The Dancer

4

As the weeks rolled on, Katerina stayed relatively cold towards me. She would toss me a smile when I gave her praise, but beyond that she refused to really talk to me. Her entire attitude seemed off for a twelve year old girl. She wasn't shy at all; I knew that wasn't causing her silence. As much as Nicolae and Alexandru insisted that she liked me, I knew they were just trying to make me feel better. Honestly, I didn't care one way or the other. I wasn't trying to make friends. I was her dance teacher and that was it. Beyond that, she could hate me as much as she wanted to.

I glanced over at Carol as she watched TV. Her once silky hair was tossed in a messy bun on top of her head and sweatpants ruled her wardrobe. She had always been fit, but after my father died she started to drop weight drastically. She was getting closer to my size and it scared the hell out of me. I had already lost both biological parents. I couldn't lose her too.

My phone rang next to me. I didn't recognize the number, but it was almost seven on a weekend. I doubted it was a telemarketer.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Holland, it's Nicolae." I knew before he even said his name. I couldn't miss that accent or the way he said my name. His tone was rushed and I wondered what happened.

"Oh, hi. Did I forget something there?"

"No," he trailed. "I know this is unorthodox, but Katerina has been crying for hours and she's demanding that you come over," he said carefully.

I was shocked. I had no idea why she would want me when she was crying. She had a father and a step father both willing to do whatever she wanted.

"Did she say why?"

"No. She won't tell me anything. She won't talk to Alexandru. She wants you."

That shouldn't have made me as happy as it did. I should have been just as indifferent to her as she had been to me.

I glanced over at Carol who was engrossed in the show. If she even noticed I was on the phone, she didn't acknowledge it.

"Can I talk to her really quick?" I asked.

"Of course."

There was a brief pause followed by Nicolae telling her I wanted to talk to her. One thing I learned about Katerina was that no matter how bratty she seemed, she would never openly disrespect her father. One thing I learned about Nicolae was that he was patient, but his patience had a short life.

"Holland?" Katerina's soft voice fell over the line.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Papa," she said followed by a string of Romanian that I still couldn't decipher. I had tried looking some up online, but the language just didn't make sense to me.

"I don't want to tell them," she cried softly. "I think I started my period."

"Are you bleeding?" I asked.

"Yes. I don't know how to make it stop."

I bit my lip. "Give me about an hour, okay? I'll be there."

"Thank you, Holland."

"No problem. Make sure you tell your dad I'm on my way."

"Okay. Bye."

The line fell dead before I could answer. I turned to Carol, but she was already looking at me.

"Going somewhere?" She asked.

"Yeah. Katerina started her period and she doesn't know what to do."

I stood up and took my plate into the kitchen. We rarely ate at the table anymore. Our dinners on weekends were either at restaurants or on the couches watching some reality show. At the moment we were pretty into Orange Is The New Black.