Chapter 18: Tu Boquita
“We
should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
― Friedrich Nietzsche
Danielle could hear a party going on in the Zumba room and longed to be part of it. She had been practicing going up and down the stairs of the club, to get used to her balance on crutches. She was not very graceful in her crutches but she wanted to prove to herself that she could do it while she was waiting for her physical therapist to arrive at the club to give her some rehab exercises. The damage Danielle sustained to her patella was more significant than she had originally thought. Now, there she stood on crutches looking through the window of the aerobics room, wishing she could be the one in there spinning and twirling. It was hard not to be jealous. She saw so much energy in that room and was Anton actually flirting with Samantha? That was new. Oh and Nick and his wife looked so enthralled with each other too. Danielle didn’t realize it, but she was welcoming herself to her own pity party…
Two
weeks had passed since the Falls incident and although her parents had come
home the following evening, Danielle had felt quite alone. Usually when Danielle felt lonely, she would
be back on the prowl to find herself a man, but this time was different. Danielle felt broken and the only one she
called on in her time of need was God.
She had finally had the courage to return to church. When she walked through the chapel doors, she
felt like everyone was staring at her.
Was it the crutches? The ward-gossip
Sister Smythe quickly put that theory to rest when she said, “Well, kill the
fatted calf! Danielle is that you?” Danielle resented the reference of her being
the prodigal son/daughter. She knew that
Sister Smythe meant well, but the implication of her statement made Danielle
wonder if she had made the right decision to come back. Some people in this ward were so
judgmental. As Danielle awkwardly
situated herself in the pew, Lucy Lemon, the ward Relief Society President said
gently, “Don’t mind her Danielle. The
church isn’t a museum of saints, it’s a hospital for the sick. Why do you think I am here?” Lucy and Danielle laughed as Lucy gave her a
squeeze. “I am so happy to see you! I heard about your knee…we’ve been missing
you in Zumba class. When you didn’t show
up for the Monday morning class, I knew something was wrong so I called your
mom and she filled me in. Crutches can
be a bear! How are you handling them so
far?”
“Well,
I’m definitely not at my most graceful, that’s for sure! But they help me get from point A to point B
so I guess I can’t complain.” Lucy
laughed and told her if she needed anything, to give her a call. She then went and sat down with her four kids
and husband in the row in front of her. Once
Danielle got seated, her grandpa Bishop Jacobs looked at her from the stand and
winked at her. Sandra Jacobs had been ecstatic
to receive Danielle’s phonecall that morning asking what time church started but
was equally sad when she had to tell Danielle that she had the flu and wouldn’t
be able to go with her. Danielle’s family
had gotten home last week but they were back on the road again at her brother’s
best friend’s missionary farewell in a ward 30 minutes down the road. Danielle had almost decided not to go for
fear of sitting alone, but she knew that church is where she needed to be to start
getting her life back in track. Not that
she had derailed or anything, but it had just been a long time.
“Is this seat
taken?” It was Jamarcus! Danielle had never been so happy to hear
anyone’s voice as she was to hear his.
He climbed over the crutches and smiled his contagious smile. Danielle relaxed a little and was suddenly
thankful she had come to church. Danielle
loved the way Jamarcus smiled because his eyes would squint so hard that the smile
took over his face. The Bishop welcomed
the congregation and announced the opening song. She and Jamarcus reached for the hymn book at
the same time and their hand accidentally touched. “Oh, um, sorry…” Jamarcus tried to play it cool but the
electric jolt he had received from the physical contact, albeit miniscule, was
surging through his hand. He lifted the
hymn book so Danielle could hold one corner of the book and he the other. “Ere you left your room this morning, did you
think to pray?” the congregation sang
thoughtfully. Danielle got lost in the
words as she thought of all the prayers she had offered since the Falls. Her prayers seemed more meaningful and she
felt like the Savior knew her by name.
She felt so much closer to the Lord.
She prayed to have the strength to get out of bed, she prayed to be able
to learn how to use her crutches quickly, she prayed for the swelling to go
down in her knee, she prayed for a way to earn money to pay the doctor’s bills
since she could no longer waitress on crutches, and she prayed in thankfulness
that her life had been spared on that mountain.
“So when life gets dark and dreary…don’t forget to pray,” the chorister
closed the hymnbook and sat down.
Jamarcus
had never been impressed with the Danielle he had seen at the fitness center
but the Danielle he saw before him now, he could hardly keep his eyes off
of. She wore a turquoise sweater with a
brown skirt and brown knee high boots.
She had a heart necklace with a diamond in the center, with matching
heart earrings. She had a beautiful
blackhills gold watch on her wrist. He
wondered if some poor love-sick guy had given it to her before he was put on
the chopping block. Jamarcus had heard
the small town rumors and wondered how one girl could break so many
hearts. Jamarcus was embarrassed that he
glanced down at the jewelry on her fingers.
He knew she wasn’t engaged or anything, but still every little detail
fascinated him. She wore a silver CTR
ring on her pinky finger and her class ring on her right ring finger. She seemed to internalize every word in the
hymn they had just sung. Her
grandparents weren’t kidding when they said Dani could sing. Jamarcus thought she sounded like an angel. He was happy that they had to sing all five
verses of the next sacrament hymn, just to hear her sweet, melodic voice. As the deacons passed the sacrament, he
caught himself staring at her brown, curly hair. He remembered how ghastly her hair had looked
after her date with Caleb and longed to know what exactly had happened up
there. He had decided to wait and talk
to her at the club the next week, but then when she never showed up, he had
started to worry. Now, sitting in church
with her, he felt relieved that she was at least safe but the desire to know
what had changed in her had increased even more. I’m sure she will fill me in when she is
ready.
Danielle
loved sacrament meeting. She honestly
couldn’t remember why she had stopped going to church in the first place. She hadn’t ever planned on stopping her church
attendance, it had just kind of happened.
She just sort of fell out of the habit.
The speaker was talking about how a friend of his was wanting to come
back to church but was afraid people would judge him by the way he
smelled. He was trying to give up
smoking, but in the meantime the smoke had permeated everything in his
dwelling, including his clothing he needed to wear to church. The speaker went on to say to his friend that
if all our sins had a smell, none of us in this building would be able to
handle the stench. This building would
be the stinkiest building in the valley!
The whole congregation laughed.
Danielle doubted that straight as an arrow Jamarcus had a clue what the
speaker was talking about. She betted
that Jamarcus had never done anything wrong in his life. If only she knew the hours he had prayed for
forgiveness back in Jamaica. Danielle
could feel the goodness emanating from Jamarcus as she sat there by him. She was thrilled when he asked her to
accompany him to the youth Sunday School class he taught. Jamarcus seemed genuinely pleased that she
had said yes. She clumsily tried to get
her crutches from under the pew but Jamarcus jumped up and said, “Let me get
that for you Dani…I mean Danielle.”
As
he walked her down the hallway of the church, he asked, “Hey, did you lose my
number or something, cuz you haven’t called.”
Danielle knew he was teasing her but started wondering herself why she
hadn’t reached out for help. “Nope, I
still have it…just waiting for the right time to use it, she joked back.” Jamarcus wanted more than anything to spend
more time with her and get to know her better but he had a class to teach. It will have to wait, he thought to
himself. After class, he helped get
Danielle to Relief Society and he didn’t leave until he saw that she had
someone to sit with. Lucy Lemon looked
up at Jamarcus and said, “Don’t worry…she’s in good hands.” Jamarcus felt his face flush and he hurried
out of the room. Unfortunately, by the
time Elder’s Quorum was over, Danielle had already left the building. Relief Society had apparently ended
early. Jamarcus wanted to drive right
over to Danielle’s house but he thought he probably shouldn’t press his luck so
he waited until he saw her in the club the next day.
…Jamarcus
ran up the stairs to put an out of order sign on one of the treadmills. As he rounded the corner, he saw Danielle
staring through the aerobics room window with a single tear rolling down her
rosy cheek. She looked sad standing
there leaning on her crutches. Should he
leave her alone with her thoughts or take the chance to talk to her. He decided on the latter.
“Well, aren’t you a
sight for sore eyes, Ms. Danielle. We’ve
missed seeing you around here.”
“Oh hey Jamarcus, I
didn’t see you there” she said as she wiped her tear away with her arm. “You have a way of catching me at my worst,
don’t you?”
“If this is your worst,
I would hate to see you at your best cuz you look flat out amazing.”
“You can’t possibly
mean that!” Danielle giggled. Jamarcus
loved making her smile. He really wanted to ask her out on a date but was
waiting for just the right time.
“Sorry, I’m just way
stressed out right now. I had to quit my
waitressing job indefinitely because I can’t exactly be serving food with these
crutches”. She lifted one up and looked
through the window again. “Wow, I didn’t
realize how much I love dancing until now I can’t. I am not the most patient person in the world
and my physical therapist said I can’t dance for at least six weeks. I know I sound like a spoiled brat but it
feels like an eternity…” Danielle’s lips
were pouty and Jamarcus once again wanted to make all her pain go away.
“Oh, you’ll be back
before you know it. Just give it some
time. You know what they say…time heals
all wounds…and smashed knees.”
“Um, yeah…I’ve never
heard that second part”, Danielle laughed, “but I’m sure it applies. I just hate watching everyone in there having
so much fun while I am out here…” she pointed to her crutches. But you didn’t come up here to listen to my
whining…”
“Did you say you lost
your job?”
“Uh-huh”
The words cascaded out
of his mouth before he had time to register what he was saying,“Well, how would
you like to work here?”
“Excuse me? Did I hear you right? Here?
As in the Boomerang Valley Fitness Center?”
“Yeah…I just gave a
leave of absence to our receptionist so she can go help her mom Maddie who is
having treatment for cancer. How would
you like to work for me? I mean…for
Boomerang Valley Fitness?”
“Seriously? That would be an answer to prayers! ”
Danielle exclaimed. Her face that had
been twisted into an angry pout suddenly shifted to a more relaxed yet excited
smile, exposing her dimple in her right cheek.
“When can you start?”
Jamarcus was surprised to hear himself say.
He hadn’t even advertised the position yet and here he was hiring her
right on the spot.
Right then, someone called Danielle’s name and said
Dr.Driggers was ready to see her.
“Oh boy, time to
maneuver the stairs again…I’ll drop off my application and resume after my P.T.”
and with that Danielle hobbled off on her crutches. Jamarcus had meant to ask her on a date not
offer her a job but maybe that was even better.
Now it was Jamarcus’
turn to peek in the Zumba class.
Everyone was having more fun
than usual, which was saying a lot. They
were just finishing a John Travolta Palooza when he heard the next song come on
called Tu Boquita:
“Yo sólo
quiero decirte que eres un sueño, mi niña
y de esa
boquita tan linda me tienes que dar”
Lucy explained the lyrics, “I just
wanna tell you that you’re a dream, my girl…with such a cute little mouth. So basically, this guy is infatuated with a
cute girl so much that he just wants to kiss her and he wants her to kiss him back.” Jamarcus listened to the rest of the song as
he taped the out of order sign on the treadmill. He was crazy attracted to Danielle and she
hardly noticed he existed. Should he
feel bad that as the song played, he imagined the day he would hold her close
and press his lips to hers? He had come
so close to asking her out and now she was his newest employee. What had he done? “You can’t date an employee!” he thought to
himself.
Zumba
Original. Tu Boquita. Rec. 2 May 2011. Zumba Fitness, 2011.
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