My friend sighs and puts her hands on her hips.
“First, I am not a dude. Second, did Derek send you here to get me? I know he hangs out at Dolly’s.”
Derek is Alvina’s ex-boyfriend. There was some drama about a girl liking too many of Derek’s posts on Instagram. He swears he doesn’t know the girl but Allie doesn’t mess around when it comes to men. I love her confidence. I’m also damned glad I’m not involved in some Instagram spat.
“Never mind,” Alvina sighs again. “I don’t care if he did send you because I could go for some line dancing to blow off some of this stress. Come on Whit, let’s go get a beer and do some dancing. I’ve got my boots on.”
I bite my lip.
“You always have your boots on. I don’t know, though. I shouldn’t be spending any money.”
But Alvina’s brother jumps in.
“Drinks are on me, ladies,” Steven says in a magnanimous voice. “I got word that I’ll be getting hazard pay while this whole virus thing is going on. Yee-haw!”
Steven works security at the hospital, so I think it’s fair he gets hazard pay. Besides, we’re now in front of Dolly’s. Alvina grabs my hand and pulls me inside straight to the dance floor.
“Oh no, I’m here strictly for the drinks,” I murmur, trying to pull away. But it’s hopeless. Soon, my friend has me boogeying along, and it’s okay. The dance floor is lined up with men and women doing some sort of boot scootin’ dance; they’re laughing, stomping, kicking, and swinging their hips. It looks like so much fun but I can’t bring myself to really get into it because I’m a curvy girl. I’m afraid I might swing my hips and knock one of the skinny girls into a table. I told Allie that last time she dragged me in here. She said if the skinny girls ate more, they wouldn’t have to worry about getting hip-checked into random furniture. That’s one of the things I love about my friend. Alvina is a curvy girl like me, but somehow, she’s more self-assured than eighty percent of the rail-thin cowgirls on the dance floor.
I order us a couple of beers and watch Derek saunter up to my best girl. She stops dancing and shakes her head ‘no’ at him. He opens his mouth to speak to her and the death glare she gives him has him tucking tail and skulking off to the dance floor, where his buddies are standing and laughing.
I’m amazed at how Allie can make a man wilt with just a look. She tosses her blonde ponytail and resumes her swaying and stomping without missing a beat. A tall, Kevin Bacon in Footloose kind of guy swaggers up, syncing his steps with hers and winks at her. Derek stews on the sidelines as Allie flirts with Mr. Footloose. Frankly, the Alvina and Derek show is a welcome distraction from the thoughts I’ve been having.
The music pauses for a moment, and my friend comes sauntering over.
“Have you had enough to drink yet to dance with me?” Alvina asks as she chugs down her beer and catches her breath.
“There isn’t enough beer in the bar to make this chubby baker do the Cowboy Cha-Cha. Besides, you seem to have two dance partners. Do you think that guy is purposely trying to look like Kevin Bacon in Footloose, by the way? I mean, his hair is done in that scruffy yet cute style, and didn’t Kevin Bacon wear that exact outfit in the movie?”
Alvina grimaces and then takes another swallow of her beer.
“Oh, yeah. And he is dumber than a fish wearing galoshes.”
That imagery gives me a much needed laugh.
“I think Derek is working up the courage to try to talk to you again.”
She rolls her eyes.
“I know. I’m probably going to take him back. Steven told me the girl who’s been liking his Instagram posts is Aaron’s sixteen-year-old cousin that lives in Mississippi.”
“Damn, sixteen? I still had braces at sixteen. How long have you known that?”
“Since the week after I broke up with him,” she shrugs.
“Are you going to apologize?”
She stares at me, puzzled.
“No. Why would I do that?”
I just shake my head ruefully.
“Never mind. Here he comes. I’m going to get out of here. I’ve got a lot to figure out with my business and all.”
Alvina pats my arm reassuringly before giving me a merry wave.
“Alright. Chin up, girl. You got this.”
I decide not to take the subway. If we’re going to be under stay at home orders starting tomorrow, I’m going to take advantage of tonight.
As I walk home, I think about Alvina. We’re shaped the same, but she’s so comfortable in her skin whereas I’m always self-conscious about my generous assets. I have parents who love me, I’m an accomplished pastry chef, and I own a bakery. I even love my chestnut brown curls, even though they’re wild and frizzy sometimes.