Chapter 6
Louisiana
“Did you see that?” Amy came running up on the porch. Charlie and I were relaxing on the porch swing, and she’d been working on tricks in the yard.
“I did. When did you learn to do that?” I smiled as she beamed with pride.
I knew her teacher had been working on her side aerial for weeks, but Amy kept putting her hand down.
Her teacher said she knew she could do it, she just lacked confidence.
I was waiting for the day when she would try it without putting her hand down.
“I just…” she paused for a moment. “I don’t know, I just did it.” She rushed back into the yard and flipped again.
“Isn’t she kinda young for those tricks?” Charlie glanced at me, concern shadowing his face.
“Not really. If you saw some of the other girls in her class, you’d see this is actually right where she should be.”
“But, isn’t she dancing with a group that’s two years older than she is?” He seemed a little worried that I wasn’t more concerned for her safety or something.
“She is, but it’s because she’s advanced.
There are kids her age who are landing these tricks.
She wants to compete in solos one day, and this is how she gets there.
” I shrugged. If her teachers thought she was ready, I wasn’t planning to hold her back.
“You should come to the competition next weekend. It’s a real eye-opener to see these girls dance,” I suggested.
“Ok, I’ll try. I think I can probably go for some of it.” The fact that he even agreed surprised me. Usually dance was just us girls and Charlie watched through pictures and video.
“Mama, look!” Amy shouted as she took off running and began a tumbling pass. “You think when I’m bigger, I could do cheer?”
“Maybe. We’ll have to see how much time you have. Dance takes up a lot of time right now.”
“When would she have time for cheer?” Charlie grumbled.
“I don’t really know what you’re worried about.
It’s usually just her and me at all these things.
I’m the one at the studio and all the competitions.
How would her adding more to her schedule affect you?
” I snapped. I was over it. Charlie hadn’t come to any dance stuff since the first year she took lessons.
He didn’t come to school functions, and if he weren’t writing the checks each month to pay for the stuff, you’d never know he was there.
“All of this is expensive, and someone has to pay for it,” he griped.
“You know, she’d rather have your time than your money.” I rolled my eyes. I was so tired of him playing the card of cost. I was working now too, and yes, dance was expensive, but we were not close to struggling.
“If I don’t work, then I can’t pay for this, and then there’d be nothing for me to go to,” he snapped.
“I just can’t with you sometimes. All we do is bicker.
Just go to the office, if that’s where you want to be.
” I stood and went inside. I needed to get away for a few minutes before I said something I didn’t mean.
Amy had already made a comment a few weeks ago that Daddy and I always seemed to be mad at each other.
It was times like these that made me question why I was still here.
The hard part was that I still loved him and I knew the guy I fell in love with was still in there somewhere, and every once in a while, he would make an appearance.
Ooooooooo
“Rise and shine.” I rubbed Amy’s back to wake her. “Gotta get up. It’s competition day.” Her eyes flew open and she sat up.
“I packed last night.” She pointed to the dance bag on the floor by her closet. “Can you check to make sure I didn’t miss anything?”
“I will if you start getting ready.” I smiled as I stood from where I was perched on her bed and went over to unzip the bag. She had tights, shoes, hair accessories, socks, extra clothes, and her makeup kit. “We need a brush,” I called as I stood and made my way over to her dresser.
“I was waiting until I fixed my hair,” she called from the bathroom.
“Let’s get this show on the road.” Charlie stood in the doorway. He was dressed in jeans and a tee that said ‘Dance Dad’ across the chest. I’d bought it for him when Amy first started dancing, and he’d never worn it.
“You’re coming?” She grinned.
“I am.” He smiled. “I took the weekend off. I’m coming for all of it.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Amy clapped happily. Her hair was sticking up in every direction and she was still in her PJs.
“I think you might need to get dressed.” He laughed as he pointed at her.
“Well, get out then.” She giggled.
“You can take all of this to the car.” I motioned to the dance bag and the three costumes hanging up on the closet door.
Charlie gathered everything, and as soon as he left the room Amy rushed around, changing.
I brushed her hair and tied it back with a hair tie before she grabbed her team jacket and we left.
“Here.” I reached into the back seat and handed her two toaster waffles I’d heated up before we left. There’s never time to eat at these things, so we eat in the car, and then snack when we get the chance.
It was about an hour’s drive to this weekend’s destination and when we arrived, the parking lot was full. Dancers and their parents were carrying things in and several dance dads were putting together props for some of the numbers.
“We’re in room two today.” Amy pointed. Her teacher had gone over all of this at rehearsal this week, and despite only being seven, she remembered everything better than me.
I turned to Charlie. “You can’t come in the back because it’s girls only, so why don’t you stake out some seats?” I motioned to the doors that led inside the auditorium. “I’ll come find you once I get her hair fixed.”
“Sure.” Charlie nodded. I watched as he walked over to where he could go inside. He stopped and grabbed a program. I figured when he saw how many numbers there’d be and how long it was going to last, he might rethink staying for the entire thing.
“Let’s get you ready.” I followed Amy into the dressing room.
We found a quiet corner away from everyone else, and I set everything up.
We have this makeup table that looks like a suitcase on the outside.
You open it and legs fold out, then there are lights and everything.
We can keep all her makeup in there and we have backup stuff for if there are any last-minute changes.
I had her sit down, and I went to work on fixing her hair.
“No baby hairs!” Amy scolded as I spritzed her hair with water. The judges take off points if the hair is not completely slicked back. No fly aways. The teachers were very explicit about this when we went to the hair and makeup tutorial at the studio last year.
“No baby hairs. Got it.” I sprayed her down with hairspray.
“The California Girls one is first today. Miss Abby said to use butt glue.” Amy pulled away from me to dig in her bag. “I put it in here.” She produced a small white jar. The stuff literally looked like glue. You rubbed it on and when you put the costume over it, it stayed in place.
“Do you want me to do this, or are you gonna do it?” I pointed to the jar.
“You can do it, just don’t put too much,” she warned. “It hurts coming off.”
“Let’s put the costume on first, and I’ll see where exactly we need to stick it.
” She slipped into the purple bikini, and we glued it in place, then I slipped the fabric swim cap on and sewed it in.
Last week, a mom forgot to sew the hat on and it fell off during the number.
Miss Abby was not happy. It took me a bit, but I got the makeup finished just as the group was lining up to do a practice run.
“I’m going to go sit with Daddy. I’ll come get you after you guys finish.
” I gave her a quick hug and then headed out to meet Charlie.
As I was heading into the auditorium, I stopped at the merch table to grab a patch. Each competition had a patch, and Amy had been collecting them. If she kept dancing, I was hoping to one day do something with the patches. I stuffed it in my pocket and then went in to find Charlie.
He wasn’t hard to spot. Not many dads come to these. It’s a lot of moms and grandmas. I made my way down the aisle he was sitting on and took the seat beside him.
“She’s on in just a few. They were running the number backstage.” I took the program as he handed it to me.
“How long do these usually go?” He watched as I thumbed through the pages to look at the lineup.
“By the time they do awards, it’ll be close to ten tonight before we can leave.
” I sighed. Amy loved dance, so I loved it too.
It wasn’t the long nights or all the preparation, or even all the money it cost that made this worth it.
It was the way she looked when she stepped on stage.
It was the way she smiled when she talked about it.
It was the dedication she had for it, and how much she’d learned since she started.
“I know this isn’t your thing, but it means everything that you’re here.
” I patted his leg. Just then the lights started to dim, and the first group took the stage.