Boss Lady (22 page)

“Tracy called me about it,” I told her. That was all I planned to say.

“Why?”

“Because you didn't answer your phone when she called your room earlier.”

“Why was she looking for me?”

“Because you wasn't with everyone else.”

“Yeah, I was sick.”

“So, what is that supposed to mean?” I asked her. “We can't talk to you because you're sick? We can't wonder how you're doing? I mean, what is the matter with you? My cousin was just worried about you, and when she got no responses from her calls, she asked me to check up on you.”

I said, “Actually, she wanted me to knock on your door, but I told her I was in bed already.”

I wanted Alexandria to know just how close she had come to being busted. In reality she was busted, she just didn't know it yet.

“How long ago was this?” she asked me.

“About twenty minutes ago, maybe longer.”

She said, “Well, I probably wouldn't have answered it. I mean, I'm just waking up now.”

Yeah, whatever,
I thought with a grin. She was tripping. I was getting a chance to see Alexandria's true colors. Tracy was right about her. I guess my big cousin had had enough interaction with women and girls through the popularity of her book to know all different tendencies and types.

I said, “All right, well, let me go ahead and call everybody back then and tell them that you're okay.”

“All right,” she told me.

“You are okay now, right?” I asked her to make sure.

“Yeah, I guess I just needed some rest, that's all.”

“Well, whatever the doctor orders, you just make sure you get it,” I bullshitted to her.

She said, “I know that's right.”

*  *  *

When I hung up the phone with Alexandria, all I could do was shake my head. I felt like calling my damn cousin Jason and asking him how it was, just to let him know that they were busted. Then he would call Alexandria and let her know that I knew. Then she would call me and either get mad about it, or continue to lie like it never happened. Then I would feel even worse about her than I was already feeling. I mean, if you're going to be a ho', at least be honest about it. I guess she was trying to be a discreet ho'.

I don't know how long I sat there thinking about it, but the next thing I knew, Jasmine, Sasha, and Maddy were back. You could hear all of their noise through the walls. I jumped up out of bed in my nightclothes to return to Sasha and Jasmine's room.

I knocked on the door, just to see someone looking through the peephole.

“I'm sorry, but we won't be having any booty calls here,” Jasmine joked through the door.

“Are you sure?” I asked her. “What if I was Allen Iverson?”

Jasmine damn near broke her arm to get the door open.

“Hi, A.I. Is there anything I can get or do for you?”

We all broke up laughing. Jasmine was a big Allen Iverson fan, especially while we were still in Philadelphia.

She said, “Oh my God, don't let me see him while we're here. Because I swear, I will go there in a heartbeat.”

I looked at Sasha and said, “See that. That's where a girl gets into trouble.”

“Whatever,” Jasmine huffed at me. “So, you wouldn't let A.I. in if he was knocking on your door?”

I asked, “Why would I? I don't know him.”

“Whatever,” Jasmine said again. She said, “Okay, would you let Nelly in your room then?”

I smiled. I was a big Nelly fan.

Sasha said, “Now how are you gonna like Nelly and not like Allen Iverson? They could practically be cousins.”

Jasmine and I looked at each other.

I said, “Okay, what are you trying to say, they all look alike? You better watch yourself, Sasha.”

“Yeah, because people always say that about Asians,” Jasmine joked.

“Well, you know I look good, so that must mean that all Asians look good,” Sasha bragged.

“What, just because you got a black butt? You still can't dance,” Jasmine teased her.

“I don't have to. All I do is move to the beat, and the guys swarm me every time. ‘Can I get a dance, Ma'? Can I get a dance?' ”

“Oh, like I don't get that,” Jasmine commented. “That's all night long, honey. All night long.”

I really wasn't there to shoot the breeze with them all night. I really wanted to make my way over to Alexandria and Maddy's room to look Alexandria in her eyes and sniff her room. I had never been there to home base before, but I could imagine things based on what I had heard about it.

I said, “Well, I haven't seen you guys all night, I just wanted to check in with you.”

“Aww, now aren't you a good mother hen,” Jasmine joked to me.

“Shut up,” I told her. “Now let me go check on Maddy and Alex.”

“Make sure you tuck them in good,” Sasha added to the joke.

I looked back at her and said, “Don't even start.”

I walked to Maddy and Alexandria's room and took a deep breath. I had to get my act together. I knocked on the door and waited. Maddy answered the door.

“What's up?”

Maddy seemed to be holding me up at the door, not intentionally but just standing in front of it.

I pushed her out of my way and said, “Let me come in, girl. What are you hiding, a man up in here?” I was just about to say Shamor, but I stopped myself. That wouldn't have been in good taste.

Maddy remained stoic and said, “No comment.”

I walked further into the room and spotted Alexandria under the covers with her nightclothes on. I could see them from her shoulders.

“So, are you guys going to be up all night or what?”

It smelled normal in there, like an air conditioner, carpet, and hotel sheets. Alexandria looked normal, too. Her light brown hair was still intact, and her face was not flushed or sweaty. I guess I didn't have any idea what to expect out of a sexcapade.

Maddy said, “You're in the wrong room for that shit. We have to beat on the walls five times a night to stop Sasha and Jasmine from goofing the hell off. I know you can hear them in there.”

“Yeah, I can hear them,” I admitted.

I looked at Alexandria under the sheets. She looked totally relaxed and satisfied.

I said, “So I guess you're going to be well rested for tomorrow now.”

She nodded her head and said, “Yup.”

I couldn't find any way to attack her. She looked too damned poised.

I said, “Well, I guess I'll leave you guys be then. Don't let the bedbugs bite,” I joked.

“What bedbugs?” Maddy asked me.

“The ones that crawl up in your sheets at night and give you the itches,” I commented. I was just talking to spark any conversation I could from them.

Maddy looked at me and frowned.

She said, “Girl, it sounds to me like you need to see the damn doctor.”

All of a sudden, Alexandria started laughing loud, louder than usual for her. Even Maddy looked at her funny.

She said, “You been in here smoking something, girl? It wasn't that damn funny.”

Alexandria shook her head and didn't comment.

I looked at her and said, “Have you been out of bed at all since
you've been in the room tonight?” I wondered if she would walk funny or something. I was looking for anything.

She said, “Yeah, to use the bathroom, and for room service. What else am I gonna get up for?”

I looked around the room and spotted a room service tray with the remains of a nearly finished small pizza. I then looked for signs of dinner for two, but there was only one tray and not enough food on it for two. That was a long shot.

I finally said, “Okay.”

Alexandria asked me, “What are you looking for?”

I wondered if she was on to me.

I said, “Nothing.”

“It seems to me like you're looking for something,” Maddy commented.

“I know, right,” Alexandria added.

I looked over at Maddy. Was she trying to help Alexandria out?

I shook my head and said, “All right, let me get to bed. You guys are boring,” I told them.

“You know that already,” Maddy told me. “If you want a slumber party, go next door.”

Alexandria started laughing again.

Maddy looked at her a second time and said, “You must have been smoking something. Who brought you some reefer?”

“Whatever,” Alexandria told her.

I repeated, “Reefer? You use that word? I thought it was chronic.”

“What does it matter, you don't smoke either one of them,” Maddy commented. She was a lot more street than any of us.

I said, “And you do?”

“I did. I have. Yeah,” she answered.

I asked her, “How does that stuff make you feel?”

I had never touched a blunt or a cigarette a day in my life.

Maddy said, “Damn, you sound like a square bitch.”

Alexandria laughed a third time and shook her head again.

Maddy looked at her and didn't comment.

I said, “Okay, well, let me retire to my room.”

“You said that three minutes ago and you haven't budged yet,” Maddy stated.

I joked and said, “I have to warm up to it.”

“Well, warm your ass out of here.”

I shook my head and left the room. I guess Alexandria had gotten away with her creep. I wasn't planning on telling anyone. For what? So I went on about my business.

*  *  *

At the final casting on Thursday, we had really narrowed down our potential actresses and actors. That's when things got really tense. We had had a peaceful time up until then. But we had too many nonprofessional girls all vying for a role they each considered to be their life calling.

I still liked Shannon Gray, but she was no longer the clear leader. We had a girl from Baltimore, one from Chicago, and one from St. Louis, who had flown in and were getting the job done. Ironically, no girl from Philly was strong enough in the lead. Philadelphians were locking down most of the minor, one-line roles, but that just wasn't good enough for some of them.

There was a crew of girls who had auditioned from South Philly, and two of them were still left for the lead. However, when Tracy told them what I thought she would—that they just were not convincing enough—they caused a ruckus.

“Wait a minute, so you're telling me that you're going to have a girl from somewhere else play this role? I mean, you don't have anybody from Philly playing any of the leads.”

I guess they had been checking the bios and asking around to see where people were from.

Tracy said, “You don't have to be from Philadelphia to play a Philadelphian, but you do have to be convincing in this movie.”

“And I'm not convincing?” the South Philly girl questioned.

She was a little too hard-edged for me. She didn't have enough of the innocence that we really needed in the role of
TRACY
. She wasn't jaded enough to play
MERCEDES.
She didn't have enough body for
CARMEN.
She didn't look as athletic as we felt
JANTEL
should look. And playing the roles of
RAHEEMA
or
KIWANA
was out of the question for this girl. But I surely felt she could have played a
TRACY HATER
in the movie. She was convincing enough in that role.

Tracy maintained her poise with the girl.

She said, “You're convincing in some things, but not enough in others.”

“Well, isn't that what practice is for?” the second girl from South Philly jumped in and stated. They were both in the same boat.

Robin spoke up and said, “You can practice all you want on your own time, but talent is talent, and as of right now, you don't have enough of that to play a lead in this movie.”

Whoa! Robin was a lot more forward than Tracy had been, but that's why she was the casting director.

“Well, that's fucked up!” the first girl stated. “And I do have talent. We both have talent. But what are y'all looking for?”

Robin spoke up again and said, “We're looking for girls who are professionals; actors and actresses who do not curse out the casting director and the producers, actors and actresses who are on time, actors and actresses who come prepared for the role, and talented people who
know
that it takes hard work and dedication, and not self-righteous
attitude
to get the job done.”

Robin had told them what time it was
quick.
However, my cousin Tracy went soft on them.

She said, “We'll keep your names and contact information. I believe that you are talented, and I'll be willing to work with you.”

The girls thanked Tracy and cut their eyes at Robin as they left.

Robin pulled Tracy to the back of the stage and spoke to her in lowered tones, but I could still hear them.

She said, “Tracy, like I told you before, you are going to create a mess by giving these girls so much false hope. Now if they don't make the cut, they don't make the cut.”

Tracy said, “Look, we can't come to Philly and piss everybody off because it will spoil their support for the film.”

Robin argued, “Tracy, do you actually believe that these people won't go and see this movie once it comes out? Now they're all going to come back and enjoy their roles as extras, I promise you that. But for right now, we have to focus on these leads. And as we already know, the leads we're choosing may only be temporary, if we really want this film to work.”

She said, “It happens all the time. You start with a working cast as
a model, then you upgrade the film with real stars to sell it, and the people who can stick through and fight their way in, God bless their souls. But you need to know this by now, Tracy. They are not you, and they can relate to your story all they want, but the reality is the reality. A star is a star is a star, and excuse my broken English here, but everybody ain't gon' be one.”