CHAPTER 42-TANGO PALACE
CHAPTER 42 -TANGO PALACE
The neon sign hung above a door right near 48th, a few blocks down from my Broadway debut at Circle in the Square two years before.
"TANGO PALACE -Dancing"
A Fred and Ginger-like couple blinked "Beautiful girls to dance with."
I was reminded of the iconic Times Square photograph when some dufus GI, drunk with post-war zeal, grabbed a dental assistant and kissed her against her will.
"You only have to dance, and men throw money at you," Johnny said. I almost believed him.
Well, hell, dancing, I thought. I could do that. I had seven years of ballet training.
Johnny leaned on someone's car -his Jaguar, I found out, wasn't his. I entered and climbed the wooden stairs, dusty since the early 1900s. Pre-war dust. Lonely immigrant dust, maybe my own grandfather's dust.
Behind the glass partition of a small booth, a husky woman with glossy lips sat with a telephone pressed to her ear. She raised one finger toward me.
"Hang on," said the lip gloss. She penciled something onto a schedule and broke into a coughing fit. Then she opened the door behind her and let me in. I glanced around the formerly grand space -a weird mix of dance-hall wholesomeness and dirt.
"Hi, baby. I'm Lena. You can call me Lenny or Lena, whichever you prefer." Her handshake bespoke poor parenting. One shoulder shrugged up by her ear like a little girl.
"Hi. I'm here for a job?" I was whispering for some reason.
"Oooh, girl, let me look at you. You a young thing! You ever work in a dance hall befo?"
"No, but I understand you dance?" I felt stupid.
"Oh, we do some dancin'. And cute as you are, you oughta get some real nice tips for your 'dancin.'
I was hired. It wasn't like you needed a degree.
I opened the door to the blinding sun and Johnny, smoking in his trench coat. I gave him a triumphant thumbs-up. I could start tomorrow.
"Tha's coo," Johnny said, flicking away his butt. He never really gave it up. I never reached the heights of his approval. He liked keeping me needy.
"I'm scared, Johnny. I mean, what do they do exactly?" I put sugar in my coffee at the Chock-Full-of-Nuts.
"You dance," he said. I think he knew if he got me in the environment, I would figure out how to bring home some money.
On my first day, I wore an outfit Johnny bought me, a mauve polyester flowing thing. I sat with a small group of overly-groomed co-workers in a semi-circular vinyl sitting area.
