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Jimmy Junior stood at the free-throw line. The familiar nubbly texture, size, and weight of the rubber ball in his hands faded into the background of his senses. He bounced it against the polished wood floor several times.
He gazed at the stands to his right and his eyes found Tina's face in the crowd. Some blond guy dressed in the Kingshead Island colors sat beside her. The guy was quietly chatting with Tina, Louise, and Gene like he knew them, and he wore a bored expression while watching Jimmy Junior on the court.
Tina stood and cupped one hand to the side of her mouth. "You can do it, Jimmy Junior!" Her shout of encouragement carried over the hushed crowd, and it made his ears burn. It was embarrassing, but also… nice.
In Jimmy Junior's mind, the blazing Havana sun had set, and now the real heat was scorching its way across the dance floor at La Rosa Negra.
Jimmy Junior swayed and grooved in the thick of the uninhibited dancers, as they shimmied, writhed, whirled, and ground against each other in the sweaty thrall of pounding Afro Cuban music.
The band was just wrapping up Soy El Baile, when Jimmy Junior raised his gaze from the smooth tan shoulder of one of the two women he'd been dancing with. His perspiration-soaked bangs hung down into his eyes, but the vision of her entering the club cut through every distraction.
Tina's black hair brushed the tops of her shoulders. A simple yellow barette decorated her thick raven tresses on the right side of her bangs, and her slinky red dress clung to every curve of her body.
She was his lady in red, and his heart pounded at the sight of her passing through the beaded curtains and standing at the edge of the packed dance floor.
One of the thin, spaghetti straps slid off her shoulder, and she lifted it back into place with the reflexive action of a woman who had already done this a thousand times tonight.
Beside her stood the blond figure of one of the condescending country club boys from the American high school that she attended.
Tina paid the guy beside her no attention as he surveyed his surroundings with disdain. Instead, her dark eyes raptly followed the movements of the dancers as she scanned the room for Jimmy Junior. "Wow. Look at the way they feel the music," she said with wide-eyed awe.
Her companion eyed a couple gyrating their hips together in perfect time while another woman shook her chest for the man scooping his body up her torso. The haughty country club kid cocked one brow, and his blue suit jacket crinkled as he crossed his arms over his chest. "They're sure feeling something, sugar."
Jimmy Junior focused on Tina as he sauntered through the crowd to reach her. She'd come. She'd really come.
Her date had wandered off to inspect the bar, leaving her standing awkwardly alone, and Jimmy Junior decided to make the most of the opportunity presented.
"Hi." His bright grin lit his entire face, excitement shining in his eyes as they studied her from head to toe.
The tight red dress was nothing like what the Americans wore at their club and nothing like the prim clothes she'd worn when they'd met in the street the other day. Had she worn this for him or for the pampered prince she'd arrived with? "You look so Cuban," he complimented her.
"So do you!" She answered without even waiting for a second, and her nervous smile didn't know how to accept his praise.
The other guy drifted back over for introductions and small talk like he'd spotted a bandito sniffing around the perimeter of his fancy world.
Throughout the tedious niceties all Jimmy Junior could think about was Tina. She practically glowed against the regular crowd, while the guy with her was as insufferable as ever. How could he have her to himself without this third wheel in their way?
"We thought we'd expand our horizons a little bit," the blond guy was answering for Tina about coming here instead of staying with the snooty country club set.
"Oh? You mean actually experience Havana?" Jimmy Jr.'s criticism was clear. He turned his face back to Tina without waiting for an answer. "Do you mind if I dance with your date?"
Blondie gave him a superior look. "Well, you'll have to ask her."
Jimmy Junior's hopeful face stared into Tina's, asking without a word.
She broke into a wide, ecstatic grin. "Okay."
Her date stared after them with shock and betrayal written across every inch of his face. Tina's grin was wholly unaware of his offense, as she allowed Jimmy Junior to take her hand and lead her to the dance floor.
They found a small clearing for themselves, and Jimmy Junior pulled Tina into his personal space. His lips nearly grazed her ear. "Should we give your boyfriend a show?"
"Uh. He's not my boyfriend."
Jimmy Junior's smile broadened and his eyes sparkled. It was as he'd thought. His Tina was too strong and passionate for any of those stuffy, rich boys.
Tina extended her bent arms like some kind of ridiculous scaffolding meant to hold him at a distance, as they began to dance together.
Jimmy Jr. chuckled, and he gently pressed her arms back down towards her sides. He took her hands in his.
Dancing wasn't about the rules she'd been taught. It was about feeling the music and the passion flowing through you… circulating between you and your partner.
He stepped forward with his right foot, before drawing his leg back again. His shoulders moved in time with his steps.
Tina's russet brown eyes watched closely, and she matched his moves, stepping back to allow him into her space and moving forward into his when he retreated.
As they settled into a comfortable rhythm, he took her arms and drew them around his neck so that she was draped over him like a cape. His hands briefly touched her shoulders, fluttering to her ribs like a question, before coming to rest upon her waist.
They gazed into each other's eyes in delight as he spun her and then did a turn under their joined hands. Her arms slid back around his neck and shoulders, and the rest of the world faded away as they cavorted to the music.
In a state of pure relaxation and bliss, Jimmy Junior took his free throw. The basketball left his right hand, guided by his left. It flew through the air in a perfect arc. It hit the square on the backboard right behind the basket and bounced forward and down at a slight angle towards the hoop below.
It hit the edge of the orange metal hoop, and it hung there for a moment, spinning like a globe. Then it rolled and fell away in the opposite direction from the basket.
It was his best shot yet tonight.
"You almost had that one! Good shot, Jimmy J!"
He turned his head to see Tina cheering for him while Louise and the Kingshead Island boy stared at her with flabbergasted looks of utter disbelief.
Jimmy Junior felt like a hero.
He was still grinning as the game resumed and they all ran towards the other end of the court to stop the visiting team from scoring.