BOOK III - DANCE FEVER
Chapter 1
George slept until noon on Tuesday and woke refreshed and hungry. He was surprised at how well he recovered from the previous night. He certainly was not used to drinking as much as he did at the Holding Tank and the extracurricular activity had been more than he had experienced in quite a while.
Lunch at the hotel coffee shop and an afternoon business appointment brought George back to the same predicament that he had been in the previous evening, where to go and what to do. A desire for seafood and a look in the yellow pages sent him on a drive five miles out of town on a county road; he reached the intersection of the two-lane with interstate 90. The Country Place appeared on his left just after he passed under the freeway.
George enjoyed a generous portion of broiled scallops in a quiet, pleasant atmosphere. A piece of cherry cheesecake and coffee topped off the excellent meal and he told his waitress how much he enjoyed it. He asked her for a suggestion on a bar with live entertainment. It turned out that there was one a half-mile up the road from the restaurant that had a band and dance floor. Tuesday night was couples dance contest night. The name of the place intrigued George and he decided that watching a dance contest might provide some lively entertainment.
The Gorilla Cage was not quite half full when George walked in. A good-sized dance floor was surrounded on three sides by tables and the fourth side by a stage. There was one layer of tables on the level of the dance floor and two more tiers of tables at raised levels. A fourth tier on the sides contained booths while the fourth tier on the wall opposite the stage was the bar.
The stage and dance floor were brightly lit, however the lighting in the rest of the bar dissipated in proportion to the distance from that area. The stage was empty except for a piano, a set of drums and three large speakers.
George stood inside the entry and surveyed the room for several minutes to see which tables belonged to the nicest looking waitress. As usual the room was divided into territories among the girls. He decided that there was no clear choice because all four girls were quite attractive. He finally picked out a table for two in the second tier. He commanded a clear view of the dance floor from this spot.
George's waitress came to take his order and he went through a lengthy explanation of why he had to avoid alcohol tonight. He assured her that he would tip her based on mixed drink prices if she would serve him just ginger ale. She seemed pleasant and willing to oblige. George asked her for the origin of the name, "The Gorilla Cage." The girl, Mindy, just smiled and told him that he would find out in about ten minutes.
"I just love surprises!" George replied sarcastically. He winked at her.
Before Mindy returned with the ginger ale, there was activity up front. A young man with a wireless microphone stepped onto the stage and introduced himself as Jay Sheridan, a disk jockey for WWDO radio station, "music radio with prizes galore." He would be the MC for the evening's festivities. He received a smattering of applause and he acted as though it were a standing ovation.
Jay Sheridan explained the dance contest. This Tuesday evening had encouraged six couples to try for the 150-dollar prize. Each couple had paid 10$ to enter. Each couple would dance a four-minute routine, and after all six routines, the audience would select two finalists. The two selected couples would dance again and the winning pair would be chosen at around 11 PM. Selection of finalists and winners would be accomplished with paper ballots, distributed and collected by the waitresses.
The DJ finished his introduction by explaining that the contest would begin in about 15 minutes after the band warmed up. He left the stage and the musicians appeared and began setting up. There were three men and a girl. The girl was dressed in a short green dress and seated herself at the piano. The male musicians were dressed in black slacks and white ruffled shirts. Two carried guitars and the third male took over the drums.
George paid little attention to the male members of the band as they tuned their instruments. He focussed his eyesight and brain waves on the piano player. She was short, only about 5'4" and appeared to be really stacked. She had long, dark hair that framed her pretty face. The dress she wore was clearly designed to show off her body. It had a scoop neckline in front that revealed an ample chest and the hemline of the straight skirt was six inches over the knee, which on a girl of her stature, did not leave a lot of leg covered when she sat. George was certain that, sitting down, the girl could not hide the color of her panties from an interested observer facing her directly from the front. He had only a side view at present.
As the piano player limbered her fingers and adjusted her microphone, George noticed that the pedals on her piano were extended so that she could push them easily with her short legs. She softly played a few chords and scales and cued the guitar players with notes to tune their instruments. At last the combo was ready and started with a spirited instrumental number that carried a full, lively sound. George was not a music expert, but the sound of the band was pleasing to him, especially the piano.
As the group finished its first piece, a curtain on the wall above the stage opened; George had not even noticed it until now. As the curtain was pulled back, a second stage was revealed, recessed into the wall above the band. On that stage stood a huge cage that covered almost the entire floor. A spotlight was trained on the cage and revealed a man in a gorilla suit sitting in the center of the cage. There was a sign over the cage reading simply 'BONGO' in two-foot high letters. There were other signs warning of 'DANGER' and 'KEEP OUT'.
As several in the audience applauded the band, the gorilla suit stood up and came to the front of the cage and peered out at the audience. He let out a fearsome roar, which must have come from a tape because it sounded real; he shook the bars of his confinement. So that's where the bar got its name.
The fake gorilla paced back and forth across the front of the cage and peered out at the crowd. He, (George attached a male gender to the costumed animation, from King Kong and Mighty Joe Young he supposed). The gorilla stopped above the piano player and shook the bars again. The girl in the short green dress looked up and waved to him. This made the phony gorilla act even more restless and he watched her often.
The band picked up a new tune, this one soft and slow. The girl at the piano began to sing. Her voice was full and belied the size of the body that originated the sound. When she finished, the crowd applauded her song and George heard a few whistles and catcalls from one corner of the room.
As the applause died down, the girl turned and stood up. As she rotated on the piano bench, George had a clear view of black underwear beneath the short dress. She grabbed her cordless mike from the holder on the piano and walked out in front of her partners. She thanked the audience in a sweet southern accent and introduced herself as Candy Bowen. She introduced the other members of the band also, but hers was the only name George remembered a minute later.
The fake gorilla began jumping up and down in his cage as if he deserved some of the attention that the girl was receiving. She turned and looked up at him. "Quiet Bongo", she ordered and Bongo gave her a quizzical look.
"If you're a good boy, Bongo," Candy continued, "I'll let you out after a while." Bongo seemed to understand and he quieted down right away.
The girl turned her attention back to the audience and told them that it was time to begin the dance contest. She called Jay, the disk jockey, back on stage and handed him her mike.
Chapter 2
Jay launched immediately into administering the awaited contest. He introduced "Couple Number 1" as Roxanne and Mark something-or-other. A young couple appeared at the side of the dance floor. The guy was dark and stocky, about 5' 10", looked like a linebacker for Penn State. He wore a tuxedo and white ruffled shirt, open at the neck. His wife (or perhaps sister) was a very pretty blond, only an inch or two shorter than he was. She had long, tan legs and looked like a cheerleader for UCLA. She wore a starched white blouse, tucked into a short, full, red skirt. The little girl outfit made her look younger than she probably was.
The blonde's accessories included red pumps and very sheer nylons, no jewelry. George at first thought she didn't have on nylons, but he finally caught a glint that indicated differently.
As Jay finished his introduction, the couple stepped to the center of the dance floor and waited. The combo started a lively rock tune. It was familiar to George, but he didn't recall the title or the artist that had recorded it, maybe Elton John.