by Doris Miller
It is a month later. Dana and Diane D are riding on motorcycles wearing helmets with long ponytails hanging around their backs and shoulders as Dana's maternal cousin Judy from Jamaica sits on the back seat behind Dana wearing a helmet and Teresa sits on the back seat behind Diane D wearing a helmet. Dana and Diane D pull their motorcycles to the curb in front of their grandparents Gracy and Mike’s house and stop. Judy, who is a little taller, darker and slimmer than Dana holds on to Dana's shoulders as she gets off the back seat of the motorcycle. She takes off her helmet showing her shoulder length dreadlocks. Teresa holds on to Diane D's shoulders as she gets off the back seat of the motorcycle. She takes her helmet off. Judy and Teresa smile to each other as Dana and Diane D turn the motorcycle engines off. Dana and Diane get off the motorcycles. Dana and Diane D take off their helmets. They walk towards their grandparents' front door as Judy and Teresa follow behind them. Dana approaches the front door and unlocks it. She lets Diane D, Judy and Teresa go inside the house ahead of her. She then follows in behind them and closes the door behind herself.
Diane D walks into the living room as Judy and Teresa follow her. Judy and Teresa stop as Dana walks in front of Judy and Teresa. They all suddenly hear a lot of banging going on. Dana turns to Diane D and asks, “What the hell is that?”
“Oh those are the contractors that are remodeling Grandma and Grandpa's kitchen,” Diane D says.
“What! Grandma and Grandpa got contractors to remodel their kitchen?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought Sammy and Thomas told Grandma and Grandpa that they and I were gonna do and help with the remodeling!”
“Well Dana you went away for a while. You were locked up. While you were away, Grandma and Grandpa called someone else to remodel their kitchen.”
“Oh so in other words, they couldn't wait for me, couldn't they?”
“No I guess they couldn't. They were gonna wait for you, but they heard about these terrific guys and hired them on the spot.”
“Oh yeah? Well I'm gonna fire these guys, on the spot!”
“What.”
Dana puts her helmet down. She turns and storms towards the kitchen.
“Dana!” Diane D shouts. Diane D puts her helmet down and rushes off after Dana. Judy and Teresa put their helmets down and follow off after Diane D.
Dana enters the kitchen doorway and looks into the kitchen as Diane D, Judy and Teresa come in behind her. She sees three South American looking men fixing the kitchen. The men turn and look at Dana. Dana looks around the kitchen and shouts, “What the hell is going on here?”
“Nothing Ma’am,” one of the men says. “We were hired to fix this kitchen.”
“How long have you been working on this kitchen?”
“We started this morning.”
“When are you supposed to be finished with it?”
“We don't know. Maybe a week or two.”
“A week or two? Well that's okay, you guys don't have to fix the kitchen for my grandparents. My brothers and I are gonna fix it.”
“Dana!” Diane D shouts.
Dana turns to Diane D and says, “We're gonna fix it!” She turns back to the men and says, “You guys can leave.”
“Leave?” the second man says. “We already started working on it.”
“Look I don't like the way you're making my grandparents' kitchen look! My brothers and I will finish it! Y'all don't have to work on it anymore!” Dana starts to pick up the men's belongings.
“But your grandparents already hired us! They already paid us the entire bill and everything! If we leave now, they will lose their money and won't be able to get their money back under this circumstance!”
“Don't worry about it! Just go!” Dana grabs the men’s belongings.
“Dana you can't throw these guys out!” Diane D shouts.
“Oh no? Watch me!”
“But miss!” the first guy shouts.
“Don't ‘but miss’ me! Just take your shit and get out!” Dana picks up the men's belongings. She takes their belongings out of the kitchen as the men and Diane D hurry behind her!
Dana walks through the living room with the men's belongings. She heads towards the front door and opens it. She throws the men’s belongings out the front door. The men walk towards the front door. Diane D goes in front of the men and tries to stop them from leaving and shouts, “No you guys can't leave! You were paid to do a job now do it!”
“How can we do the job if she's throwing our belongings out?” one of the men says.
“I'll get your belongings back! Just go back in the kitchen and finish doing what you were doing!”
“Diane they got to go!” Dana’s voice shouts.
Diane D turns towards Dana and shouts, “No they don't!”
“Yes they do!” Dana says as she storms back in the kitchen.
Diane D turns back to the men and says, “You guys have to finish the kitchen!”
“How can we?” the man shouts.
Dana comes back out of the kitchen with more of the men's belongings. She goes to the front door and opens it. She throws more of their belongings out the front door.
“Miss!” the man shouts to her.
“Man just take your things and go!” Dana shouts
“Don't you think we should at least let your grandparents know we're leaving?!”
“I'll let them know about it! Just get out!”
“But miss!”
“I want you guys out of my grandparents' house now!”
“Fine then!” The men grab the rest of their belongings and leave out of the house.
The men come out of the front door as Dana shouts to them, “And don't come back!” Dana throws another of the men's belongings out the door then slams the door.
The men look back at the front door stunned. They then look at each other as the third man says, “Man what the hell is her problem?”
“I don’t know!” the second man shouts. “We gotta call her grandparents up later on and tell them about this!”
“I know, but for now, let's just get the hell out of here!” The men pick up their belongings then turn and walk towards the front gate.
The first man looks around. He then stops and says, “Hey! We forgot our tool belt!” The other men stop as the first man says, “We can't leave it. We gotta get it.” The men turn back around and start to walk back towards the front door.
As the men walk towards the front door, the front door suddenly swings open! Dana ducks out the front door and throws the tool belt out the house! The men look at the tool belt as it crashes on the front lawn! They turn and look back at the front door as it slams shut. The three men look at each other as the second guy whispers, “Man, what a bitch!”
“She sure is! Come on let's grab our things and go!” The three men pick up their tool kit and their belongings from off the front lawn. They then walk towards the front gate. They head out the front gate and quickly leave the area.
Two hours later, the contractors are sitting inside their office. The first guy turns to the others and says, “I'm gonna call that woman's grandparents up and tell them what happened.” He picks up the telephone receiver and puts the receiver in his ear. He dials a number on the telephone and listens into the receiver. He speaks into the receiver and says, “Hello? Yeah I would like to speak to Mike and Gracy Brown please.”
“Who is this?” Dana says from the other end of the telephone.
“I'm the worker who was there earlier. I want to speak to Mike and Gracy Brown.”
“No you may not speak to my grandparents!”
“Why not? I just want to tell them why me and my partners aren't there!”
“I already told my grandparents everything! You don't have to call back here anymore!”
The guy hears the other end of the phone go click. He looks at the telephone. He hangs up the telephone receiver then turns to his partners.
“W
ell what happened?” the second guy asks.
“It was that bitch on the phone! The one who threw us out! She told me I can't speak to her grandparents!”
“She won't let you speak to her grandparents?! Does her grandparents know what happened?! Does her grandparents know that she threw us out of their house?!”
“She said she told them everything! I want to speak to her grandparents so we could tell them ourselves!”
“I guess we're just gonna have to try to call up her grandparents later. Come on let's go.” The three guys turn and walk away towards the doorway.
Two hours later, the contractors sit in their office again. The first guy turns to the others and says, “I'm gonna try to call that woman's grandparents again and tell them what happened.” He picks up the telephone receiver and dials a number on the telephone. He puts the receiver in his ear and listens. He then speaks into the receiver and says, “Hello? Yeah I would like to speak to Mike and Gracy Brown please.”
“Who is this?!” Dana says from the other end of the telephone again.
“I'm the worker who was there earlier who also called a little while ago.”
“I thought I told you, you cannot speak to my grandparents! Don't call back here no damn more!”
The guy hears the other end of the phone slam down. He looks at the telephone receiver then hangs it up. He turns to his partners and tells them, “It was that bitch again!”
“It was?” the second guy says.
“Yeah! She still won't let me speak to her grandparents!”
“I guess we're gonna have to try to call up her grandparents again later.”
“I know. But I'm only gonna try one more time to call their grandparents. If I still don't get in touch with them, I'm gonna forget about the whole thing and move on to somewhere else. Come on let's go.” The men turn and walk away.
Diane D is in the bedroom standing in front of the mirror fastening her shirt buttons, wearing a mini-skirt and black stockings as Teresa stands near her also in a mini-skirt. “So what time you have to pick up Michael?” Teresa asks.
“Not until another couple of hours,” Diane D says.
“Oh okay. Where's Dana?”
“She's in the shower right now.”
“She is?”
“Yeah. Don't you hear the shower water running?”
Teresa looks towards the hallway and could hear the shower water running from the bathroom. “Yeah I hear it running,” she says. She then looks at the foot of Dana’s bed and sees beautiful folded up women’s lingerie and a beige folded up army looking outfit laying there. She approaches the foot of Dana‘s bed and says, “Whose clothes are these?”
“Those are Dana's,” Diane D says. “She's gonna put those on when she comes out the shower.”
“Oh.”
Diane D goes sit down on the foot of the other bed. She bends over and starts to fix her shoes.
Teresa picks up Dana’s beige army looking outfit. She starts to unfold the outfit and holds it high up in the air. She sees that the outfit is a very short army looking mini-dress. “Ooh this mini-dress is beautiful Diane! This is nice!”
Diane D looks up at Teresa. She becomes frustrated and says, “No don't bother that Teresa!” Diane D quickly gets up off her bed. She approaches Teresa and angrily snatches the short mini-dress right out of Teresa's hands! Teresa looks at Diane D stunned as Diane D folds the dress back up and says, “Dana's gonna have a fit if she sees that someone was bothering her stuff.”
“She is?”
“Of course she is Teresa. Would you want someone to bother your stuff, especially while you’re in the shower?”
“No. I guess not.”
“Well that’s exactly how Dana would feel.” Diane D places the folded army looking dress back down on the foot of Dana’s bed and says, “When she comes in here and sees that someone bothered her things, the first thing she's gonna wanna know is ‘who was bothering her shit and why the hell did someone bother her stuff then say ‘don’t touch her shit’ and believe me, I am not in a mood to hear her shit right now. I'm still upset with her for throwing those contractors out and I‘m still pissed off at her for not letting me know that the Punky Gurlz called here for me.” Diane D and Teresa suddenly hear the shower water go off. They look towards the hallway as Diane D says, “She just turned off the shower. She's getting ready to come out the shower and come in here to get dressed. Let's go down stairs so we can be out of her way.”
“Alright.”
Diane D picks up her belongings off the bed. She then heads out the bedroom door as Teresa follows behind her.
Diane D and Teresa step out into the hallway and look towards the closed bathroom door as they head to the staircase. Diane D heads down the staircase as Teresa follows her.
Diane D and Teresa enter the dining room and sit down on the chairs. As Diane D bends over and starts to fix her shoe again, she and Teresa hear the bathroom door opening upstairs. They look towards the upstairs. They hear slight footsteps going to the bedrooms. They then hear the bedroom door slam shut. Teresa turns to Diane D and whispers, “Does she always slam the bedroom door like that?”
“Yep,” Diane D says. The telephone rings. Diane D turns to Teresa and says, “Excuse me for a minute.” Diane D turns to the phone and picks up the telephone receiver. She speaks into the telephone receiver and says, “Hello? .... Oh hi Aunt Christine. How're you feeling? .... I'm okay. .... Nothing. I'm just sitting here in the dining room with Teresa. So what time are you gonna get here Saturday? ..... Okay. ..... Oh Dana is upstairs getting dressed. She just came out the shower. .... Yeah.” Diane D hears the bedroom door opening. “Oh wait a minute Aunt Christine. I just heard the bedroom door opened. I think she's coming down.” Diane D and Teresa look towards the staircase. They hear footsteps walking upstairs. They then hear footsteps coming down the stairs. They then see a frowning Dana coming down the staircase with her long hair loosed out and damp, wiping her damp hair and face with a towel and wearing the short beige army mini-dress, showing her bare muscular legs and bare feet. “Oh Dana,” Diane D says. “Your mom is on the phone. She wants to talk to you.”
“Okay,” Dana says. “I'll take it in the living room.” Dana walks away towards the living room as Diane D looks down and starts to fix her shoe again.
Dana is in the living room sitting up on one side of the sofa with her bare muscular legs and bare feet stretched out across the rest of the sofa with one knee up and the towel wrapped around her neck, shoulders and damp hair as she speaks into the telephone receiver saying, “Hi Mom. .... Yeah I'm alright.”
The contractors are inside their office again. Two of the contractors stand around the first guy as the third guy asks, “Are you gonna try to call that woman's grandparents again?”
“I don't know if we should even waste our time calling their number back,” the first guy says. “That broad just might answer the phone again! I really don’t want to be bothered with her.”
“Just try to call that woman's grandparents one more time,” the second guy says. “If that broad answers the phone, just hang up on her and forget about that household.”
“Alright.” The first guy picks up the telephone receiver. He dials the number on the telephone again as the other two guys stand beside him. The guy puts the receiver to his ear and hears the other end ringing.
Inside Gracy and Grandpa Mike’s house, Dana is inside the living room still speaking on the telephone. She then says, “Wait, hold on Mom. Someone is on the other line.” Dana presses the hold button then lets go of it. She then says, “Hello? Hello? Hello?”
Inside the contractors’ office, the first guy hangs up the phone. He turns to his partners and shouts, “It was that broad again! She answered the telephone! I recognized her voice!”
“Damn!” the second guy shouts. “Why is she the one always answering the fucking phone?! Why can't th
e other granddaughter Diane D answer the phone sometimes?!”
“I don't know! Maybe she beats Diane D to the phone a lot!”
Inside Gracy and Grandpa Mike’s house, Dana presses the button again and lets go of it. She continues to speak into the telephone receiver and says, “Yeah Mom, I'm back. .... I don't know who was on the other line. No one answered. .... Uh uh. So you and Dad still coming Saturday right?” Dana takes a nail clipper and starts to clip her fingernails as she continues to speak on the telephone.
Inside the contractors’ office, the second guy says to the others, “Man, we might as well forget about that whole household. We're just gonna have to wait until their grandparents call us. Let's get out of here.” The guys turn and leave the office.
Chapter 12
Tension At The Dance Studio
