“My goodness, boast those boobies, The Lost One Found!” he’d say to me.
As soon as I arrived Jimmie trilled, “You’re finally here, The Lost One Found! There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” as he examined my makeup to be sure it was in tip top shape for the performance. He pulled my arm into a room where other girls from my team were either preparing for their performance or assisting someone who was. I smiled as he towed me through a crowd of half-naked people and never took a breath while talking. He stopped at an attractive middle-aged man with beautiful brown skin and an alluring smile. He had vanity built into his full cheeks and dark mustache.
Jimmie continued while holding my hand and patting it gently every few seconds while speaking, “Frankie darling, I would like you to meet my leading lady of the evening. The number she’s doing tonight should only be attempted by seasoned professionals, but will be gracefully performed by this charming, medical professional who only dances to fulfill some back alley dream of hers. I’ve named her appropriately, The Lost One Found. She’s lost in purpose but found in this gift.”
He then turned to me and said, “Honey, this is a dear, long time, long lost friend of mine…the ultimately talented, Mr. Frank Gatson.”
“Hello, Mr. Gatson.” I pushed out with a wide smile. I didn’t know who this man was.
“Nice to meet you, dear,” he responded as he gazed over me intensely from head to toe in assessment. It made me very nervous. I quickly turned my head towards Jimmie to break the awkward gape.
“Okay, my dear, you must prepare for your debut. I’m expecting fabulous results on that stage tonight. Frank just stopped in to say hello and I thought I’d introduce him to you people. Run along and meditate, The Lost One Found!” I could tell he thought I had a clue of who that man was.
The event was held at a club called Cobalt on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood. I didn’t want to tell Michelle it would be here because she’d been talking about this place for months now saying that we really need to come. It was one of the hottest clubs around. Too bad this was a weekday and I couldn’t gauge the type of patrons who frequented it. She said the owner was a young tycoon who was buying up lots of property in L.A. including a recreation facility in Long Beach City that has prime space available for a prospective location for the physical therapy practice.
The outside of Cobalt provided much aesthetics, boasting bright flashing lights and a fancy marquee, which was all I could see because I entered through the rear. There were about eighty performances that night and could only be three winners. I had no expectations of winning. I just wanted to experience the stage. Jimmie would always say there’s nothing like it. He said it took some time to master it but no time to feel the high from it. I was the seventy-seventh to go on and began to get extremely nervous. I had to ask myself why I was so anxious. It’s not like I was in it for the competition. I thought it would be like dancing in the mirror when alone or with Jimmie and the rest of the class at the studio.
I took the stage with the curtain down. There were more than a gazillion butterflies in my stomach. No—the best way to describe it was more like elephants. The last thing I heard was Jimmie whispering, “Honey, you’ll be great! Remember, you’re The Lost One Found!”