Clock Dance

Willa is now 21 and is in college. Her boyfriend, Derek, is 23 and finishing his degree this year, but Willa has one more year to go. For Easter weekend, Derek flies them to visit Willa’s family. It’s Willa’s first time flying. Derek takes care of everything at the airport because Willa doesn’t know what to do. 

While awaiting their flight, Derek brings up asking Willa’s parents for her hand in marriage. Willa is taken aback, but Derek tells Willa he’s in love with her and has known for a long time that he wants to marry her. Derek already has a job lined up in California, and he wants Willa to be there with him when he starts. She’s looking forward to a year of intensive focus on linguistics. When Willa explains this, Derek doubts her willingness to marry him. Willa reassures him but is concerned about leaving her specialized program and her scholarship at their current school. Derek brushes this off, suggesting she can get another scholarship. Willa asks if he’s mad, but he knows she’ll change her mind. 

On the plane, Willa takes the middle seat because she’s smaller than Derek. A man sits on the other side of Willa. Once they’re in the air, Derek reads his book. Willa thinks it’s nice to know who she’s going to marry, but she’s concerned about Derek’s temper and obsession with sports.

Willa feels something poke into her ribs. The man next to her tells her it’s a loaded gun and instructs her to keep her eyes forward and say nothing. He tells her he’ll shoot her if she moves. Willa can’t see the gun, but only feel it. She wonders what to do. The stewardess collecting trash doesn’t notice the gun and continues her route down the aisle. 

Derek stands abruptly and tells Willa to trade places with him. He’s noticed she is just staring at the seat in front of her, and he wants her to look out the window. Willa is terrified that the man will shoot her if she moves, but when she stands, nothing happens. She and Derek trade places. The man does not bother Derek. Willa is scared for the rest of the trip. When they land, the man exits the plane quickly. When Willa tells Derek about the man with the gun, Derek is incredulous. He suggests maybe the man was messing with her and it wasn’t a gun at all.

On the way back to Willa’s home, Willa tells her parents about the man with the gun. Derek interjects that the man was just a bored jokester. Willa is offended but says Derek’s theory is possible. She changes the subject to Elaine’s absence. Elaine is 16, rebellious, and has no time for her family these days. The subject of the gun is dropped completely. At Willa’s house, Derek stays in the guest room while Willa occupies her old bed in her shared bedroom with Elaine. Elaine dresses in dark clothes and her hair covers her face. She abstains from most family gatherings throughout the weekend. 

Willa thinks about the man on the plane, and it colors her perception of Derek and her parents, who have gone along with Derek’s theory. She wakes in the middle of the night with her heart pounding because she felt a jab in her side. To get back to sleep, she considers Derek’s proposal. She worries about giving up her college linguistics path, but at the same time, the idea of throwing away everything to be Derek’s wife is tempting.

Willa, Derek, and Willa’s parents go to a local restaurant. Willa’s father tells Derek about Willa’s mother’s acting hobby. Someday Derek may get to see her perform. Willa takes this as a sign that they want her to bring Derek around again.

During Easter lunch on the final day, Willa tells Elaine the story of the man on the plane. Elaine is disturbed to learn that Willa didn’t “make a fuss” (67) during the event. Their father sticks up for Willa, adding how hard it is to stand up for oneself on a crowded plane. When he was a student, a man tried to rob him with a knife. He told the man that he didn’t have his wallet on him, which was the truth. The knife-wielding man called him a wimpy, weak loser. Willa’s father agreed, and the man left him alone. Derek says Willa’s father shouldn’t have let the man get away with speaking to him that way. Willa’s mother agrees with Derek, but Willa and her father are on the same page. 

Willa and Derek announce their engagement after they’ve packed up to leave. Derek details his plan to marry Willa in the summer and move her with him when he goes to California for work. He says he’s “hoping to talk her around” (70) leaving school, which upsets Willa’s mother. She accuses him of disregarding Willa’s side of things, mentioning Derek’s dismissive reaction to the gunman. Willa agrees with her mother, but when Derek and Willa’s mother argue, Willa shuts it down by announcing that she is going to marry Derek no matter what.