In the Silks Read Online Free PDF Page A

And why would you scoff at one of them applying for a job? Are you truly not hiring or did you not want his application?”
    “Henry, get real. She did not want a job. Her buddies had her try to distract me so that they could shoplift. They thought I was dumb enough to fall for that.”
    “But did they do anything that made you believe they were going to try anything wrong?”
    “Henry, I’m surprised you’re defending them. You’re a juvenile probation officer; you know what they are like.”
    “What do you mean by ‘they’ Jackie? You know what, never mind.” Henry waved a hand in front of his face and picked up his beer that had just arrived. He drained half the glass before coming up for air. Jackie watched him with a disgusted look. Henry excused himself to the restroom; he just wanted to check the Bruins score. A breather from Jackie couldn’t hurt either, despite the fact that they had only been together for about an hour.
    This was getting old.
    After a less than enjoyable dinner, they were off to the show.
    Henry already wanted the night to be over. He wasn’t looking forward to this show. This just wasn’t his thing but Jackie whined that she had gotten really great tickets from a friend working at the theater. Once they had paid the small fortune for parking and bought a program that was equally matched in price, they found their seats. They were amazing seats, second row center. Henry took the opportunity to check the score again while Jackie was in the bathroom. The Bruins were ahead, that was something to smile about.
    The show began and Henry thought it was interesting. He hadn’t looked at the program, so he had no idea what the plot was supposed to be. But the show seemed to consist of a mix of circus like acts and street performances. Some of them reminded him of the ones that could be seen on a regular basis at Faneuil Hall. The show kept him entertained, but he still tried to sneak a few peeks at the score without success.
    As soon as intermission came, Henry checked the score to see that the Bruins had lost. This entire night had been a loss so why should that not surprise him. When the show started again, the lights faded.  A song started that sounded familiar.
    Henry leaned toward Jackie, “I know this song, what is it?”
    “I don’t know. Now shush!”
    Henry rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat. He was running through song titles in his mind trying to place it when the performers appeared.
    They descended from the ceiling, spiraling slowly. They were wearing white flowing pants that rippled and waved in the air, and nothing else. Dangling from blue silk.
    Henry focused in on one of the performers. Something was stirring in the back of his mind. Something familiar but he wasn’t sure what, not déjà vu .
    The performer displayed impressive strength, holding a perfect split in mid-air, toes pointed. He was tangled up in swaths of silk suspended from the ceiling. The fabric that he was not wrapped in flowed freely around him, reminded Henry of a billow of smoke. As he descended toward the floor, he shifted his legs to his sides and spread them-wide.
    He rolled effortlessly onto his back until his forehead appeared to touch the floor. Then the length of silk was hoisting him into the air again, gradually peeling his body and finally his forehead off the floor in a motion that was so fluid it seemed to defy the laws of physics.
    When he was only a few feet off the ground, he bent his legs and curled into a fetal position, rolled completely over and just as fast his feet were backing down to the ground. One arm shot out of the silk so fast that if Henry blinked, he would have missed it. His body was sinewy and beautiful, his moves appeared effortless. Graceful.
    He extended his arm to his side, spun himself, right arm gripping the silk for support and balance. With every spin he was taken farther away from the floor. Arm still extended; legs still bent to the side as if swimming.