Page 52 of Grunt: A Marine Romance

26

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, put your hands together for Xavier and Selena, who will be dancing a swing to the Ray Charles classic ‘Hit the Road Jack.’”

Xavier and Selena glided onto the stage. He looked so fine in his Pachuco-Zoot-Suit-inspired digs. The man got into the creation of his costume, big time. He called all of his fashion gurus in to design the perfect authentic outfit: a black and red pinstriped double-breasted jacket with sleeves that hung to the end of his fingertips, a cardinal-tinted silk shirt, flowing pegged pants, a black fedora with a scarlet feather, a long wallet chain and tan calcos shoes with squared-off bulldog toes. Classic. And they hooked Selena up, too: a killer red plumed skirt with a black ruby bedazzled corset studded with diamonds and rubies and a huge red-feathered headdress. She even stuck a switchblade knife into her bouffant styled hair. H-O-T, baby. The audience went wild when they began to dance. Swing was one of her best dances, and for tonight she had choreographed a very Lindy Hop-inspired routine. The two of them flicked up their heels in unison and flew across the floor.

Xavier was divine. A true musician. He wanted to win and had pulled out all the stops. He had even planned a huge Zoot Suit bash for tonight after the show.

They did their signature sugar push move, with Xavier tossing Selena away then yanking her back, and she knew they had nailed this number. As they kicked into their final pose, the music came to a crashing end and applause exploded from the audience. Boo-yah, baby!

Both of them breathing heavily, they headed over to Matt. It was pretty stupid trying to interview dancers in the seconds after a performance, but that was Dancing under the Stars so there they were, two panting dogs dressed to the nines.

“So, Xavier,” host Matt said, “You look quite dapper tonight. Audience, doesn’t he look dapper?”

“Come on people, show me some love!” Xavier shouted. They did, of course. Loudly. “Oye, ese, I gotta tell ya. This crowd is amazing. Give it up for my guisa Selena! Yeah! Show some love. She is bangin’. Those moves are hot. I mean this dance is very special to me, very special to me, for real. I’m Chicano and mi abeulo was a Pachuco. In preparation for this dance, I studied the richness and culture during World War II, back in the 1940s. How Mexican-Americans had an integral part in creating the music and dancing swing. In fact, in honor of what I have learned from this dance, I’m gonna create a special Zoot-Suit-inspired line of clothing for my line, Xavier Tomás Clothing.” Xavier pounded his fist over his heart. “I feel it, Matt. I feel it deep.”

“Xavier, that’s great. It’s wonderful that you’ve taken such an interest in the history of ballroom dance. Selena, what do you think about Xavier’s newfound inspiration?”

“Well, I don’t know much about history,” she mumbled. “But Xavier’s the best. He’s so great and supportive to me and I love his outfit.” Yeah, that would go down in the archives as the best answer ever. She hated doing interviews; she just wanted to dance.

“Let’s see what the judges had to say. Benjamin Brooks?”

“Xavier, my good bastard, that was a beaut’. Love your duds. You got the style of the dance down,” Benny said.

“Karen Lopez,” Matt said

“Xavier, you are a dream. You’re so graceful and I can see your years of musicality. You gave such an authentic feel to the dance. I can really see that you made a strong effort to include some Lindy Hop moves into your swing but I really appreciate the fact that you still danced with traditional timing,” she said.

“Steve Samson,” Matt asked.

“Xavier, you’re like a rocket. Taking off fast and furious. It was superb,” Steve replied.

“After the break, the judges will reveal their scores,” said Matt.

Xavier and Selena headed backstage. They awaited their scores surrounded by the other dancers. The judges gave them three tens. Thank God, they were the last dance of the night. Xavier and Selena plowed through the after-show press junket as fast as they could. Selena rushed to her trailer to change. Jenny and Elizabeth were already inside.

Jenny leaned over Selena’s sink, scrubbing off her makeup. Water beads trickled down her forehead. “There you are. Can you please tell Queen Elizabeth over here that what she is wearing is underwear and not an actual dress?” Jenny grabbed a towel and wiped off her face.

Elizabeth pranced around in a near see-through pink silk slip. “It is too a dress,” she whined. “It’s a Diane von Furstenberg. Vika let me borrow it.” She twirled around like a princess.

Apparently, Jenny and Selena weren’t as cool as Vika. Elizabeth had ditched them twice last week to attend store grand openings with Vika and Nicole. Selena hated those stupid fashion events. They never had anything in her size. Did Beverly Hills even make anything in a size four? She was in great shape but she had hips.

Jenny whipped the towel at Elizabeth. “Elizabeth, please stop taking fashion advice from Vika. She was a stripper.”

Elizabeth pouted. “No, she wasn’t. She was a go-go dancer. It’s not the same thing.”

Just one day of peace is all I ask. “Come on, guys. Jenny, stop giving her such a hard time about everything. What do you want her to wear? Braids and a cotton ankle length dress?”

Jenny seethed and slipped into a navy knee-length BCBG skirt.

Selena backed up to Elizabeth. Elizabeth unhooked Selena’s corset.

Ahh, to breathe again.

“Jen, you did so much better tonight. Dion even stood up straight.”

Jenny zipped up her boots. “Yes, Dion’s improving rapidly. But I think overall he’s better at the Standard dances. The swing was okay because it’s kind of slow, but I’m going to need your help Sel when we get to the samba.”

“Got your back, sista.” Selena threw on her favorite Kate Spade dress and fastened her five-inch pumps. “This party is gonna be awesome. Xavier’s been talking about it for weeks. Come on. Let’s go.”