The Wooden Mask

4. JS Dance Studio

Adani Carter's POV

"Get out of here disgusting creature."

"O Lord Jesus...." A nun did a sign of the cross on her face and shoulders.

"Get the hell away from me."

"ahhhhhhhhh"

People were swatting their hands and kicking out of stores and screaming at a scared 11 year old with a huge improperly treated cut on her face. All she wanted was a piece of bread to eat for the night. I kept running out of stores and running all over the sidewalk trying to get away from these terrible and scary people with hot tears streaming down my face. I was terrified and hungry and so confused. I stopped infront of a man in an alley who also looked homeless. I looked up at his face ever so slowly since he was way taller than I was. My body shook terribly and my crying reduced to soft sobs as I stared this man in the eyes. He streched out his hand to me and I resisted the urge to take it but my efforts proved useless as I slowly took his large hand into my tiny hand. Just as I thought something good was about to happen, he immediately grasped my hand with so much force that I let out a loud yelp and tried my hardest to retract my hand from his and run. But as I looked up from our hands, I saw him take out a shiny knife that looked freshly sharpened. Just as he raised it up and was about to slash it at me, I jolted up from my bed with a loud scream.

I had been having these nightmares for about 8 years now and I thought I was used to them but sadly, I was not. I picked up my phone from the nightstand and checked the time. The numbers 5:56 illuminated from my phone's screen. I still had 3 hours left to meet with the others at Kente since it was Monday already. I took a quick shower and put on a pair of black joggers, a tank top and a pair of white Nikes. I never worry about makeup because no one was even going to see my face. I descended the staircase and entered the warm kitchen. I quickly made a simple breakfast and was out of the house at 7:47am  with my casual wooden mask once again. I guess you can say that it was my favourite. I got into my car which my uncle got for me and headed for Kente. My uncle was basically my supplier. He paid for everything for me but stopped after I completely college online. He got me my phone, my car, this apartment and also my first mask. We never spoke or anything. He just did what he had to do to make sure I had the essentials I needed for survival.

I got out of the car after parking it in the underground car park at Kente. I took the elevator up to the 8th floor and entered the conference room we had the contract briefing and signing in. Timaika and Grace were already seated when I entered. We exchanged pleasantries and after 47 minutes of waiting, everyone else including Mr Lynn, Ms Asante and another black guy I did not know had arrived and we started the day with a short briefing.

"Good morning everyone. I hope you all are doing well. Thank you for making it. So I just want to take a moment to introduce to you your choreographer, Jaime Smith." Ms Asante said. She motioned for Jaime and he stood up with a wide smile on his face. He moved to stand beside Mr Lynn who was seated at the head of the table.

"Hello guys. I'm not really into the formalities so I'm just gonna speak casually if you don't mind. As Ama said, I'm Jaime Smith. I'm a dancer, choreographer, fitness coach and business man. I'm the founder and owner of JS Dance studio. I'm also this guy's bestfriend." He pointed to Mr Lynn who just smiled at him."I'm gonna save the whole introduction thing for the main rehearsal which is in a few minutes. Anyway, it's really nice to meet you guys and I'm looking forward to working together." Jaime said with an enthusiastic smile. He has a strong British accent. He also had a low hair cut with waves. He was dressed comfortably in a grey cotton jacket over a grey T-shirt and black and grey sweatpants and black sneakers. He also had a golden necklace around his neck which was similar to the one Mr Trevor was currently wearing.

"Ok so now that we have this introduction done, I wish you all the best of luck and have fun and yh that's it. Bye." Mr Lynn said before leaving the room but not before giving Jaime a guy-like handshake and a pat on the back.

******
"Ok so sorry to disappoint you guys but we are not dancing today. For today, I want to get to know you guys so I know how to work better with you. Um, anyone can start. I'm all ears. Let's go. Who's starting?" Jaime announced after Ms Asante and Mr Lynn had left. He seemed like a really nice person. Very friendly too. Like the kind of person who got along with everyone. It is good to know that our choreographer would not be something cutthroat like the one from Sing 2.

"I guess that would be me." Eze said and gave us a full introduction of himself. One that was clearer than the first one we had. Apparently, he was Nigerian. I did notice a slight accent but never thought much of it. At least now I know where it was from. Everyone gave their introductions and it was finally my turn. I really dreaded telling people about myself unless I was filling out an online form. I was nervous, I will not lie, but I just went for it and give a really small insight on myself.

"Um uh I'm Wooden Mask. uh I'm a dancer and I specialise in hiphop, contemporary and lyrical dancing. I love Hamilton the musical. I'm an ambivert and masks are my thing. Uh I think that's it yh." I said nervously. I think I actually did quite well.

"Lovely intro Wooden Mask innit." Jaime praised after I gave my introduction. "That was beautiful guys. So um next topic, I want you guys to tell me why you dance. Like what's your reason for dancing. And how do you feel when you dance." Jaime said with hand gestures after the introduction. "I'm going first. So I started dancing when I was about 10 years old. It mostly got my mind out of reality because reality can be really stupid sometimes innit." He chuckled lightly. "So I'd turn on my grandad's vinyl and start moving my body just joking around but after like 3 minutes, I'd get so into the song and actually start moving my body according to the beat and forgetting my surrounding. I'd dance until I bump into a chair or a table. Uh, I dance because it's all I've ever known. It's my first love and yh that's basically it. Who's next?" If no one was listening at first, I think everyone was definately listening now. Jaime's story was beautiful.

"Um so I started dancing when I was about 6 years old. My mum signed me up for a dance class I dreaded going to at first but fell in love with as time went on. Uh I discovered afrobeat when I was about 12 years old and I wanted to be a part of those speaking up for black people everywhere and I thought, why don't I be different and do it through dancing to afrobeats. I traveled to Nigeria when I was 16 and stayed for two years to get to know afrobeats more-." Timaika started but was interrupted by Eze.

"O you've been to Nigeria. That's where I'm from." Eze said with a grin.

"Yh I realized. Um, your name means 'king' right?" Timaika asked.

"Yh it does." Eze replied.

"Um so yh. I dance because I get to be a part of something big and beautiful which I love. Thank you." Timaika finished with a big smile on her face.

I do not really know why I am always the last to speak but I kind of did like listening to everyone before I speak.

"Um so I love to dance because it's all I've really ever known. I can't really remember when I started dancing. I didn't go to any dance school or attend any dance classes. Umm I learned to dance from mostly Youtube. I think I've always had it in me and I wanted to do more with my life so I started dancing on social media. I guess I just find myself and escape reality when I dance and yh that's it." I not so nervously said . I think this is the most words I have said inside of Kente. It felt good.

After that, we all just spoke about random things and just joked around and exchanged contacts. Timaika even made a group chat with all of us in it. I have never had anyone except my uncle and my landlady in my contact list. This felt really nice. I felt relaxed and free. When it was 5pm, our discussion died down.

"Thank you so much for coming today. I really appreciate it. It was really nice getting to know all of you. This was a really nice day innit. So rehearsal officially start tomorrow at 10am. Please do not be late. Come looking comfortable and yh, I will see all of you tomorrow and enjoy the rest of your day. Jaime said with a smile and got up and left the room. In about 10 minutes, I was also out of the building after a short conversation with Timaika.