Beverly Quarter chapter 15
On Tuesdays, I’m using this newsletter to publish a book called Beverly Quarter: Invisible Frenemy. It’s got nothing to do with the rest of the content of this newsletter. I mean, for real: It doesn’t even contain the word burpee. But I think you’ll like it.
I wrote it to make my kids laugh, their friends laugh, and their parents laugh. I’m guessing most of you have kids, or know kids, or were kids, so you’re my target audience. I explain the book’s backstory here.
Give this chapter a read. If you like it, read it to your kids, their friends, their friends’ parents, random strangers on the street, etc.
I’ll keep publishing the newsletter as usual on Thursdays. This will just be bonus content.
CHAPTER 15
The dance studio—Dance the Knight Away—occupied two storefronts in a strip mall. It was run by Laurie Knight, the woman Sally met at the park. Before Sally’s parents would let her take dance lessons, they wanted to see the studio and talk to Laurie. The Tuesday after the incident at the park, Sally’s mom took her to Dance the Knight Away.
Because it was 10 a.m. on a Tuesday, the studio was mostly empty. A couple ballet dancers did ballet dancer things. How they managed to get their toes that high in the air while those toes were still connected to their feet and their feet were still connected to their ankles, and their ankles to their shin bones, shin bones to knees, etc., remains one of life’s great mysteries. Laurie Knight was on the phone in a back office when a receptionist led Sally and her mom there.
“Do what your Lion does,” she said into the phone. “That’s rule No. 1 for my dance class. You have to put into your character whatever you feel your character has. You have total freedom to do whatever you want. If your Lion is happy, dance happy. If your Lion is a singer, then sing—”
She stopped in mid-thought when she realized Sally and her mom were standing there. She quickly got off the phone and invited them in to her office. Laurie didn’t recognize Sally at first, but she got excited when she realized who she was. “Your daughter is very brave,” she said to Sally’s mom. “That boy was picking on everybody, and she’s the only one who stood up to him. The tiger in her came out.”
“With my help,” said Beverly Quarter, who stood in the corner throughout the meeting.
Sally wisely kept her mouth shut.
“Like I told her father, she has free dance lessons if she wants them.”
A brief interjection here to point out that when “free dance lessons” came out of Laurie Knight’s mouth, Sally started vibrating like she did that time her dad let her drink a whole can of Coke all by herself.
“How old is Sally?” Laurie asked.
“Six,” Sally’s mom said.
“Six and five eighths,” Sally corrected.
“We are actually in a break right now. But our next lessons start on Monday. Sally would be perfect for our dance recital. The theme this year is What Would Tigers Do. It is inspired by what Sally did at the park.”
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Sally loved the dance lessons because the entirety of the instructions, even the warming up and cooling down, was to run around and pretend to be a tiger. When Sally told her dad this, he said it was a good thing the lessons were free. Sally didn’t understand what he meant.
Whether that running around pretending to be a tiger ultimately looked like dancing or just running around would be up to the people in the audience to decide. Whether Laurie Knight cared whether it looked like running around or dancing is another story entirely. Regardless, for Sally, it was a good thing, because she was 51 percent sure she would not be scared about running around pretending to be a tiger. Every time her confidence wavered, Beverly Quarter said, “You’ll do awesome. I promise.”
And Sally believed her.
At the end of the fifth dance lesson, Laurie Knight asked all the kids to line up. “It’s time,” she said dramatically, “to tell you who got what part.”
All the kids chattered excitedly among themselves. Laurie Knight watched them, soaking up their enthusiasm. She counted silently in her head to eight, then 10, then 12. “All eyes on me,” she said.
All 10 sets of eyes looked up at her. “When I call your name, I want you to come forward. That means you have earned the part of a tiger.”
Sally was so excited her stomach hurt. “You got this,” Beverly Quarter whispered into her ear from behind her. “You’re the best dancer here.”
Laurie Knight called off names. “Mackenzie, please come forward,” she said. “Which one?” nine voices said. “All of you,” she said. She read off their last names, and one by one, all nine Mackenzies ran forward.
Sally looked around. Was she going to be left out? What was happening? Suddenly she was all alone. All of the other kids’ names had been called.
“And last but not least, Sally, please step forward and take your stripes!”
Sally was relieved, if a little confused.
“Each and every one of you is a tiger because each and every one of you is special,” Laurie Knight said. “Each and every one of you is the best tiger I’ve ever seen.”
“How does that make sense?” Beverly Quarter said into Sally’s ear. She stepped in front of Sally to address her. “Ask her if she knows what ‘best’ means. Ask her if she knows what ‘each and every one of you’ means.”
Sally kept quiet.
Now Laurie Knight was describing their roles. Each kid was supposed to pretend to be a different part of the tiger. Mackenzie Krestel giggled with delight when told she would be the eye. Mackenzie Ritter beamed when told she would be the front paw.
When she got into the car to go home, Sally was still smiling about her role. “What’s that look on your face?” her dad asked.
“I found out my part today,” she said. “I’m a tiger.”
“Really? That’s awesome! You know my favorite sports team is the Tigers!”
“Really? That’s awesome! You know water’s wet!” Beverly Quarter said, and she really sounded exactly like Sally’s dad.
Sally guffawed.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” she said.
“What about the other kids? What part did Mackenzie get?”
“Which one?”
“Your friend Mackenzie.”
“Which one?’
“The blonde.”
“Which one?”
“The one that came over for lunch that one time.”
“Which one?”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake, Sally, just tell me who got what part.”
“We’re all tigers,” Sally said. “Each of us gets to play a different part of the tiger. Laurie Knight says that’s because each and every one of us is special and because each and every one of us is the best tiger she’s ever seen.”
Sally’s dad wrapped his hands around the steering wheel the way he did when Sally asked the same question 45 times in a row. He thought he was muttering under his breath. But Sally heard him. He said, “how does that make sense? I should ask her if she knows what ‘best’ means. I wonder if she knows what ‘each and every one’ means.”
“I’m supposed to be the tail,” Sally said.
Beverly Quarter scowled sitting next to her. “You’re the best dancer. But you got the worst part. Who wants to be a tiger’s tail? Tails are boring. You should be the head.”