Ten Cents a Dance

I read a review of this YA novel over at Reading in Color and was immediately intrigued:  1) because I love Chicago and hope to live there someday, and 2) because the idea of a taxi-dancer instantly made me think of prostitution, and since that’s an element in the novel I’m currently writing, I wanted to see how another author handled this difficult topic.  Christine Fletcher captured my attention right away by disrupting my expectations of the main character; I guess I’m so used to seeing white girls portrayed as dainty damsels that it was surprising to meet Ruby Jacinski, a fifteen-year old Irish-Polish girl who’s had to drop out of school in order to support her mother and sister by bottling hogs feet in a packinghouse (yes, it’s as disgusting as it sounds).  It’s rare for Ruby to be able to act like a normal teenager so when a local boys’ club holds a dance, she begs her strict, Catholic mother for permission, borrows a quarter from her girlfriend, and puts on her best second-hand dress.  Despite her reduced circumstances, Ruby knows just what her assets are and how to use them to full effect; she’s a fabulous dancer and enjoys male attention enough to fight for it—which is surprise #2: Ruby will throw a punch without hesitation, and her first fight is with a girl from another part of town.  When both girls are thrown out of the dance, Ruby finds herself championed and restored to the dance floor by the charming, older, neighborhood gangster-in-training, Paulie Suelze.  Their first encounter ends with a kiss and Paulie’s suggestion that Ruby work as a “dance instructress” at a place he knows.  Now, not being a teenager myself, that immediately sent up a red flare: is he a pimp?  does he get a cut of her profits, or is he paid by the dance hall owner to send pretty young girls his way?  But Ruby can’t see beyond Paulie’s charisma and dangerous allure, and it’s not until the end of the novel that she realizes there’s a high price to be paid for buying into an illusion.  Fletcher has created a completely convincing historical narrative here, and she doesn’t shy away from the bigotry of her white characters or the very real risks involved with sex work.  Technically, Ruby’s *only* paid for dancing with random men at the Starlight, but she soon learns that the real money’s in tips and the money she can mooch out of men who take her out after hours.  Sometimes paying attention to a boring story will earn a big tip; other times men expect permission to let their hands roam at will.  But Ruby has her limits, and she learns from an older dancer how to stay one step ahead of her dancing partners.  There were times when I felt Ruby sounded too mature for her age, but I had to remind myself that 16 in 1940 isn’t the same as 16 in 2009; as Ruby herself points out, her own mother was married at age 16, and she’s been supporting the family ever since her mother’s rheumatoid arthritis forced her out of the packinghouse.  What Ruby wants is glamor, fun, excitement, and a chance to break out of the Yards–the cramped, dingy, working-class neighborhood that seems to define her.  But Ruby’s not an adult, and she soon gets in over her head; one of her “fish” (a regular who pays for “extra” time alone with her) demands sex at a cheap hotel or repayment of all the money he’s “loaned” her over time.  Desperate, Ruby accepts the money from Paulie and then becomes indebted to him; but because Ruby thinks she’s in love with Paulie, she can’t see what he really has in mind for her—a fate not so different than the one planned by the “fish” she fought to escape.  When Paulie attempts to physically coerce her into a life she doesn’t want, Ruby flees but finds she can no longer be the “good girl” her now remarried mother wants her to be.  The added complication involving Paulie’s attempted seduction of Ruby’s younger sister seemed a bit sudden at the end, but the move forces Ruby to finally envision a life not only beyond the Yards, but beyond the Starlight as well.  This novel has a satisfying ending and an admirable, realistic treatment of racism among working class whites.  I finished this book feeling hopeful about Ruby’s evolution into a self-reliant young woman who can reject the limits placed upon her and no longer needs attention (or money) from men to feel empowered.  A great read–highly recommended.

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