Sunday Afternoon

 Whitney starts her shift at Sunburst.

Jessie:  Hey, Whitney.  Did Tris tell you my brothers were moving to town? 

Whitney: Yes, she did.  She also told me about her parents leaving town.  Good riddance, if you ask me. 

Jessie:  They're actually leaving?  I thought that was a ploy to make her feel bad for marrying badly.  Anyway, this is Ebenezer in the orange and Khalil with all the braids.

Ebenezer:  Nice to meet you, ma'am.  

Whitney:  Ma'am?  I like you. 

Khalil: Hey, little man, don't be macking on all the women before I get the chance.  (To Whitney)  I understand your police chief has a zero tolerance policy for racism. 

Whitney:  She doesn't have much tolerance for any bigotry.  If it's actual bigotry and not a misunderstanding.   Like sometimes people are just ignorant but well-intentioned. 

Jessie:  Khalil, back off.  You sound like a fanatic. (To Whitney) He starts duty tomorrow, but he's never actually met Lynch.  Phone interviews, e-mails.  When she found out he was a Cooper, she snatched him right up. 

Khalil: You'd sound like a fanatic, too, if you'd been turned down for several jobs because your dad's Rom and your mom's black.  

Jessie (sarcastically): Like that's never happened to me.  Try being a woman on top of being a black Rom. 

Whitney: Well, on that note, I'll let you look over the menu and take care of  my other table. 

Whitney goes to the kitchen and brings out the food. 

Whitney: Can I get anything else for you?

Carol: No, thank you. 

Paige: Mom, we would like to be introduced to the people in this town.  We're going to be working and living here, and we'd like to make friends.  You might like being a hermit, but we don't. 

Paige: My sister and I will be working at the medical center.  I'm an optometrist and she's an ophthalmologist.  

Ellie: She's Paige, I'm Ellie.  You know our mother? 

Whitney: Yes, I know Agent Danvers.  I'm Whitney Darling.  I work here and I'm majoring in Undecided at the local college.  

Carol: Whitney's future mother-in-law is the mayor.  And her father owns the local TV station.  (To Whitney)  False modesty doesn't suit you. 

Whitney (offended, but polite): I don't define myself through Tanner, his stepmother, or Dad. 

Paige (as Whitney walks away):  What the hell was that, Mom?  

****

Once the Coopers have ordered and Whitney serves their food, Jessie returns to gossiping with her.

Jessie:  We told Khalil to try getting a job here because, like he said, there's still a lot of bigots in the system.  He's got a stellar resume, but... 

Ebenezer:  They keep using his hair as an excuse.  Girl cops don't gotta have short hair, so why should guy cops? 

Whitney:  I'm pretty sure BPD's policy is just that it be tidy.  Lynch has longer hair than me and she  just pulls it beck in a ponytail most of the time.  (To Khalil)  But if your hair has religious or cultural significance, they legally can't make you cut it.  

Khalil: They legally can't refuse to hire me because of my ethnicity, either, but they sure have been doing it.  Not all of them, but enough of them that I got fed up. 

Ebenezer: But then Jessie and Bapo told us this town has a black lady mayor and Khalil decided to send Barbieville a copy of his resume.  Next thing he knows, he's got a job offer!  And since Jessie's roomie moved out, we can live with her and I'll have my own room. 

Whitney: I wonder what it's like to have your own room?  I share with my little sister and my daughter.