The 18-year-old black girl seemed to be intrigued, yet amused by the 37-year-old southern-belle who remained on one knee before her. It was apparent that she had noticed Terry looking over towards us from the waitress' station for several minutes earlier. In some sort of strange way it seemed as if Alexis Barron was testing her.
"How long have you been a waitress?" Alexis asked.
Terry's cheeks were a scarlett red as she looked into the eyes of the young woman that she felt curiously intimidated by. One could tell that she was struggling to speak as Alexis questioned her position at the Le' Tour Cafe.
"J-Just 7 months, Miss." the blonde woman answered.
The older southern-belle appeared insulted by the young black woman's condescending question. Alexis Barron took another drag of her cigarette and paused for a longer period of time.
"Well, you're a good waitress." Alexis stated.
"Th-Thank you, Miss." Terry replied nervously.
After another decisively long pause, the beautiful black teenager continued the questioning of the older blonde woman waitress.
"Why so short of the time?" she asked her. "You're like 40, aren't you?" she added.
The inside insult of the white waitress seemed to make her face grow flush. She explained that she was still in her mid to late 30's. She told the younger Alexis that she had lost her job almost a year ago. She also told the young black woman that she had been an assistant manager for a medical research corporation for 11 years before her position was eliminated.
"Are you married, white girl?" Alexis Barron asked her.
"No, M-Miss." Terry replied, humbly.
Alexis dashed her cigarette out and continued studying the older white woman who remained on one knee before her chair at the cafe. Not once did she look back towards me suffering at the bottoms of her dirty bare feet. Yet, her feet were so arrogantly active as she almost "smeared" the bottoms and the tops of her toes across my lips, chin and nose. I sat there and remained embarrassed and afraid to move an inch.
The 18-year-old black woman began to explain to Terry that she may be able to provide an office position for her in the near future if, in fact, she met her criteria and expectations. I could not tell if the mid 30's blonde woman was pleased to hear this, or if she felt humiliated.
"O-Okay, Miss." she simply answered.
"Write your phone number on the receipt when we leave and I'll see what I can do. For now, bring me two fresh napkins." Alexis ordered.
"Yes, Miss. Thank you, Miss." Terry answered as she finally stood up and walked away.
A few moments later, the older white waitress returned with two of the large white cloth napkins then handed them to Alexis Barron. She then turned on her heels and left, not once making eye contact with me.
Curiously, I sat there and watched the black teenager unfolding and then refolding the white cloth napkins. She did so slowly and methodically. She then placed her sunglasses back on and looked towards me. Rudely, she tossed one of the napkins onto my lap.
"My feet are a little too dirty to put my sandals back on. Come over here to where that waitress was and wipe 'em for me." Alexis ordered, pointing to the concrete ground to her side.
I almost could not believe my ears. I hesitated and my eyes grew larger, like a deer in the headlights on a dark country road. I couldn't even feel my body at this point as she stared directly into my eyes with a serious and commanding attitude. It was like she wanted to further humiliate me right there and she wasn't taking no for an answer.
"B-But, Alexis ... p-please?" I murmured, almost pleading for her to change her mind.
I felt so intimidated by her request. I couldn't imagine feeling so degraded by the though of what she was demanding of me now. The petite black woman had been bullying me around all day. Now, she was insisting that I clean her bare feet in the outdoor part of a chic restaurant.
The 18-year-old black woman grew angrier by my hesitation and futile pleading.
"Now!" she ordered, removing her dirt-covered feet from it's resting position on my upper chest.
I was so nervous and intiidated by this young black woman, just as I have been since the moment I met her. I didn't know what I was thinking at that particular moment except that I didn't want to anger her, or to create a worse scene than what she had already created. I simply nodded, in agreement. Then, I took the cloth napkin in my hands and moved to the concrete ground to the right side of Alexis Barron. Pathetically, I went to one knee and looked up towards her beautiful face. I wondered what I was to do next. I truly felt demoralized.
Alexis Barron added further humiliation by placing one of her bare feet onto my left shoulder before bending forward. She unscrewed the cap of the small bottle of Evian water she had then gently poured some of it onto one of her dirty feet. Thoroughly embarrassed, I began to wash the dirty foot of the black teenaged woman right there in the Le'Tour Cafe, using one of the cloth napkins. She added further instruction during this humbling and degarding act.
"Make sure you get all the dirt off. In between my toes, too." she ordered.
"Y-Yes, Ma'am." I answered, my face feelin flush.
The smaller black woman seemed pleased by my compliance. The utter degradation I was feeling was surreal. It took nearly 10 minutes to clean the dirt from her right foot as she now leaned back in a more authoritative position, lighting another cigarette. She ordered me to dry her foot with the other cleaner white cloth napkin before repeating the humiliating duty with her other foot.
I couldn't even begin to comprehend what any of the other older white women who might have noticed would be thinking. To them, seeing me being made to kneel before a black woman and washing her bare feet clean in a public place had to shock them. It took close to 20 minutes to finish washing and drying Alexis Barron's bare feet.
"My sandals now." she ordered.
My hands were trembling as I placed the young black woman's sandals back onto her size 5 feet. I struggled to fasten the small gold buckles around her delicate ankles. When finished, Alexis was ready to leave the cafe. She stood up and motioned for our waitress, Terry, to bring over the check.
When she arrived, Alexis took the check and handed it to me.
"Tip her well, bitch." she ordered.