Chapter 4 – Glass Wielded as a Weapon
“But, Lady Finch, we’ve still got a few hours before the Palace is teeming with the polishers. That gives us a little time to find somebody to help Tarence bounce at the main door.”
Lady Finch saw that Vivian Vixen’s knees were shaking. Lady Finch didn’t fault the petite redhead for it. The polishers had been crowding the Palace all week since Satinka started twirling on the stages, and that magic dancer proved to be more of a stunner in the eyes of the polishers than even Lady Finch had hoped. Lady Finch had never seen a girl dance with such a shape, and she had never seen a figure driver the polishers into such frenzies. The polishers rushed to Satinka’s stage whenever that new dancer appeared from behind the purple curtain, and it didn’t take long for the other girls to realize it was futile to climb upon a side stage whenever Satinka performed at the Palace’s heart. It only took a couple of nights before the Crystal Palace learned to organize its entire schedule around Satinka’s dancing.
Satinka quickly claimed whatever shiners the polishers brought to the Palace. Unlike custom, the polishers refused to leave the Palace after tossing their shiners to Satinka. The polishers at the front of the stage refused to leave their seats, regardless if their pockets were empty, to make room for the polishers who stood behind their backs, eager to watch Satinka’s repeated performances from a closer position. Lady Finch would never have believed it possible until Satinka’s arrival during that fateful dust storm, but polishers suddenly displayed fire in their usually cold and timid souls. Fisticuffs often erupted around Satinka’s stage. And though Lady Finch had never known a dull polisher to harbor any fury in their hearts before that magic dancer twirled on her stages, she started to fear that the polishers would soon bring weapons into the Palace along with their coin.
“I understand, Vivian, and I’m sorry. It’s just not easy to find men I can trust to work in the Palace. Harder still to find the men with both the brawns and the brains needed to bounce at the front door.” Lady Finch adjusted Vivian’s pink wig. “A few hours isn’t nearly enough time to find some help for Tarence. We’ll soldier on, and we’ll get through it. We’ve been through dustier and harder times, Vivian.”
Vivian’s eyes flashed about the Palace. “It’s only going to get worse when all the polishers flood into here on their unexpected holiday. The walls are going to collapse if we can’t prevent those polishers from fighting inside the Palace.”
“Don’t look so cross, Vivian. It’s good whenever so many polishers enter our door.”
Lady Finch sighed as Vivian’s white, stiletto boots stomped towards one of the stages. Vivian hoped to work one of empty lulls between Satinka’s performances, and Lady Finch wished her good luck. It wasn’t easy for any of the girls to attract any kind of shiner now that the polishers remained so enchanted by Satinka. She was thankful that Satinka had thus far remained adamant in her refusal to accept any of the shiners the polishers tossed in her direction. Lady Finch suspected she would soon need to gift many of Satinka’s shiners to the other dancers if she hoped to keep even her most loyal dancers, stunners in their own right, from forever leaving the Crystal Palace.
“Look out, Big Bird! Behind you!”
Indigo Satin shuffled atop a pair of silver and sequined high-heels and grabbed Lady Finch’s shoulder, pulling the Crystal Palace’s proprietor against the wall a second before a glass beer bottle whistled through the space just occupied by Lady Finch’s head. The crowd roared, and chaos exploded. The polishers rushed towards the epicenter of the sudden din. There, a pair of polishers faced off against each other. One of the polishers flicked his wrist and pulled a jagged sliver of glass from his long shirtsleeve. The other polisher grinned at his opponent’s glimmering weapon before he broke a bottle across a nearby table to produce a jagged weapon of his own. Both of the polishers shifted their glass weapons between their hands as they circled around the center stage where Satinka would return to perform another dance.
Lady Finch screamed. “Tarence! Over here!”
Tarence pushed his way through the polishers. Though they had always been terrified by Lady Finch’s tall, muscular and mean doorman, those polishers resisted Tarence’s efforts to move them from his path. None of the polishers wanted to give up his place close to Satinka’s stage. Satinka’s body, her movement and her magic had made them courageous, just as it made them foolish. Tarence growled. He elbowed several to the floor. He kicked many in the shins. Still, the polishers refused to meekly clear out of his way, for on that night, Tarence didn’t fight against polishers. On that night, he fought against the crowd, and that mob knitted more tightly together each time Tarence smashed against it. Soon, Tarence discovered that even his strength stalled and prevented him from getting any nearer to the center of the disruption.
One of the combatants snarled and lunged his shard of jagged glass at his opponent.
That opponent jumped out of the glass’s arc before the weapon ripped through skin. “We always knew you to be a slow polisher, Ray Henkel. Your blade proves it. Know your right place and step to the back of the line. Satinka doesn’t want to dance for any polisher as dull as you.”
Ray Henkel swiped a second time at his adversary, and again, his blade found no bite. “You’ve camped your fat ass in front of Satinka’s stage for the last two nights, Denny Allen, and I’m not going to let you do it again. All the polishers know you’re nothing more than a lift man. All talk. No action. Satinka’s not interested in talk.”
Both of the polishers grunted and swiped at each other at the same moment. Both of their blades tasted blood, both shards of jagged glass sliced through forearm muscles. Both of the polishers shrieked and jumped backwards into the mob, blood splattering upon the Crystal Palace’s fine crimson carpeting. The sight of the blood stunned the crowd.
Tarence exploited the quiet lull and roared through the final polishers crowding his path to the injured combatants. “The two of you better pray neither of you stain Lady Finch’s carpet any more with another drop of blood! Either of you bleed any more on the floor, and I’ll make sure neither of you ever enter the Palace’s door again!”
Lady Finch snapped her fingers, and the crowd of polishers dispersed. “Drag them out of here, Tarence. Call a taxi for them, and pay both of their tolls to the emergency room. The Palace will provide the shiners needed for their stitches.”
“Sure thing, Lady Finch.”
Lady Finch watched the crowd’s faces quickly again smile. She couldn’t afford to tolerate any violence, but Lady Finch knew she had to proceed carefully. She couldn’t fault the crowd too much for any hurt or damage Satinka’s dance inspired, lest she dulled the passion that kept the shiners flowing so easily. Satinka was a stunner unlike anyone in the Palace had ever seen. Stainka drove everyone mad, and the stages would be flooded with polishers crazy to toss their coins in that dancer’s direction before the night ended, all of them mad to attract Satinka’s attention on the night of their unexpected holiday.
Perhaps it was time to let the other girls share in Satinka’s success. Satinka deserved to take the rest of the night off. Let the polishers catch some breath while they enjoyed how the other girls swirled and swayed. Indigo Satin, Merry Fortune and Vivian Vixen had never before disappointed the polishers.
“Take the stage, Indigo.”
Lady Finch couldn’t believe it, but Indigo Satin gulped. “Are you sure?”
“Please don’t turn modest on me now.” Lady Finch shook Indigo’s shoulders. “Do your feline number. Pull out your old cat costume, the one you used to wear to gather all those shiners those first nights you stepped on my stages, Indigo.”
“But Satinka.”
“Don’t say another word about Satinka.” Lady Finch hissed. “You’re a stunner too, Indigo, and tonight I’m paying double your share. Now hurry and get on one of these stages.”
Lady Finch hurried behind the purple curtain. She had to reach Satinka before that magic dancer show
ed one sliver of her shoulder to those polishers waiting at the front of the stage. Satinka would have to understand.
Lady Finch prayed that Satinka would. She worried that her Crystal Palace wouldn’t stand for much longer if Satinka refused to accept her offer to take the rest of the night off.
* * * * *