by Alexa Land
Elijah stared at me for a moment, and then he grinned a little and said, “It’s nice not being the weirdest person in the room for once.”
I jumped up and exclaimed, “That’s a yes, isn’t it?”
He got up too and said, “Sure. Why not?”
A few minutes later, Duke, Elijah, and the rest of his family were lined up in chairs on the edge of the patio, which had been cleared of furniture. I’d done some stretches, stripped down to just my jeans, and cued up a song on Finn’s stereo, which he’d very accommodatingly relocated to just inside the back door. I stood facing the bay and my little audience, lit by the strands of white bulbs which rimmed the cement patio, and said, “I wanted Elijah to experience ballet first-hand, so thanks for humoring me. This is the routine I performed when I auditioned for the San Francisco Ballet. I hope you like it.” Colt and Cory looked bored, while everyone else had a politely interested expression fixed in place. They were probably expecting the death scene from Swan Lake, or some tired shit like that. I grinned a little and pressed a button on the antiquated stereo.
Everyone’s eyes went wide when Bohemian Rhapsody started to play, even Duke’s, and he should have known me well enough by that point to guess I wasn’t going to do anything conventional. During the a cappella introduction, I swung my arms around and leaned so far backwards that my fingers grazed the concrete. Then I moved deliberately around the patio, executing a series of pirouettes, arms up, toes pointed, head back, in perfect form, just like I’d been taught.
When the tempo picked up, I brought it. I leapt high into the air and spun, dropped onto the deck and rolled across it, then pushed off, arching my body. For the next few minutes, I reacted to the music, I became it, forgetting everything but how to move. I executed a flawless series of grand jettes, wide, soaring leaps across the stage. I felt so alive! My body responded with everything it had. It knew that routine so well, every note, every moment. I swirled across the stage, bending, twisting, and leapt into the air again, defying gravity, completing two complete rotations before I landed. I reached out, elongating my body, then jumped and spun again. It was as natural and familiar as breathing. It was strength and beauty, power and grace. It was everything.
As the final notes of the song faded out, I slowed, then stilled with one arm raised overhead and my right leg stretched behind me. All was silent for a moment. I’d forgotten where I was. Then someone exclaimed, “Holy shit!”
I looked up and remembered my little audience beside the bay. They were still staring at me with wide eyes. In the next instant, Elijah leapt to his feet and started clapping wildly. The rest of the group followed his lead, and I grinned embarrassedly at my standing ovation and took a bow.
Duke crossed the cement patio to me, dipped me back, and kissed me passionately. Then he looked deep into my eyes and whispered, “You astonish me.” I smiled at him and touched his lips, and after a moment, he pulled me upright and ran the back of his hand down my cheek.
Finn and his family gathered around us, and he said, “I can’t believe the San Francisco Ballet didn’t hire you after that.”
Duke traced my jaw, still staring at me with wonder as he said, “They did.”
Finn said, “Oh. So…what happened to the job?”
Duke murmured, “Quinn turned it down. They weren’t good enough for him.” Then he peeled off his dark blue sweater, wrapped me up in it, and told me, “Come on, beautiful boy. Let’s go inside, before you get cold.” I grinned at him and let him lead me indoors.
Once I was dressed again, we gathered around the big dining room table. Duke sat beside me on my right, and Elijah slipped into the chair to my left and said, “Thank you, Quinn. That was amazing. If the offer still stands, I’d love those tickets to see you perform onstage. I have some money, so I can pay you for them.”
I said, “It’s my treat. I was given a whole stack of tickets for my friends and family, so I’ll send you five of them, if everyone wants to go.”
I was surprised when Cory asked, “Could you make it six? My dad’s out of town on business right now, but I don’t want him to miss out.”
I looked across the table at the teen, who was studying his place setting, and said, “Absolutely.” He murmured a thank you.
Colt joined us at the table, tossed his shaggy, dark hair out of his blue eyes, and exclaimed, “That was bad-ass! I had no idea ballet could be like that. I thought it was all tutus and prancing around on your tiptoes. But dude, that rocked!”
“Ballet can be all kinds of things, from classical to contemporary and everything in between. My troupe is trying to use dance to evoke emotion and tell a story. Our story. Everyone in the troupe is gay or bi. We’re not the only all-LGBT troupe out there, but I still feel like we’re doing something special. Dare and Haley, the choreographers, have this vision, and we have a fantastic original score by an incredible composer. He’s this twenty-two-year-old kid who’s still in college, and he’s so gifted. It feels just magical, with all of us coming together and making something beautiful.” I looked around the table and smiled. “Sorry, I’m totally monopolizing the conversation. I should never talk about ballet. Once I get going, I just don’t stop.”
Finn placed a big bowl of pasta in the center of the table and said, “Don’t apologize. I for one happen to love passionate people.” He glanced at his husband as Chance put a huge salad on the table, and the two exchanged the sweetest smile.
We all talked animatedly over dinner, and we were halfway through coffee and dessert when I got a text. I read my screen, then asked everyone, “Do you guys feel like a field trip?”
Colt said, “Always. I don’t even care what it is.”
Elijah asked, “But what is it, though?”
“Here’s all I know: Nana Dombruso spent the last few days arranging some kind of publicity stunt to draw attention to her upcoming fundraiser and my dance troupe’s debut. She says she’s ready to let it rip, her words, but we have to go now, because she only has the truck for a couple of hours. I have no idea what truck she’s talking about, or what she has up her sleeve. But she wants me to meet her in the Castro ASAP, and she told me to bring along as many people as I possibly can.”
Colt pushed back from the table and said, “I’m definitely in. Do we need to bring anything?”
Chance got up too and said, “Probably just bail money, knowing Nana. I’ll get my coat. And my wallet.”
Elijah said, “Despite my better judgement, I’m in. If it brings in a bigger audience to watch Quinn’s troupe perform, then I’ll help in any way I can. And I don’t know what fundraiser y’all are talkin’ about, but I’m down for helping with that, too.”
I turned to Duke and asked, “What do you say? Want to go commit some crimes in the name of art and charity?”
He flashed me a smile and said, “Only for you, Quinn.”
*****
When we arrived at the designated meeting spot in the Castro maybe half an hour later, I couldn’t help but smile. A truly unique crowd was gathering. People in all types of costumes mingled with about two dozen radiantly beautiful drag queens, members of my dance troupe, a group of burly leather bears, and a bunch of senior citizens.
Nana rushed up to me and asked, “Where’s Dare? He’s supposed to bring the flyers for your show! We gotta get moving, before the fuzz shows up and rains on our parade!”
It took me a minute to process what she’d said, since she was dressed in an opaque body stocking, a rhinestone bikini, and a huge, Vegas-style feathered headdress, which she’d paired with comfortable sneakers. Finally, I snapped out of it and looked around. I noticed Skye’s blue hair weaving through the crowd and spotted his husband a moment later, and I told Nana, “He’s here.”
Her little husband Ollie rushed up to her when Nana yelled, “It’s time!” He was dressed in black leather, from his captain’s hat to his vest and chaps. Ollie handed Nana a children’s walkie-talkie, and my eyes went wide when he spun around. Fortunately, the seni
or had opted to wear a pair of baggy boxers printed with hearts under his chaps. Nana yelled into the little red and yellow device, “Alpha team! Bravo team! Charlie team! Converge on the Castro! We’re lighting this candle!”
Beside me, Duke murmured, “Um, what’s happening right now?”
Nana turned to me and said, “Spread the word, Quinn! When the truck rounds the corner, you and your troupe need to climb onboard and start dancing! Dare, there you are!” He and Skye appeared at our side with a box of flyers, and Nana yelled into the walkie-talkie, “Mr. Mario, where are you?”
Her friend appeared a moment later, dressed in a glorious drag ensemble. He looked like a square dancer in his sequined gingham dress, which had so many petticoats underneath that the skirt puffed out like an umbrella. He also wore silver boots and a matching tiny cowboy hat, which was perched in a sea of auburn curls, and he said, with a thick Spanish accent, “I am here, Nana, along with the entire cast of Drag Queen Does Dallas! The show just let out. Tell us what you need and consider it done!”
“We have to get two flyers in the hands of every single person in the Castro, one for the dance show, one for the Rainbow Roost fundraiser,” she said. “Could you be a love and take that box from Dare? He needs to dance. The other flyers are with Josh and Darwin. Has anyone seen my great-grandsons? Never mind, there they are!” The teens were making their way down the crowded sidewalk, handing stacks of flyers to every drag queen they came across.
Duke murmured, “I still don’t know what’s happening here, but if this crowd gets any bigger, it’s going to overflow into the street and shut down traffic.”
Nana turned to him and exclaimed, “That’s the whole idea! Oh hey, I remember you. You’re that stripper! Get on the truck with Quinn and the boys and shake your money maker, hot stuff!” Before he could reply, she called, “Alpha team, welcome! You’re leading us off, ladies! Go on now and strut your stuff!”
We were joined by a group of ten middle-aged women with drums and camouflage clothing. A woman of about fifty with short silver hair blew a whistle and yelled, “Greater Bay Area Lesbian Drum Corps, let’s fucking do this!” She returned the whistle to her lips and blew three sharp blasts. A thunderous beat filled the air as the women all started drumming in perfect unison and stepped into the road. I finally got it: we were going to parade right the hell down Castro Street.
As the drum corps started their march, a group of Asian senior citizens rushed up to Nana. They were wearing some kind of bizarre costume, and Nana told them, “Mr. Wong and Bravo Company, move out!” A little old man gave her a crisp salute, then donned a huge Chinese dragon head. The rest of the bright orange dragon formed behind him and snaked into the street, following the drum corps and gyrating wildly. I laughed with delight and clapped my hands. The drag queens and several members of Nana’s family fanned out on both sides of the street and thrust flyers into the hands of the astonished crowd, most of whom were recording with their phones.
“Here’s my ride,” Nana announced as a parade float rounded the corner. “Yours is up next, boys! Be ready!” I sent a quick group text to everyone in my troupe, alerting them to climb onto whatever showed up after the float.
Nana’s grandson Dante was out in the intersection of Castro and 18th, directing traffic like a pro. He held his hand up to stop the cars while waving his arm to bring the float to his grandmother. The big, pink contraption was ringed in clouds and rainbows and made to look like Cinderella’s castle. Kind of. Whoever had built the float (and it definitely looked homemade) had run into trouble making the turrets, so they looked an awful lot like a bunch of huge, pink cocks. Or maybe that was on purpose. The float already held five little old ladies dressed just like Nana in opaque body stockings, glittery bikinis and Vegas headpieces. I recognized Nana’s bestie Kiki among them. Nana, Ollie, and the leather bears all climbed onboard and started dancing, and the floating dick castle began rolling again and fell in line behind the twenty-foot-long Chinese dragon.
When a giant semi truck rounded the corner, I was disappointed at first, because it just looked ordinary. But then the cab lit up inside and out with purple neon, and techno music began blasting from hidden speakers. It towed a long, open flatbed, which had been draped all around with rainbow streamers and a hand-lettered banner that read ‘Dare to Dance.’ I grabbed Duke’s hand and yelled over the music, “Let’s go!”
“You want me to come along?”
“Of course I do!”
Dare and Skye raced ahead of us and climbed on first, then began pulling up members of our troupe. We’d lost Finn and his family in the crowd, but we spotted them once we were up on the flatbed and gestured at them to join us. They all scrambled onboard, and Elijah was grinning a little as he leaned against the cab of the truck and held on.
Dare made his way to me and said, “Why don’t you take center stage and perform act one from our show?”
But I shook my head and said, “You should represent us, brother. Go show San Francisco how amazing you are.” He smiled at me, then moved to the open section in the center of the flatbed and started to perform a classical ballet routine, which paired surprisingly well with the techno music.
Duke and I began slow-dancing, while our friends danced all around us. I stopped noticing the crowd and the noise as I looked into his eyes. When he leaned down and kissed me, my heart skipped a beat, and I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight. I never wanted to let go.
The spell was broken and our lovely, magical parade vanished when we got to the end of Castro Street. It reminded me of Cinderella’s coach turning back into a pumpkin. The drum corps fell silent and ran off into the night, and the dragon dancers shed their costumes and vanished into the crowd. Nana and her friends jumped off the float and piled into a row of waiting SUVS, and the dick castle turned right on Market Street and soon disappeared. Meanwhile, we all jumped off the flatbed. The driver shut off the music and the neon lights, and the truck merged into traffic, transformed in the blink of an eye from spectacular to ordinary.
Beside me, Elijah murmured, “That was amazing. It felt like a dream.”
Chance said, “I’m sad it’s over.”
I waved to my troupe, and Duke and I fell into step with Finn and his family as we headed back into the Castro. The sidewalk was still crowded with people, who were saying things like, “Only in San Francisco.”
Finn said, “That was fun. You know though, it is actually possible to get a permit and conduct a parade legally. Just saying.”
“There was no time for that,” Duke told him. “The fundraiser is next week, and the troupe is performing in mid-October. You know how slow the permit process is.”
Finn raised an eyebrow and exclaimed, “Wow! Mr. by-the-book, actually condoning an illegal act! I never thought I’d see the day!”
“The only illegal act I saw was a few people jaywalking, who happened to be sporting drums or dragon costumes. Then a couple of vehicles drove slowly down the street,” Duke said with a grin. “They tied up traffic a bit, but so what? The whole thing took fifteen minutes, and it made a lot of people happy. Maybe not the cars stuck behind us, but they’ll get over it. And maybe it’ll do some good. Maybe more people will attend the fundraiser and donate money to the shelter, then show up to watch my gorgeous, amazing boyfriend set the dance world on fire.”
I hugged Duke’s arm with both of mine and beamed at him as Finn muttered, “Seriously, who are you?”
*****
Later that night, when Duke and I were curled up in his bed, he whispered, “What an extraordinary day. One of many, since you’ve been around.”
I pulled the blanket up over his bare shoulder and grinned contentedly. We’d spent every night since our Hawaiian-themed date sleeping in the same bed, alternately his or mine, in addition to spending all day, every day together, apart from when I was at work. In many ways, it felt like the date had never ended.
I said, “Thank you for being such a good sport with the impr
omptu parade. I know that wasn’t the night you’d planned.”
“It was better. We still had dinner with our friends and rounded out the evening with them, and in between we got to do something totally unexpected.” We’d ended up accompanying Finn, Chance, and the boys to a diner in the Castro, where we had a second round of dessert and coffee and talked until midnight.
“They’re such nice people. I’m glad they’re a part of your life.”
“Our lives,” Duke murmured drowsily. “You totally won them over tonight, including Elijah, and that’s not easy to do.”
“He’s such a sweet kid. He thought I was insane when I asked to dance for him, but then he really seemed to enjoy it. I thought that was awesome.”
“Why’d you do that? Not that I’m complaining. It was spectacular.”
I thought about it, then said, “I guess I wanted to give him something, and that was all I had to give.”
“He reminds you of yourself at that age, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah, aside from the fact that he’s a math genius. Did you know he’s attending a prestigious university on a full scholarship?”
Duke nodded as his eyes lost the battle to stay open. “Finn’s so proud of Elijah. He brags about him all the time.”
After a pause, I said, “When the time is right, I want to adopt a kid of my own, someone who just needs a chance, and a family to love him and take care of him.”
“Like your dad did with you.”
“Yeah.” I searched his face in the semi-darkness as I asked, “Have you ever thought about becoming a parent?”
He murmured, “I definitely want a family of my own someday, a husband and a bunch of kids who I can give what I never got, all the unconditional love in the world.”
Duke fell asleep a few moments later, and I kissed his forehead and whispered, “I hope I’m a part of your someday.”
