Chapter 50

Carmela Ruiz sat on the sidelines along the wall, far from the dance floor, her moon face dark with unhappiness. "Well, we're here -- not that it will do us any good," she said to Isobel Vega, who sat next to her. She had importuned her mother to put out the money for the obligatory black evening dress, which displayed her expanse of high, soft cleavage -- but unfortunately also revealed that the rest of her was definitely queen-sized. Carmela was portly, and the dress was clearly stuffed full of young woman -- and where it left off, there was a considerable amount of heavy, rounded thigh and calf to be seen. One of her thick, yet shapely ankles sported a bracelet above the black, Spanish buckled heels she wore on her pudgy but well-shaped feet.

"Let's make a pact to lie about it to our mothers when we go home," Isobel suggested, her long, aristocratic, but virtually chinless face even longer than usual, her sad eyes dull and flat above cheeks cratered by old acne pits. "We don't want them to know what a waste of money these dresses were."

"Good idea," Carmela agreed. "Let's go get something to drink." She stood and Isobel followed; they looked like Mutt and Jeff or Laurel and Hardy heading for the beverage table, as Isobel was as lean as Carmela was portly and bowlegged to boot. She had a little round ass and teacup titties and tended to strut and posture -- and it did her little if any good.

They'd have been surprised if they'd been given to realize that they were actually being watched...

"Ruiz and Vega," Chuck Wilson noted. "Joined at the hip as usual."

Alonzo Perry nodded. "No big surprise."

"You know, I wonder if it would be worth it to try to bag one of them..." Chuck mused.

"You're shitting me, right?" Alonzo cocked an eyebrow.

"Haven't you learned anything at the club?" Chuck asked. "I'm not looking for decorative -- well, not exactly, anyway. Neither of them is godawful -- but they're both a little desperate, I bet."

"More like a LOT desperate!" Alonzo laughed. "Are you talking a fuck here, or something serious?"

"I'd let them interview for serious," Chuck allowed. "Either one of them."

"I'm off Hispanic chicks," Alonzo grunted. "Well, except older ones, maybe..." 'Too bad Marta is almost twice as old as I am, ' he added to himself. "What's the plan?"

"I'm thinking I'll drag them onto the dance floor, one by one, and see which one will go the farthest," Chuck mused. "Even if I pick one tonight and find out she's a washout, the other one will come around later..."

"Hey, whatever," Alonzo mused. "Thanks for reminding me, though, about Grade B. I'd forgotten all about the 'when you're second best, you try harder' kind of thing." He swept the room with his eyes and found Tina Bettinger looking back. Tina was a brunette with an easygoing, 'one of the boys' type attitude, not much up top, but with a nice, rounded ass that oddly looked better in pants than a dress. The thick, muscular legs connected to that ass were a bit bigger than they needed to be to support her torso, and made her look a bit out of proportion. She was into sports, both as a competitor and as a spectator, and could become quite animated while competing or watching an event. The cool brown eyes under her thick eyebrows regularly projected a reserved amusement that kept boys at bay. Tina had come to the dance alone -- which was typical for her. She could probably get a date -- lots of guys would like to be able to break through the wall she put around herself -- but no one thought they had a shot, and for that reason, she hadn't managed. Actually, the reserve that protected her covered a profound shyness; she could approach a guy more or less AS a guy and talk about sports or other male-oriented subjects, but couldn't seem to let go and be female in the presence of one.

"There isn't any party at the club tonight, Man," Chuck reminded him. "If you want to get it wet, you need to hunt down your own."

"Yeah, for sure," Alonzo agreed. Both of them had been more or less living off the fat of the land -- and older women, in many cases. The club wasn't flush with new volunteers, either. Apparently, it was time they soloed... "I'm gonna go hit up Tina and see if she'll dance."

Chuck grunted. "She probably will, but she'll want three other guys around so nobody gets any ideas..." Tina tended to run with a crowd, thereby keeping individual males at bay.

Alonzo shrugged. "You can't win if you don't play..."

"That's what I'm thinking," Chuck agreed, and with a nod the pair parted company.

Carmela nearly dropped her drink when a male voice asked, "Hey, Carmela, how come you're not dancing?" She nearly dropped it AGAIN when she recognized Chuck Wilson!

"N-nobody has asked!" she stammered.

"I'm asking," Chuck retorted. "Give Isobel your drink and your purse and come on!"

Carmela turned and shoved her drink and her purse at her girlfriend, leaving her standing there blinking, looking vaguely like an animated coat rack.

"Make sure we can find you," Chuck admonished Isobel, "I'm taking you out next!"

As she was tugged onto the floor, Carmela related diffidently, "I don't dance very well."

"You probably do better than me," Chuck replied, "When the girls all get up together and dance, you get some practice -- the guys don't DO that!" This wasn't strictly true, perhaps -- Chuck's old girlfriend Jessica liked to dance and liked to be seen dancing with Chuck, so he'd done some floor time -- but not lately. The tune was a fast one and half done already when they reached a place on the floor where they could dance, but Chuck didn't intend to turn Carmela loose after only one dance, anyway. Instead, he watched Carmela bounce and jiggle -- and she did plenty of both. Chuck had learned that he enjoyed that kind of thing watching Terence and little Bonita go at it, and Miriam had added a touch component during a certain memorable ass-fuck, and Wanda Samuels had only reinforced things. Carmela would have been surprised to find out that she was both in competition with her friend and already way out in front. What she DID know was that she was enjoying herself -- her smile got bigger and brighter as the song wore on. By the middle of the second song, she was trying crazy stuff -- but was surprised when Chuck reached out and whipped her around and pulled her back against him in a 'dirty dancing' move. She worried briefly about being sweaty -- but Chuck didn't seem to mind. They did a couple of other wild things, leaving Carmela wildly excited when the third song -- a slow number -- came on.

Carmela stopped, uncertain what to do. Chuck wouldn't want to dance slow, would he? But Chuck asked, "You don't dance slow?"

"I never have," Carmela admitted.

"Nothing to it. The trick is getting in close enough that you can feel everything the other person is doing -- then you don't step on each other." Chuck's eyes glinted a bit above his grin.

"I think maybe you are trying to get away with something..." Carmela mused.

Chuck shrugged. "See if it doesn't work..." He moved in close and wrapped his arms around her, sliding a knee between hers. Before she knew it, they were moving in unison. He slid both hands around her bare upper back.

Carmela looked up at him. "You ARE trying to get away with something!"

"Tell me you hate it," Chuck retorted.

Carmela put her head on his shoulder, thankful that her three inch heels allowed her to do it. They made her a bit clumsy, but she was doing okay. Chuck was right -- with his leg between hers, he knew where he was going next from the pressure against the inside of her legs -- and besides, they weren't doing anything challenging -- mostly rocking back and forth. Chuck slid his hands down to her hips and pulled her tighter against him and it seemed that they were welded together there -- and she was pretty sure she knew what that hot, hard bulge was that pressed itself along the juncture of her mound and her left thigh -- but Carmela was FAR from taking offense at such a thing! Instead, she got wet -- very wet -- below, and pressed her puffy breasts against him, rubbing his back. Her only concern at this point? 'I'm sweating like a pig!'

Then it was over and Chuck released her, saying, "Let's go catch our breaths and find Isobel."

'Have I done something wrong?' went through Carmela's head, but Chuck held her hand as he led her off the floor.

Isobel was back at their remote table when they went looking for her. She looked at Chuck bug-eyed, as if he'd grown two heads and muttered, "Hi," as he settled into a seat to her left, with Carmela beyond.

"Thanks for watching things," Chuck ventured.

"You are welcome..."

Carmela felt a sudden twinge of jealousy at Chuck turning his attention on Isobel -- but before the thought 'He's using me to get to her!' fully formed in her mind, he was back, asking, "Did you have a good time out there?"

Caught flat-footed, Carmela replied, "Yes..."

"Good. We'll do it again," Chuck announced. "I need a drink -- does anyone need a refill?" The girls had just gotten theirs when Chuck took Carmela out and Isobel had been so busy watching them that she hadn't had any. Nonetheless, she put her hand over Carmela's before telling Chuck, "Not yet, thank you."

"I'll be back," Chuck announced, and headed off.

"What was that all about?" Carmela asked.

"Don't let him get you drinks," Isobel warned, "He could drug them and take advantage of you!"

Carmela looked back and nodded -- but she was thinking, 'He wouldn't NEED drugs!'

'Caught!' flashed through Tina Bettinger's brain as she locked eyes with Alonzo -- but he turned away to speak to Chuck Wilson after a moment, so she decided that she was safe. The boys were staying away, repelled by something or other, as usual -- and while it eased her fears, it wasn't as if she was enjoying standing there, watching others having fun...

She was passing the time, talking to Sherry Neilson, when suddenly, a male voice asked, "Hey, Tina, why aren't you dancing?"

Tina jumped a foot and spun to discover Alonzo standing there. Caught flat-footed, she mumbled, "Nobody asked..."

"I am. Come on!" Alonzo gave her hand a tug. He was pleased with himself -- Chuck's line had worked perfectly on Carmela and Alonzo had been in earshot, so it replaced the lame "Do you wanna dance?" he'd been planning on whipping on Tina. The question put the ball in the girl's court -- but they didn't seem to be able to catch, so they passed it right back without thinking...

Tina was on the dance floor before she realized it, nearly spilling the drink she'd been carrying. "Hey, wait!"

Alonzo, not wanting to lose control of things and seeing an opportunity to make sure that Sherry didn't become a problem, took Tina's drink and shoved it into Sherry's free hand, saying, "Here -- watch this for her, will ya?" Sherry stood there, blinking, a cup in each hand, and Alonzo resumed tugging a bewildered Tina onto the floor.

And then they were dancing. Since Tina really WANTED to dance with Alonzo, it would be stupid to put up a fuss, so she capitulated and began to dance. How she'd gotten there was still a blur, but did that matter? It must have been that look they'd shared ... Tina worried that she'd totally outed herself -- she thought the hunky half-Puerto Rican half-black football player was VERY hot, but she couldn't EVEN tell him and he hadn't seemed to have any interest, anyway. Here they were, though ... Tina's secret was that football had NOTHING to do with her interest in Alonzo; Mrs. Farragut, the English teacher, had embarrassed Alonzo in class on a couple of occasions by reading aloud excerpts from his assignments that made him appear to be a very romantic person -- and THAT was what had captured Tina's attention. Tina related to boys using sports -- but they were her defense against intimacy, not a means by which to approach her closely. The keys to her heart were a secret -- but Alonzo might just hold them...

Alonzo was on his 'A' game. Knowing that Tina was skittish, he didn't take Chuck's approach. Instead, he took things slowly, but confidently, not trying any 'dirty dancing' moves or invading her space too deeply but making the occasional touch in areas that were less than threatening. When the slow dancing started, Alonzo didn't rush in and try to fit himself against Tina, but rather put his hands on her hips and didn't go wild on her. Tina would dance dirty with him and she would cling to him and attempt to merge with him -- but it wouldn't be tonight, and it wouldn't be until she had some confidence in Alonzo. If they became a couple, Alonzo fully expected Tina to become a wild child -- but it would be with him and with him alone. Oh, she was a party animal and might get a little crazy in public -- but again, it would be against a backstop -- him.

Alonzo was well aware that Tina was feeling a little threatened, even while enjoying his attentions. As the second slow dance in a row began, he could almost feel her nerving herself up to come out with something inane like, "So, how about those Lakers?" After that, things would go one of two ways -- they would talk sports and the wall would go up or he would pass it off and she would try to shift her attention to someone who was interested in carrying on the conversation -- and away from him.

That being the case, it was up to him to make the next move. That could be hairy -- but he had to say SOMETHING and it couldn't be about sports ... After a moment's thought, he beat her to the draw by murmuring, "I love your hair -- those little pearls make it look like you stuck your head into the wind and collected stardust..."

Tina had her hair pinned up in a style that cascaded from the right side of her head but was pulled back on the left, and pinned in place with pins with tiny false pearl heads. Catching her as he did, just nerving herself to put up a wall between them, he hit her right between the eyes with the compliment. She stared up at him, wide-eyed, her mouth open, only moving automatically because his hands were on her hips.

The results of his effort were a little scary to Alonzo, but he just smiled down at her and waited. After a moment, she closed her mouth and said, "Thank you" -- and pressed herself close to him, tucking her head into his shoulder to hide her embarrassment at being caught short.

The net effect of all this, of course, was that they were now dancing closer ... Alonzo took advantage of her move by holding her closer and rubbing her bare back -- the dress was strapless. He still took no undue advantage, however, knowing that Tina wouldn't handle it well. He held her close until they finished the dance, then led her back to Sherry, saying, "I'm going to get something to drink, then I'll be back..."