Page 55 of Sway

I wave the lamp at him. “What happened to let’s get out of here? Move!”

He all but salutes as I charge by him waving my lamp like some crazed majorette in a marching band. We head out the front door and wait for Marina.

And wait for Marina.

And wait for Marina some more.

Well, apparently she had to go to fucking Mexico for my things. I seethe in the front seat of Tony’s SUV. He sits in the driver’s seat, as close to his door as possible. You’d think I had a gun pointed at his head. “Where the fuck is Marishka?”

He shrugs, his lips smiling but his eyes blinking way too much.

* * *

After twenty minutes, Diana pops her head out the door.

“Diana!” I jump out the Range Rover and run over to the door. She tries to slam it, but I grab the silk belt on her dress and pull her outside. “I can’t believe you are going to do this to me again. Steal two of my partners? One with your daddy’s money and one with your body! How could you? I even tried to take you under my wing and show you finer things in life.”

“It’s not like that, Vika. First time, yeah maybe, but you and Stas didn’t even have enough money to compete. And now that you’re not with Benny, there’s no way Jared would dance with you. You know that.” She opens the door and attempts to escape into the house. I pull her back again. She looks like a doe-eyed Bambi walking into the lion’s den. “I’m sorry if I hurt you, Vika. I really look up to you. I hope we can still be friends.”

Friends? Benny must be giving her his signature Australian Ginger Beer. This poor girl is actually still a virgin. At least I’d been around the block a few times. “Listen to me.” I shake her. “It’s not worth it. I didn’t have choice. My baba and I had no money and I was stripper, for God’s sake. When your dad paid Stas to dance with you, I was screwed. I would have never been able to dance again. I’d still be working at O’Farrell Brothers. And I had to take care of my baba because she was too old to work. You’re rich, you’re on Dancing under the Stars, don’t do it. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

Benny pulls aside the sheer curtain and looks outside through the side window. She motions to him that she’s okay and then takes my hand. “My parents will never support my dancing, not now. They just want me to get married and pop out children. Plus, they’re not even speaking to me right now after they saw the pictures of me drinking with you at ONE Sunset.”

Nice. So now it’s my fault? This girl is unreal.

“I want this so bad, Vika. Benny promised me that we can win Rising Star Pro Smooth next year and then we can win the U.S. National Pro Smooth title in three years. And I’ll still be on the show. I’m not stupid. I know I could never get a partner like Jared. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Look at you.” She gives me a kiss on the cheek and walks back inside. Through the sheer curtain, I can see that Benny puts his arm around her and they head upstairs. It’s like watching a canary flutter into a coalmine. Dead girl walking . . .

Marina walks around the side of the house. She’s rolling two luggage cases with one hand and holding my beloved Cha-Cha in the other. “Cha-Cha!” I cry and run over to her.

Marina trips on a bag but I catch the dog before they both hit the cement. Marina straightens up, no worse for wear. I feel bad for a second, but she knows how much I love my pooch. My baby licks me on the nose. “Oh, Cha-Cha, zhuchka . . .”

“I begged Benny to let you keep her,” Marina said.

I start tearing up. I thought I’d never see Cha-Cha again. “Sbacibo, Marinochka.” I hug her, crushing Cha-Cha into my chest. I pull away and see Marina tearing up, too. Then I get an idea. “Antoshka, milay . . .” I lean over and whisper into Tony’s ear.

“Oh, sure, babe.” He puts his arm around Marina, a big, sloppy, cool dude hug. “Marina, m’dear, how would you like to come work for us?”

She gives Tony a suspicious look. “Well, I’m not sure. I’ve been working with Mr. Benny for ten years.” Smart woman. Trying to hustle Tony. She learned from the best.

I nudge Tony’s ribs but he’s already on it. “I’ll pay you more than Benny does.”

She shakes her head.

“Marishka, there’s Starbucks in the house . . .” I say.

Her lips quiver. “Starbucks?”

“Unlimited Grande White Chocolate Mochas . . .” I tempt. “Beats the nasty flat whites that Benny calls coffee.”

“Okay. I do it.”

“Yes!” I pump my free arm then scoop Cha-Cha to my lips for another licky kiss. Life sucks, then you get your dog and your housekeeper . . .

Tony and Marina discuss the details and I carry Cha-Cha into the Range Rover. She looks up at me with her big brown eyes and blinks. I clean her little wrinkles and kiss her whiskers.

Tony climbs in and starts the car. White Zombie blasts from the speakers.

“See,” he says, “I told you everything would be fine. We’re moving your baba into my guesthouse this weekend. She’ll love it there and it will be good for my boys. They’ll go nuts over her just like I have and they can even learn Russian. You and me, we’re going shopping and you can buy whatever fucking thing you want. That place smelled like a morgue, anyway. Hey, wait a minute.”

He slams on the brakes at the end of the driveway, nearly giving me whiplash, then gets out and rips open the back hatch.

“This fucking thing is gone.” He yanks out my lamp and tosses it into Benny’s prize daisies—or maybe they’re tulips, I don’t know.

“I know a guy who can make you a fucking Tiffany lamp,” he shouts in the window, “whatever colors you want. He can put your fucking initials in it.” He climbs back into the car. “Vika, babe, you have to trust me.”

I lean over and give Tony a long kiss. Benny never would let Baba move in with us. I think she made him feel old since they are the same age. “Thank you Tony. You’re amazing.”

He gives me a giddy grin. “Ya tebya lybly,” he says with the worst Russian accent I have ever heard.

I look at him gob smacked “When did you learn . . .?”

“I asked your baba to teach me how to say I love you. I’ve been waiting to tell you in Russian.” He kisses my head, then screeches the Range Rover out of Benny’s driveway into the afternoon traffic. I crank up “Thunder Kiss ’65” and kick my feet up onto the dash. Ooh, Vika needs a new pedicure . . . We meander our way through the purple Jacaranda trees and under the Jasmine vines.

This time, I don’t feel queasy.

Paso Doble

His back arched and his shoulders broadened. Holding her space, she stretched her chest as he stared her down. She waved her long dress at him like a cape and he stormed toward her. She was not afraid of him. He seized her by the waist and they were off—powering down the floor and marching to the beat. The music crescendoed and the intensity built. They reached their climax and he threw her down. Their battle was far from over.