Bellatrix was a deranged coke head who thought the entire world owed her lead roles and adoration. Bellatrix just saw the threat of Beyla taking her part. She was going to try to destroy her, but not anywhere Marsden would witness it.
This was the kind of shit that got people pushed down the stairs.
Everyone knew that, except Marsden. Beyla was brand new to this company, but even she could see it. Marsden was shrewd. He skillfully handled bad press any time it came our way. Back in the day, many horny men had donated a bunch of money to the ballet for the chance to own a ballet dancer… you can draw your own conclusions about how far they took it.
Rich people had changed little since then, but none of us were expected to fuck them for donations anymore, we just had to let them think we wanted to. There was this fine line we had to walk, between pretending we enjoyed them sexually harassing us, so they would give us money, while not actually agreeing to anything.
Even if you didn’t explicitly agree to something, people thought you did. Marsden had this radar at galas and parties for that. He would always swoop in and rescue his dancers, and healwaysstill got that donation.The Pwasn’t struggling for money at all with him as artistic director, and he paid his dancers well. There were also people on staff to handle anything his dancers might need.
Marsden made sure we had everything we needed as dancers, and thanks to him we had a solid support system here if we needed it. So, none of us could understand why he hadn’t fired the Terrible Trio and instead looked the other way when it came to them.
Despite what he said about replacing her, Beyla and Bevan weren’t safe. Bellatrix wouldn’t tolerate what Bevan said about Julian. It was all true. Bevan saw his act once and invited Nicolai and me. Julian was aterribledrag queen. He didn’t know any of the lyrics.
I had no desire to dress up like Liza Minnelli and lip-sync to her songs, but even I knew all the words to those songs. My mother was a Broadway star, and I think she would have preferred me to perform on Broadway, but I was a terrible singer and liked my ballet classes far more than my jazz classes when I was a kid. My mother was still super proud of me, and my little sister was totally going to be a Broadway star one day.
But Bevan was right about Julian, he did dragwaymore than Bevan ever did. I could count on one hand the times I’d seen Bevan in drag, and he didn’t really pull it off. Bevan was very tall and muscular for a male dancer, and he rarely did it. He didn’t even have a good wig for it on hand. He tried to convince Nicolai and me to put dresses on, for this Halloween party he invited us to, and we both shot him down.
I didn’t even think Bellatrix liked Julian that much. She’d said some pretty vile things to Bevan when he showed up dating a man, though wouldn’t dare say anything to his face, but Bellatrix had some strong opinions about Arden when Julian spread a rumor he was gay.
