Dancing Through Bullets

Waltzing Around

"One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, ow! Get it together, fu...freak," Vienna snapped, adjusting her language as she made eye contact with AJ's little brothers staring at her from their seats by the stereo.

"Patience, V," AJ grinned with a hint of a smirk on his face from where he leaned up against the wall, observing. "And Jericho, just relax. Be confident in yourself, dude. If you could be a dancing tree, learning to waltz should be a breeze."

As the music started up again, Jericho heard Blake ask AJ about the whole dancing tree joke. Before he could hear the potentially-embarrassing response, though, Vienna had pulled him roughly toward her, and they began the steps again.

Taking a deep breath, Jericho thought about why he was here in the first place, the events that had led up to him ballroom dancing with strangers in a dusty New York studio.

Jericho's eyes were following his and Vienna's feet, trying to keep up with the routine, but his mind was elsewhere: the long ride in the back of a van, the fat man in the suit, the goons with guns trained on Jericho's head, the money scattered on the table, the raspy voice saying, "Get out of town, or your family won't live much longer." Jericho pleading, "Leave them alone. It was an accident, an accident, I promise, please!" The sound of the gun going off, his mother's scream...

"Bravo!" The sounds of enthusiastic applause woke Jericho from his reverie. AJ, Blake, and even Johnny were clapping and cheering as he and Vienna took their final steps. AJ was the loudest of them all. "That was great, Jericho! See, I knew you had it in you. Tomorrow we can add in some more complicated steps and you'll be ready for the competition in no time!"

His excitement faded away as he looked closer at Jericho. "You okay, man?" Jericho hadn't even noticed the stray tears. He quickly wiped them away and nodded.

"Just relieved that I'm not a total failure," he said as lightly as he could, and AJ hesitated a moment before chuckling.

"You sure aren't, little sapling." AJ stepped back and said to Blake, "The music, please, maestro. And one, two, three, one, two, three..." AJ counted, waving his hands around like an orchestra conductor, beaming at Jericho and Vienna like a proud parent though his eyes stayed on Jericho a little longer every time he looked at him.

Jericho and Vienna twirled around each other, the steps coming easier and easier the more they practiced, but Jericho couldn't fight the uneasiness inside him that his success might not come without a price, that his past would never quite leave him alone...