Chapter 1
October 2, 1979
"Cindy, did you shop at the boys section at Sears again?" Blair rebuked with an added huff to the end.
"What?" Cindy asked.
Blair was at it again, harassing Cindy. I don't know why she has issues with Cindy. So she doesn't dress like a girl, so what? Not every woman wants to be a Maybelline girl. How can we achieve women's equality if we women fight over silly stuff like this? There's got to be a deeper reason for her resentment towards Cindy.
"I mean do you know how to dress? Or do I have to contact Halston on a CB, calling for a 10-33?"
"Well I'm surprised Blair, that you are only calling one guy up. I thought you might call a few more for an orgy!" Cindy irritated back.
Blair then gave her an angry glance. "Why you..." Blair seethed.
This is not looking good. Maybe my book can help me on this. It's about Body Languages and how you can read them. It really is a fascinating book, I learned a lot out of it. Usually our bodies tell the truth when our words aren't. They can give off a lot of clues about what we really are thinking and feeling.
Fortunately, Mrs. Garrett got wind of their quarrel and sternly warned them.
"Blair and Cindy! You two better stop it right now!"
Blair replied, "Did you hear what she just said to me?" Cindy sighed a breath of relief.
"I want to have a word with you, young lady."
"But Mrs. Garrett -"
"No buts! Come with me!" she bellowed out.
Cindy didn't say anything as Mrs. Garrett and Blair went into the kitchen. I saw a tear rolling down from her eye as she was still hurting from Blair's sting. What she didn't know was that I was there behind her, listening. I came up to her and comforted her.
"Don't listen to Blair, she's just being a creep as usual."
"I know, but maybe she's right. Maybe I am not a normal girl," Cindy responded with cracks in her voice. She was trying her best not to cry, but she couldn't hold it longer and she let it out. I offered her my shoulder and she continuously cried on it. I couldn't help but notice that when she hugged me, she put her arms around my lower back and held her body very close to me, which according to my Body Language book was an indication of a potential romantic interest. I didn't say anything, but a lot was going on in my mind at the time. There's something about her that she's not saying, maybe she doesn't realize herself.
"Now Cindy, don't let it get to you. People think that I'm not normal. They think that I'm a radical, liberal Feminist - and they're correct!"
Cindy chuckled at that one. Good, at least there is some sort of happy spirit in her.
"Yeah, but that's a lot better than what I'm being accused of."
She didn't say the word, but I knew and she knew, so there was no need.
"Actually a lot of Feminist has been accused of that. But it doesn't matter, we can't let them tell us how to live our lives and take away our freedom and powers. That's what we fought for, to be ourselves. Besides, they're just empty words; it's only you that makes meaning to it."
"You might be right, they're just empty words." Cindy responded. She then finally smiles. That made me smile.
"Come on, let's go listen to some Phoebe Snow. I just bought her new album and I can't wait to hear it."
Cindy got excited and said, "Solid!"
But then I heard some noise in the kitchen, so I told Cindy, "On second thought, I'll be there a little later?, I got to do some investigation."
Cindy looked at the kitchen door and smiled, "Tell me everything that went on there."
"I will."
8888888888888888888888888
So I quietly opened the kitchen door and saw Mrs. Garret having some words for Blair. They were talking near the sink. Mrs. Garrett was on the left while Blair was on the right. They didn't notice that I was there. Good.
"This nonsense between you and Cindy will stop right this instant. As a punishment, you will not be using the phone to call any of your boyfriends for a whole month."
Blair had an incredulous look when she heard that, "WHAT! You can't do that to me!" She looked shocked, but it kind of looked staged. She can pull it off, she's an actress, but it might be just the way she gets shocked. In the book, it mentions that when a person is shock, the total body reacts. That's not the case here as I only saw her face being shocked while the rest of body seemed indifferent.
"Oh yes I can, Miss! Not only that, you will also clean the bathrooms for an entire month as well, and I'll cut down your TV watching for the entire month, that includes the Dukes of Hazzard."
"What! No Dukes of Hazzard for an entire month!" Blair then started to act hysterical. "Please, at least let me watch that! Please! Please! I'm sorry! I have the hots for Luke!" Now her body is showing total shock.
Mrs. Garrett thought about it again and retraced her previous statement, "Okay, okay, I'll let you watch it, since I know that you got the hots for Luke - I can't blame you." Mrs. Garrett blushed and smiled. Blair on the other hand smiled, but she didn't show any signs of blushing, weird. "But," as she emphasized the word, "if you keep on continuing harassing Cindy between now and the Harvest Fair, I will pull you out of the Harvest Queen competition!"
That sent shockwaves through Blair. Her eyes really widened and it looked like she was going to explode, instead she sulked and looked down. The book says that it's a sign of remorse and shame. I think that one really sent a message to her. I don't get to see this side of Blair too often.
"Okay, I'll stop."
Even with the Harvest Queen threat, I can't believe that Mrs. Garrett handed her such a light punishment, she should have gotten something worse like in addition to cleaning the bathroom, she has to make up all of our beds, or listen to stories from Mr. Bradley. Heh, that's a good one. Or better yet, she had to watch an entire episode of Hee Haw in place of Dukes of Hazzard, now that's low-class trashy entertainment? On second thought, if she likes the Dukes, then she'll probably like Hee Haw.
What also intrigued me was how much missing a few episodes of a stupid, retarded show that degrades poor Southern people and treats the women as sex objects meant a lot to her. I got to examine her a bit more, but I had to quickly leave as they were about to head my way!
I quickly jetted out there and briskly walked upstairs to me and Cindy's room. As soon as I got in, Cindy excitedly ask me questions.
"So what happened? Did she get punished? Did Mrs. Garrett really give it to her?"
I looked at Cindy and told her. "No she didn't really give it to her. She did punish her though."
"How?"
"She can't call any of her boyfriends for a month."
A surprised look appeared on Cindy's face, "Really?"
"Yep! Not only that, she has to clean all the bathrooms for the entire month."
A smile appeared on her face, "Continue on!"
"Also, she was about to strip her privilege of watching TV shows like Dukes of Hazzard, but Blair relented and Mrs. Garrett caved in."
That one really stumped Cindy, "Huh?"
"Yeah, that's what I said. Funny thing was that she got hysterical when Mrs. Garrett told her about that."
"Okay? I know she like boys a lot, but that's really ridiculous."
"Yeah, tell me about it. But there's more, if she insults you again between now and the Harvest Fair, she will have to drop out of the Harvest Queen competition."
That brought smiles to Cindy, "That's simply great! She won't harass me anymore."
"Yeah, that would be a relief. Now let's go listen to some more music and dance, you need to work off some of that tension."
8888888888888888888888888
Around that time, we were dancing to some of Phoebe Snow tunes. Cindy was a much better dancer than I am. I'm amaze at how she can keep herself in rhythm with the music. It was about a few minutes later when Sue Ann, Nancy, Tootie, and Natalie came in. Instantly, I noticed that Cindy dropped everything and focused her attention on Sue Ann.
"So Blair's giving you a hard time again I heard?" Nancy said.
"Yeah, Blair is being a bitch again. She was criticizing about how unfeminine I am."
Sue Ann exhaled and shook her head in astonishment of Blair's bitchiness. I can't blame her. "I think we need to get back at her. Hey I know what we can do, why don't you run for Harvest Queen?"
Cindy was stunned for a moment, like a car was coming towards her. Her body instantly became stiff. In the book, it says that stiffness comes with shock and fear, which is what Cindy must be experiencing. She didn't say anything and was thinking about it for a bit. "I don't know? I don't know anything about dressing up or makeup, besides the black liner I wear for softball. I don't know anything about fashion."
"Don't worry about it Cindy, you're looking at future beauticians, we will help you out as much as we can, right Natalie?" Tootie said.
"Right on! We got all the makeup you need to look like Farrah Fawcett!"
"And me and Sue Ann can help you out with the clothes," Nancy added. However, I can see it in her body posture how very unconfident she was about it. Stooped shoulders, the inability to look up, and playing with your own hands are the signs of lack of confidence, as the book mentions. She was indeed the textbook example, as her shoulders stooped low, she never looked up, and she was fidgeting with her fingers.
"I don't know?"
"Come on Cindy, I think you got a chance. You're naturally beautiful and you got a great body structure. I think you can pull it off. I believe in you, and so does everybody." Everybody said 'yeah' in agreement. However, I noticed something else was going on. Those two didn't say much, but their eyes were doing a lot of shouting! Their eyes were locked into each other, like they were doing a waltz dance together. I was stunned at what I saw, there were sparks flying between the gazes. The Book of Body Language made it extremely clear that long, glazing, eye contact between two people was a clear sign of attraction. Basically Sue Ann's eyes were saying
"I believe in you because I love you."
"Okay, I'll do it." She said with renewed confidence, but her eyes never left Sue Ann and neither did Sue Ann's.
Then she gave everybody a hug, however the last hug was for Sue Ann and it was the longest as she fully wrapped her arms around Sue Ann's body. Sue Ann didn't object or try to make some distance; in fact, she even tried to hug Cindy tighter! Their hug was the classic example of two people being attracted to each other, as the book indicates. Holding each other close, a longer duration from the typical hug, and a facial expression of pleasure they are getting from this, are all the body signs of attractions. Oh my God, why didn't I see this before? They're totally attracted to each other!
So Blair might be right about her, but so what? There's nothing wrong with two women loving each other. I think it's beautiful when two people find love within themselves, no matter what the race, class, or gender. It's just another method that the bourgeois elite use to keep us separated so that we can't rally against them!
I also think that Cindy and Sue Ann are perfect for each other, but do they know that? Should I help them or let nature take its course? Should I share this info with anyone else, or keep it to myself? So many questions and yet there are no clear answers.
Continued...