The 21st Century Magazine,at South Florida's www.miami-dade-online.com.
The 21st Century Magazine,
at South Florida's www.miami-dade-online.com.
Before The Road Ended - 5, Randy Burns
"When Frank and Ellie Danced".
Ellie really didn't want to accept but she was too nice to say no. Oh well, she thought, one dance wasn't a lifetime.
However, if it was possible for a dance to last a lifetime, then Frank Balarzi was the one guy in town that could make
time stand still. Like a human traffic jam, Frank could become intolerable without a moment's notice.
Ellie was not a mover or a shaker. She was a farm girl. Pretty in a way that being healthy, young and alive, seldom
misses. A good student that learned easily, but no college followed high school for her, just a secretary's job for the
only lawyer in Ludika, Iowa.
Now Frank was someone who united the little town, in a small way. He was one thing no one ever argued about.
The old, the young, the dogs and other animals, the clergy and the Sheriff, even the bartender that dealt with every
kind of undesirable in or about town, thought Frank was an idiot.
Just one dance with him, that was all. No harm in that. Ellie was uncomfortable and wished Frank wasn't there. She
was prepared to dance with him though, once, when he asked. That would be the polite thing to do for a confident,
self assured-country woman. You could tell he was ready to make his move.
Frank was never afraid to ask for anything, to approach the unapproachable, to dive screaming into an empty
swimming pool. At the time he didn't know it was empty. He did, however, when the transfer from warm night air to
cement had been completed.
Timidly, we all began moving toward the edge of the pool. No one hurried, for all of us were afraid of the sight
waiting. Frank had finally screwed himself for the last time. He had to be dead.
But for the grace of God he wasn't! In fact, Frank was up on his feet at the bottom of the pool, pissed but unbroken.
He began yelling and walking in circles, his voice echoed off the walls of his waterless landing.
"How could anyone own a pool in the middle of summer and not put any water in it!" For the folks standing on the
edge looking down, Frank was putting on a freak show. "It's absurd!" he screamed, his arms flailing around his head
like someone being bitten by bees. "I could own this place. I'll get a lawyer and I will own this place!" He continued
ranting until the guests got bored and went home.
Hell, that had been three years ago. Ellie hadn't seen him since then.
So across the sawdust floor sauntered Frank, his coal black eyes glued to Ellie like it was her lucky day. Two
crooked lines were left in the sawdust behind him because Frank didn't take steps like normal people. He'd just drag
those size thirteens under him wherever he went. That sight, and knowing she was about to become the object of
his request would have scared the hell out of most women.
Not in Ludika! Everyone there had gone to school together, had known each other's folks since they were kids. So
having to dance with Frank was at least safe. Safe as anything else she didn't want to do.
Ellie accepted his invitation, as she'd decided she would, and walked out onto the open dance floor with ole' Frank
following close behind her humming loudly. Everything and everyone, stopped to watch them dance.
It was kind of Ellie, everyone thought, Ellie was just so kind. When she was done with this particular dance, it would
be proof positive how nice she really was to any doubter left in Ludika.
The moment they began dancing, Ellie glided naturally. Frank was dancing slightly hunched over like a driver afraid
at the wheel. Immune to embarrassment, his life had provided all the proper shots. He was wearing the black felt hat
tilted off to the side, always the same hat, inside and out. It looked terrible on him, but he thought it made him look
great. At least he'd spared Ellie 'the shades.'
Frank had actually left them in a friend's bathroom the night before. A sudden attack of stomach cramps
overwhelmed him, causing a stay in his friend's toilet for well over an hour. Finally, after disengaging himself from his
inanimate relief receptacle, he escaped from that room where nature had ordered him to remain. Frank re-entered
his friend's living room zestfully, only to find him asleep on the couch. He was disappointed because he really
wanted to talk, and just for a moment he thought about waking him. But no, no he didn't. Frank went home quietly
leaving his friend undisturbed.
Now I say "His friend," because I'm not sure who this friend was. I knew the story because Frank would talk to you
about anything. If there were a boil on his ass that was bothering him, he'd talk to a Nun about it.
Well enough now, back to the point of this. Somehow, Frank had left his precious shades in his friend's bathroom.
He still wore the hat while they danced, but without the shades he just wasn't himself.
"I tell ya Ellie," he spoke, they danced, "I didn't know I had that much of anything inside me."
"Frank, please," Ellie half begged.
"Has that ever happened to you Ellie? You ever been attacked like that?" He wasn't trying to disgust her, he was
genuinely trying to carry on a regular conversation. The subject, however, just wasn't right for the occasion. It
seldom was with Frank.
"Not that I recall," she answered, because all hope was gone. Her protective instincts had surrendered. If a white
flag could talk, her voice would be its sound.
Frank became silent for a while as they struggled around the floor together, this way and that. Then he said
something to her that was totally unexpected.
"I'm sorry Ellie, really sorry" he said quietly. "I know what a jerk I am."
"It's okay Frank." She was trying to make him feel better now, having no idea that he knew about himself. No one
did.
The music stopped and song was over. Then, with no hesitation at all, Ellie asked Frank to dance with her again.
Man, I'm telling ya, that was something! The expression on Frank's face was as new to Ellie as it was to Frank
himself. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had two dances with the same girl, in a row!
"Are you sure Ellie?" Frank asked her, "I'll be happy with just the one."
Ellie held both her arms out to him. "So are you gonna dance with me again or what?"
Frank was still a bit stunned, but then "Sure, sure I will," came pouring out of his smiling face. For
the first time in years, Frank's shades became the last thing on his mind. Someone he considered
incredibly beautiful was treating him like a person.
The band hit an up-tempo Cajun song, and right there's when it all broke loose. Frank grabbed one of Ellie's arms
and swung her around him, then he kicked one of those spider-like legs of his high into the air and away they flew.
Frank was cuttin' loose, the two of them were. No one at the dance could believe it. Ellie was flying as fast as ole'
Frank, they were terrific! Those size thirteens were history. What moves, what speed! Nobody danced that well in
Ludika, nobody. Frank and Ellie were laughing and making faces at each other, spinnin' and jumpin', together they
owned the place.
I hate the word, but glee had overwhelmed them both.
The world changed a little that night. The town of Ludika was little. Frank became accepted a short while after that,
but Ellie took him immediately. They were dating for years, well into their forties. Never got married while I was
there. And that's the way things were when I moved out of Ludika. Always together, best of friends, and everywhere
Frank and Ellie went, people waited just to watch em' dance.
To this day I remember that astonishing evening in Ludika. I don't want to know what happened to them after I left. I
prefer to remember it all as I do, unchanged by any possible sadness. ~
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