Thanksgiving Week, 2038
TUESDAY EVENING, 11/23
Jaime and Rina got to the auditorium where the dance recital was being held about half an hour before they planned. Helene had given them tickets for good seats, for which they were grateful.
"It's almost time for the doors to open," Rina said; "so why am I nervous?"
"I know how you feel, Reen," Jaime said; "I think we're both nervous for Helene. She'll do well. All those late rehearsals, then she still pulls her ass out of bed each morning and does a full day of classes and has a job! I'm almost jealous of her dedication."
"She lives the life, just like I live the life of a computer expert and you live the life of a biologist," Rina said; "Know what I mean?"
"She talks the talk and walks the walk, in other words," Jaime said; "Another American colloquialism for you to learn," she added with a grin.
Rina grinned back, saying, "I've actually heard that one before in boarding school."
"You guys will get to meet my animals," Jaime said; "especially my horses."
"I love horses!" Rina said; "How many do you have?"
"Four," Jaime said; "two females and two males. We also have a bull named Sarge, some cows, goats, chickens, and our dog, Tripod."
"Tripod?"
"Because he has three legs," explained Jaime. "He lost one of his front legs when he was a pup when he was attacked by a pack of coyotes."
"Must be some dog, this Tripod," Rina said.
"Oh, he is, Rina," Jaime said; "He definitely is."
The girls noticed that the doors were opening, and Rina said, "We should get to our seats."
On the way inside, each girl grabbed a program. Jaime looked at it and said, "Helene's group is last!"
"They must be the best group then, like the headlining act at a rock concert," Rina said.
"I never thought of it that way, but you could be right," Jaime said; "But it could also be that way by pure chance, too."
They found their seats and sat down before Rina responded, "That could be true."
They only had to wait a short time before the performances were to begin, and Jaime hoped that all the groups were as good as Helene's group was.
She and Rina wouldn't be disappointed.
===
Helene's going to be so surprised, Alexei thought gleefully as he drove toward Evanston; I can't wait to see her dance again. I'm glad that rehearsal was short today.
He easily found the off campus theater where the recital was taking place. He knew he was late for the 7pm start, and he hoped that Helene's group hadn't already performed.
He got to the doors where an usher said that it was standing room only, and if he didn't mind standing, Alexei could stay. He was given a program and found that he hadn't missed Helene's performance after all. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Once in the theater, Alexei saw why it was standing room only: every seat was taken and there was a large number of people standing. He took his place along the back wall, where, once the lights went up briefly, he could see a redhead and a brunette sitting together talking quietly while waiting for the next group to take the stage, and deduced that they were Helene's suitemates Jaime and Rina.
The three groups left to perform before Helene's group were good, Alexei decided, but he knew that Helene was better. He'd performed with her and knew her dedication to her craft. He knew that Helene was one of those rare dancers who put their soul and their heart and their being into their craft. Was it any wonder, he thought, that Chicago City Ballet wanted her to join them?
Soon, it was time for "Group Seven" to take the stage. Helene's group.
===
"There she is, Jaime!" Rina whispered excitedly to Jaime as Helene's group started their recital. Theirs was an original composition, choreographed by Helene and another girl named Sandra Ramirez-Ochoa.
It seemed that the audience was spellbound, and unlike the other groups that preceeded them, the level of talent of those five dancers was far above those who had already danced.
Everyone's eyes were on Helene, as she was the lead dancer in the group. She danced flawlessly, and the other four dancers took their cues from her. That was the way it was choreographed by Sandra; to make Helene shine on stage. Helene had choreographed the other dancers. No one could have guessed that this performance was the first time that Helene had done any choreography.
It was over much too soon, and as they took their final bows, the group got a standing ovation. Rina even called out, "Bravo! Bella! Magnifico!" Helene had heard her, and waved from the stage.
Rina and Jaime hugged each other happily, happy that Helene had done so well, as they knew she would.
"Wow!" Jaime said as she and Rina made their way to the backstage area to congratulate Helene and give her the flowers they had brought. Jaime had ordered them a week in advance from her job at the florist, and swore the store manager to secrecy, since Helene also worked there.
"I had only heard how good Helene was from her sister," Jaime said; "But I had no idea just how incredibly talented she was!"
"It was a beautiful performance," Rina said; "She could dance with any ballet company in Europe and hold her own. But she's our little secret weapon, is she not?"
"I wish Alexei could have been here to see her," Jaime said; "as it is, we won't meet him til Thursday now."
"He knows what she can do," Rina said; "He's danced with her before."
They reached backstage just as the dancers were emerging, and they saw Helene right away. Jaime waved to get her attention, but too many people were around her, talking to her and congratulating her. Finally she broke free of the crowd to see her friends.
"For you, bella," Rina said as she and Jaime handed her their flowers. "I'm completely floored by how good you are, Helene!"
"Thank you so much for the flowers!" Helene said; "Even if I know where they came from. They'd been sitting in the back room at work for three days. I had no clue they were for me from you guys!"
"We should go out for a late dinner," Jaime said; "I'm starved!"
"Me, too!" Helene said, laughing.
"What's open this late?" Rina asked, looking at her watch.
"Denny's?" Jaime said. "But I know you're not too fond of the place, but anything else and we'd have to drive into Chicago."
"Isn't that coffee shop open all night?" asked Helene.
"I think it is," Rina said; "I'd rather go there than Denny's. They serve typical American food. Everyone will probably go to Denny's anyway. Let's be different."
"Yes," Jaime agreed; "Let's be trendsetters and not part of the herd."
"Let's go," Helene said; "I'm so hungry, I could eat a cow."
"I thought it was 'I could eat a horse'?" asked Rina.
"It is," Jaime said; "but I think Helene's is more accurate. I could use a steak right about now."
===
Alexei decided against trying to see Helene, seeing that she was surrounded by several people, including her suitemates. He thought he recognized the talent director from Chicago City Ballet.
He made his way to the parking lot and found his car. He got it, but sat in traffic for twenty minutes before he could even get to the highway back to the city.
He had a big smile on his face as he drove. Helene had done well, but he knew she would. That she was surrounded by well wishers didn't surprise him. It seemed odd to him that her family wasn't in attendance, but they were in New York, after all. Such a long trip for Helene's little brother, he thought. He doesn't take to change well. He might have thought that Helene was coming home with them. Helene had told him that when she, Rina and Jaime had gone there for fall break, Eric didn't take their leaving well at all. And Rina was taking his new toy, her adaptive keyboard that talked, with her.
In other ways, Alexei thought the little boy was incredibly intelligent. He had studied in one of his college classes in Syracuse about autism, and thought Eric DeWitt might have some form of it, though a high functioning form, like Aspberger's.
I hope not, he thought as he entered the street where his apartment was located, but if it turns out that way, I know his family will deal with it. Eric adored his sisters, and they would do anything for him if he needed it.
Alexei would have one more short day of rehearsals before Thanksgiving, then he would drive back out to Evanston to meet up with Helene and her suitemates for the drive to Belvidere. He was looking forward to it, especially spending time with Helene.
===
The diner was nearly empty as the girls arrived. It was indeed open all hours, but save for a few truckers and older graduate students, Helene, Rina and Jaime were the only ones there from the recital.
"See, we're blazing our own trail," Jaime said; "but some of those guys over there make me a little nervous."
"We can handle them," Rina said; "I'll speak only Italian to them and they'll leave us alone."
"Let's just ignore them," suggested Helene. "If that doesn't work, then we'll unleash a little redhead power," she finished, winking at Jaime.
"You really do underplay your skills, don't you, Jaime?" asked Rina.
"It's bad enough that my mom's the so-called 'SpineSplitter'," Jaime said in a low voice, "but to have to stab someone with this knife might be too much!" She laughed, holding up the table knife in front of her.
They looked at the menus and quickly decided on what they were going to order; steak and scrambled eggs for Jaime; a double cheeseburger for Helene; and steak omelet for Rina. They then gave their order to the waitress, who was probably, Helene guessed, about her father's age.
As they ate, Jaime and Rina went on and on about Helene's performance. Helene blushed a deep pink, pleased that her suitemates were proud of her. Then Helene told them that the show was filmed, and that she'd have several copies of it to give to friends and family who could not be there in person.
"So your family will get to see it! How cool!" Jaime said.
"My parents called me about an hour before the show and wished me good luck, and they wished they could be here," Helene said; "The flu has taken hold at the DeWitt house, and Dad was the only one well enough to talk to me. Mom had fallen asleep on the couch with Eric, so I didn't get to talk to her. Dad always knows what to say. He told me to expect flowers tomorrow!"
"How nice for your parents to do that for you, Helene," Rina said; "I'm so geloso right now!"
"Is that 'jealous', by chance?" asked Jaime.
"Exactly," Rina said. "You two will be speaking Italian in no time!!"
"I should already," Jaime said; "My mom's family is Italian, after all."
"I'm part American, and I didn't learn English until I went to school," Rina said. "My father spoke to us in Italian. Every once in a while, he'd sneak in an English word, and my mother would get angry if she heard us saying anything in English. 'No Inglese! Solo in italiano!' she'd yell at my father."
"The more I hear about your mother," Jaime said, "the more I want to punt her into the next century. Was she always a bitch?"
Rina nodded. "Yes," was her one word reply.
"Maybe she feels threatened by yours and your brother's growing independence," Helene said; "But then again, she did hire someone else to take care of you."
"Yes, and as soon as I am able to, I'm going to bring Giuliana-Maria to the States. She's lived such a hard life," Rina said; "She told me before I went to boarding school that she only stayed for me and Vito. She liked my father, because he was nice to her. She mourned for him more at his death than my mother did."
"That's so sad, Rina," Helene said; "I cannot even imagine a mother who didn't want to raise her own children."
"My children," Rina said, "if I am blessed to have any, will have my full undivided attention. My work I can do at home. If you bring bambini into the world, it's your job to care for them! Like your mothers did for you and your siblings. Mia madre รจ una puttana!"
Jaime's eyes went wide. She knew that "puttana" was "whore".
"I'm sorry, James, but it's true. My mother is a whore," Rina said sadly. "She proved it every day."
===
Sitting in a remote corner of the diner, a man was writing in what appeared to be a journal. He left before the girls did and went to an internet hot spot. He sat at a computer after paying the hourly fee, and wrote an email from an untraceable account to his employer.
Observed subject and friends in diner near NW campus. The blond girl, Helene, is a dancer. The dark haired girl, whose name I did not catch, though it sounded like Tina or Gina, spoke in accented English. Spanish perhaps. She asked subject why she downplayed her skills, and subject mentioned SpineSplitter. The three of them seemed to be keeping their voices low. Dark haired girl sat with back to patrons. Helene and subject could be easily seen. No pictures at this time. Shall I continue to follow?
He sent "Send", closed out the email program, shut down the computer, and left. The three young ladies he was observing were just getting ready to leave.
He'd check for a reply to his email when he got back to his motel.
===
The recipent of the man's email read it on his tablet. He was pleased that he got more information about the dark haired girl, though he still didn't have a name. "Tina" or "Gina"? Made no sense to him.
He sent a one sentence reply: Continue to follow until you hear otherwise. Take pix. And don't get caught.--rp
===
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