Luna Tango (15 page)

‘I can't do this. It's too hard.' She stepped forwards, her body heavy with grief. Another figure emerged from the shadows and she jumped again, freezing with panic.

‘It's only me, Louisa.' Héctor moved into the light, the lines on his face deeper than usual.

‘I thought you were arriving later.'

‘I have special errands to run this evening, so I'll say my farewells now, if I may.'

Louisa fell into Héctor's strong arms. She placed her head on his chest, closed her eyes and smiled. ‘I can't wait to see you again, my dear friend.'

‘Ah, I do hope this is soon, but we don't always know what our future holds. We can plan, we can dream, we can wish. This is all we can do and the rest.' He sighed. ‘Well, the rest is left up to those who hold more power than us.'

She couldn't work out if he meant God or influential people but she let his comment slide, happy for the chance to say her farewells. They broke their embrace and Héctor kissed her on the forehead, his eyes glistening in the streetlight.

Roberto cleared his throat. ‘Louisa, you need to know something.' He held her hand and steadied his gaze. ‘Has Eduardo shown you the latest lyrics?'

‘Yes. They're the best he's ever done.' She paused, not sure if she wanted to hear more. ‘Why?'

‘They're mine.'

‘He stole them?' She was concerned by her lack of surprise. If Eduardo had done it to Héctor before his dementia appeared, why wouldn't he do it to Roberto now that he was ailing?

‘That slimy bastard!' shouted Héctor, pounding the wall with his fist. ‘First me, now you. I've had enough.'

Roberto grabbed Héctor's jacket. ‘Leave it alone. We cannot risk Louisa.'

‘No, he got away with it before—he's not doing it again.' Héctor tried to wrench away from Roberto's vice-like grip.

‘How did he find them?' she asked.

‘He went through my bandoneón case earlier today. I saw him stuff them in his jacket pocket.'

‘He must pay!' yelled Héctor, pulling his arm free.

‘No, Héctor, don't,' Louisa pleaded. ‘You blowing up at Eduardo won't do any favours for Roberto's career. Think about it, please.'

‘I'm only thinking about it for you.' Héctor crossed his arms and stared at the bar across the road.

‘I appreciate your sentiment but please don't do anything,' she said.

Roberto rubbed her back and gave her a sad smile. He wouldn't meet her eyes.

‘There's something else you should know.'

‘What?' she asked, positive she wouldn't like what he had to say.

‘The lyrics were about you but they didn't mention your name.'

She inhaled sharply. ‘What?'

‘I called it “Luna Tango”. After ...'

‘I get it,' she said, not wanting Héctor to know about her half-moon birthmark. Roberto smiled while Héctor sucked air in through his nostrils, his eyes not connecting with his friends. Her temples throbbed and she rubbed them gingerly. How did this farewell turn into such drama?

‘It is time for me to go. You two need time alone,' said Héctor, his lips pulled into a tight smile. He held Louisa's hands and kissed her on each cheek. ‘Next time we meet it will be under happier circumstances.'

‘That would be lovely,' she said.

Héctor saluted, turned on his heels and swiftly moved down the hill, disappearing into the shadows. Apprehension snaked across her shoulders and pulled her muscles taut. ‘Do you think he's gone to see Eduardo?'

‘He probably has but Héctor showing up and yelling at him isn't unusual. Eduardo's probably half-expecting him to appear to have a final argument before he leaves.'

‘But Héctor gives earfuls with his fists.' Only six months ago Héctor had turned up drunk at the house and stood in the street yelling abuse at Eduardo. She'd spent an hour trying to stop Eduardo using a gun on his former business partner.

Roberto ran his hand along her arm. ‘Now, while they're busy—'

‘Aren't you angry? Don't you want to punch Eduardo?'

‘Of course I'm angry!' A raging fire shone in his eyes. ‘But we have to stick to our plan and I have to pretend Eduardo never took the lyrics. If I don't, it will be a disaster and we'll never be together.'

‘You should never have been together in the first place,' a voice boomed and Louisa and Roberto turned to find Eduardo stepping out from the shadows. With a rigid body, set jaw and glaring eyes he stared them down.

Once again, Dani climbed the scuffed marble staircase to Carlos's dance studio. He hadn't answered her calls, so she had two options: camp out on the doorstep of his apartment or interrupt him teaching a class. Either way, she didn't have any idea how he'd react upon seeing her.

Her fingers rested on the brass handle as she hesitated, hoping he wouldn't make her dance again. But if he did, she'd suck it up. She'd even worn her poo-brown dance shoes just in case. She adjusted the maroon holdall on her shoulder and raised her hand, knuckles ready to rap, but the door jerked open and Jorge and his dance partner scurried past as Carlos's voice boomed after them. She couldn't make out what he'd said but the tone didn't sound like he'd just twirled through a field of daisies.

‘Fabulous,' she said.

Jorge raised his eyebrows, gave her a pitying smile and dashed down the stairs, sports bag and towel flying behind him. His petite dance partner teetered on the steps, her spindly legs not carrying her as fast as she probably wished. They rounded the corner and disappeared, their retreating footsteps echoing in the stairwell.

Drawing a deep breath and puffing out her chest, Dani stepped through the door. Carlos was crouched over his stereo, fiddling around with the buttons and muttering under his breath.

‘Hi.'

He looked up and drew his brows together. A moment later he broke into a smile.

‘Daniela, it is nice to see you again.'

‘Uh ... nice to see you, too.' Perhaps her ability to predict people's behaviour had started to slip. This didn't bode well for her new career. ‘Did you get my message?'

‘Which one? There were, I believe, eighteen.'

‘So ...'

He looked at her blankly. ‘So?'

‘Had you planned to call me?'

‘But of course! I was waiting to make the plans with Gualberto but now you are here I do not need to call. We go dancing tonight.' He eyed her dance shoes. ‘I see you are ready.'

‘Yeah, I guess.' She didn't want to socialise but she had to get to work on her stories. With Carlos and Gualberto in the same room, she might be able to kill two birds with the one stone.

‘Do you have a question ready for me?'

‘I have lots.'

‘Tonight you will dance like
La Gringa Magnifica
and I will answer every question.'

Back to that again. Now would be the time to tell him but—Why was this so flaming hard? What's the worst he could do? Laugh at her lack of dancing genes? Get angry because she hadn't told him earlier? Or tell her everything she wanted to know? Of course, the latter was her deepest fear. In her head, she was brave and able to cope with whatever she learnt about Iris but with the real possibility of finding out the truth, Dani just couldn't open up that Pandora's box. She was nothing but a chicken.

‘Daniela?'

‘Sorry.'

‘Where were you?'

‘Inside my head.'

‘It is a fun place, yes?' His wink made her stomach flip.

‘Let's just say, I am not lonely.'

‘Hmm.'

‘Every writer has voices in their head,' she said.

‘I believe this is so.' He said it with such acceptance she wondered if dancers experienced the same phenomena. ‘How is your research going?'

‘It's going okay. I've been making lots of notes.' She shifted from foot to foot.

‘Do you have them with you? May I look?'

‘Yes but they're only notes, okay?' It was impossible to quash the defensive tone in her voice.

He gave a lopsided smile. ‘You are nervous, yes? Why?'

‘Because this is my first assignment. I know I have a lot to learn and they're only—'

‘Notes. Yes, I understand. Please.' He waggled his fingers. ‘Do not be afraid.'

Dani stuck her hand in the holdall and fished for the notebook, relieved she had started a new one after ditching the Canziani research. She handed over the book and fear twisted in her belly. What if he read it and thought it was garbage? She closed her eyes and gave a slight shudder.

‘Do not worry.' Carlos placed his hand on her arm and his warm touch relaxed her—just a little. He read:

Tango is the third dance in history where a couple faced each other with the man holding the woman's right hand in his left and with his right arm around her. The first dance was the Viennese waltz, popular in the 1830s. Next came the polka, in the 1840s. These dances weren't without scandal, especially when, in 1850, the theatre director of the Paris Opera staged the Viennese waltz to regain the falling numbers of audience. Many citizens objected strongly to the lewd dance hold and it took many years, almost to the end of the century, for the majority of people to accept this new dance position
.

The scandal of the Viennese waltz hold paved the way for tango, as many European immigrants arrived in Buenos Aires, which was little more than a village, between 1880 and 1910. The history of the tango becomes murky at this point as no one can agree on the true origins of the dance
.

Theory one:

After the British built the railway across Argentina, it opened up regions rich in minerals and land perfect for farming, but the country lacked the workers necessary for landowners to reap their riches
.

The Argentine government advertised for Europeans to come and work in their country. The government offered accommodation and rations for the first week and sometimes subsidised passages. Unlike migration to other countries, the new arrivals in Argentina were men without families. People hoped to work for a few years and return to their homeland rich and ready to marry. Unfortunately, many remained in Argentina, close to destitute
.

Due to the influx of men, Argentina lacked women. There were only two ways in which a man could get close to a woman: visit a prostitute or dance. If a man wanted to marry, the best way to catch the attention of his potential wife was on the dance floor, as this was the socially acceptable meeting place for both sexes. He needed to woo his dance partner by making sure she enjoyed herself and wanted to spend more time dancing with him
.

The only way to impress a young lady was to practise dancing. The shortage of women meant men needed to dance with each other, even if it meant practising with their direct competition. As this was a time before recorded music was available, they needed venues with music. Brothels commonly had live music to entertain the men while they were waiting their turn, so many clients took the opportunity to practise dance steps with other men while the women were otherwise ‘occupied'
.

This theory became popular after Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges wrote an article linking brothels and the tango. Due to his popularity, his fans agreed and his theory grew to the point that it transformed into an accepted truth. The problem is, many people who write about the tango today start with this belief, rather than investigate deeper into the history
.

Theory two:

Tango was born in the tenement blocks where the poor lived. These communities had a melting pot of nationalities and young boys learnt to dance with their male relatives. Once they achieved a level of competence, these young men were passed on to their female relatives, who would coach them further
.

The dance and music brought communities together. Men would bring out a flute, guitar and bandoneón, and they would congregate in the courtyards. The few women would join the men and enjoy some moments of happiness in their difficult and lonely lives
.

The music united people from many cultures and became a common language. The
contradanza
was popular among the Italian immigrants and blended dance styles from all over the world to create what later became known as the tango
.

Theory three:

In the 1880s, the only dance seen in public in Buenos Aires was at theatres or dance halls. The brothel theory may also have stemmed from some less-than-savoury dance halls that doubled as brothels, or from dance halls that were frequented by men and women whose morals were frowned upon by their Christian counterparts
.

Carlos raised his eyebrows and continued staring at the notebook. Dani chewed her lip, inhaling deeply then letting it out in one long breath.

‘It is okay.'

‘You don't hate it?' She leant forwards, not worried about showing her eagerness.

‘These are notes, yes? You have covered the basics. I am happy to see you have not written about the men being homosexual.'

‘I know them dancing together meant it could be interpreted that way but it wasn't the case, right?'

‘Is that a question?'

‘No.'

‘You answered very quickly. Do you have a real question?'

‘Are you going to make me learn a dance step if I say yes?'
God, please no, I am so not in the mood for this
.

‘What do you think?' His eyes held a cheeky glint and his mouth formed a grin.

‘I think your answer is yes,' she said as he motioned for her to stand in the middle of the dance studio. She allowed a small pout. ‘Any chance I could ask my question before you torture me?'

Carlos shrugged. ‘I am a gentleman and I would say ladies first but we have a deal, yes? Dance then question.'

‘Can't you bend it? Please?' Dani hoped he didn't detect the whine she tried to quash.