“Oh shit, Marie, that hasn’t stopped them in the past. Oh wait, look, here we go—and it’s Rodney. I think he’s hot. Yeah, that’s it. Take it off, baby,” Evelyne sang as she clutched her cards to her chest.
Lexi watched as Leigh moved to the edge of her chair, never taking her eyes off Rodney. She held in a chuckle when she saw Marie looking out of the corner of her eye. The three of them couldn’t resist Rodney, not even Marie. He was in his fifties and still in good shape from working outside, running his own landscaping company for the past twenty-five years. The ladies looked like they were at a slow tennis match watching Rodney mow the grass, going back and forth, never taking their eyes off of him.
Lexi went to get some water. By the time she returned, Rodney had gone and the ladies were waiting for another landscaper to come by. “Do you think we can talk about the community talent show before someone else comes around without a shirt on?” She gave each a water bottle and sat down next to Marie.
“I’m ready to talk about it, but Frick and Frack over there might not contribute much,” Marie said, pointing to Evelyne and Leigh.
Leigh looked over at Evelyne. “So are you Frick and I’m Frack or are you Frack and I’m Frick?” she said innocently as possible while trying not to laugh.
“I think you must be Frick, because you like to say frickin’ so much.” Evelyne started giggling again and Leigh joined her.
“Well, that and the other “F” word! I know, Marie, you don’t like it so I won’t say it… for now.” Leigh glanced at Evelyne out of the corner of her eye, trying not to laugh.
“Ladies, please… the talent show.” Lexi rapped on the table to get their attention.
“What do you need to know?” Marie was all business, hoping to get the other two to calm down.
“What are you planning to do?” Lexi said, her pen posed to start taking notes.
“It’s a secret,” Marie whispered. She looked at the other two ladies and smirked.
“What should I put in the program? How long will it be? What kind of lighting do you need? Any sound? I need the basics at least.” Lexi put her pen to paper with the hopes of getting some answers.
“You can call our act The Dolls and it will be about 5 minutes long. We can take care of the sound, lighting, and props ourselves,” Leigh said smartly before she went back to looking around.
Lexi sighed in frustration. “What kind of description for your act do you want?”
“I think it will be the show-stopper.” Evelyne grinned as she leaned to the side, trying to get a better look of the landscaper working at the edge of the building.
“That really isn’t a good enough description.” She really did love these ladies, but sometimes it was like pulling teeth to get any information out of them.
After a moment Leigh replied, “You can put a singing and dancing act performed by The Dolls.”
“Nothing else?” She looked at each of them trying to figure out what they were up to. “Ok, I get it, you want it to be a surprise. There isn’t going to be any trouble is there?” Lexi looked at them sternly, trying to get some answers. The more they evaded, the more nervous she got.
“Trouble? Us? Really Alexia, you should know better. What would your dear, sweet grandmother Patsy say about you questioning our motives?” Marie said as she shook her head.
“Fine, but if there is trouble I am not getting you out of it this time.” Lexi raised an eyebrow and looked at each one of them. “I still have nightmares about the last time. Going to a strip club in Boston. Who would have thought they would have thrown three women in their seventies out of the club at midnight in a seedy part of town and banned them from ever coming back?” She closed her eyes and shook her head at the memory.
“Lexi, dear, it wasn’t our fault that poor young man got his g-string caught up in Evelyne’s cane. It wasn’t her fault it came off either. She hadn’t been using the cane long,” Leigh explained.
“I would believe that,” Lexi looked at each one of them, “if Evelyne had to use the cane before and after your trip or if it had only happened once that night. Between that and all the pinching of asses, you had those poor boys scared stiff to come around your table!” Lexi rubbed her temples to stop the headache that was rapidly forming.
“Stiff is right,” Evelyne said. They all chuckled.
Lexi just put her head down on the table and started to slowly bang it.
“Honey, you are going to get a headache. Why don’t we talk about what you are going to do for the talent show?” said Marie.
“I’m not doing anything,” Lexi mumbled into the table.
“Yes, you are. We already signed you up!” Evelyne said, looking around for new landscapers.
Lexi whipped her head up, making it spin. “Evelyne, please tell me you didn’t.” This couldn’t be happening. There was no way they’d done it. No now.