“Giné” — Episode 7

19

Giné jumped at the sudden rage in her Grandmama’s voice. “How could you not tell me you went to a strip joint? Do you know that kind of thing can pollute your mind for life? Is that what you’re interested in? What else are you hiding from me?”

Giné’s voice trembled as she spoke. “Grandmama, I’m sorry. I just saw it as a bar. We just went there for fun. I got so caught up telling you about her, it somehow slipped my mind to tell you where she worked. I didn’t mean to hide it from you. I didn’t do anything while I was there. I spoke with her right after her performance and left as soon as I finished talking with her.”

“Who told you about such a place?”

“Fiona, Kristin, Blanche and I went together — more out of curiosity. They said it was a surprise. I didn’t know where we were going until we got there.”

“Well, the surprise is on me,” Grandmama said. “Did any of the men mess with you? And why didn’t you leave as soon as you saw the kind of place it was? After all I taught you, you are going to go to a strip joint!”

“I should have left, Grandmama, and I am sorry I didn’t, but Iris grabbed my attention. It was as though I had seen her before. I could not shake that thought. I just had to speak with her,” Giné confessed. “And, no, none of the men there messed with me or the other girls. They were too busy watching Iris and the other dancers.”

Grandmama studied Giné for a minute. “All right, I believe you. But remember, God was watching over you and He saw everything you did.” After a long sigh, she added softly, “Giné, I know you think I’m being hard on you at times — maybe more times than not. I set rules that I know you think are unreasonable; I don’t deny that. But I do that because I’ve been there and done that. I’ve been where you’re trying to go and have a desire to go, and I’ve done what you have a desire to do. As Solomon says, there’s nothing new under the sun.” Grandmama chuckled. “Yes, I remember those days when Nellie and I used to hang out with the cool crowd. But guess what? Some of the cool crowd ended up in jail, got pregnant, spent months hiding from the police, or dropped out of school; some are depending on the government to take care of them and their children now.”

Grandmama fell silent for a few minutes, and it seemed her attention was given over to an unpleasant movie playing in her mind. She shook her head and shuddered. “I don’t want you to ruin your life. But for the grace of God, I wouldn’t have overcome my foolish-acting years — curious years were what they really were. Anyway, I came out of them safe. I got saved and began spending more time in the church and in reading my Bible. I made up my mind to do what the Bible says. And, you know what? Going the Bible way works, and has worked for me for forty years now. I would not give it up for anything.”

Looking into Giné’s eyes, she continued. “I want you to have fun and to enjoy your life. Why live life if you’re not going to enjoy it? But you can live a clean life and at the same time have fun. Like I always tell you: the grass is never greener on the other side. It’s what you make of it on your side that counts. You remember that.”

“Yes, Grandmama, I will,” Giné said. “And I am truly sorry.”

“I know you are,” Grandmama said.

Grandmama looked at the letter in Giné’s hand. “You say her name is Iris?”

“Yes. She’s as nice as can be,” Giné said.

“That was nice of her to write. Make sure you answer her back,” Grandmama said, studying the handwriting on the letter. She turned the envelope over, but there was no return address. “Well, I guess you can’t reply.”

“I got her address. I picked up a card from her workplace on my way out,” Giné said. “I didn’t know why I even picked it up, but I can see now that I need it.”

Grandmama studied the handwriting on the note some more. She was sure she had seen it before, but could not immediately place it. That night as she pulled out her Bible for her regular night-time reading, an envelope fell out. The handwriting on the envelope was similar to that on Giné’s note. It can’t be! Yes, she had no doubt it was Giné’s mother — her daughter, Regina. But a strip joint? No wonder she stopped putting a return address on her letters to us. She was afraid I’d pop up and catch her in the act. Oh, Regina! Why a strip joint of all places — especially when you could have just come home? She pulled out a few of the letters she had received from Giné’s mother. Yes. It’s definitely her.

20

Things are adding up now, Grandmama thought as she stretched out on her bed. The last time I heard from her was a few months after she had been hired on at the bank; she wrote saying another door was opening up for her to get another job. She did not say what the other job was. The large amounts of money she has been sending for Giné did not add up; but with the money from the strip joint, it all adds up now. I’ll just have to do some investigating on my own starting with the info on the business card.

Giné was thumbing through her bedside table drawer that evening and picked up the picture she had of her father, her mother, and herself as a baby. She looked at the picture through new eyes. That’s where I’ve seen her before. That’s Iris; she looks just like my mother. Unless… As Giné thought about her talk with Iris, she began to put it all together. No wonder she was asking so many personal questions. She recognized me. Even after these many years she still looks the same.

Giné had no doubt that Iris was her mother — her real mother; the mother she often thought about; the mother who sent her money every so often; the mother Grandmama said loves her; the mother who kept up with her whereabouts, but for some reason chose to remain anonymous. But why? Grandmama must know something.

Giné was a little surprised when Grandmama borrowed the business card from her the next morning and copied the information off of it.

“Grandmama, I did not do anything wrong,” Giné said after asking her why she needed it.

“I believe you. To tell you the truth, something came to my mind after I spoke with you. I just need to make a few phone calls. I’ll let you know whether or not I’m just going on a wild goose chase.”

After Giné left for school, Grandmama took some of the letters Regina had sent to her over the years and the note Giné received from Iris and went to see Nellie.

“What do you think, Nellie?”

“Mmm. The writing looks mighty close,” Nellie said, peering at the letters. “See how she curves her S’s. And look at the T’s. Yes, I’d say you’re on to something. But why would she get a job at a strip joint? You don’t suppose she’s, you know, involved with any of the men there, do you? I just hope she’s not selling herself.”

“Nellie, how could you even fix your mouth to say that?” Grandmama shuddered to even think that about her daughter.

“We have to deal with reality, Belle. You have not heard from her for some years now. Hopefully, she kicked the drug habit as she told you. She did not leave you a forwarding address,” Nellie said, raising her hand in resignation.

“You’re right,” Grandmama sighed. “From what Giné told me she carried herself with class, even as she performed.”

“I don’t see how you can carry yourself with class with a job like that,” Nellie muttered.

“Well, Giné said ‘hands off’ is the number one rule. She said all the men did was watch — ”

“All googly-eyed,” Nellie chuckled.

“As I was saying: the men could only watch, yell snide remarks supposedly in the form of compliments, throw money on the stage, and laugh and act like overgrown schoolboys. She also said the lady serving drinks on the floor told them if any of the men messed with them to just let her know or to ask for Joey.”

“Oh, well,” Nellie said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Plus, Giné said she followed Iris back to her dressing room without her knowing and she let her in without hesitating. After they spoke, she left right away by herself. She asked her a lot of personal questions as if she was trying to catch up on the years she lost out on by not keeping in touch.”

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to call and see if it’s her for sure,” Nellie said. “I’m curious myself. We’ve been praying for her — for what? — over twelve years now?”

“Yes. Since Giné was five years old.” Gathering up the letters, Grandmama said, “It sure would be nice to have some good news to tell Giné when she comes home from school. She hasn’t asked too many questions about her these last few years. I guess she’s just accepted her leaving as permanent.”

21

When Grandmama returned home, she called the strip joint.

“Hello, Mademoiselle. Joey speaking.”

“Hello, Joey. This is Belle Grant.”

“Hello, Belle. What an exotic name. Are you looking for a job, Belle, because we sure could use another beauty. One of our dancers is leaving in a couple weeks.”

“No, no. In fact, I’m trying to get in touch with one of your dancers. I believe her name is Iris.”

“Oh, yeah. Iris works here. She’s the best we have. But, sorry, I can’t give out any information on her. We keep all information about our employees confidential.”

“No, I don’t want any information on her. Is she there now? I need to speak with her,” Grandmama said.

“No, ma’am. If you tell me who you are I can give her a message when she comes in.”

“Could you? Just tell her Belle called — Belle Grant — and tell her to give me a call at this number any time.”

“Okay, ma’am. I sure will,” Joey said after writing the number down. “You sure you don’t want a job? We could use another dancer, especially one with a pretty name like Belle. Your voice sounds just as pretty, too,” Joey said.

Grandmama laughed. “No, thank you. I did so much dancing during my young days I had to hang up my dancing shoes and give my aching feet a rest. Just make sure you give Iris my message. It’s very important. Okay?”

“I will,” Joey laughed.

Deep in thought, Grandmama sat around the kitchen table skinning potatoes. Iris. At least she chose a pretty name. She got through three years of rehab and she left — just came and said ‘goodbye’ to me and Giné. Emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually, she was a mess. Lord, after all the Bible I tried to put into her, how could she have turned out like this? It’s good to finally hear something, though. I believe God is bringing closure to this situation. Grandmama remembered the day Regina left like it had happened yesterday.

________

“Mama, I’ll be back for her. I promise. I just can’t be a mother to her right now,” Regina said.

“You ought to stay with your daughter, Regina. That will help stabilize you,” Grandmama insisted. “We’ll get you through this together. You’ve already crossed the main hurdle: you’ve been through rehab successfully. You are drug free. And what about your college? You can’t just give up on that. You’ll need support, people you can lean on like me and Nellie and the church, to help strengthen you.”

“Mama, I’ll make it. I just can’t do it around here. Things are too familiar. The people are too familiar.”

That was the last Grandmama saw of her daughter. Regina was never a problem child. She made it through high school without causing a stir in the family or outside the family, but something happened when she entered college: new environment, new friends, and as the saying goes, “Bad company corrupts good manners.” Yes, she got into bad company less than two years into college. I told her to stay away from her so-called college friends. I saw them leading her astray. But she would not listen. She started delving into drugs and alcohol behind my back; always going off to one party after another at the last minute — telling me where she was going as she walked out the door so I would not have time to argue and try to talk her out of it.

It was in college where Regina met Demetrius, Giné’s father. No one could doubt the love he had for Regina, but he had a drug problem. Grandmama told her daughter to leave Demetrius alone; she told Demetrius to leave her daughter alone. But the two would not leave each other alone. Demetrius not only pushed drugs, but as the drug demon took control of his life, he pulled Regina down into the abyss with him. Word on the street was that he was beyond help. Demetrius ignored the law; he ignored his family’s pleas for him to get help; but at least he listened to Grandmama. “Okay, Ms. Belle. I’ll get help.”

“Dear God,” Grandmama pleaded each night, “please help him and Regina because only You can help them.”