The Dance

Four friends came together to discuss the upcoming dance. It was a small town in the center of a farming community in southeast Alabama. Not much else went on in town and a dance was a place to take your girl, invite one you liked or survey the prospects. All four were middle teens and spent most of their time working on the family farm.

James was fifteen tall, dark hair and eyes, his lean frame fooled many who had tried to bully him. He had his eye on a girl named Sadie, she was not as tall as James but above average for a girl. She was not completely filled out but shapely none the less, long silky brown hair and large chocolate doe eyes.

David had a girl, he was sixteen and broad, he had filled out early. A shock of blond hair he kept short and sky-blue eyes, his girl was a red head, lightly freckled with green eyes that always sparkled, the two were usually inseparable.

Tommy was younger about fourteen and easily intimidated. He had black wavy hair, dark brown skin and very dark eyes, his father was Italian and his mother from Cuba. Tommy was friends with a short blond name Kathy, but he wanted more, her twinkling blue eyes captured him the year before when she had moved to town with her aunt and uncle. She was a bit plump and insecure but that only made Tommy more determined to win her over.

Samuel was African born American, he kept insisting it was so, as his father was a direct immigrant. Most folks in the early nineteenth century still called him a negro and frowned upon him being included in the small school there in Union Town. Samuel was a handsome boy, he was fifteen, but folks thought of him as fully grown. He had no favorites among the girls and claimed that way he could dance with them all.

“Are you goin to ask her this time?” David teased Tommy.

“He can’t ask her you dolt, it is a Sadie Hawkins dance, the girls haveta ask the boys.” James said quietly. Tommy stared at him and as he pulled at the strap on his overalls. He always wore overalls with no shirt as he was always just in from the fields.

You gonna put on some fancy clothes David and act all important when you go?” Samuel asked David, leaning against the wall of the little store.

Shuffling his toes in the dust of the old dirt road that led into town, David suddenly got quiet. The other three studied him, finally Tommy asked what was wrong. Sighing, David stared off into the distance, “Guess You all have to go have your fun, Zoey, she uh, she said she don’t want to go.” This was unusual as the two were the best dancers around.

“What do ya mean she don’t want to go?” James asked shaking his head. “What ails that girl? She is the best dancer out there.”

David smiled a little, “Yeah she is, and I aint got a clue what she is ailing about. I asked her was we going, cause you know, the girl has ta ask, and she up and said she wasn’t goin.” He stared hard at the dirt now. “She brushed me off when I asked why and didn’t want me touching her either.” His voice was shaky now. None of his friends had ever known Zoey to pull away from her man, in fact she was overly protective of him. His friends could offer no advice.

Out of the corner of his eye Samuel saw Kathy over by the tree line and eased off from the others as they sat in silence with David.

“What brings you to the hangout? Which was what the boys called the old store. Samuel asked Kathy softly. She eased back in the trees so as not to be seen. Samuel towered over her, but she felt completely safe around him. Kathy smiled up at him and shrugged. “Ah well if I was to guess, I would say you have a hankering to ask a certain young man to the dance.” He smiled and ruffled her blond curls.

“I well,” she giggled a little, “I don’t know if he would, well, would want to, you know be my date. I don’t know if he thinks of me that way.” There was a definite longing in her voice.

Smiling Samuel tipped her chin up. “Truth be told he been thinking that way for a while now. He’s just shy you know.” She looked up eagerly now as if to ask if it was really true. “How about you wait right here, and I send him over, then you can ask him where there aint nobody watching.”

Kathy grinned and bounced a little, “Okay” she said in a tiny voice.

‘One down two to go’ he thought to himself as he strode back and whispered something to Tommy who quickly disappeared.

Samuel went straight to the café where he knew Sadie was working afternoons for her mother waiting tables. Not only was Sadie there but her and Zoey were head down deep in conversation. He strolled up as though he had no agenda and sat at the next table knowing Sadie would have to wait on him. Zoey looked up and saw Samuel and with tears in her eyes she bolted.

Sighing Sadie walked over to Samuel’s table. “Hey, you need something or are you just needing to talk?” All the girls felt comfortable with Samuel, he seemed to have a peace about him that one could not quite put a finger on. Even though a lot of the country was still embroiled in racism, this town had always kept things at arms-length. Most folks got along with each other and wondered what all the fuss was about. A family from out of town stared at Sadie and Samuel but hometown folk were real tight knit.

“Well,” Samuel began, “two things, first are you planning to ask someone to the dance?” He watched her blush. She tapped on the table with her pen for a moment then looked straight at Samuel.

“Will he, I mean you know, would he go?” She did not name the one she cared for.

“If you are talking abut James, yeah in a heartbeat, but this is Sadie Hawkins you have to ask.” She nodded and fanned herself for a moment. He smiled then, “The second thing is what is up with Zoey? She told David she didn’t want to go and won’t tell him why. He’s hurting Sadie you know how close they are.

She sighed, “Yeah maybe too close.”

“What does that mean? He asked leaning closer. He took her hand and squeezed it. “You know, don’t you? You two are like sisters.”

She swallowed hard and looked away, the out of towners were staring at them, she shrugged it off. “I can’t talk about her secrets, she asked me not to say anything.”

Samuel leaned back slightly and brushed a curl from Sadie’s eye. “Well, I get that, but put yourself in David’s place. He has no idea why she suddenly turned away. He probably thinks she, well maybe she found someone else. Someone she cares more about.” He knew that would shake her up.

“No, no, no, no, there is no one else. She loves him like crazy, its – it’s just, she – well – they are – were close and they well . . . they shouldn’t have and well . . . her momma is going to kill him . . . she’s scared . . . she really doesn’t know what to do.”

Samuel tried piecing the unsaid parts together. He studied her. “So, tell me if I am wrong. David and Zoey were doing a different dance, and now she is in a family way and if her mother finds out all hell is going to break loose, and she doesn’t know how to tell David.”

Sadie stared at him and then nodded. “I – well, I didn’t tell but you guessed.”

Samuel smiled kissed her cheek and whispered, “Go get your man.”

Seeking out David didn’t take too long. Samuel figured he needed a shaking up. He grabbed David by the collar and drug him behind the gas station. Getting in his face he unleashed on him, “You know better, you disrespect your woman when you do that. Now you got her in trouble and all you can do is sit here and feel sorry for yourself!”

David was in shock, “What do you mean in trouble, you mean she’s . . . she’s . . . how do you know?” His face revealed his shock.

Samuel wasn’t done, “Best thing you can do is find out if she really loves you, and if she does you need to run away. Get married, wait a few weeks and then bring her home. Tell her momma that she missed her too much to stay away but you are in love, married and starting a family.”

Unable to grasp the reality of it, David stood frozen to the spot. “I . . . I don’t know how. I mean I know but we . . . we just got carried away one time . . . and – and we started to – to make love, but she got scared . . . and – and I told her it was okay. I held her and she just cried her heart out about how she didn’t mean to hurt me. How can she be?” He was dazed.

“The reality of it is that it can happen, you know it only takes one swimmer to do the deed and you were there, even if for only a moment. Now, you man up and take care of your woman. Here,” he handed David some money. “Get a ring and do what you should have done first.” David stared at Samuel, then took off to find his girl.

Sighing Samuel wondered if he would ever find one to share his heart. As he turned the corner headed back to the café he nearly ran over a woman. She turned and smiled at him, and his insides turned to jelly. She was drop dead gorgeous. Long legged, bronze skin that was sun-kissed. She batted her huge brown eyes at him, peeking out from under layers of soft brown hair. “Hi, I’m Caroline, I just moved here, maybe you could show me around.” She took his hand and started walking.

So, three friends got their girl, thanks to Samuel and the universe smiled on him and sent him his own angel to love. She took him to the dance and every other dance they came across for the next sixty years. Samuel and Caroline had six children and fourteen grandchildren at last count. Seems that when you take care of others, fate takes care of you.