Showmanship

7 - Sprained Ankles, Minnisota Air, and A Broken BB Gun

Sprained Ankles

Ms. Laura took a big drag from her cigarette, and then threw it behind her chucking it in the sink.

"You know my favorite job I had was definitely the palm reader," She said, he old arms trying their best to perch her on the counter.

Dorothy put another bag of groceries away in the fridge. Ms. Laura insisted Dorothy and I stay longer, so Ms. Laura could tell me about her wondrous amount of jobs. The stories were amazing, and at one point I was laughing so hard that my ribs hurt, but it was starting to get dark and Dorothy and I had parked farther away from Ms. Laura's trailer than normal.

Dorothy had actually asked me to come along with her, which I immediately agreed to. We took my car instead of Carol's and I drove through my first red light ever. Dorothy had made me slam on the gas because we almost got in the middle of a police chase.

Dorothy hadn't closed up after the incident. She started to act more like how she was when I first met her, bubbly and full of stories. It was nice. She would be herself, and that made it a lot easier to be me around her. Also the cast gave us a lot more alone time, and on one particular day while Dorothy and I were going over the script Kendall interrupted us. Kendall had been hiding behind the couch in Dorothy's dressing room, and instead of getting scared like I had, Dorothy flipped him off.

Ms. Laura quickly grabbed my hand and pinned it on the counter. She then peered over to Dorothy who was neatly stacking apples in the fridge. "I'm going to give him a palm reading," Ms. Laura told Dorothy. I didn't have a choice.

Dorothy just shrugged with a smirk on her face.

She then stared at me hand longer, and at one point told me to loosen up and that the anxiety was ruining her vibes. Don't get me wrong, Ms. Laura is a nice women. She's just a little eccentric.

"Mhm yep." Ms. Laura bobbed her head up and down. "Your heart line is short and curved. Means you like your space, but you have a few strong friendships. Your shy ya'know, a little awkward. Takes a lot for you to make a move."

Dorothy tried to choke down a laugh. "Didn't need a palm reading to know that."

I tried to defend myself. "Hey-"

But Ms. Laura cut me off and continued to read my palm. "Your life lines real broken up kid-"

I pulled my hand back, getting defensive. "What does that mean?" I asked slowly.

Ms. Laura peered at me, grabbing another cigarette from her skirt pocket. "You got a traumatic childhood." She took a drag from her cigarette, waiting for me to answer.

"What-" I tried to think of a way to change the subject, but all that came out was jumbled words. "I- I mean- well- you see-"

Yes.

Dorothy stood up, seeing that I was struggling, and slammed the fridge door hard enough that it grabbed Ms. Laura's attention.

"Hey," Ms. Laura snapped. Dorothy had now fear, even though I slowly felt like backing up. Ms. Laura glared. "I only got one of those. You could have just told me to knock it off."

I forgot that Ms. Laura was more honest and to the point than Dorothy.

Ms. Laura had already finished off her cigarette, and was now peering out her kitchen window that was letting on a nice breeze. I could hear crickets outside. I remember that distinctly because I had never really heard them before at night.