The first fire drill of the schoolyear is always the most hectic at most middle schools simply because getting 950 children safely out of a building in an orderly fashion is not that simple. Such was the case at the Thomas Jefferson Middle School on this gorgeous September morning. As one of three guidance counselors at the school, Dana Deerfield was one of a handful of administrators and teachers in charge of making sure it ran smoothly. There was always an "After Action" briefing with the principle, a former Marine that didn't take kindly to even the least bit of a slip--up when it came to the safety and well-being of her students.
Dana's main responsibility was to make sure that no cars could enter the parking lot from the main driveway into the school while the students were present for the drill. So she positioned herself at the entrance to the lot and began her admiration for the 78 degree day with low humidity and barely a cloud in the sky.
Her admiration for the weather was interrupted when she noticed a white Cadillac sedan turn off Pine Street and enter the driveway to the school. Her first thought was that it was a beautiful car a split second before realizing that it was traveling way too fast. She quickly hopped up on the curb in an act of self-preservation before raising both her hands in an attempt to stop the car from entering the lot.
The Cadillac came to a screeching halt right in front of where Dana was standing and immediately the driver's side window came down
"Could you get Diamond Barnes for me, we late for a doctor's appointment," The driver of the car said in a loud, almost shouting voice to Dana.
"I'm sorry, we are in the middle of a fire drill, and you are going to have to wait to sign her out inside in the office when it's over," replied Dana.
"Can't you just get her now, she's right over there. I see her and I am her mother," the now agitated female driver of the car said.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, all students have to be signed out inside the office," Dana answered.
"You gotta be kiddin me! I'm her mother and she is fifty feet away from us. Now we are gonna be late- damn! What you say your name was?"
"I'm Mrs. Deerfield, the guidance counselor."
"Yeah well, were gonna talk about this policy, this is ridiculous!" the angry mother said before rolling up her window.
Shortly after this terse exchange, the signal to have all the students re-enter the building was given, and Dana walked in the building with the last of the students, making sure all got back in safely. She then began to reflect on what a bitch the woman in the car was for being so rude and angry with her. She was about to blow it off when she saw the mother get buzzed into the front door of the school and head straight for the main office where Dana was just about to enter. Dana held the door for the mother, and offered an explanation.
"Again I'm sorry I couldn't just let you take your daughter, we take the safety of all our children very seriously," Dana offered, before the woman entered the office.
"Give me a break," replied the woman to Dana's second apology and walked past her to the secretary and asked her to page Diamond Barnes.
As she walked past Dana, she could see the woman was impeccably dressed, smelled like lilacs and hibiscus and was very intimidating. Dana was petite; standing 5'3", whereas the angry mother stood at least 5'9", and with her heals seemed taller than that. She had straight black hair that came past her shoulders. She had light blue nails that contrasted her ebony skin. All --in-all she was put together very well for someone who was so rude, Dana mused.
There was an uncomfortable silence while the three women waited for Diamond to get her things from her locker and come to the office. When she finally did arrive, her mother moved quickly to escort her out of the building.
"Let's go Diamond, we are late now for your appointment," she said to her daughter before turning her attention to Dana. "If I wasn't in a rush, we would have sat down with Principle Jennings and had a talk about common sense." She then rushed her daughter and herself out the door. The secretary and Dana exchanged a look and Dana retreated to her office.
Inside her office, Dana told herself to calm down; because it will not be the only difficult parent she would have to deal with all year. She took a deep cleansing breath and attempted to go about the rest of her day.
The rest of Dana's day went without incident. The usual routine was for her to go home, relax and unwind in an empty house for an hour, before returning to her school where she would take a four mile run along the jogging trail that surrounded Jefferson Middle School. She would time her run to finish just as her daughter's soccer practice would be finishing up with the school team.
Dana loved running, as it relieved any stress she may have had and kept her in good shape. The dirty blonde's petite body was kept taut by her workouts and gave her ass and thighs the appearance of a twenty something instead of the 44 that she actually was. A sports bra was worn under her running tank to support the only thing on her body that wasn't petite- her 34 C breasts. Beautiful blue eyes and pouty lips made Dana a common topic of discussion among the male faculty members of her school, and she secretly appreciated the occasional head turn she got when in public.
The run also gave Dana time to reflect on her day, and all the different aspects of her life. Her daughter Maggie was her pride and joy and the two of them lived alone. She was two years removed from a some-times contentious divorce from her Ex, Jack. Jack had Maggie on Wednesday and Thursday nights and every other weekend. The three of them had begun to settle into this arrangement and the relationship between parents in the last year or so had grown from very cold to cordial. As she ran, Dana thought to herself that if Maggie was truly growing comfortable with the custody issue, this was a huge weight off her mind.
Another thought that entered her mind as she ran was the constant nagging of her best friend, and colleague, Mandy Panillos to get back out into the dating scene. Dana had gone out on a few dates since her divorce and all three of them could be described as awkward. They were good looking guys who took her to fantastic restaurants, but Dana's mind would always wander to how Maggie really felt about her mom dating guys other than her dad. Plus, Dana just didn't feel that spark with any of them.
As Dana would tell her friend, "My head is just not into the dating game right now."
Dana's usual post-run practice was to grab a towel and a bottle of water from the back of her Honda crossover, give herself a quick toweling off in the parking lot and wait in the car for Maggie to come to her. She didn't necessarily like her students and the male coach of the soccer team, who was another colleague, to see her sweaty and in a pair of tight spandex shorts.
She was about to do this when she turned the corner of the last row of cars in the parking lot for the final sprint of her run and made it to her car. Out of breath and sweating profusely, she retrieved her keys from the secret magnet under her tailgate and was reaching for her towel and water when she heard an oddly familiar voice.
"Mrs. Deerfield?" the voice inquired. "It's Keisha Collier, Diamond's mother."
Dana turned around, caught off guard, and replied, "Oh, yes, hi."
"Mrs Deerfield, I have to apologize," Keisha started. "I was having a real bad day when I saw you this morning. I wasn't thinking about the job you have to do and I was in a rush to get Diamond to her appointment and I was very rude. For that I am very sorry."
"Oh, it's ok, as a mother of a middle school daughter, I know how hectic life can get," Dana replied.
"Yes, and being a single mother makes it even harder," Keisha added. "Anyway, thanks for understanding, I promise, if I see you at school again- no attitude."
Both women smiled at that last statement before Keisha asked, "Is your daughter on the soccer team?"
As Keisha asked this question, Dana thought she saw the taller black woman staring down at her cleavage, which was soaked with sweat and very visible with her skimpy running tank on. She became a bit self-conscious and began to wipe her upper chest with her towel before replying, "Yes, my daughter is Maggie, she's in the 8th grade."
"Oh, as you know, Diamond is in the 6th grade, this is her first year on the team," Keisha said. "So I guess we will be seeing more of each other."
"Yes, I'm sure we will," Dana replied.
Keisha then took a step towards Dana and put her left hand on Dana's right arm.
"Well then I hope we can get past this morning, and become friends, I'm not always a bitch," Keisha said with a slight smile on her face. She rubbed her thumb one time over Dana's shoulder before removing her hand from her arm.
"Not always?" Dana replied, with her own smirk on her face.
"Only when necessary, and usually aimed at the man in my life," Keisha said and gave Dana a quick wink.
Keisha then looked to her right before saying, "Well, here come the girls. I am really glad I got the chance to apologize to you. Hopefully, I will see you around."
"I'm sure you will, and please don't worry about this morning- all forgotten," Dana replied.
The women said their goodbyes and Dana and Maggie made their way home.
That night, after showering, making dinner for her and Maggie and helping a little with her daughter's homework, Dana finally settled on the couch and turned on the TV. As she was scrolling though the channels she came across the show "Claws." Dana secretly liked the show and viewed it as a guilty pleasure. The lead character, Desna, appeared on the screen and it immediately reminded Dana of Keisha Collier. It brought back memories of the morning's confrontation and subsequent apology in the soccer parking lot.
Dana couldn't get over how similar the actress on the screen, whose name was Niecy Nash, looked so similar to Keisha. For the first time, she realized how pretty Keisha was. She then remembered admiring Keisha's outfit and nails that morning, even though she thought she was a total bitch. But after her apology that afternoon, Dana was ready to give Keisha a second chance, especially since their daughter's would be playing soccer on the same team this season.
