The following Friday morning, several High School staff members and a lot of High School students are having a meeting inside a the school office. Principal Carrie, a tall dark skinned black female around her early fifties stands up in front of the crowd and says, “So this year’s annual school dance, we’re going to have each boy and each girl and each man and each woman partner up with a date. Each girl is going to have to pick out a guy and ask him to be her date for the school dance.”
“Aaaaahhh,” the students say.
“And each woman, a female teacher or staff member is going to have to pick out a man and ask him to be her date for the school dance. No one can come to the school dance without a date.”
“Okay,” the teachers say.
“So what man are you going to pick out and ask to the school dance Principal Carrie?” one of the female teachers asks.
“Well my husband of course,” Principal Carrie says.
“At least you have a husband to bring,” another female teacher says. Everyone starts to laugh a little.
“So have we found a singer to perform at the school dance?” a male teacher asks.
“Yeah,” Principal Carrie says. “Since all the kids say they would like Diane D and the Dianettes to perform at the school dance, Diane D and the Dianettes will perform at the school dance next week!”
“Diane D and the Dianettes?!” the teachers and students shout. The students start to scream and cheer.
“Wow that’s wonderful!” a female staff member says.
“How were you able to get them?” the male teacher asks.
“I called the Diaz-Davidson Organization the other day and spoke to Diane D’s grandmother, Miss Margarita,” Principal Carrie says. “I told Miss Margarita about this school having a dance and that the kids would love to have Diane D and the Dianettes perform here. She was very happy to hear about the school dance that the students requested Diane D and the Dianettes to perform here, but she was sort of hesitant at first.”
“She was? Why?”
“She wasn’t sure if she should let Diane D perform anywhere being that Diane D and her husband are going through some sort of situation. Then she finally agreed to let Diane D and the Dianettes perform at the school dance so the students can be happy.”
“Oh that’s nice of her.” The students start to scream and cheer again.
On Sunday afternoon, Diane D is walking swiftly down a church hallway. “Hey Diane D!” a young girl’s voice shouts. “Diane D!” Diane D stops and turns around. She sees a black teenage girl running towards her holding and clutching on to some text books. The teenage girl excitingly approaches Diane D and says, “Hey Diane D! Hi! How are you?!”
“I’m okay,” Diane D says.
“You sure? A lot of people heard you were sick before! You still sick?”
“I’m doing much better. Thanks.”
“That’s good Diane D! That’s good! That’s mean’s you’ll be okay to be at my High School next week!”
“Be at your High School next week? And who are you?”
“Oh I’m Serena! I go to Township High School! You know, the High School that you and the Dianettes are going to be at next week! I hear that you and the Dianettes are going to be at Township High’s school dance next week!”
“Yeah we are.”
“Wow, that is so exciting! We all can’t wait to have you and the Dianettes perform at our school dance Diane D! So you and the Dianettes will definitely be at our school dance?”
“Yeah, we’ll be there.”
“Oh that’s good to hear! So by the way Diane D, who’s going to be your date for the school dance?”
“Who’s going to be my date for the school dance? What are you talking about?”
“The school says that each boy and each girl and each man and each woman has to partner up with a date!”
“Your school said that?”
“Yeah! The school says each girl is going to have to pick out a guy and ask him to be her date for the school dance and each woman is going to have to pick out a man and ask him to be her date for the school dance!”
“Really?”
“Yeah. They said no one can be at the school dance without a date, so if you don’t have a date to come with you to our school dance, I’m afraid you might not be able to be at our school dance Diane D.”
“You’re kidding me right?”
“No I’m not kidding you Diane D! Those are the school’s rules! You have to pick out and ask a man to be your date for the school dance, you really do, and I want to make sure you have a date so you can come! So what man are you going to pick out and ask for the school dance? Who’s going to be your date for our school dance?”
“I’m afraid I don’t have a date for your school dance.”
“Of course you have a date for our school dance Diane D!”
“I do?”
“Yeah.”
“Well I am shocked to hear about that because I didn’t even ask anybody yet, I just found out about this from you. Who‘s my date for your school dance?”
“Don’t be silly Diane D, you know who your date is!”
“I do?”
“Yeah!”
“Well who is it?”
“You already know!”
“No I don’t know. Who is it?”
“You should already know who your date is Diane D!”
“I’m afraid I don’t know who my date is Miss. Who’s my date?”
“Your husband!”
“My husband?”
“Yes, your husband! He can be your date for our school dance! Just ask him then bring him along! If you bring your husband along, you’ll be able to be at our school dance! There, that settles it!” Diane D puzzled looks at Serena. Serena then says, “Oh well Diane D, I gotta go now. It’s so nice meeting you. Boy I can’t wait to tell all my friends that I met you! Hope to see you at the school dance Diane D! And remember Diane D, the Dianettes must bring dates as well! By now!” Serena turns around and hurries away as Diane D puzzled stares at her.
Evette stands several yards away as she puzzled stares at Serena. She then walks towards Diane D. She approaches Diane D and says, “Diane?” Diane D turns to Evette as Evette says, “I don’t know if I’m hearing this right, but did that girl just tell you that you have to get a date in order to be at her High School dance?”
“You heard right Evette,” Diane D says.
“You sure she meant you? You’re suppose to be the performer.”
“That’s what I thought. Well, I guess I have to find and ask a guy to be my date for their school dance.”
“What? Find and ask a guy?”
“Sure. Why not? I mean I certainly can’t ask Michael and bring him to the school dance, not with what him and I are going through with our marriage separation.”
“But Diane, the date thing that this girl was talking about for her school dance wasn’t meant for you.”
A tall black male around his late twenties and a beard enters the hallway carrying boxes. He sees Diane D and says, “Um, excuse me Miss Diane D?” Diane D and Evette turn and look at the man. The man then says, “I’m with the delivery company. I brought more boxes for the food drive.”
“Okay,” Diane D says. “You can just leave the boxes right there on the side. I‘ll tell my people about it.”
“Okay.” The man turns to the side and puts the boxes to the side. Diane D stares at the man. She gets lust in her eyes as she looks at the man.
Evette turns back to Diane D. She looks at Diane D and asks, “Diane, are you okay?”
“Yeah I’m okay,” Diane D says. “I was just thinking, maybe I should ask this guy to be my date for that school dance.”
Evette turns around to look at the man. The man turns and leaves. Evette turns back to Diane D and says, “Forget about asking that guy Diane, that’s Bruce. He’s married.”
“He is? You know him?”
r /> “Not really, but I’ve seen him coming to this church a few times before with his wife and three children.”
“Oh yeah? Oh well. Well there’s several more guys loading boxes downstairs. Hey, I should ask one of them if they can be my date for that school dance. I better hurry before they leave.” Diane D turns and hurries away.
“But Diane wait! Wait Diane wait!” Evette watches Diane D as Diane D continues to hurry away. She shouts again, “Diane wait! Wait Diane!” Diane D disappears out the door as Evette shouts, “The date thing is not meant for you!” The door closes behind Diane D as Evette shouts, “It’s not meant for you!” Evette worriedly stares towards the door.
The following Monday morning, several High School students are standing in the hall talking. Serena excitingly approaches the students and says, “Hey you all! Guess what?”
“What?” the students say.
“The Diaz-Davidson Organization stopped by my church yesterday!”
“They did?”
“Yeah?”
“What were they doing there?” a teenage boy asks.
“They had some boxes delivered to the church for the food drive!”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah! Guess who I ran into?”
“Who?” the students ask.
“Diane D herself!”
“Diane D?!”
“You ran into Diane D?” a teenage girl asks.
“Yeah!” Serena says. “She was at the church! I saw her walking in the hallway!”
“You did?” the teenage boy asks. “So what did you do when you saw her?”
“I ran up to her!”
“You ran up to the Diane D?”
“I sure did!”
“What did you say to her?” another teenage boy asks.
“I asked her are she and the Dianettes going to be at our school dance? She said yes they’ll be there!”
“Yes!” the students shout. “That’s good!”
“Then I asked her who’s going to be her date for the school dance.”
“What?”
“You asked her who’s going to be her date for the school dance?” the second teenage boy asks. “What do you mean you asked her ‘who’s going to be her date for the school dance‘?”
“Didn’t the school say that each boy and each girl and each man and each woman has to partner up with a date?” Serena says. “Didn’t the school say each woman is going to have to pick out a man and ask him to be her date for the school dance too? Didn’t they say no one can be at the school dance without a date that if they don’t have a date they’re not be able to be at our school dance?”
“Yeah silly, but they didn’t mean Diane D, she’s the performer! They didn’t mean the performer have to get a date! The school is lucky that the Diaz-Davidson Organization even let Diane D and the Dianettes perform at the school dance!”
“So what did Diane D say when you told her that she has to get a date for the school dance?” a third teenage boy asks.
“She said she didn’t have a date for the school dance,” Serena says. “I told her that she does have a date for our school dance, then she asked me who it is. I told her it’s her husband.”
“What?” the students says. “Her husband?”
“You told her that?” the third teenage boy says.
“Yeah,” Serena says. “I told Diane D her husband can be her date for our school dance and to just bring him along so she’ll be able to be at our school dance!”
“Oh Serena haven’t you heard?” the second teenage girls says. “Diane D and her husband separated!”
“Separated?”
“Yeah. They’re not together right now, they had split up!”
“They did?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because Diane D’s husband found out that she cheated on him!”
“Diane D cheated on her husband?”
“That’s right. It was all over the papers that Diane D had an extra-marital affair with some Jamaican guy.”
“Diane D had an extra-marital affair with a Jamaican guy? You mean that Jamaican guy they said she was found unconscious in the woods with?”
“Yes him. Diane D’s family is devastated by this whole scandal. We’re lucky her family is letting her perform at our school dance because I found out that her family wasn’t even going to allow her to perform anywhere for a while because of the scandal, but when they found out that we wanted Diane D and the Dianettes to perform at our school dance, they decided to let her perform, for us.”
“So what happened when you told Diane D she can bring her husband to the school dance?” the first teenage boy asks.
“I don’t know,” Serena says. “I had to turn and leave. I didn’t wait around to find out what her answer was going to be.”
“Well maybe she’ll surprise us and come with her husband.”
“I hope so. It’ll be nice to see her husband at our school dance too.”
“Yeah it would be.” The students continue to gather around.
The following day, Alex is walking down the church hallway. He approaches Evette and says, “Hey Evette?”
Evette turns to Alex and says, “What’s up Alex? What’s going on?”
“What’s up with Diane going around the church the other day asking a lot of the delivery guys downstairs on a date to that High School dance? Evette a lot of these delivery guys are married or have girlfriends. They turned Diane down. I heard they all would love to go out on a date with Diane but since they’re all married or have girlfriends, they didn’t want to be seen out publicly with her, especially because she‘s well known. They didn’t want any problems.”
“Alex, I think this young girl from the school gave Diane the wrong information. I overheard her telling Diane that Diane cannot attend the school dance unless she comes with a date. But I think that rule applies only for the members of the school, not for any performers who’s going to be there.”
“Well because of that wrong information, Diane is going around asking almost every man in sight can they be her date for that school dance.” Alex and Evette worriedly look at each other. Alex suddenly looks to the side and says, “Oh oh, there she goes, man hunting again.” Evette turns her head to the side. She and Alex look through the side door towards the outside and see Diane D walking in the distance wearing sunglasses, walking with the Dianettes. They see Diane D stop and look to the side and pull her sunglasses below her eyes, checking out a group of young black and Hispanic men hanging around on a bench.
The Dianettes stop with Diane D and look at the men also. Diane D calls out to one of the men and shouts, “Hey Evan!”
The men on the bench turn around to Diane D. Evan a young black man says, “Yes Miss Diane! What can I do for you?”
“Are you available to be my date for this school dance?”
“Oh I would really love to take you Diane, but my girlfriend might find out!”
“Your girlfriend?” Diane D annoyingly waves her hand at Evan. She looks at the other guys and asks, “How about you guys? Any of you available to take me to that school dance?”
“I’m married Diane!” Omar shouts. “My wife might find out! Hey what about the rest of you girls? Do y’all have a date for the school dance?”
“Don’t worry about the rest of the girls!” Diane D shouts, “they’re set! All of their boyfriends and husband are bringing them! It’s just me we have to worry about right now! So how about you Deacon? Are you available to take me to that school dance?”
“I would really love to take you to that school dance Diane!” Deacon, a tall black man shouts, “but….”
“It’s no buts about it Deacon! Are you available to take me to that school dance or not?!”
“I would really love to take you Diane! I really would!”
“So what is your answer, is it yes or no?!”
“I would really love to
take the risk, but…”
“What is your answer?! Is it yes, or is it no?!”
“I…. I….!”
“Yes, or no?!”
“I…..”
Diane D turns away, holding her hand in the air and points her finger forward and shouts, “Moving on!” Diane D walks away as the Dianettes turn and follow her.
“But Diane!” Deacon shouts. Diane D continues to walk away with the Dianettes as Deacon and the rest of the fellows look on at them.
Deacon and the fellows see Diane D and the Dianettes turn and disappear around the corner. Deacon turns to the fellows and says, “You know guys? Maybe I should go with Diane. Maybe I should offer to be her date for that school dance.”
“What?” Omar says. “You’re going to offer to be Diane’s date for that school dance?”
“Yeah.”
“Deacon are you crazy? You’re married! What if your wife finds out? You can’t be Diane’s date for that school dance and expect your wife not to find out, Diane is too well known. That’s why I didn’t offer to be her date for that school dance. If she wasn’t too well known believe me, I would have jumped at the chance to be her date because she is hot!”
“Man she sure is,” Evan says, “she is gorgeous! That’s why I didn’t offer to be her date right away either because she‘s too well known and it might get back to my girlfriend.”
“I’m worried that it might get back to my wife too,” Deacon says, “that’s why I hesitated to answer her at first, but I think I‘ll take the chance.”
“You’re willing to take the chance?” Omar says.
“Hell yeah! If I can get the opportunity to date a hot chick like Diane, I’m gonna go for it! Since I’m married, I might not ever get another chance to date Diane. I don’t know about you guys, but I have always fantasized about making love to Diane D.”
“You too?” Jose says. “I have always fantasized about making love to Diane too?“
“Yeah me too because Diane is one sexy chick,” Carmelo says.
“She sure is man, she is fine! I fantasize about making love to Diane all the time.”
“I have to admit it, I do too,” Omar says.
“Man all this talk about making love to Diane is making me anxious,” Deacon says. “I’m gonna go find her and tell her that I’ll be her date for that school dance. I’m sure it’s only for a couple or few hours.”
“And after those couple of hours are over, you’re gonna work your way into trying to make love to Diane D, aren’t you?”
“I won’t say no, but we’ll see what happens. After it is all over, we’ll go our separate ways.”
“But what if people start taking pictures of Diane D with her date and your wife somehow see those pictures?” Jose asks.
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to tell people not to photograph me. Well, I’m going to go look for Diane and tell her I’ll be her date before she finds someone else to be her date.”
“Okay,” Omar says. “Well good luck Deacon. I just hope your wife won’t find out about this.”
“And she won’t find out about this as long as you guys don’t tell her.” Deacon grabs his belongs. He turns to the fellows and says, “See you guys later.”
“Okay Deacon.”
Deacon turns and hurries away as the rest of the guys look on.
Diane D and the Dianettes are walking down a large corridor chit-chatting. “Excuse me Diane!” a woman’s voice shouts. Diane D and the Dianettes stop and turn around. They see a medium built black woman in her late 20’s with a very short hair cut wearing a cap, a short jacket and pants at the opposite end of the hallway, standing in the entrance doorway.
“That’s Katy,” Miranda says.
“What does she want?” Bernice says..
“She wants Diane,” says Charlotte. “If you know what I mean.” The rest of the Dianettes laugh a little.
“Alright now girls let’s not go there, okay?” Diane D says. The Dianettes quickly stop laughing. Diane D then says, “Let me find out what Katy wants.” Diane D turns to Katy and shouts, “What is it Katy?!”
“Could you come over here for a minute?!” Katy shouts. “I want to talk to you!”
“Okay!” Diane D turns to the Dianettes and says, “I’ll be right back girls. Stay here.” Diane D turns and walks away as the Dianettes look on.
At the opposite end of the corridor, Katy comes into the hallway and walks towards Diane D. Diane D approaches Katy and they both stop as Diane D says, “Hey Katy. What’s up?”
“Diane, I saw you outside going around asking all these men to be your date for that school dance,” Katy says. “Diane, I don’t know how to say this but, I just want to tell you that, if you’re still looking for someone to be your date for that school dance, I can be your date for that school dance, if you don‘t mind.”
“You?”
“Yeah me. I’m available, I’m not seeing anyone right now, so we don’t have to worry about anyone getting hurt. So what do you say? Can I be your date for that school dance?”
“I’m sorry Katy, no offense, but, I prefer a man to be my date for the school dance.”
“Diane you might prefer a man to be your date, but all the men are turning you down. They have wives or girlfriends. I don’t have anybody.”
“That’s not the point Katy, you’re still a woman. I don’t want a woman to be my date for the school dance, I prefer a man to be my date.”
“But Diane, I might be a woman on the outside, but I’m all man on the inside. I was just born into the wrong gender.”
“Oh I understand all of that Katy and believe me, I‘m not knocking you for that, but I still prefer someone who is born a man to be my date. Sorry Katy that’s just the way I feel. Now you have a right to your feelings and preferences, and I have a right to mine. You understand don’t you?”
“Yeah I guess so. But I just want to say one thing to you Diane while I got the chance.”
“Oh yeah? Well what is it?”
“I just want to tell you that, I have a crush on you.”
“You, have a crush on me?”
“Yes Diane I do. I think you’re very gorgeous and attractive. I was always secretly attracted to you.”
“You were?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow. I’m very flattered by that Katy.”
“You are?”
“Yes I am.”
“So you’re not upset about me being attracted to you?”
“Why should I be? People can’t help who they’re attracted to.”
“Oh so you understand then?”
“Of course I do.”
“Oh that’s good. Because I heard that there are other women out there who have admitted to a few people, that they’re secretly attracted to you also.”
“What? Other women have admitted that they’re secretly attracted to me?”
“Yeah. And other women have admitted that they secretly have a girl crush on you.”
“Other women have admitted that they secretly have a girl crush on me?”
“Yeah, but they just never came out and told you about it.”
“No they haven’t. Well who are these women anyway?”
“I can’t tell you who they are Diane. They’re kind of embarrassed and shy about it and they‘re afraid of resentment.”
“Resentment?”
“Yeah. They’re afraid of rejection too.”
“Rejection?”
“Yeah. So how do you feel about other women being secretly attracted to you or having secret girl crushes on you Diane?”
“Well, I guess I’m flattered by that too.”
“You are?”
“Yeah.”
“So you’re not upset about that either?”
“Like I said Katy, people cannot help who they’re attracted to.”
“Wow Diane. You seem to be so understanding about other women being attracte
d to you, and since you’re so understanding about it, what do you say? Do you think there will ever be a chance of you and I going out together or maybe even hooking up with each other someday?”
“Sorry Katy, my answer is no.”
“It is?”
“Yeah.”
“Is it because of your husband?”
“No it has nothing to do with my husband at all Katy. I just don‘t date other women, that‘s it.”
“Wow Diane, I guess this is what those other women were afraid of, being rejected by you, just like you just rejected me.”
“And those other women are right Katy, I will reject them, but thanks for the offer to be my date for the school dance, I appreciate it. And thanks for the compliment you gave me earlier. I gotta go now. See you later.”
“Okay Diane.”
Diane D turns and walks away as Katy sadly stares at her. Katy then turns and walks the other way.
A few minutes later, Diane D comes down the front steps of the church with the Dianettes. Nancy, Kelly and Bernice stop at the bottom of the stairs as Miranda and Charlotte stop on the last stoop. Diane D and Lonna stop on the second to the last stoop standing over the rest of the Dianettes as Lonna turns to Diane D and says, “So Katy really offered to be your date for that school dance?”
“Yeah,” Diane D says.
“What you tell her?”
“I was honest with her and told her that I prefer a man to be my date, that’s all.”
“What she say to that?” Kelly asks.
“She didn’t say much. It’s nothing she can say.” Diane D shrugs her shoulders then hears talking and laughter coming from the street. She turns her head towards the street. She sees two women and a slim flamboyant black guy around his mid twenties wearing a woman’s short wig walking by talking and laughing as the black guy switches in his walk. “Speaking of a man, there goes Timothy,” Diane D says. “Maybe he can be my date for that school dance.” The Dianettes turn their heads and look at Timothy. They see Timothy and the two women stop and stand several yards away as they continue to talk and laugh.
The Dianettes turn their heads back around towards Diane D as Miranda says, “Timothy Hutton? Diane you know Timothy Hutton’s not into women, you know that right?”
“I don’t want to sleep with the guy or marry him Miranda,” Diane D says.
“We sure hope not.”
“Yeah we don’t need history repeating itself,” Nancy says.
“What do you mean?” asks Diane D.
“We don’t want you sleeping with or trying to marry anybody else but Michael.”
“Yeah we got to keep our eye on you Diane,” Kelly says.
“Yeah Diane we can’t let you out of our sight,” Bernice says. “You might go astray and sleep with another man again like you did with Jonathan.”
“I’m not going to go astray and sleep with another man again Bernice,” Diane D says, “so let’s not even go there, alright? I’m not looking for a man to sleep with. I just need a date so we can perform at this school’s dance. Is it alright if I just borrow a man for a couple of hours?”
“A couple of hours is all it takes to get down and dirty,” Charlotte says. The rest of the Dianettes laugh as Charlotte faces them, cheering them on.
Diane D places her hand on her hip and annoyingly looks at Charlotte. The rest of the Dianettes see Diane D not laughing then quickly stop laughing. Charlotte turns her head and looks at Diane D as Diane D says, “Are you finished?” Charlotte smiles at Diane D as she shrugs her shoulders. Diane D turns her head to the rest of the Dianettes and says, “Come on girls, if I was going to go astray and sleep with another man again, it certainly wouldn’t be Timothy Hutton, he’s not my type. I just need to borrow him for the school dance and that is it.” Diane D looks back towards Timothy. She calls out, “Hey Timothy!”
Timothy and the two women turn and look towards Diane D. Timothy then shouts in a high pitched voice, “Hey what’s up Diane?!”
Diane D walks down the last two steps with one thumb in her back pocket and waves for him to come to her shouting, “Let me talk to you for a minute!”
“Sure!” Timothy walks and switches towards Diane D as Diane D walks towards him. Diane D and Timothy approach each other and stop as Timothy says, “Diane D! Hey girl what’s up? How are you?”
“I’m doing just great Timothy,” Diane D says. “I’m doing just great. Listen Timothy, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Oh sure Diane D, you can talk to me about anything girl. So what’s up?”
“Come this way.”
“Alriiight.”
Diane D turns towards the Dianettes and says, “I’ll be right back girls.” Diane D turns and walks away as Timothy follows off after her switching. The Dianettes and Timothy’s two female companions look on as Timothy walks off after Diane D.
Later that day, Alex is walking through the church hallway. He sees Evette. He approaches her and says, “Hey Evette?”
Evette turns to Alex. “What’s up Alex?” she says.
“Remember earlier when Diane was going around asking all these men to be her date for that school dance and they all turned her down?”
“Yeah I remember.”
“You know what she did? She went and asked Timothy Hutton if he can be her date for that school dance.”
“What? She asked Timothy Hutton to be her date? Isn’t Timothy Hutton openly gay?”
“Yeah he sure is, but I don’t think that even mattered to Diane. Diane is so desperate to perform at that school dance that she would ask an openly gay guy like Timothy Hutton to be her date.”
“Wow that is serious. You know this has got to stop. I’m going to go tell Diane that this is all some misunderstanding, that she does not need a date to perform at that school dance.”
“I‘ll come with you Evette.” Alex and Evette turn and walk away.
Alex and Evette are walking down the church hallway. Alex looks forward and says, “Oh there goes Timothy Hutton right there.” He calls out, “Hey Timothy! Timothy!” Alex and Evette walk towards Timothy.
Timothy smiles at them and places both hands on his hips as he says, “Hey, what’s up y’all?”
“Hi Timothy,” Alex says. “Hey Timothy, did Diane ask you to be her date for that school dance?”
“Yeah she sure did.”
“So what you tell her?”
“I told Diane to let me see about it. I told her that I have to call my job to check my schedule. When I got on my cell phone to call my job, the next thing I know is that this guy name Deacon was standing in the distance calling out to Diane. He told Diane that he’s available and he’ll be her date for that school dance. As soon as he told her that, her eyes lit up and she just took off and ran straight to him!”
“Her eyes lit up?”
“Hell yeah!”
“And she just took off and ran straight to this guy Deacon while you were on your cell phone calling your job?” Evette asks.
“Yep, she ran off to him like a bat out of hell! Then they both disappeared around the corner just like that! I mean she just left me standing there like a fool! She just left me standing there like I’m raw fish you know what I’m saying?”
“Well Timothy, Diane doesn’t need a date for that school dance. That rule doesn’t apply to her, it was a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“Yeah. I think that rule is meant only for the members of the school, not for Diane.”
Timothy places one hand on his hip and wave the other hand in the air and says, “Well if that rule was not meant for Diane then why is she tripping? Why is she going around asking all these men for a date to that school dance, what’s up with that, huh? What’s up with that?”
“You don’t seem too happy about that Timothy,” Alex says.
“No I’m not. I’m not really attracted to women, but she’s the one who called
me, came to me and asked me if I could be her date for that school dance, but she never even gave me a chance to call and check my job schedule. As soon as this guy Deacon called out to her and told her he‘ll be her date, she just took off, ran to him and disappeared with him and she never came back. I guess I’m not man enough for her.”
“I’m sorry Diane did that to you Timothy,” Evette says. “Do you know which way she and that guy Deacon went?”
“Oh they disappeared around the corner somewhere. I don’t know which way they went.”
“Okay. Thanks a lot Timothy.” Alex and Evette turn and head down the hallway.
A few hours later, Deacon and a young medium built black woman Nadine, who is Deacon’s wife, who is pretty well dressed, are arguing and hollering with each other in the street as Nadine shouts, “How dare you try to go out on that school dance date with Diane D? How dare you Deacon? I’m your wife!”
“I didn’t expect you to find out about this Nadine!” Deacon shouts. “How did you find out about this?”
“News spread all over the place Deacon! This guy name Timothy Hutton was telling everybody, that Diane D was trying all day to find a date for some High School dance that she and the Dianettes are suppose to perform at! He told everybody that Diane D had came to him and ask him can he be her date for this school dance, then when he tried to check his job schedule, Diane D stood him up! He told everybody that some guy name Deacon called out to Diane D and offered to be her date for that school dance then she took off and ran to this guy Deacon, then they disappeared together! When I heard that, I was sure hoping it was some other Deacon out there and not you! When I found out that it was you, I was devastated! You got a lot of nerve trying to be a date for Diane D Deacon!”
“She asked me first!”
“Oh so you just accepted it?! Does she know that you‘re married?”
“I don’t know if she knows!”
“And you didn’t bother to tell her, did you?”
“I guess I didn’t get a chance to tell her.”
“Well it is not going to happen! You are not going to go to that High School dance with Diane D! Let her husband take her!”
“Diane D and her husband are not together right now Nadine! They split up! They’re separated right now!”
“I can see why they’re separated Deacon! Diane D‘s a man chaser! She likes to chase men! It’s all over town that she swapped mates with her cousin Dana and slept with her cousin Dana’s boyfriend! Where is Diane D at anyway?!”
“She just went inside the church to get something.”
“Well I am going to go right inside that church and have it out with her! I’m going to confront her right now!” Nadine angrily turns around and walks away.
“Oh no Nadine, don’t do that! Don’t make a scene inside the church! Diane D’s family is in there!”
Nadine angrily turns around towards Deacon and shouts, “Oh her family’s in there?! Do they know that she was going all over the place hunting men down trying to find a date for that High School dance? Do they know that she finally found a date with a guy who’s married?!”
“I don’t know if they know!”
“Well if they don’t know, they are about to find out!” Nadine angrily turns around and walks away.
Deacon grabs her by the arm and shouts, “Nadine no!”
Nadine angrily turns around and jerks her arm away from Deacon and shouts, “Let go of me Deacon! Don’t touch me!” Nadine turns back around. A small crowd starts to gather. Nadine storms towards the church as Deacon and the small crowd follow behind her.
Deacon and the small crowd continue to follow behind Nadine as Nadine angrily walks on the church lawn storming towards the church as Deacon shouts, “Calm down Nadine, you’re upset! You shouldn’t confront anybody when you’re upset like this! It’s only going to get things worst! Nadine please!” Nadine continues to storm towards the church as Deacon and the crowd desperately follow her.
Nadine reaches the church steps and walks up the steps as Deacon shouts. “Nadine please!” Nadine ignores Deacon as she reaches the front door. Deacon shouts then shouts, “Come on Nadine!” Nadine opens the front door as Deacon and the crowd rush up the steps. Nadine angrily goes inside the front door. “Nadine!” Deacon shouts. The front door shuts behind Nadine.
Deacon reaches the front door and quickly opens it. He anxiously runs inside the front door and shouts, “Nadine!” The front door shuts behind Deacon as the crowd remain outside puzzled looking on.
Ten minutes later, a big crowd of people are hysterical and screaming on the church lawn as Diane D angrily lunges at Nadine then jumps, throwing her entire arm and fist right towards Nadine’s face! The crowd screams as Nadine ducks, causing Diane D to miss her causing Diane D’s entire body to spin! Diane D looses her balance and falls! She quickly gets up off the ground and starts to chase Nadine as Nadine runs from her! Diane D’s family rush out of the church! Barry, Nicolas, Mickey and several other men rush to Diane D as Mary and Margarita shout, “Diane!” Barry, Nicolas, Mickey and the other men grab Diane D as Deacon grabs and holds Nadine! Barry, Nicolas, Mickey and the other men hold tightly onto Diane D as Diane D tries to break away from them! Mary, Margarita and Tomas quickly approach Diane D and the men as Mary and Margarita shout, “Diane!” Diane D ignores Mary and Margarita as she tries to break away from the men and starts to elbow them!
Nadine turns around towards Diane D! She angrily points her finger at Diane D and shouts, “You stay the hell away from my husband!”
Diane D suddenly breaks loose from the men and races towards Nadine as the crowd screams! Nadine turns and runs from Diane D as Mary and Margarita shout, “Diane!” Diane D angrily lunges at Nadine again then jumps, throwing her entire arm and fist right towards Nadine’s face again! Nadine ducks again, causing Diane D to miss her again as Diane D’s entire body spins again! Suddenly Diane D jumps and spins her entire body around the opposite direction and kung fu kicks Nadine right in the head and face! Blood splatters from Nadine’s face as Diane D quickly jumps and spins her entire body around the opposite direction and kung fu kicks Nadine high into the air! The crowd is shocked and horrified as Nadine’s body flies one foot into the air then drops a few yards away then rolls on the ground! Nadine’s face is bloodied and bruised as she lays on the ground! Diane D starts to charge Nadine again! Barry, Nicolas, Mickey and the other men rush and grab Diane D again as Deacon rushes to Nadine and stoops on the ground near Nadine’s head and chest!
Barry, Nicolas, Mickey and the other men hold tightly onto Diane D again as Diane D tries to break away from them again, trying to elbow them! Mary, Margarita and Tomas quickly approach Diane D and the men as Mary and Margarita shout, “Diane!” Diane D ignores her mother and grandmother as she tries to break away from the men and continues to elbow them! Mary then shouts, “Get Diane inside the church guys!” .
“Get her inside that church now!” Margarita shouts. Barry, Nicolas, Mickey and the other men continue to hold tightly onto Diane D again as Diane D continues to try to break away from them!
Several yards away, Deacon sits on the ground holding Nadine as Nadine’s body trembles! Nadine painfully and tearfully holds and clutches her head and chest as she lays on the ground! She and Deacon watch Diane D as Diane D continues to try to break away from the men!
Suddenly Diane D gets superhuman strength as she starts dragging herself, Barry, Nicolas, Mickey and the other men towards Nadine.
Nadine, Deacon and the crowd become shocked and horrified watching Diane D dragging the men! Deacon is about to hover over Nadine, trying to protect Nadine as they watch an angry Diane D trying to come their way dragging the men with her! Mary shouts to the fellows, “Will you guys get Diane inside the church!”
“Obtenga su dentro de la iglesia chicos!” Margarita shouts.
“Estamos tratando de la abuela!” Nicolas shouts. Diane D continues
to drag herself, Barry, Nicolas, Mickey and the other men towards Nadine!
“We gotta bend down and lift her feet up off the ground guys!” Barry shouts. “Let’s go!” Barry, Nicolas, Mickey and the other men stoop down and grab Diane D by her legs and hips! They stoop back up and lift Diane D off the ground, carrying and holding her by her arms, legs and hips! Diane D’s face is red with anger as she huffs and puffs, with fists balled, jerking her forearms turning her head back looking at Nadine! Barry, Nicolas, Mickey and the other men turn Diane D away from Nadine! Diane D continues to huff and puff, turning her head back trying to look at Nadine as Barry, Nicolas, Mickey and the other three men carry her away!
Barry, Nicolas, Mickey and the other men quickly bring Diane D towards the front steps of the church as Diane D continues to huff and puff with her face red, fists balled, jerking her forearms, turning her head back keep trying to look at Nadine! The men carry Diane D up the steps to the doorway as Diane D continues to huff and puff still turning her head back trying to look at Nadine! Barry, Nicolas, Mickey and the other men quickly bring Diane D inside the doorway and into the church! Mary, Tomas and half the organization hurry inside the front door after Diane D and the men! Margarita and the Dianettes are all hysterical and shouting to each other! The Dianettes then hurry to the front door and go inside the front door! The front door quickly shuts behind them as Margarita and Harvey turn around and rush towards Nadine!
The rest of the crowd is surrounding Nadine and Deacon as Nadine continues to lay injured on the church lawn. Deacon and two women wipe the blood off Nadine’s head and face with some tissues as Nadine cries and trembles, clutching her bloody head and chest! Nadine holds a bloody cloth to her face. Margarita and Harvey approach Nadine as Nadine tearfully looks at them. Margarita stoops down to Nadine and says, “Ma’am, I’m going to call the ambulance for you.”
“We called the ambulance already,” a woman says. “They’re on their way.”
“She has a lot of nerve asking my husband to be her date for that school dance Miss Margarita,” Nadine says. “She has a lot of nerve! Where is her husband?”
“They’re separated Ma’am.”
“That is not my problem! She can’t just take my husband and have him be her date for that doggone High School dance just because she‘s not with her husband!”
“I’m very sorry Miss, but you or any other woman don’t have to worry about Diane going around asking any of your husbands or boyfriends to take her to that High School dance anymore because she is not going to be at that High School dance.”
“She’s not?” Harvey asks.
“No she isn’t! As far as I’m concerned, Diane is not going to perform anywhere for a while, I’ve had it with her ready to fight women whenever these women confront her or complain about her being with their husbands or boyfriends!”
“What made Diane think she needed a date in order for her to perform at that High School dance in the first place?”
“Evette said a girl from the school saw Diane at the church, ran up to Diane and told Diane that she needed a date in order to be at the school dance!”
“A girl from the school told Diane that?”
“Yeah, according to Evette! When that school principal called and asked me can Diane and the girls perform at their High School dance, I hesitated! I wasn’t sure if Diane deserved to perform anywhere for a while, but when I heard that the students really wanted Diane and the girls to perform there, I gave in! Now that I gave in to that decision and decided to let Diane and the girls perform there, this is what happens!”
“I’m so sorry that this happened ma’am,” Nadine cries. “I didn’t mean to cause any of this! I didn’t know that Diane D would go off like this!”
“Well she does go off like this Miss! Especially if you confront her or try to challenge her!”
“Confront her or try to challenge her? She’s the one who was trying to date my husband for that High School dance, then expects me not to confront her or complain about her! That isn’t right!”
“I don’t blame you for complaining Miss, this is not your fault, you have every right to complain! Listen Miss, I have to go in the building to check on Diane right now because she’s most likely inside that church still going out of control, still trying to break loose!” Margarita turns to Harvey and says, “Harvey, take this lady’s name and number down for me and give her my contact information.”
“Okay Margarita,” Harvey says.
Margarita turns back to the woman and says, “Ma’am, I’ll be right back.” Margarita stoops back up. She turns and hurries away towards the front door of the church as Harvey, Nadine and Deacon look on.
Harvey turns to Nadine and reaches into his pocket. He pulls out a cell phone and business card. He then says to Deacon, “Here sir, take this for her.” Harvey hands Deacon the Diaz-Davidson business card as Nadine continues to hold and clutch her body and bloody head. Harvey then says, “This is your wife, right?”
“Yes she is,” says Deacon.
“Now I’m gonna need to take down your name and number for Miss Margarita.”
“Okay.”
“Wow,” Nadine says. “I didn’t know that Diane D was gonna go off like this. I didn’t expect to be on the ground like this!”
“Miss,” Harvey says, “didn’t you hear about or remember the time Diane viciously attacked and injured those police officers and those security guards, landing a few of them in the hospital, then winds up going to jail for it? Where were you when that happened? Don’t you remember hearing about that incident?”
“Yeah I remember hearing about that incident.”
“Now if Diane can be bold enough to viciously attack and injure these police officers and these security guards, then what makes you think that she won’t do the same thing to you?” Nadine and Deacon worriedly look at Harvey. Harvey then asks, “What’s your name and number?” Harvey starts to write on a piece of paper.
Twenty-five minutes later, police cars and a couple of ambulances are at the scene. The paramedics have Nadine laid in a stretcher as Deacon, Margarita and Tomas surround them. The paramedics rush Nadine to one of the waiting ambulances as Deacon, Margarita and Tomas hurry behind them. The paramedics quickly put Nadine into the ambulance. “What hospital are you taking her to?” Margarita asks.
“Memorial Hospital,” a male white paramedic says.
“Okay, we’ll be there.”
Deacon gets inside the ambulance with Nadine. The paramedics gets inside the ambulance. The ambulance speeds off. Margarita and Tomas look on at the ambulance. They turn and hurry towards the church.
Harvey approaches Margarita and Tomas and asks, “So what’s happening with Diane?”
“The police are inside the church with her,” Tomas says. “They’re going to arrest her!”
“Diane‘s gonna get arrested again?”
“Yes, again! The police are gonna take her to the station, then to Central Booking!”
“We gotta get back to her!” Margarita says as she, Tomas and Harvey rush towards the church.
Two hours later, Mary, Margarita, Barry, Tomas, Uncle Tonio, Marilyn, Nicolas, the Dianettes, Alex, Evette, Stephanie and several of the other staff members are hanging around waiting in the lobby of the County Jail. Michael, Mickey, Grandpa Mike, Grandma Gracy and Aunt Celeste enter the lobby. Michael approaches Mary and Margarita and give them hugs as Margarita says, “Hey Michael.”
“Hi Grandma,” Michael says.
“How you feeling?”
“Still not too good.”
“We understand,” Mary says.
“Still thanks for being here,” Margarita says.
“Sure,” Michael says. “Diane is still my wife.” Mary and Margarita give Michael another big hug as Michael tearfully hugs them back. Mary, Margarita and Michael finish hugging each other. Michael turns to the Dianettes and give them hugs.
Gracy and G
randpa Mike approach Margarita and Mary giving them hugs also as Gracy says, “We got here as soon as we heard.”
“We’re glad you made it Mom,” Barry says.
“Well I’m gonna bail her out,” Grandpa Mike says.
“You’re gonna bail Diane out Grandpa?” Nicolas asks.
“I sure am, she’s my granddaughter! Where’s the bail office?”
“I think it’s over there,” Barry says. Barry leads his father Mike, mother Gracy and the rest of the family away.
The next day on a Wednesday morning inside the High School office, the telephone rings. Principal Carrie goes to the desk. She sits down at the desk and picks up the telephone receiver. She speaks into the receiver and says, “Hello, Township High School, Principal Carrie speaking. How may I help you?”
“Hello Principal Carrie?” Margarita says as she sits in her office behind her desk. “This is Margarita from the Diaz-Davidson Organization.”
“Oh hi Miss Margarita! How are you?! What’s going on?!”
“That’s what I want to ask you Principal Carrie!”
“That’s what you want to ask me? What do you mean?”
“What’s going on with your school saying that Diane needs to be at the school dance with a date in order for her to perform there?”
“Wait a minute, slow down Miss Margarita. Our school said that Diane D needs to be at the school dance with a date in order for her to perform here?”
“That’s what Diane was told! You never told me that Diane needed to have a date in order for her to perform at that school dance!”
“That’s because she doesn’t need a date in order for her to perform at the school dance Miss Margarita! What makes you think Diane D needs a date in order for her to perform here?”
“One of your female students came up to Diane at the church the other day and told Diane that she needs a date in order for her to be at that school dance! This female student told Diane that if Diane does not have a date, then Diane cannot be at the school dance! So yesterday Diane was going around asking every man in sight if they are available to be her date for that school dance!”
“What! You’re kidding!”
“No I’m not kidding Principal Carrie! A lot of these men happen to be married or have girlfriends! This is causing a lot of problems with their wives or girlfriends!”
“Oh Miss Margarita there has been a terrible misunderstanding! We had only meant for the female school staff members to ask male staff members and the female students to ask male students for a date to the school dance! That was just a rule meant for our school, none of it had to do with Diane D! None of it had to do with Diane D at all! Whoever this female student is shouldn’t have told her that!”
“Well they did tell her that Principal Carrie and it caused Diane to go around looking for a date for that school dance! Diane’s not with her husband right now! They separated, so now she’s going around asking other women’s husbands and boyfriends to be her date for that school dance!”
“Oh my god.”
“One of the wives even came to the church lobby yesterday and complained to a few of my staff members about Diane while my family and I were upstairs!”
“Oh no!”
“Yeah! I heard that this woman came into the church lobby and started screaming and complaining to my staff members about Diane and hollered that Diane needs to stay the hell away from her husband, then she demanded to my staff members to see and speak to me and my daughter Mary! My staff members told me that Diane came out of no where and when Diane saw and heard the woman complaining about her, she flipped! They said Diane got very angry and furious then confronted the woman right inside the church!”
“She did?”
“Yes! My staff members said that Diane told the woman not to go anywhere near her family and told the woman that if she has a problem with her, they can both step outside!”
“She told the woman to step outside?”
“Yes, so I heard that the woman stepped outside! Then I heard that when Diane stepped outside, she viciously attacked the woman!”
“What! She attacked the woman? What did she do to her?”
“I heard she lunged right at the woman and tried to punch the woman in the face!”
“Oh no!”
“One of the staff members rushed upstairs to get me and my family and told us that Diane was viciously fighting a person right outside the church! That’s when my family and I jumped and ran right outside the church! When we got outside the church, we saw Diane charging after a woman! Her father, her brothers and some other men had to grab and hold her! When the woman yelled at Diane again, Diane broke loose from the men and chased right after the woman again! She lunged at the woman and tried to punch the woman in the face again!”
“My god!”
“When the woman ducked again, Diane kung fu kicked her!”
“Diane kung fu kicked the woman?!”
“Yes!”
“Oh my goodness!”
“She kung fu kicked the woman in the head and body a few times!”
“She did?!”
“Yes! The woman got hurt real bad! She had to go into an ambulance!”
“She went into an ambulance?!”
“Yeah and Diane got arrested!”
“Diane D got arrested?! Oh my goodness Miss Margarita! I’m very sorry to hear about all of this! What was Diane D charged with?”
“She was charged with assault and disorderly conduct!”
“Assault and disorderly conduct?”
“Yes!”
“How’s the woman doing?! Is she still in the hospital?!”
“Yes she’s still in the hospital! I think the hospital wants to keep her in there for a while!”
“They do?! It sounds like she got hurt pretty bad!”
“She did!”
“What injuries did she sustain?!”
“A broken nose, a bruise on her forehead, a concussion, a snapped neck and a few other injuries on her ribs!”
“Oh no! How did her neck get snapped?”
“Diane kicked her in the head!”
“In the head?! Diane D kicked that high?!”
“I’m afraid she did! The woman’s face was bleeding very bad yesterday!”
“Wow, I’m sorry to hear about that! I am so sorry! What about Diane D, is she still in jail?!”
“No she was bailed out around four o’clock this morning!”
“She got bailed out?!”
“Yes.”
“Who bailed her out, you?!”
“No I didn’t bail her out. Her other grandparents on her father’s side came to the jail and bailed her out.”
“Oh yeah? Well how much was her bail?”
“I can’t discuss how much her bail was.”
“I understand. Well being that Diane D is bailed out of jail, where is she at now?”
“She’s home at my place. My husband, my daughter, my son-in-law and Diane’s other grandparents are keeping an eye on her to make sure she does not leave the house.”
“My god, I’m so sorry to hear about all of this Miss Margarita! But neither me nor the school had anything to do with telling Diane D she needed a date in order for her to perform at the school dance! We had nothing to do with it at all! Whoever told Diane D she needed a date for the school dance completely did it on their own!”
“Principal Carrie, because of what Diane did to this woman, we decided to ban her from performing at your school’s dance!”
“What! Oh no! I didn’t mean for this to happen! I feel so responsible! I had no idea any of the students was going to run into Diane D and tell her that nonsense that she needed a date for the school dance! The whole school is looking very forward for Diane D to perform at the school dance! They’re looking very forward for her and the Dianettes to perform here!”
“Principal Carrie, Diane does not deserve to perform anywhere! I’m going to see th
at she does not perform anywhere for a long time!”
“Oh no Miss Margarita, can you just let Diane D perform at the school dance, then you can ban her afterwards? Please Miss Margarita please!”
“Principal Carrie, Diane viciously assaulted and attacked one of the wives who came to the church to complain about her! The poor woman is laying in the hospital right now! And this all happened because of a false information Diane was told by one of your students!”
“But Miss Margarita I had nothing to do with that false information! Can’t you still let Diane D perform at the school dance and just make sure she doesn’t get into anymore conflicts with anybody?”
“Just make sure she doesn’t get into anymore conflicts? Principal Carrie, you might not know this, but Diane has a very short fuse! Her short fuse has caused her to go out of control viciously attacking people before and now her short fuse has caused her to go out of control and viciously attack somebody again! My organization already dealt with a lawsuit when Diane viciously assaulted and attacked some police officers and security guards before! Now we might have another lawsuit on our hands!”
“Is the woman going to press charges?”
“Of course she is! I’m sorry Principal Carrie but Diane is banned from performing at your school’s dance! My husband, my daughter, my son-in-law and I all made a decision yesterday to ban Diane from performing at your school’s dance!”
“But Miss Margarita….”
“I’m sorry Principal Carrie our minds are already made up!”
“But what about the Dianettes Miss Margarita? Weren’t they suppose to perform with Diane D?”
“Yes they were suppose to perform with Diane, but since their performance involved all seven of them, the Dianettes won’t be able to perform at your school dance either.”
“Oh no this is terrible! I don’t know how I’m going to break the news to the students! They were really looking forward to have Diane D and the Dianettes perform!”
“Principal Carrie, I can make it up to the students. We can send another performer to that school dance instead of Diane and the Dianettes.”
“Instead of Diane D and the Dianettes?”
“Yeah, but whoever that performer or performers are going to be, it certainly won’t be Diane and the Dianettes.”
“Oh I don’t know Miss Margarita! The students really wanted to see Diane D and the Dianettes!”
“Diane is banned from performing there! We’re going to ban Diane from performing anywhere for six months, maybe a year if she‘s not sent back to jail!”
“She‘s gonna be sent back to jail?”
“I told you she‘s out on bail! She can still be sent back to jail when her court date comes up you know!”
“But Miss Margarita, if Diane D is banned from performing anywhere for six months or a year and if she‘s not sent back to jail, what will you have her doing?”
“I’m going to have her work in one of my Dominican hair salons.”
“You own Dominican hair salons?”
“Yes, my family and I own a few of them. We’re gonna have Diane work in one of them.”
“Doing what?”
“We’ll have her running and taking over the salon.”
“Running and taking over the salon?”
“Yes she will be managing them.”
“Managing them?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Does she do hair?”
“Yes she does hair once in a while, but doing hair is not her passion. She only works on hair if the salon is short handed, but I should make doing hair her passion after all of what happened.”
“Oh no!”
“Now Principal Carrie, if you would like for me to send another performer to your school dance to take the place of Diane and the Dianettes, just give me a call and let me know.”
“Oh Miss Margarita, I’m sorry for this whole mess!”
“So am I. Look Principal Carrie call me if you decide you want me to send another performer. I have to go now.”
“Okay. By.” Principal Carrie hears the other end of the phone go click. She hangs up the phone.
Later on in the day, there are tons of students in the auditorium. Principal Carrie stands in front of the students and shouts, “Who’s the female student who ran into Diane D at the church and told Diane D that she needed a date in order for her to perform at the school dance?! Who’s the female student who told Diane D that?!”
“It was Serena,” a male student says as he points to Serena.
“Serena? You told Diane D that she needed a date in order for her to perform at the school dance?”
“Yeah,” Serena says.
“Why?”
“I told Diane D that because I thought all females had to have a date in order for them to be at the school dance. You said none of us can be at the school dance without a date.”
“Yeah but I didn’t mean for the performer herself to have a date! I just meant that for the school people alone! Now because of what you told Diane D, she started going around asking every man in sight if they can be her date for the school dance! Some of the men are married, so they turned Diane D down, but one of the married men decided to be Diane D’s date for the school dance, then his wife winds up finding out about it! His wife got upset then went into the church Diane D was in and confronted Diane D right inside the church, then she and Diane D got into a physical altercation!”
“What!” the students shout.
“You mean a fistfight?!” another male student asks.
“That’s what her grandmother told me!” Principal Carrie says.
“Oh no!” the students say.
“The woman got hurt real bad and had to go into an ambulance!”
“The woman went into an ambulance?” a third male student asks.
“Yes and she’s in the hospital right now!”
“She’s in the hospital? Wow!”
“What happened to Diane D?” a female student asks.
“She got arrested and went to jail!” Principal Carrie says.
“Diane D got arrested and went to jail?” the second male student asks.
“Yes, she stayed in jail overnight!”
“Overnight? That means she came out of jail?”
“Yes, her other set of grandparents bailed her out! And because of all of this, Diane D’s parents and grandparents banned her from performing here at the school dance.”
“What!” the students shout.
“Diane D is not going to perform at the school dance?” a fourth male student shouts.
“No!” Principal Carrie says. “Her parents and grandparents canceled her performance!”
“Aaaaahhh man!” the students say.
“They said they can send another performer instead of Diane D!”
“Who, the Dianettes still?” the first male student asks.
“No, not the Dianettes either.”
“Not the Dianettes either? Why not?”
“Because Diane D’s parents and grandparents canceled the Dianettes performance as well as Diane D’s performance! All of them are banned from performing at the school dance!”
“Aaaahhhh man.”
“I’m sorry Principal,” Serena says. “I didn’t mean to cause any of this.”
“I know Serena,” Principal Carrie says. “It was a total misunderstanding. I’m sure you didn’t mean any harm.” Principal Carrie sadly looks at Serena then looks at the other students.
Around five days later, Deacon holds onto Nadine as they slowly walk away from the hospital entrance with Nadine still holding and clutching her head and side area having a bandage wrapped around her head and wearing a neck brace and dark shades. A small crowd of people anxiously approach Nadine. “Hey Miss?” a male white teenager says. “Are you the one who got beat up by Diane D?”
“Yeah,” a woman says. “Are you the one who pressed charges against her?”
“Yes she??
?s the one, why?” Deacon says.
“Is she going to drop the charges against Diane D?” a man asks.
“Drop the charges? Why do you want to know?”
“Because we like Diane D and we don’t want her to be in trouble.”
“Yeah we want to see her perform again,” another male teenager says, “but her parents and grandparents won’t let her.”
“Please people!” Deacon shouts. “My wife is just coming out of the hospital! She’s been in the hospital for six days, none of you seem to be concerned at all about her condition! She doesn’t need this aggravation right now! Excuse us please!” Deacon takes Nadine away from the people. They walk away as the crowd looks on at them.
Deacon is in the car driving as Nadine sits in the passenger seat still holding and clutching her head, side area and chest. Deacon turns to Nadine and asks, “Are you okay babe?”
“No, I’m still not feeling too well,” Nadine tearfully says.
Deacon sadly looks at Nadine then looks straight ahead.
A car suddenly pulls up to the side of Deacon’s car as an unidentified guy hollers out to Deacon and Nadine shouting, “Hey you morons! Drop the charges against Diane D!” The car speeds off.
“Who the hell was that?!” Deacon shouts.
“I don’t know,” Nadine says. Nadine and Deacon puzzled look at the car as it speeds off. They then look at each other.
Around an hour later, Nadine and Deacon are sitting on the couch inside their living room as Deacon sits besides Nadine massaging Nadine’s shoulders with Nadine facing away from him, still wearing the bandage around her head and wearing the neck brace and dark shades as she holds and clutches her head and chest. Deacon then says, “You can take the shades off now Nadine. No one else is here to see your face.” Nadine slowly puts her hand to her face. She slowly takes the dark shades off her face. “Let me see your face again,” Deacon says. Deacon gets up off the couch. He goes and sits on the opposite side of Nadine to see her face. He sees how terrible Nadine‘s face look. She has two swollen black eyes and a swollen face. “My god,” Deacon says. “That is so messed up. Is your vision still affected? Can you see me?”
“Well the sight on my right eye got a little better,” Nadine says, “but the sight on my left eye is still sort of blurry.”
“My god.”
“The doctor says the sight in both of my eyes should be better by next week.”
“Thank goodness. How about the pain in your neck?”
“It hurts like hell.”
“My god. How about the pain in your chest?”
“It hurts like hell too.”
“What about the pain in your ribs?”
“That still hurts too. I’m in pain all over my body.”
“Boy Nadine I’m so sorry about this.” The telephone suddenly rings. “I’ll get it,” Deacon says. He turns and picks up the telephone receiver. He speaks into the receiver and says, “Hello? …… What! Stop calling here!” Deacon slams down the telephone receiver.
“Who was that?” Nadine asks.
Deacon turns to Nadine and says, “It’s another person calling here asking for you to drop the charges against Diane D!”
“What!”
“This is around the third or fourth time we had a phone call like this asking for you to drop the charges against Diane D!”
“Was it the same voices that called before?”
“No, this voice sound different this time!”
“Was it a guy’s voice too?”
“Yes, it was a different guy’s voice! You know this has got to stop! First we had a crowd of people approaching us when we were leaving the hospital, then we had a crowd of people harassing us at the pharmacy and now these phone calls! How the hell these people get our phone number?!”
“Maybe they got it from Diane D! Maybe she’s behind this!”
“Nadine Diane D doesn’t have our phone number! I never gave her our contact information!”
“Yeah but her grandmother Miss Margarita has our phone number, from when you gave our phone number to her staff member! Maybe Diane D might have gotten a hold of our phone number from Miss Margarita! Maybe she is getting these people to call here and harass me so I can get scared into dropping the charges against her, that way her family can lift the ban off her and she can be able to perform again!”
“Diane D’s family is still gonna ban her from performing?”
“Yes! I hear her family is gonna ban her from performing anywhere for six months or a year!”
“Six months or a year?”
“Yes, and she probably blames me for it by me going and complaining about her at the church! Now that she‘s bailed out of jail, she might speed in her car and come over here to our place of residence to come after me, just like she did to her Jamaican lover‘s girlfriend!”
“I don’t think Diane D’s gonna come after you now Nadine! You’re not complaining about her or trying to challenge her now!”
“Complaining about her or trying to challenge her is not the point Deacon! She still was getting you to be her date for that freaken High School dance!”
“It was just a date for the school dance Nadine, nothing else! It wasn’t like I was planning to go to a hotel or motel with her! It was just to a school dance for a couple or few hours that‘s it!”
“Diane D is well known Deacon! If you’re seen with her as her date for that school dance, it’s going to get back to my family and friends and it can be an embarrassment for me! Oh Deacon none of this would have happened in the first place if you just didn’t offer to be Diane D’s date for that High School dance!”
“What! You’re blaming me for all of this?!”
“Yes I’m blaming you! If you didn’t offer to be Diane D’s date, I wouldn’t have found out about it! I wouldn’t have gotten angry about it! I wouldn’t have went to that church and complained about Diane D! She wouldn’t have assaulted and attacked me for it! I wouldn’t be in pain because of it! I wouldn’t have pressed charges against her and her fans wouldn’t be harassing me to drop the charges!”
“I’m so sorry about this whole thing Nadine.”
“Sorry? You don‘t know how sorry I am Deacon! Do you know how it feels to get kung fu kicked? Huh? Do you know how it feels to get hit or kicked by something speeding up at you at sixty miles an hour? Especially in the head, chest and rib cage areas where your vital organs are? Do you know how it feels to get kicked into the air then landing hard on the ground? Well I‘ll tell you how it feels Deacon! It feels like being kicked by a horse or some other speeding object! It also felt like I was being kung fu kicked by Bruce Lee himself, because Diane D kicked me in the chest so hard, it felt like the wind was knocked out of me! She kicked me the head so hard that my neck snapped! The doctors said I could have been paralyzed from the neck down! My vision is still blurry and my eyes are still black and swollen! That‘s how hard Diane D kicked me Deacon! Her kung fu kick could have actually killed me!”
“I tried to stop you confronting Diane D Nadine! I was afraid something like this would happen!”
“You were afraid something like this would happen? Why, because of Diane D’s reputation? Because of her vicious tempered history? A person who’s good at kung fu kicking police officers and security guards in the groin which landed them in the hospital? A person who threatened her Jamaican lover‘s girlfriend over the telephone then sped to the poor girl‘s place of residence to assault her? A person who recently kung fu kicked me into the air which landed me rolling on the ground then landing me in the hospital for six days? Is that the type of person you want to date? I see.” Nadine slowly and painfully gets up off the couch.
“Where are you going?”
“Away from you!” Nadine slowly walks to the hallway.
Nadine then goes into the bedroom and slams the bedroom door.
Deacon turns to the side and says, “D
amn that Timothy Hutton, opening his big ass mouth!” Deacon angrily stares to the side.
An hour and a half later, Deacon is angrily walking down the street. He sees Timothy Hutton in the distance talking and laughing with three female companions. Deacon walks towards Timothy.
Deacon approaches Timothy and says, “Hey man!” Timothy and his companions turn around towards Deacon as Deacon shouts, “What the fuck you doing going around telling everybody that Diane D was going around asking men to be her date for that school dance and that I offered to be her date?! You got a lot of fucking nerve going around telling everybody that! I should fire you up!”
“You’re not going to do anything to me man!” Timothy shouts.
Security rush to the commotion as one of them shouts, “What’s going on?!”
“He wants to come here and start some mess!”
“You’re the one who started it punk!” Deacon shouts. “Because of you, information got back to my wife! My wife heard about everything then went right to the church to complain about Diane D then wind up getting hurt for it! You should have kept your fucking mouth shut! How would you like it if I give you a kung fu kick upside your head, chest and ribs so you can know how it feels! You need to feel the exact pain my wife feels!” Deacon tries to go after Timothy Hutton as security hold him back.
“Calm down sir,” the security guard says.
“You’re not going to kung fu kick anybody because you probably can‘t even kung fu kick!” Timothy shouts.
“No?!” Deacon shouts. “But I can still bust your ass!” Deacon tries to go after Timothy again as security hold him back.
“See, look at you!” Timothy shouts. “You’re just like Diane D, you’re just like her!” Deacon tries to go after Timothy Hutton again as security hold him back.
One of Timothy’s female companions says, “Come on Timothy let’s go! We don’t need another fight to happen around here, come on!” Timothy’s female companions take him and lead him away as the security continues to hold back Deacon.
A week later, Nadine is sitting inside the front of the courtroom still wearing her dark shades, a bandage on her forehead, a neck brace and a hat as she and Deacon sit with her lawyer, a white male with light brown hair around his mid 30‘s.
Diane D’s family is sitting on the other side of the courtroom.
Nadine’s lawyer gets up out of his seat. He turns and walks towards Diane D’s family.
Nadine’s lawyer comes near Diane D’s family and says, “Uh excuse me Miss Margarita, Mister Tomas, can I talk to you all for a minute?”
“Sure,” Margarita says. Margarita, Mary, Barry and Tomas get up from their seats. They turn and head towards the lawyer
Margarita, Mary, Barry and Tomas approach the lawyer as the lawyer says, “Come this way.” The lawyer turns and leads Mary, Margarita, Barry and Tomas to the other side of the courtroom.
The lawyer takes Margarita, Mary, Barry and Tomas right to Nadine and Deacon. The lawyer turns to Margarita, Mary, Barry and Tomas and says, “Miss Margarita, Miss Mary, Mr. Barry and Mr. Tomas, I just want to let you all know, that this young lady Nadine who your daughter and granddaughter Diane D had a physical altercation with wants to drop the charges.”
“What?” Margarita, Mary, Barry and Tomas say.
“She wants to drop the charges?” Barry asks. “How come?”
“She and her husband said they kept getting harassing phone calls for them to drop the charges against Diane D,” the lawyer says, “and people keep bugging them on the street. Do you know any of the people who have been calling their phone number or do you know any of the people who’s been coming up to them on the street?”
“No not that we know of,” Tomas says.
“No we never saw the people,” Mary says.
“Well this lady and her husband can’t deal with the pressure anymore,” the lawyer says.
“Yeah we want to live in peace without being bothered by people,” Deacon says. “So that’s why my wife just decided to drop the charges against Diane D.”
“Wow,” Margarita says. “Well Miss Nadine, we are so sorry for what you’ve been through. If there is anything in the world we can do for you two, please let us know about it.”
“What you can do for Nadine is get Diane D some counseling for anger management,” the lawyer says.
“Counseling for anger management?” Mary asks.
“Yes. Your daughter Diane D seems to have a short fuse and a very violent temper.”
“We all know that,” Margarita says. “We were all just talking about it the other night trying to get Diane some anger management counseling, but right now she is going through marriage counseling.”
“I heard. How is her marriage counseling coming along?”
“It’s coming along okay.”
“That’s good. Where is Diane D by the way?”
“We decided to have Diane wait out in the hallway when we heard that Nadine didn’t want to be in the same room with her.”
“Yes we heard Nadine didn’t want to see Diane,” Barry says.
“I don’t blame Nadine,” the lawyer says. “Get Diane D some anger management counseling right away. She‘s gonna need it before she does this to someone else, look at this woman‘s face.” Mary, Margarita, Barry and Tomas look at Nadine. They approach Nadine.
Margarita and Mary bend to Nadine. “Can we see your face Miss Nadine?” Margarita asks. Nadine slowly takes off her shades and hat as she sniffs. Mary, Margarita, Barry and Tomas are shocked to see Nadine’s two swollen black eyes, a swollen bruised face and a bruise on her forehead. “My God!” Margarita shouts. “Miss Nadine, are you sure you want to drop the charges against Diane, because if I were you, I would not drop the charges against her!”
“I wouldn‘t either!” Mary says.
“This is terrible!”
“It is!” Mary turns to Barry and shouts, “Barry get Diane in here! I want her to see what she’s done!” Barry pulls out his cell phone.
“No Miss!” Nadine shouts. “That’s okay! Diane D doesn’t have to come in here!”
“No it’s not okay Miss!” Mary says. “Diane needs to see this! She needs to see what she’s done!” Mary turns to Barry and shouts, “Get Diane in here!”
Barry dials a number on his cell phone. He puts the cell phone to his ear. He speaks into it and says, “Hey Nicolas! Get Diane in the courtroom! Get her in here now!” Barry takes his cell phone from his ear. He closes the cell phone and puts it back into his pocket as he looks towards the backdoor.
Nadine nervously turns to Mary and Margarita and tells them, “No that’s okay! Diane D doesn’t have to come in here!”
“Yes she does Miss Nadine!” Margarita says. “Diane needs to see this!”
“I don’t want to face Diane D Ma’am! I don’t want to be in the same room with her! Please don’t make me be in the same room with her! I know she‘s your granddaughter, but she’s crazy! She’s capable of going off and going ballistic! She might do it again! I think I’m gonna leave!” Nadine is about to get up.
Mary and Margarita gently sit Nadine back down as Margarita shouts, “She is not going go off on you again Miss!”
“Yeah but seeing her or having to face her is just gonna bring back terrible memories of that day! I don’t want to see her!”
“Ma’am Diane needs to see this so she can realize the damage she’s done to you!” Mary shouts.
“I don’t want to see her!” Nadine shouts. “Maybe I shouldn‘t have complained about her in the first place. Maybe I should have just left well enough alone!”
“You have a right to complain about Diane Miss Nadine, this is your husband!” Margarita shouts. “You felt violated and you have every right to say something about it!”
“Yeah but look where it got me!” Nadine starts to sob. “Look what it did to me!” Nadine turns her head to the side as she continue
s to sob.
Margarita sadly puts her arms around Nadine‘s shoulders and says, “Ma’am this is why Diane needs to see your face so she can apologize to you!”
Nadine puzzled looks at Margarita and says, “Apologize to me?”
Margarita let’s go of Nadine’s shoulders and says, “That’s right apologize to you.”
“Diane should apologize!” Mary shouts. Mary looks towards the backdoor then turns to Barry and asks, “Is she coming?”
“She should be coming,” Barry says. “I told Nicolas to send her in here.” Mary and Margarita stand back up as they and Barry look towards the backdoor. “Here she is,” Barry says.
Diane D comes through the back door dressed in a white long sleeve shirt, a white cap, white jeans and black sneakers with her long black wavy hair hanging around her shoulders and chest.
“Come over here Diane!” Mary shouts.
Diane D comes down the courtroom aisle with a firm serious look on her face as she puzzled looks at her parents and grandparents.
Nadine tearfully turns her head away from Diane D’s direction as Deacon worriedly looks at her.
Diane D continues to come down the aisle. She turns towards her family.
Diane D approaches Mary. She places her hands on her hips and says, What’s up Mom?”
“I’ll tell you what’s up,” Mary says. “This young lady’s face is what’s up, look what you did to her,” Mary says as she points her finger towards Nadine. Diane D turns her head and looks at Nadine as Nadine faces away from her. Mary shouts to Nadine, “Turn this away Miss Nadine! Diane needs to see what she’s done! Look back this way!” Nadine slowly turns her face towards Mary and Diane D. Diane D and Mary look at Nadine’s face. Diane D sees the damage on Nadine’s face. She puzzled looks at Nadine’s face and stares at her. Nadine looks down at the floor, avoiding eye contact with Diane D. Mary turns to Diane D and says “You see what you did to her? You need to apologize to her.” Diane D puzzled looks at Mary. She then looks back at Nadine’s face and stares at it again.
“Apologize to her Diane!” Margarita shouts. Diane D looks at Margarita then back at Nadine. Margarita then shouts, “What are you waiting for Diane?! Apologize to the lady!”
“Apologize to her for what?!” Diane D says. “What did I do to her?!”
“Can’t you see?!” Barry shouts. “You damaged her face!”
“I damaged her face?!”
“Yes you did!”
“How did I damaged her face?!”
“Don’t you remember?! You kicked her in the face!”
“I did?! I didn’t kick her in the face!”
“Yes you did!”
“No I didn’t! I only punched her in the face, that was it!”
“Girl, if you don’t apologize to her, I’m going to go ballistic!” Mary shouts. “Now apologize to this lady, now!”
“If you say so.” Diane D looks at Nadine and says, “I’m sorry Miss. I’m sorry if I kicked you.”
“What do you mean ‘if you kicked her’ Diane?!” Tomas shouts. “You did kick her!”
“If you all say so.” Diane D turns to Nadine and says, “Miss, when you came inside the church and started hollering and complaining to the staff members about me, I got upset. Then when I heard you demanding to speak to my mom and my grandma about me, I completely lost it. We both shouldn’t have agreed to step outside the church then go off on each other. We should have just talked about the issue instead. I’m really sorry if I did that to you.”
“Why do you keep saying the word ‘if’ Diane?!” Margarita shouts. “You did do that to her!”
“I don’t remember kicking her Grandma! But if you all say I did kick her, I guess I did do it and I apologize for what I did!” Diane D turns back to Nadine and says, “Ma’am, I’m sorry for what I did to you.” Nadine looks to the side as she avoids looking at Diane D. Diane D looks at Deacon and says, “And Deacon?” Deacon looks at Diane D as Diane D says, “I’m very sorry for any problems that I caused in your marriage. I’m sorry.” Deacon sadly looks at Diane D as Diane D looks at him. Diane D puzzled looks back at Nadine.
Mary turns to Diane D and says, “We’re going to get you counseling for anger management.”
“What? What do you mean you’re going to get me counseling for anger management?”
“You can‘t seem to keep your cool Diane. You get out of control at times and go on the attack and because of that, we’re going to get you counseling for anger management.”
“Mom, I’m already going to marriage counseling with Michael. He and I are trying to work our marriage out. I even apologized to him about what went on between me and Jonathan.”
“Well now you’re going to have two different counselings to deal with.”
“Two different counselings? Oh Mom how are you going to have me go to two different counselings?”
“I’ll tell you how. You’re going to get plenty of rest so you can have the energy to do all three of those things.”
“All three of those things? What three things Mom? What‘s the third thing?”
“Didn’t we tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“You’re going to be working at the hair salons while you’re on probation.”
“Work at the hair salons? What are you talking about?”
“You’re going to run one of the hair salons again Diane.”
“Run one of the hair salons again? Y’all going to have me run the hair salon?”
“Yes.”
“Oh Mom, I don’t want to run the hair salons.”
“You’re going to run the hair salons while you’re banned from performing.”
“Mom please don‘t make me run the salon.”
“Our minds are already made up Diane. You will be managing the hair salon and while you‘re working there, your paycheck will be used to pay for this young lady‘s medical expenses and her lawyer fees.”
“What! You’re gonna have me pay for her medical expense and her lawyer fees?!”
“Yes.”
“Oh Mom that isn’t fair! She’s the one who came to the church to confront me, I didn’t come to her!”
“If you hadn’t asked her husband to be your date at that school dance, she wouldn’t have came to the church to confront you in the first place now, would she?” Mary angrily looks at Diane D. She then turns away from Diane D and walks away towards Nadine.
Diane D becomes upset as she looks at Mary. She places her hands on her hips and angrily looks at Nadine.
Mary bends back to Nadine and says, “It’s going to be okay Miss Nadine.”
Diane D looks at Mary, then she angrily looks back at Nadine. She then turns, swearing to herself and starts to walk away.
Barry turns to Diane D and shouts, “You just stay right here Diane!” Diane D stops and turns to Barry. “Stay here!” Barry shouts. Diane D remains upset as her hands remain on her hips.
Marilyn, Aunt Celeste and Mickey enter the back door. They come down the aisle as Marilyn asks, “How’s everything going?”
“Is everything alright?” Aunt Celeste asks.
Mary, Margarita, Barry, Tomas and Diane D look towards Marilyn, Aunt Celeste and Mickey as they come down the aisle.
The lawyer shows Mary, Margarita and Tomas the papers.
Thirty minutes later, Diane D is slowly and sadly walking on the sidewalk outside the court building between Lonna and Kelly with her head down and thumbs in her pocket as Lonna and Kelly hold on to her arms talking to her as Kelly says, “Diane are you okay? What’s wrong?”
“I’ll tell you what’s wrong Kelly,” Lonna says. “Miss Mary and Miss Margarita are going to make Diane go to counseling for anger management.”
“What? They’re making her go to counseling for anger management? Are you serious?”
“Yeah I‘m serious. They’re going to make her go to anger management becaus
e of that woman in there, the one inside the courtroom.”
“The one who caused all of us not to perform at that school dance?”
“Yes her! Because of her, Miss Mary and Miss Margarita are making Diane go to anger management!”
“But she’s already going to marriage counseling. So that means she has to go to anger management counseling on top of marriage counseling?”
“That’s right. Not only does she has two different counselings to go to, Miss Mary and Miss Margarita are going to have her run the hair salons again.”
“Run the hair salons? Are you serious?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh boy this is getting too much. For how long do you have to run the hair salons Diane?” Diane D refuses to speak as she sadly continues to walk with her head down with her thumbs in her pockets.
“Until her probation is over,” Lonna says. “She has to do all of that while she’s banned from performing.”
“Damn that sucks,” Kelly says.
“It does.”
“We’re sorry for what’s happening with all of this Diane.”
“Yeah we know we can’t take the pain away from you right now, but we can try to make you feel better by getting you some coffee. You want some coffee?” Lonna asks. Diane D still refuses to speak. Lonna looks at Kelly and says, “Let’s get her some coffee Kelly.”
“Okay.”
Lonna looks to the side and stops as she continues to hold onto Diane D. She quickly turns to Kelly and says, “Hold on Kelly.” Lonna turns back to the side and shouts, “Hey Nicolas! Nicolas!”
Nicolas turns to Lonna and says, “What’s up Lonna?”
“Tell your mom and grandma that Kelly and I are taking Diane to the coffee shop across the street!”
“Okay I’ll tell them, then I’ll catch up with y’all!”
“Okay!” Lonna and Kelly turn Diane D to the side and take her towards the street.
The following day, Mickey and Nicolas are moving boxes towards the den inside Margarita and Tomas' mini-mansion. The telephone rings. “I’ll get it,” Nicolas says. Nicolas goes to the telephone. He picks up the receiver. He speaks into the receiver and says, “Hello?”
“Hi this is Teresa,” Teresa says from the other end.
“Oh hi Teresa, this is Nicolas. What‘s up?”
“Nothing much. How is everything?”
“Everything is going fine so far.”
“That’s good. How is Diane doing?”
“She’s okay so far. She and Michael are in counseling right now.”
“Oh they’re in counseling?”
“Yeah.”
“How is their counseling coming along?”
“Well they’re still trying to work on their marriage. They want to work things out.”
“They do?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh that’s good. I sure hope they work things out. So how does Diane feel about not getting to perform at that school dance?”
“She’s still very bitter about it Teresa. She really wanted to perform at that school dance.”
“I know. Did your parents and grandparents send another performer instead?”
“Yeah they sent two singers to do a duet there.”
“They sent two singers there? Who?”
“Helen and Gloria.”
“Helen and Gloria? How were they?”
“I don’t know, I wasn’t there. I guess they were okay.”
“I see. What about Diane being banned from performing for six months or a year, how does she feels about that?”
“Diane is not happy about being banned from performing, performing is her passion.”
“I know. How did it go for her in court yesterday?”
“Well first of all, the woman dropped the charges against her.”
“The woman dropped the charges against Diane? Wow that’s good for Diane, but how come the woman decided to drop the charges?”
“Her husband claim they kept getting harassed by people in the community to drop the charges, so they did.”
“They were harassed by people in the community to drop the charges?”
“That’s what they said.”
“Wow, I feel for them and happy for Diane at the same time.”
“Yeah but my parents and grandparents are sending Diane to get anger management counseling.”
“They’re sending her to get anger management counseling?”
“Yeah, not only that, she now has to run one of my family’s hair salons for a while?”
“She has to run one of your family’s hair salons and go to marriage counseling and anger management?”
“Yep.”
“Wow she has a lot on her plate. How does she feel about doing all of that?”
“She’s real bitter about everything Teresa. My parents and grandparents are really trying to punish her for what she did to that woman.”
“Wow Nicolas. I’m so sorry that this whole thing of her getting into a fight with that woman happened. I’m sorry that the woman got hurt. I wished they would have just talked the issue out.”
“Yeah me too.”
“Dana called me last night and said she will be flying into town from Jamaica soon.”
“Yeah she‘s coming with her family.”
“Oh that’s good. Is it alright if I stop by when Dana arrives there so I can see and visit both her and Diane?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Thanks Nicolas.”
“No problem Teresa. When Diane comes home, I’ll tell her you called.”
“Thank you Nicolas. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay Teresa, bye.” Nicolas hangs up the receiver and walks away.
A few days later, Alex, Crystal and Valerie are walking down the organization hallway. They see Mike, Mitch and around 15 of the Youth boys running from the back of the hallway being very loud and rowdy as they chit-chat and laugh. Mike, Mitch and the rest of the Youth boys go into the meeting room door and go inside the meeting room. The Dianettes come from the back of the hallway carrying trays of food. They go into the meeting room door and go inside the meeting room. Nicolas, Michael and Mickey are coming from the back of the hallway also carrying trays of food. Alex, Crystal and Valerie approach Nicolas, Michael and Mickey. “Hey guys,” Crystal says. “How‘s it going?”
“Everything is so far so good,” Nicolas says.
“We see you all carrying trays of food,” Alex says. “Where’s Diane?”
“She‘s in the back,” Michael say. “She prepared this food.”
“She did?” Crystal says. “How come?”
“My parents and grandparents are having her do some community service,” Nicolas says.
“Community service?” Valerie asks. “Why?”
“Well since being that the assault charges were dropped against her, she still has to do some sort of community service.”
“Oh I see.”
“So how you doing Michael?” Alex asks. “How’s the marriage counseling coming along between you and Diane?”
“The counseling is coming along fine,” Michael says. “We’re still trying to work our marriage out. We gotta take it one day at a time.”
“I see. I’m happy for y’all.”
“Thanks man.”
“We heard that Diane is banned from performing anywhere for a while,” Valerie says. “Is that true?”
“Yeah.”
“And we also heard that she has to go to anger management counseling, is that true too?”
“Yeah that’s true,” Mickey says.
“And run one of your family’s hair salons?” Crystal asks.
“Yeah.”
“How does Diane feel about all of that?”
“She feels very bitter about all of that Crystal,” Nicolas says. “She doesn‘t want to do any of those things. She‘s in a bad mood right now and I mean a very bad mood.”
&
nbsp; “Really?”
“Yeah,” Michael says. “Diane is in such a bad mood that she‘s not talking to anybody.”
“She‘s not?” Alex asks.
“No,” Nicolas says. “She hasn’t really talked to anybody at all since she left the court building that day.”
“She hasn‘t?”
“No.”
“Wow she‘s really taking this performance banning very hard isn‘t she?”
“Yes she is. So when any of you come across Diane, it’s best not to mention anything about performances or the upcoming concert in front of her, okay?”
“We’ll try not to. Thanks for letting us know man.”
“Yeah we’ll make sure we won’t mention anything about performances or the upcoming concert around her,” Valerie says.
“Thanks,” Nicolas says, “because she already feels bad about having to do everything else. We don’t need to make her feel worse than she already does.”
“We understand,” Alex says. “And this all happened just because of a little misunderstanding that Diane was told by some student from that High School.”
“Yep, all because of that.” They all sadly look at each other. Nicolas turns to Michael and Mickey and says, “Let’s get the food inside.” Nicolas turns and head towards the meeting room door with the tray of food as Michael and Mickey follow him.
The members of the Diaz-Davidson Organization are inside the meeting room standing around a long table talking as Nicolas, Michael and Mickey set the trays of food and snacks on one end of the table and the Dianettes set the other trays of food and snacks on another table across the room. Miriam approaches Nicolas and says, “So Nicolas, who‘s going to perform after you at the upcoming concert?”
Nicolas turns to Miriam. He looks behind Miriam then quickly looks back at Miriam and says, “I can’t talk about that now Miriam.” Miriam, Michael, Mickey, Alex and Valerie puzzled look at Nicolas. They turn their heads and see Diane D walking slowly past them with a towel in her hand giving Miriam a cold stare.
Miriam puzzled looks at Diane D. She then says, “Hi Diane.” Diane D continues to walk slowly past them giving Miriam a cold stare as Nicolas, Michael, Mickey, Alex and Valerie look on. Diane D angrily turns away from Miriam then approaches the Dianettes. Miriam turns back towards Nicolas and asks, “What’s her problem? Why did she cut her eyes at me? Did I say something wrong?”
“Well according to her you did,” Nicolas says.
“What did I say?”
“You mentioned about performing and the upcoming concert and she heard you. Obviously the subject made her upset.”
“It did? Well I didn’t know she was walking behind me. Wow if looks could kill, I’d be dead. I better watch my back before she kung fu kicks me like she did that woman.” Nicolas annoyingly looks at Miriam. Miriam then says, “I’m sorry Nicolas, but I don’t want to be her next victim. She act like I mentioned the performance and the upcoming concert in front of her on purpose. I didn‘t know she was walking behind me.”
“I know you didn’t know Miriam, but let’s just not talk about it anymore right now okay?” Miriam sadly looks at Nicolas as Nicolas starts to prepare the food. She then turns and looks towards Diane D as Diane D continues to talk with the Dianettes.
Chapter 34
Diane D Angrily Runs The Family Hair Salon