Story 19: Run Deep

The election over, life in Barbieville returns to normal.  Pike got his annual bonus from the corporation and has hired Joe to do some handyman work.  They meet at the diner to go over Joe's plans.

Joe: When those buildings came down along the Beach Highway, I contracted to take them down for materials I can repurpose.  I went out to my warehouse and came up with some idea for the work on your deck.

Pike: I didn't know you had a warehouse.

Joe: What I save on material more than covers the cost of the lease.  Also, save the planet and all that.  Sometimes I put my girls to work cleaning and sorting, if it's safe.  Jenny's a terrific go-fer.  

Pike: They are at that age.  I'd never get Taylor to do manual labor, though.  She might break a nail.

Joe (laughs): My girls don't enjoy it, but they know that's how we put food on the table.  If my wife's boss would give her a raise... 

After lunch, they decide to go to the warehouse and brainstorm.  Ben Kishi approaches them as they're leaving.

Ben:  Excuse me, Mr. Pike, I wonder if you can tell me if your wife would okay a support group meeting at the Town Hall?  It started out as being for siblings raising siblings, but...

Pike: You'd have to talk to her secretary, Kyra Darling.  Aren't there already support groups for that kind of thing?

Ben: We have one for Grandparents and one for Single Parents, but they're not willing to let siblings and cousins and the like join.  Thank you.  Sorry to bother you. 

Pike: It's no bother.  Good luck.

At the warehouse, Joe shows Pike some of the things he was planning to use for the deck.  

Joe: Those brick planters in the corner are the ones I used in the plans I showed you at the diner.  

Pike: Fake flowers? 

Joe: Cleverly disguised lights.  They come on automatically. 

Pike: That would be good.  We can always use...  what in the world is this thing? 

Joe: Bunk beds, can you believe it?  Came from the condemned apartments - I guess they were too much work for the owner to haul out.  

Pike: Tanner and Finnick reached the age where they refused to share a bed and we made a loft bed for one of them, but... 

Joe: If you can find round mattresses.  The originals are long gone.  

Zenobia and Becky are on their way to Zenobia's apartment in the warehouse district.  

Zenobia: I only get good light for about an hour a day, so we'll have to record the interview around three.  Unless we can find another place to do it. 

Becky: Three is...  (hears something down the alley)  What was that? 

Zenobia: Sounded too big to be one of the neighborhood strays.  

Becky: Clara!  What are you doing?

Startled, Clara falls.

Clara: Why don't you mind your own business?

Becky: Are you okay?

Zenobia: You're up on those bins, taking pictures through the ventilation slats, but we need to mind our own business? 

Joe: Now, these poles are the perfect...  

Pike: What's going on outside?  

Clara:  I'm not hurt.  Give back my camera and leave me alone!

Joe: That's my warehouse.  Let me see that camera.  

Clara: That camera is my property! 

Zenobia: You're trespassing on his property.  

Clara: Shut up, you blue-headed bimbo! 

Joe (scrolling through the photos): Call the police.  Looks like this girl's planning to blackmail half the town. 

Story 15: Costumes and Current Events

Barbieville Schools incorporate a Costume Day into the week before Homecoming.  It gets everyone in the Halloween spirit (and gives me a head start on my real-life Halloween party preparations) except for a few party-poopers...  Even the Day Care, Elementary, and Middle Schools get in on the fun!

Tanner drops the little ones off at Day Care on his way to school. 

Tanner:  Dad gets off work early today so he'll pick the brats up about noon.  

John: Hey, we're both in Star Trek uniforms! Your dog tags aren't regulation, soldier.

Tanner: Neither one of us has the right pants.  Captain Kirk's gonna bust us down to Ensign.

Jenny:  Look!  I'm a Fred today! 

Fred: I'm a mummy.  Wanna help me eat baby brains?

Jenny:  Mummies eat brains?  I thought that was zombies.

Fred: Oh, yeah...  what do mummies do?

Vivica:  BOO  I'm a ghost rattling my chains at you, mummy boy!

John:  That's whipping chains around madly, not rattling them.  Settle down or I'll put you in the brig.

Vivica:  Ghosts can go through walls!  BOO (But she stops swinging the chains so hard.) 

Wilma:  After school, I get to be on YouTube with my mommy's friend Zenobia.  She gots blue hair.

Kelly: I know her.  I fink she gots a crush on my Daddy.  Look at that silly Bobby!  

Ty: Being a girl for Halloween?  LAY-ZEE!  

Bobby: Fat lot you know.  I'm a graveyard.  See all my headstones?  

Ty: I thought Kelly was a princess and she said she's a Pink Lady from some singing movie.  

*****

At the High School, Frodo is waiting for Tanner when he walks in.

Tanner: Who are you supposed to be?

Frodo: Yo Momma. 

Tanner: Forgot the green and yellow stripes in your hair.  Or are you my Step Momma? 

Frodo: Man, you're dumb.  I'm Yo Momma from the jokes.

Tanner: Did you see Finnick yet? I thought he was Vegas Elvis but it's some couple costume with Nakoma.  Who the hell are Donny and Marie?

Frodo: Brother and sister.  Kinda makes that a bad choice for a couple.

Four:  How'd you manage to get away with a costume?

Tris: I made the skirt in Home Ec.  Wore a black dress today and put the skirt on over it when I got here.  Not sure what I'm going to do with it after school.  (Checks him out) Nice pirate pants.

Four: I had to wear a shirt because of the dress code, so I just matched them.  Real Pirates didn't wear shirts, you know.  Except the captains and I'm just the dude that swabbed the deck.

Tris: Of course.  The captains took all the nice clothes. (laughs)

Four: I'm going to the diner after school.  You know, in case you should happen to want a milkshake and run into me there.

Tris: I'm still grounded for cutting my hair.  

Four: Your parents are going to keel over once you're out of their house.  

Tris: Tell me about it.  I'll do horrible things like date. 

Mariko: I love team costumes!  Donny and Marie is kind of a weird choice for a couple, but whatever.  Whitney wouldn't team costume with me.

Whitney: We couldn't agree on one. 

Finnick:  You can have these for next year.  If one more person calls me Elvis...

Nakoma: Don't be giving away my mom's stuff!  

Mariko: Okay, I got the shot.  Now put your stupid shoes that don't match back on. 

Nakoma: Mine matched.

Mariko: Another team costume!  Jurassic Park for the win! 

Peeta: It looks better with my scarf and hat, and his shades.  They could relax the dress code just for today, don't you think? 

Ken: I'm not complaining.  We've got one of the most relaxed dress codes in the county.  Maybe even the state.

Raven:  Hey, guys!  I want to apologize for my mom being such a hag to your sisters.  

Tanner: She's the one who should apologize.  You're cool.

Finnick: Is she like that at home?  

Raven: She'll probably disown me if I don't make valedictorian.  

****

At the Middle School

Guinness: Please gather over there for a photo, class.  Even those of you who aren't in costume.  

Student:Who are you supposed to be?

Guinness: The name is Bond.  James Bond.

Wendy: Skipper, why didn't you wear a costume?  

Skipper: I did.  I'm a Disney Fangirl.

Nikki: So you came as yourself? (Giggles)  I'm Aphrodite, goddess of love. 

Claudia: I'm a spiderweb on a pumpkin.  We had to get creative - Ben's still catching up the bills from when Violet fired him. 

Ricky: How do girls keep these kind of dresses up? 

Courtney: It helps to have, you know, boobs. Or elastic tops.  Or both.

Gabriella: Kevin's a party pooper.

Kevin: Halloween's for babies.  

*****

Pocahontas makes Anakin pose with his new friends before school.  She wants to show his mother how well he's doing. 

Pocahontas: Lumberjack, Marty McFly, and Power Ranger.

Roxy: No, I'm the paper towel guy. 

Stacie: I think the paper towel guy is a lumberjack.  

Anakin: She's gonna send a copy to my mom.  She's gotta get it right.

Stacie: Well, it that case...  I'm Kimberly, the Pink Ranger.  Before she got a boyfriend and her brain fell out.  

Pocahontas: A lot of girls have that problem, don't they? 

**** 

After school, the theme continues...

Zenobia: Welcome to the October edition of Zenobia's Vlog - the only news source in town that openly admits to being biased.  Today, I'm here at Mayor Pike's home to discuss the upcoming election.  The things everyone is talking about are Keep Barbieville Virtuous, Eminent Domain, and two school levies.

Rose-Grace: Keep Barbieville Virtuous, I have to admit I underestimated.  Since Becky and Clara came forward, a lot of people admitted to letting their propaganda sway their thinking.  Which was, of course, the entire point of the project, and those girls should get the highest possible grades for it.  

Zenobia: I am officially endorsing you for Mayor.  And not just because I'm friends with your kids, either.  I've got nothing against Brent Spiner, but you are doing a great job and should therefore get to keep the position.

Rose-Grace: His campaign is based on the issue of Eminent Domain.  Because I used that power to remove unsafe buildings from the Beach Highway, a lot of folks think I plan to continue that pattern.  I didn't like doing it.  The property owners left me no choice if I wanted to keep structures from collapsing into the sidewalk and roads.  

Pocahontas: There's also the ludicrous rumor that we're going to use that to expand the park.  Not true.  Mom never meant for it to be huge.  For what a visit to one of those parks costs,  you could come to ours a few times.  Their parking lots are as big as our entire property. 

Zenobia: You are making some changes, and expanding a bit, though. 

Pocahontas: Yes.  I bought a bit of land off Hadley Drive.  A new roller coaster is going in on that property, at least part of it is.  There's a name change in the works.  (Chuckles) One thing Mom and I never agreed on was the name of the park.  

Zenobia: You're the guardian of two younger siblings, both of which attend Barbieville schools.  How do you feel about the levies?  

Pocahontas: I support both of them.  But I think your other guest has more to say on that subject and she'll make my points very nicely. 

Zenobia: Whitney Darling is a student at Barbieville High and an employee of the Sunburst Diner.  

Whitney: I moved here when I was 13.  I need to tell that story to illustrate my points.  (Heavy sigh)  I passed out in math class and was taken to the hospital, where we discovered I was pregnant.  Yes, at 13.  My school had no Sex Ed at all.  My knowledge of those things was limited to, basically, girls have periods.  My dad ordered me to get an abortion.

Zenobia: But you didn't.  

Whitney: My parents ended up divorcing, actually, over it.  Mom got custody of me and my sister and we moved here.  I didn't think - and still don't think - inconvenience is a good reason for an abortion.  I debated my other options, but eventually we decided to keep Wilma. Say hi, Wilma. 

Wilma: Hi, audience people!  Vote for Freddy's step-mommy!  

Whitney: Mom does most of the parenting, to be perfectly honest, and I love Wilma to pieces, but it's very difficult.  If my old school had a comprehensive Sex Ed program - or even just a basic one - I could have waited a few years.  Issue 1 wants to give us that.  The program proposed would teach it just like any other bodily system.  Things like birth control and STDs would be covered no differently than, say, smoking or diabetes.  

Zenobia: What about the people who say it will put the idea in our kids' heads?

Whitney: Trust me, that idea is already there.  Puberty kicks it into high gear, but it's there from the time we're born.  Maybe even conceived.

Rose-Grace: You also wanted to talk about Issue 2.  I personally feel the existing security is more than enough. How do you feel about the security in our schools? 

Whitney: It's true that the way they do it now is good.  It kept my dad out when he showed up to take Wendy back - he'd given up on me by then.  He was stopped at the entrance and turned away.  But that was an unarmed man.  

Rose-Grace: School shootings get a lot of press, but they're rare. 

Whitney: Yes, they are.  I don't want our schools to be fortresses, but kids can't learn if they're scared.  Issue 2 isn't a whole lot different from me giving Wilma a nightlight.  Sometimes we have to go a little extra to make our kids feel safe.

Zenobia: Well, this Vlog is getting kind of long.  To sum up: Vote for Rose-Grace Pike.  The amusement park isn't going to engulf Barbieville.  Vote yes on Issues 1 and 2.  Unless you agree with our esteemed mayor, then vote no on 2.  

(General laughter.)

Whitney: Oh, and I apologize for my costume destroying the Disney Princess vibe the rest of you have going on here.  I must have missed the memo.  

Zenobia: At least you're a princess.  Little Wilma here, she's the one who killed the vibe.  

Outro music plays over Zenobia tickling Wilma.

*********

Note from the story teller: Some residents of Barbieville didn't make it into the story, but they want to show off their costumes.  Check them out:  

  

  

... the party poopers

 

And, of course, the BOUSes 

Story 14: Lessons Learned

Mr. Guinness addresses the seventh graders before they make their presentations.

Guinness: Today we're finishing with the section on the Great American Melting Pot.  Your assignment was to bring us your family's personal stories that relate to the topic.  My own story is a fairly simple one - I was born and raised in the United Kingdom, moved here because I had a splendid scholarship from an American university, and met my wife there.  

Wendy: My mom says we're good old American mutts.  Most of my heritage is European, but it's all mixed up.  The best way I can think of to explain the Melting Pot is to just look around.  Even just here in Barbieville, we've got so many different kinds of people.  My house is a Swiss chalet, our car is Italian, and my favorite food is Chinese.

Ricky:  I like that term, American Mutt.  That's what my dad is, but my mom's family came here in the 1940s because of Hitler.  Technically, I guess we're Romany or Rom, but most people know us as Gypsies.  My grandparents travel and take manual labor jobs, like the old days, but they do it in a camper instead of the little wagons we see in movies.  

Claudia: My grandparents on Mom's side are super traditional.  They got mad at my parents for not giving us Japanese names, even. But they're first generation Americans.  Dad's side of the family was in one of FDR's camps during World War 2, even though two of the sons were in the service.  I'd call that a Melting Pot Fail!  

Courtney:  A lot of people think we're Hispanic because our name is Montez.  We aren't.  Dad is a Navajo and Mom's a white girl of mostly Irish heritage.  Dad's not real traditional, though.  His family left the Southwest back in the 1950s as part of a government program.  I think that was one of the last-ditch efforts to do away with tribal governments.  

Claudia: Another Melting Pot Fail.

Courtney: The Melting Pot is an ideal and people fall short of ideals all the time.  Dad says we should work for a better future instead of dwelling on the past. 

Nikki: Speaking of Melting Pot Fails...  my ancestors were slaves.  My father's people were part of a famous slave uprising in Haiti, even.  My house is a kind of melting pot, though.  My step family are white and the new twins are biracial.  

Skipper:  Wow.  I just realized that me and Wendy are way outnumbered.  People talk like most Americans are white, but look at us.  Us pure white girls aren't even half the class!  (Stops for a moment)  I didn't mean that the way it sounded.  I just never realized how melted our pot is, if you know what I mean.  Even me and Wendy are a mix of different European groups.

Guinness: You just summed up the lesson for me, Miss Roberts.  This nation was never meant to be anything but a cultural stew.  

While the presentations are being made in her daughter's class, Rose-Grace meets with Pocahontas.

Pocahontas: If you look at old maps of the town, the area of the park was called Witch's Cove.  Mom didn't want people to think it was only open in October, so she called the park Nedakh's Amusement Park.  

Rose-Grace: She was a simple woman.  You're thinking of changing it to Witch's Cove?  What about backlash from people who find that offensive? 

Pocahontas:  Believe me, I've thought of that. (laughs) I've seen the fuss over sports teams called Redskins.  I've got people working on that, playing up the historical aspect and even my own paganism.  I'm aiming for minimal backlash. 

Rose-Grace's reply is interrupted by a knock at the door.

Marcus:  Sorry to barge in on you like this, but my wife has been up to some shenanigans.  You need to hear about this. 

Pocahontas: Sounds urgent.  I'll go now and file the paperwork we were discussing.

Esmeralda: No, you want to hear this, too.  

Two hours and several phone calls later: 

PJ: Do you have any idea what this is all about? 

John: Judging by who is here, my guess is Keep Barbieville Virtuous.  But the mayor's office wasn't acting on that, so I'm as confused as you are.  Who are the girls talking to Esmeralda?

Rose-Grace gets every one's attention and introduces Clara and Becky.

Clara: I'm a political science major and Becky is a journalism major.  We recently conducted a project you might recognize as Keep Barbieville Virtuous.  It was meant to show how easily public opinion can be swayed, usually by things unrelated to the issue at hand. 

Becky:  We didn't realize we were hurting anyone.  Stupid, I know, considering the entire point of the project.  Of course people were going to be hurt.  We speculated about things that we should not have, things that cost some of you professionally.  And maybe personally.

Clara: We've sent a statement to the local media outlets, refuting all the allegations and apologizing for any harm done.  We're hoping this sets things straight. We did not expect the campaign to be as successful as it was.

Becky and Clara hang their heads, ashamed of themselves, as the group grumbles its way out.  They wait a few minutes for the halls to clear before leaving.

Rose-Grace: So you were Brent's contact, Esmeralda?  You tracked them down using questionable methods and bullied them into confession? 

Esmeralda: Damn straight.  

Rose-Grace:  Marcus, did you know anything about this?

Marcus (laughs):  No, I didn't, but I'm not really surprised.  Esmeralda sees something that needs dealt with, she deals with it. 

Esmeralda: Violet can press charges against me for snooping in her files.  I honestly don't care.  

Rose-Grace:  You'll care if your boys have to visit you in jail. 

Esmeralda: They'd be proud to visit me in jail.  (To Marcus) Wouldn't they? 

Marcus: Despite my best efforts to make them follow the rules, yes, they would. 

Story 13: The More Things Change

Our story picks up with a slight overlap on last time.  John and Pocahontas have stepped aside to speak privately while Anakin and Roxy get acquainted.

John: You have got some gall, asking me to do this after making it clear that you hate my guts.

Pocahontas: I'm not asking for myself.  Anakin -- 

John: Like Anakin's the first new kid in school ever.  

Pocahontas: The boy's been carried hundreds of miles away by a total stranger.  Yes, it was at his mother's request, but it's still pretty traumatic.  It's almost like he's been kidnapped.

John:  I'm assuming he came from your long lost father?

Pocahontas: God only knows how many other siblings I've got out there.  He ran out on Anakin's mom when he was a toddler, she's got drug problems, and for some reason she thinks he's better off with me just because we share DNA. 

John:  You always were a bleeding heart.  

Pocahontas: And proud of it.  (changes subject slightly) Look, I just want Roxy to help him get his foot in the door.  Something she would have probably done anyway.  She's a kind child.  

After Pocahontas and Anakin leave, John decides to feed his children.  Mace and Stacie come in as they dig in and come over to chat. 

Mace: Hey, Smith!  How's it going, man? 

John: I should be asking how you are.  Losing a wife is never easy.

Mace: I guess we're both widowers now, aren't we? It must have been terrible for you, man.  At least in my case, we saw it coming.  

John: We can shove over if you and Stacie are going to eat.

Mace:  Picking up carry out for my army of grandchildren.  (to Stacie)  Sit with Roxy while I get the food, you little stalker.

Stacie: He calls me a stalker because I follow him around all the time.  I didn't get much time with Grammy and I want to get lots with him.  My other grandparents aren't as cool as the Windus.

Roxy: What about your Mommy's parents?

Stacie: She was took away from them when she was a kid.  I never even met them.

Roxy: Hey, I met Pocahontas's new brother.  He seems really nice.  

Stacie:  Nakoma asked me to introduce him to my friends.  I told her I don't have any but you.  (both girls giggle)  I said I'm a loner.  

Mace comes back with two big bags of food and they leave. 

Roxy: Bye, Loner!  See ya later! 

At school the next day.

Nakoma: Apparently she didn't think to tell him we owned an amusement park.  The boy thought he was in heaven.  (mimics Anakin)  I can see roller coasters out my bedroom window!  

Finnick: That little trailer must be getting crowded.

Nakoma: Not really. I'm used to three people in it, remember?  

Tanner: Keep Barbieville Virtuous wasted no time twisting this one around.  

Nakoma:  Oh, no. 

Tanner: Apparently Pocahontas gave birth to him when she was 14 and he's been living with relatives all this time.  John Smith is his father.

Nakoma: KBV is so full of it.  

Finnick:  Dude, why do you even read their crap?

Tanner:  Zenobia told me about it.  She thinks it's hilarious. 

Back at the diner, Whitney clocks in right after school.  Ben Kishi is sitting at her first table.

Whitney:  Eating out?  Things must be looking up for you. 

Ben: Just having coffee, actually, but things are looking up.  The store is paying for me to finish my degree.  I did have to promise to work there at least five years after graduation, but I was already planning to do that.

Whitney: How are you going to manage that?  Working full time and going to school full time?

Ben:  Claudia can stay with the Pikes or the Montezes after school.  It's not even for a year, and she's already welcome at both houses, so it works out.  Who knew Violet was doing me a favor when she fired me?  

Becky:  Violet?  At American Splendor? You were the guy she fired?

Clara: I knew you looked familiar when we saw you at Orientation. 

Ben: And here I thought you just talked to me because I was so sexy. (laughs) Yeah, I was the guy with the snoopy little sister.  

Clara: She fired you for releasing confidential client information, didn't she? 

Ben: No.  She fired me because my sister and her friends asked for the information, Violet was rude to them, and then their parents were angry.  I didn't give them the information.  

Becky: Why did your sister want private information about the print shop's customers?

Whitney:  It was KBV - you know, the group that's spreading all the rumors about the mayor candidates and their friends?  Two of Claudia's friends are Taylor and Nikki Pike. 

Clara: The mayor is actually worried about that?

Becky: It's so obviously speculation.

Whitney: Gossip can kill a career.  KBV could ruin things for a lot of people. 

Rose-Grace's plans for a peaceful afternoon at home are interrupted by a visitor. 

Brent: My source has tracked down the phone number.  She knows who KBV is.  I spoke to a lawyer and he said the insinuations can be considered libel.  

Rose-Grace: Brent, I told you, acting against them only lends credibility to their claims.  

Brent: Honestly, at this point, I don't even care.  They can cost me the election.  

Fred: Step-mommy, I know I'm in-trump-ting, but they are telling fibs.  Telling fibs is badder than in-trump-ting, right? 

Rose-Grace: Fibbing is worse than interrupting, yes.  But it's just not that simple.  (to Brent)  Do what you feel you must.  I'm not getting involved unless laws are broken.  I have more faith in the people of this town than you, obviously. 

Anakin goes to Pocahontas's office when he gets off the school bus.  

Anakin: I have a question.  Why do you hate Roxy's dad so much? 

Pocahontas: That's an adult matter, Anakin. 

Anakin: Roxy said it's cause he had two girlfriends in school - you and Roxy's mom.  I don't understand the problem.  Our ancestors had more than one wife all the time.

Pocahontas (seeing that she's not getting out of this): When our ancestors did that, the wives knew about each other.  The wives were okay with it.  John told me that he was only dating her to appease his parents.  He told her that I was just a friend.  

Anakin: Oh.  I don't think Roxy knows that part.

Pocahontas: I'm pretty sure she doesn't.  John doesn't want his daughters to know what a jerk he was. 

Anakin: Is he still a jerk?  

Late evening, in a small apartment complex.  A knock on the door answered.

Esmeralda: I know who you are and what you've been doing.  What I want to know is why.