The Dance
Dear Martha,
Here I am at the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans dancing with Dave, one of the guys from the tour bus. He’s very lucky, not just because he’s dancing with me (Ha!) but because he got this incredible offer on the Internet. The son of some Ugandan politician who disappeared wants Dave to help him deposit millions of dollars in U.S. banks. For his trouble, Dave will get to keep half. I asked Dave how someone in Uganda knew about him and he said they must have seen his name on eBay.
Anyway, Dave has already promised to take me on one of those cruises from New Orleans to Cancun once he gets his money. Of c ourse we’ll need a chaperone (Ha!). Maybe you can come along. New Orleans is better than I imagined after seeing those TV reports. The French Quarter is clean and everyone seems happy. No one is happier than Dave though. I think I’ll hang on tight.
See you soon,
Betty Jean
Ed. Note: “Femme, Femme, Femme: Paintings of Women in French Society from Daumier to Picasso” continues through June 3 at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Pictured here, Portrait of Madame Valtese by Henri Gervex.
