Carrying a small purse and a large plastic bag, Vicki settled in the rear of the limousine. She looked at the two occupants seated across from her. Rose looked excited while Lisa looked pensive. It was obvious that Lisa was having second thoughts about spending the evening with her mother. It was obvious that she was just waiting for a chance to unload at her mother.
Vicki said, "Before I forget, I got something for you."
She rummaged through the plastic bag for a second before extracting a box from it. She handed it over to Lisa and then went back to rummaging through the bag.
Lisa looked at the box taking in the packaging. It was a high quality digital camera with a view finder and interchangeable lens. She said, "This is a camera."
"Yes. I thought you would enjoy taking some pictures at the fashion show," Vicki said.
"The tickets say no cameras allowed," Lisa said.
"I may have meddled some," Vicki said.
"Meddled?" Lisa asked with a bite in her voice.
Vicki answered, "I called the art teacher at your new school who gave me the phone number for the photography teacher who gave me the phone number for the teacher who oversees the school newspaper. I ended up talking to the guy for about an hour and twisted his arm a bit."
"You did what? Lisa asked sharply.
She didn't quite like the idea of her mother calling all of her teachers, particularly teachers she hadn't even met yet. She was about to say, or more accurately yell, something to that effect when her mother said, "I got you press credentials so that you can take photographs there."
"Press credentials?"
"Ah, here it is," Vicki said. She pulled out a lanyard with a high school press pass attached to it. Handing it over to Lisa, she said, "There you go."
"Will this actually work?" Lisa asked.
"Yes," Vicki said. It had better work. It had cost her a fortune to arrange.
Rose asked, "Do I get one?"
"Sorry Rose. I could only get one," Vicki said.
"Bummer," Rose said.
"Where's the champagne?" Vicki asked looking around the back of the limousine.
"Champagne?" Rose asked.
"I ordered Champagne," Vicki said. She opened a sliding panel on the car door. "There it is."
Vicki opened two mini bottles of champagne. Holding up a bottle cap, she said, "They used to come with corks. Now they come with bottle caps."
She filled a half of a glass for Rose, a full glass for Lisa, and took a full glass for herself. Once everyone had a glass, she raised hers and said, "May all of the models be uglier than us."
"That's a good one," Rose said.
Lisa held up her glass and then took a sip from it. She was still unwilling to engage in much talk with her mother. It did seem that every time she was about to make a negative comment, her mother changed the subject or diverted her attention to something else.
"One more stop and we'll be heading to the fashion show," Vicki said.
"Where are we stopping?" Lisa asked suspiciously.
Vicki answered, "Claire's house."
Frowning, Lisa asked, "You know Claire."
Vicki said, "I may be a woman, but I'm clueless when it comes to fashion. Clair has been picking out my outfits for years. If you want my personal opinion, she's the best personal shopping assistant in the business."
Even though Lisa had realized a while ago that her mother was paying Claire, she wasn't too pleased to learn that she was sharing her personal shopping assistant with her. She knew it wasn't rational, but she didn't care. She didn't want to share Claire with her mother. That wasn't the kind of thing she could yell at her mother over, at least not without looking like a complete idiot and she knew it.
The car stopped at a house. Claire came out and climbed into the limousine. She accepted a glass of Champagne from Vicki upon getting into her seat. Raising her glass, she said, "Hello everyone."
"Mother was just telling us that you are her personal shopping assistant," Lisa said.
"I've worked with her for six years. She's been my most difficult client," Claire said rolling her eyes.
"Difficult?" Lisa asked.
Claire said, "Look at her. She's gorgeous. She wants clothes that make her look like a combination of an Ice Queen and Nasty Bitch. Every time I dressed her, she ended up looking like a great white shark just waiting to ravage some poor unsuspecting seal. Scary. It was a waste of a perfect female body."
Vicki said, "I had to look like a shark to keep the barracudas away."
"Why?" Rose asked.
Vicki said, "There are a lot of men out there who won't take no for an answer. They discovered that my no meant no and not taking it that way meant they should call an ambulance."
A woman alone in a strange city was easy prey for unscrupulous men. She had been lucky that Sid was usually nearby. There had been a time or two over the six year period when she could have been in real trouble. It was amazing what stomping on a foot could accomplish. It always took the men by surprise since they expected, and were prepared for, a knee to the groin.
Rose asked, "What do you mean about calling an ambulance?"
"Your father showed me a number of ways to take care of a man after I complained about getting harassed on my business trips," Vicki said. "He said I should cut them down to size and then file a harassment suit against them. He wanted them scarred physically and professionally. If I didn't, then he would do it and he didn't think they would survive him doing it."
Rose said, "That's good."
Vicki said, "I'm sure you're father will tell you all about how to take care of men who won't take no for an answer when he has his sex talk with you."
Rose said, "He already gave the sex talk to me."
"What did he say?" Vicki asked.
Rose answered, "Boys have penises. Girls have vaginas. Boys want to put the penises into your vagina. My job is to prevent the boys from getting their penises into my vagina. Then he spent an hour describing different ways to stop the boy from inserting his penis into my vagina."
Snorting Lisa said, "I see you got the same lecture I did."
She glared at her mother thinking that she should have been giving them the sex talk. She was beginning to think that this trip had been a bad idea.
Vicki said, "That's just the first one. He'll tell you all of the ways in which guys will try to take advantage of you in the next one."
Rose asked, "How do you know that?"
Vicki answered, "I'll make sure he tells you. He understands the male mind a whole lot better than I do."
"You're probably right," Rose said.
Vicki said, "He's got another one he that he will use on the boys when you start dating."
"What's that one say?" Rose asked.
Vicki recited as if from memory, "Boys have penises. Girls have vaginas. Boys want to put their penises into a girl's vagina. Sometimes a boy gets his penis into a girl's vagina. The Dad's job is to rip off the offending penis along with all closely related organs and feed them to the boy."
Rose said, "Scary."
"It's effective, particularly when he's sharpening a knife while telling the boy that," Vicki said.
Claire said, "All fathers have a speech for a boy taking his little girl out on a date. All of them involve maiming or murder."
Rose asked, "How do you know what Dad's sex talk to boys is like? He's never given it before."
"My Dad told him that when he went to pick me up on our first date," Vicki said. "Based on what you said his talk to you was like, I think it made an impression on him."
She saw her chance to point out a motherly duty that her mother had failed to perform. With an edge to her voice, Lisa asked, "When is Mother going to give us her sex talk?"
"Once you've been felt up by a guy," Vicki answered in a matter of fact tone of voice.
She cringed inwardly at the way Lisa had called her mother. She had never known that it was possible to use the word mother as an insult like that.
"What?" Rose asked.
Shocked, Lisa said, "Huh?"
Vicki said, "I won't give you that talk until after you've been felt up by a boy. Nothing I can say will prepare you for what you'll feel."
"Why?" Lisa asked.
She had always figured that she was long overdue for the sex talk with her mother. To learn that her mother wasn't planning on having it any time soon was a bit of a shock. She felt cheated. One of her major grievances had just disappeared on her.
"You can touch your nipple all day long, but ... well ... that's nothing compared to when a man does it," Vicki said.
"That's a fact," Claire said.
Vicki said, "The first time a man touched me between the legs, my nipples got so hard they could have cut diamonds."
"I slammed my thighs together so fast that I was afraid that I broke his hand," Claire said. She giggled and added, "Then I spread my legs so fast that I nearly knocked him out of the car."
"I bet you left a slick spot on the car seat. I know I did," Vicki said.
"You bet," Claire said.
Rose and Lisa stared at Vicki and Claire unable to believe what they were hearing. Vicki may not have been much of a mother, but she was still their mother and mothers didn't talk that way. This was way too much information.
"I'm supposed to resist that?" Lisa asked.
"Hopefully your father's talk will get you through that first time you're in a heavy petting session with a boy," Vicki said.
"Hopefully?" Lisa asked.
Vicki said, "Believe me. Having a father tell a young man that he'll tear off his cock and balls tends to slow down the action a little."
Rose said, "I'd believe that."
Vicki held up her champagne glass and said, "Drink up girls. We have arrived at the fashion show."
Lisa was surprised by the attention her press credentials recieved among the staff at the fashion show. Not only did she get to take her camera with her, but a young woman came out and presented her with a schedule of outfits that were to be shown. She had given suggestions as to when good photo opportunities would occur. She had also suggested some general background shots that would be of interest to a school paper.
Constantly snapping pictures of the models and crowd, Lisa watched nearly the entire show through the lens of the camera. The digital camera gave her instant feedback on the quality of her pictures. It didn't take her long to begin wielding the camera like a pro.
It was fascinating to watch the models strut down the runway wearing fashions that spanned a range from the ridiculous to the sublime. There were outfits that covered everything and outfits that barely covered at all. The flashing lights and loud music contributed to a carnival-like atmosphere.
For three hours Lisa forgot that she was there with her mother. Her anger was put on a back burner. In fact, she was having fun. It was possibly the most fun she had ever had in her life.
Vicki watched her daughter with a small smile. It was good to watch her daughter get lost in the moment. She had never seen Lisa looking so alive or in her element before. She wondered if Lisa wouldn't end up being a photographer based on the way she acted with the camera. She was definitely a natural.
As with all good things, the fashion show finally came to an end. Still enjoying the moment, the four women walked out to the limousine talking excitedly about this or that fashion item that had taken their fancy. Once in the limousine, Vicki opened two mini bottles of champagne for the drive home. Claire dominated the conversation until they reached her house. Once they had dropped her off, Rose and Lisa talked about the show. Lisa kept showing Rose pictures on the digital screen affixed to the back of the camera.
When they reached the house, Vicki held out the plastic bag to Lisa. She said, "This is for you."
Curious, Lisa took the bag from her and tried to look inside. In the dark, she couldn't see what it contained. She was about to make a biting comment about gifts she couldn't see.
"There's a video camera and tripod in there. I'd like you to video tape yourself for me," Vicki said.
"Why should I do that?" Lisa asked.
Vicki said, "I want you to tell me every thing that I've done wrong. I want it on tape so that I can watch it over and over until I know every word you said by heart."
"Why?" Lisa asked.
The chauffeur opened the door to let Vicki out. Standing halfway out of the car, Vicki said, "I never want to forget what I've done to you. My actions were inexcusable."
Lisa watched her mother flee into the house. She hadn't even had a chance to reply. The chauffeur closed the car door cutting off even the chance of a shouted reply. Again she felt cheated.
Rose said, "I didn't expect that."
"What?" Lisa said turning to look at her sister.
"I kind of expected you and her to yell at each other all evening," Rose said.
"I don't know what I expected," Lisa said staring at the plastic bag.
She had wanted a chance to yell at her mother. Having Claire with them had really put a damper on that idea. There were a lot of hurt feelings that she hadn't had a chance to express. Looking at the video camera, she wondered if a single tape would be sufficient.
"All in all, it was a pretty nice evening," Rose said.
"Yes, it was," Lisa said absently.
"Do you want to share another small champagne?" Rose asked while looking in the panel inset of the door. There were still two mini bottles of champagne in it.
"No," Lisa answered distracted by the camera. "I've still got some in my glass."
"Bummer," Rose said thinking that there weren't many opportunities for a twelve year old girl to drink champagne in the back of a limousine.
She sat back and watched out the window while the limousine took the familiar route to John's farm. It was kind of a shame that the evening was coming to an end. She hoped that she would get to do something like that again.
"By the way, thanks for taking me along with you," Rose said.
"My pleasure," Lisa said.
She was trying to check out the video camera in the dimly lit interior of the limousine and not having much luck. There were lights, but they were too low to read the fine print.
Rose asked, "Are you going to video tape yourself?"
"You bet. I'm going to really let her have it," Lisa said.